BIRTHDAY WINES (ZH, BORGOGNO, KAPCSANDY) - Fire (9/22/2017)
Another year around the sun as yesterday I turned 59. My wife asked me what I wanted to do and for a change, I said it would be nice if just the two of us went out to dinner. We chose one of our favorite east side of Cleveland places and picked a few wines to join us. We gave a small glass of each to our server who seemed quite thrilled as well as the wine director who was also appreciative. The food was stellar (as usual). It was a leisurely dinner that last a couple of hours or so. All of the wines showed quite well. Fwiw, here are my notes:
-
2010 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain - France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
We started with a glass of this and then came back to it later with our Wedge and Blue Cheese Salad and then a final glass at the end of the night. Perfect each time. It is that versatile. Deep gold orange in color. The nose is outstanding. An orange peel and honey note at first but then a herbal note melds in. With lots of air it becomes more minerally. It has an almost Riesling quality to it but not quite. On the palate, this is sweet. I could not find an indice but there is a fair amount of rs here. Certainly not cloying or anything like that. Enough acidity to work well with it. Flavors of orange, orange peel and minerals on the palate. Deep and complex. Long finish. Although the color looked advanced, the palate and nose seemed young. This wine should have years left. Not inexpensive on the Pinot Gris scale but this is a world class excellent wine. Just gorgeous. (96 pts.) -
1958 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Wow. This performed way above my expectations. The bottle was sttod up for a few weeks and taken to the restaurant. The waiter kindly let me use my Durand to open and then let me decant for sediment. We let it sit about 20 to 30 minutes and then started to consume this with a vegan ratatouille pizza with golden zucchini, roasted eggplant, peppers, and pesto (with a killer crust). Great combination. The wine was brick red although clear and bright. It took a bit of time to open on the nose and then showed cherries (lots of them), some tar, slight dried roses and just a hint of truffle. On the palate, there is a lot of cherry fruit in this. Slight tannins. deep and layered with fruit and dry earth and forest floor. Excellent acidity. Long finish. This picked up all night and then the bottle was gone. Really delicious. Of course, I am biased since it is my birth year and maybe that added to my score (or maybe not). And like all 1958’s (I hope) it is still slightly immature and has potential for improvement but worth checking in on.
(95 pts.)
-
2008 Kapcsándy Family Winery Roberta’s Reserve State Lane Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Yountville
This was popped and allowed to breathe for an hour and a half. We knew we had too much wine opened and would have a glass and bring the rest home. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. This is almost all Merlot but with a bit of Cab Franc. The nose is great with dark cherries, chocolate, slight tobacco, graphite and just a twinge of herbs. On the palate, this is lush and filled with chewy delicious fruit. Cherries, dark cherries with an underlying char along with layers of damp earth. This is still very young but the tannins are silky and unobtrusive. This is far from peaking and has decades left. IMHO, the best Merlot made anywhere (and yes that includes Bordeaux). Given air or cellar time, this is certainly a 100 point wine. It will be hard to decide when to open my last bottle of this. Luckily, I have a glass waiting for me (and my wife does too) tonight! (99 pts.)
Hopefully, there will be more times to enjoy occasions like this and others. Even as good as the wines were, they always should take a supporting role to the people and events. I am a very lucky person. While I believe the harder one works, the luckier they get, that doesn’t mean there is no luck involved and I am grateful.
Posted from CellarTracker