297

Once and awhile, I see what’s on the back shelf of the cellar.



’99 Rousseau, Clos St. Jacques: bought on release, I had considered opening this only for special occasions. Today, Monday seemed special enough. Decanted off some sediment. It’s a little tired but the earth of Gevrey is evident and the wine seems sound. Expansive aromatics and quite good accompanying an onion tart made with potatoes, anchovies and olives. But its texture is not up to standard and I’d say, it’s just past peak, for me.



’99 Trimbach, Clos St. Hune: Also purchased on release and like several of its brethren Hune’s, all purchased at the same time, this is damaged by oxidation but not destroyed. The precision and density are still intact but the aromatics and finish suffer. With a delicious curry dish, it matches well but on its own, the flaw is evident. A reminder that older bottles are a crap shoot and sometimes, you lose.



’99 Hirtzberger, Singerriedel: And sometimes you win. Purchased within a year of release this is the stuff of dreams. Complex nose, crystalline flavors all in harmony, powerful structure, perfect balance and great length. The best of and the last of, six bottles I had. With heavier goat cheeses, wonderful.



I can no longer afford such rarities nor do I think I should be cellaring much wine (or buying green bananas). But it is a treat to wander in the past and to do it with just the two of us, over an evening, with food.

I wonder what else is on the back shelf?



Best, Jim

“297”?

3x99

Jim Cowan = Illuminati.

Confirmed.

Oh. Thought it was something more cryptic.

Shouldn’t a 99 Rousseau Clos St. Jacques still be a relatively young wine?

99 Rousseaus (Chamb. and CdB) drinking windows, according to early RP-notes, are 2004-12 !!
I think He (Parker) really failed there ! -For Me, it’s the “closed for business” windows.

1999 top burgs, will rest quietly in My cellar, for much later consumption. Many lighter vintages, like 98, 00, 01, to try, before the powerful 99ers.

Regards, Soren.

“They” [whoever They are] say that “The French” [whoever The French are] much prefer young wine to old.

And since [like The French] you’re now duking it out in the trenches every day, doubtless tasting California barrel samples on a regular basis, your taste buds might have started adapting to prefer a much more raw & powerful flavor profile than was once the case.

Among the three 99s, the Singerriedel might be the only style of wine which can compete with the ultra high octane New World juice that you now encounter on a regular basis.

Which is not necessarily to say that you might be drifting back home to Parkerized wines - just that you might be gravitating towards very young & intense & fresh-off-the-vine wines.

It’s pretty clear from your post that you don’t know Jim and know little about his preferences in wine (or about the wines he makes). I’ve shared quite a few bottles with Jim over the years and read his notes regularly, and based on that, your assertion could not be more off-base.

+1

LOL’ed.

“Wine” people.

I’ve been reading Jim Cowan’s notes since you clowns were in diapers.

SMH.

“Obnoxious wine board people”

Jim isn’t old enough to have been drinking and writing tasting notes when Eric was in diapers.

Nathan,
I’ve been thinking about your comments over the last several days; it is always good to examine oneself from different perspectives. But I have concluded that, if anything, I am less tolerant of the California style (for lack of a better term) then I was.
These days I drink a good deal of CA wine but it is from producers who are decidedly old world in approach. These folks are making extraordinarily food friendly wines and don’t believe that “hang time” is the end all. Tasting these wines, and my own, I know that my preferred style of wines can be made in CA and it makes me even more intolerant of wines that are overblown, alcoholic, over-oaked and blousy.
The wines from Edmunds St. John, Idlewild, Ryme, Harrington, Ladd Cellars, Sandlands, Dirty and Rowdy, Arnot Roberts, Calluna, Piedrasassi, Site, Leo Steen and so many others now populate my cellar. I still have some of the older French, Austrian and Italian wines in my cellar but these domestic producers show me every day that they have a deft touch and old world sensibilities. I can’t afford the best from Europe but I can afford these labels from CA. And they are delicious.
Of course, everything changes. Who knows where I’ll be tomorrow.
But today, I believe that I am still in the 7% solution camp; maybe even more stridently than a decade ago.
Best, Jim

If a '99 Rousseau CSJ is past its peak, then it means an unlucky or badly stored bottle. '99s, even Villages, are still away from maturity.