Wine Berserkers - international wine social media, online community, and discussion

John, Hah, good one. If I had placed the cork in a horizontal position, perhaps true north. In vino veritas borealis. Mark, I believe 1999 will prove to be the better vintage of this wine, but I have yet to crack one. I will have to remedy that soon. Joshua, The vintage is certainly open for busines...

Greg,

They are closed for the winter presently but will re-open in early April. We stayed there eons ago and discovered how beautifully mussels pair with Muscadet. The Giacosa was indeed ready and open, so I'll be doing research on more '98s shortly.

Cheers,
Doug

Thanks, Dennis. The snow certainly made things interesting, and, I believe, made the wine taste better.

Cheers,
Doug

Jeremy, It is just off the coast of Washington State, accessed via a 5-minute ride on a 20-vehicle ferry across Hale Passage. Lummi is the northeastern-most island in the San Juan Archipelago, and measures all of 2397 hectares. Just the right spot for a great meal paired with such a wonderful wine o...

1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (2/14/2021) On Lummi Island for the weekend. Extracted the cork and placed it lightly on the bottle opening just prior to an afternoon hike around the northern end of the island in the falling sn...

That was wonderful. Congrats on a job well done, Todd (and Fu).

Cheers,
Doug

2007 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru (2/12/2021) Opened and followed for 3 hours. Translucent ruby color. Nose of intense violets, cherry pits, raspberry, iron, fine earth. Layers of chiming black cherry, iron particles, sifted earth...

John, Great post. The one thing that caught my eye was the fact that you and your wife started collecting good bottles just out of grad school. That means that when you are in your 40’s and 50’s you (will) have a bounty a well-matured wines ready to go. I was not prescient enough to start collecting...

Hi Zac,

Picked up a bottle of bottle of 2011 Volnay Champans on sale in Boise last fall and sampled it soon thereafter. It was a very good showing and I gave it a 90. Balanced and light-bodied, without fireworks at this early stage.

Cheers,
Doug

Yong,

I hope they age as well as this bottle did.

Cheers,
Doug

Mike,

I lucked out indeed. This bottle showed quite well. I have two more so will keep fingers crossed. Hope your remaining bottles are free of faults!

Cheers,
Doug

Rick,

Nice note. I’ve only tasted one bottle (the 2005) but I was struck by how good it was and also its very fair price.

Cheers,
Doug

Hi Josh, If this is Domaine Alain Burguet (sure seems like it), agree with Josh that this is a very impressive and long-standing producer. I have tasted the 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin village level Mes Favorites and En Reniard in the last year or so, and both have been quite delicious and IMHO accessibl...

2003 Delas Frères Côte-Rôtie La Landonne - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (2/7/2021) Opaque purple. Nose of black pepper, blackberry, deep lavender, char, damp earth. Layers of ripe plum, brambles, smoky meaty tones, craggy soil, and ground pepper on the chiming palate. Bright acidity an...

Sounds fantastic. Will be on the lookout. Thanks for the note, Greg!

Cheers,
Doug

Bob,

Great notes, thank you. I'll pull some '98s out soon. Sounds like the lasagna was pretty darn good, too!

Cheers,
Doug

David,

Yes, well stated. It will be cool to watch the arc of this wine.

Cheers,
Doug

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (2/5/2021) Decanted for one hour. Nearly opaque dark ruby color. Nose of dense forest floor, fecund soil, plum pits, deeply pitched berry, hyacinth. Layers of concentrated slightly tart black plum, raspb...

Agree with beer.

I’ll second that!

Very cool that this thread is still going years later. That in itself is a testament to the wine’s obvious aging potential.

Cheers,
Doug

Always great to hear from the winemaker. Thank you, Joe.

Cheers,
Doug

Tom,

Paul's comment above may well apply! I am going to wait a bunch more years also before cracking another one.

Cheers,
Doug

Happy Birthday!

This thread is incredible. Thanks for all the info.

Cheers,
Doug

Great article. Thanks for posting this. Here's to you, Chris and Francois.

Cheers,
Doug

Looking forward to the tasting note Brian.

Cheers,
Doug

Brian,

Sounds like a good plan. This particular bottle became significantly more accessible and expressive at about hour 3 so perhaps a decant is in order. Hope it shows well for you.

Cheers,
Doug

Stephen, Thank you for this very cool information about the vineyard. Joe clearly knew a great source when he saw one. Larry, If that is the case, it would be amazing to grab some and watch the fireworks in a few years. Mike, My last taste of the 2005 Sleepy Hollow was just over a year ago and the w...

Paul,

Yes the evolution appears to be pretty glacial. Fortunately have a few more.

Cheers,
Doug

Roy,

Thank you for that information. He has also utilized stem inclusion for a long time, realizing that these decisions are just part of the whole regarding the making of these lovely wines.

Cheers,
Doug

Jud,

Very reasonable in my view. I was surprised by how youthful the wine showed. It hadn’t budged all that much since the last time we opened a bottle almost 10 years ago.

Cheers,
Doug

2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (1/29/2021) Dark, barely translucent ruby. Slowly-releasing nose of pine forest, anise, violets, acrid raspberry, hints of beef blood. Dense, deep-set layers of raspberry, black cherry, iodine, iron, and c...

Broke down and bought wine yesterday. Was doing so well.

Thanks for the great note. Glad the wine showed so well.

Cheers,
Doug

I appreciate the note on a 2011 also. I've sampled a smattering of 2011's and they have in general shown very nicely. Mugnier Clos de la Marechale comes to mind.

Cheers,
Doug

Julian, Thank you for the heads up on Couly-Dutheil. I will definitely be on the lookout. I see on Wine-Searcher that some older vintages have made it to our side of the pond. Josh, I confess that I did not pick up any cotton candy on the nose. I have a couple of 1993’s in the cellar and will look f...

Jayson,

Thanks for the info on the ‘89 vintage. Very helpful in explaining why these bottles might age so well.

Mike,

The Olga Raffault Picassses from ‘89 is another strong bottle which I have had the pleasure of sampling. These are indeed gems.

Cheers,
Doug

Jason and Mike,

Thanks for your comments. I am quite fond of these older bottlings, which might still be in the marketplace. I'm amazed (probably shouldn't be) that they can continue to improve even after decades in bottle. Remarkable stuff.

Cheers,
Doug

1989 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil (1/23/2021) Decanted for about 60 minutes and followed for 3 more hours. Dark opaque garnet color. Fragrant nose of currant, red plum, cassis, green leaf, meaty smells, and high-altitude floral scent...

Thank you, Adrian. This is good to know.

Cheers,
Doug

Mel,

Agree, Lafarge is such a great producer vintage after vintage. Interesting to hear Becky Wasserman’s thoughts.

Please post if you crack some 2006’s.

Cheers,
Doug

Noah, I’ve had some turn-arounds regarding several varietals over the twenty-some years that I’ve engaged in this crazy hobby. I now enjoy and seek out Cabernet Franc, Riesling, entry level Sangiovese, and Chenin Blanc after ignoring them for much of that time. As other posters have suggested, grab ...

Todd,

Thanks for the great note. I was able to source a single bottle of the 2006, which will sleep awhile.

Cheers,
Doug

2006 Domaine Michel Lafarge Beaune 1er Cru Grèves - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru (1/22/2021) Decanted for 90 minutes. Dark translucent ruby. Nose of piercing pine forest, cranberry, black raspberry, iodine, high-pitched dark violets, damp cellar. Layers of blackberry, hearty ras...

Noah C wrote: ↑January 19th, 2021, 8:28 pm One more...my favorite steak wine is NOT Cali Cab or Bordeaux, but RIOJA!

Good one, Noah.

When we visited Kyoto a year ago, the Wagyu beef we ordered our first night there was served accompanied by a young Rioja and the pairing was amazing.

Cheers,
Doug

Thanks, Otto, very helpful review of the 2011 Molitor Brauneberger Klostergarten PN. I hope my 2011 shows as spectacularly.

Cheers,
Doug

Otto, Thank you for this very well-written survey and helpful commentary. I purchased a single bottle of 2011 Markus Molitor Trarbacher Schlossberg PN trocken ** four years ago and haven't decided yet when I might want to open it. It's a pretty strapping wine at 14.5% per the label. I think I will w...

Hi Joe,

Good to hear from you. Agree this wine is beautiful now and will only get better. Hope you are doing well.

Cheers,
Doug

Interesting. Tasting note frequency since 2004 by producer:

Arcadian 108
Joseph Drouhin 37
Ceritas 30
St. Innocent 30
Scherrer 29

Would not have predicted this.

Cheers,
Doug

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