Some TNs - Segla, PJ, Westport Rivers

WINE TALK
1
  • 2003 Château Rauzan-Ségla - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (11/4/2009)
    Very elegant and classy wine. Perfect now with steak, silky and free of edges. No sign of roasted or stewed fruit here.
  • N.V. Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut - France, Champagne (10/31/2009)
    Pear, apple and apricot are almost tropical - the fruit is backed by a floral pastille on the bouquet. Smells very pure and clean. Minerals are very grippy and there’s distinct pear skins on the finish. Stellar for a NV and while it’s definitely an anonymous blend, it’s done well. I keep coming back to clean and pure.
  • 2000 Westport Rivers Blanc de Blancs Ultra Brut Westport Rivers - USA, Massachusetts (10/27/2009)
    The RJR provides much more pleasure. This has an under-ripe Chard taste to it and a white asparagus note. Avoid.
  • 2003 Westport Rivers Cuvée RJR - USA, Massachusetts (10/12/2009)
    Surprisingly solid sparkler, made Methode Champenoise. Very yeasty nose, working in graham crackers. Not the most complex bottle of suds, but this is a good alternative at $22 to Schramsberg and other Cali sparklers.
2

Man you are going local - I don’t think I’ve ever had a Westport Rivers. Saw white asparagus from Peru yesterday in the supermarket so maybe the underripe one would go well with that!

3

I agree, no roasty qualities or anything like that on the '03 Rauzan Segla. Here is my note from April (on a bottle I believe I bought from you!):

2003 Château Rauzan Segla Margaux. I decanted this about 5 hours before the tasting. It shows the most wood on the nose of any this night, though it is well-balanced aromatically by a significant belt of pretty red currants, raspberries, eucalyptus, cedar and mocha paste. In the mouth, it is dense and fairly thick, with a nice mocha paste profile allied to a mix of wild red and black berries. It pushes ahead rather powerfully, but without any feel of being over-done or amped up. It is just lush and full of flavor. It features a finely persistent finish that does, however, show some obvious sticky tannins. This was one of my top wines initially, but coming back to it later in the evening, the oak has become much more prominent on the palate and the flavor profile has turned a bit prickly. Overall, though, it surely holds great promise for further future development.

-Michael