We hosted over at the house today our ongoing, long-term couples group, which has been together for almost 20 years now. Today, we are 5 couples, we started together back in the old Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Festival days and we continue since that time to get-together and rotate the host home role every 8 weeks or so. It’s a real gift to have this group, and while all of our palates have evolved or settled into a style that we like, some that are different across the group, we enjoy getting together and with wine and food, keeping our friendships going. We had a mix of things today, and while I didn’t write up everything we drank, and some things I didn’t like, I thought I would post a few things that I liked or might be of interest. Thanks for reading.
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2008 Bruno Michel Champagne Les Roses Brut - France, Champagne (6/10/2018)
First bottle of two, picked up from Envoyer. Figured with the vintage and pricing was worth a look. 100% Pinot Meunier, 8 g/l dosage, farmed biologique. No data on disgorgement. This is the most ruby colored Rose I can recall tasting. Quite dark, not the salmon or peach colored Roses that seem more common. A unique wine in flavor too. At first, zesty and lively, than add to that a pastry quality, then some tart, bold strawberry that renders it a bit rich. Overall, well received by the table. I enjoyed this and would buy this producer again. -
2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (6/10/2018)
I have had about a dozen bottles of this over time. I used to really like it, I gushed over it for several TNs and then more recently I started to wonder where this wine was going to head with age. With today’s bottle, I still think the same thing: where is this going? The stems still impart the aroma to the bouquet, and to a degree they season the wine with a menthol note. It also showed some of the opulence of the 2012 vintage, with a hard cherry candy quality and what seemed to me to be some wood/barrel tannin, or at least this was my impression as if I was tasting this wine from barrel. It seems just kind of ponderous to me, not in great balance and while it did improve some with air over the afternoon, I just don’t like this wine like I did 2-3 years ago. For certain, the 2015 Kutch McDougall we tasted alongside it really blew it away with the balance, structure and all the parts working well. That wine is what I think Jamie does best so I’ll just let me comments here on the 2012 'Staff stand. I have one left, I’ll figure out when I will drink it down the road. -
2015 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (6/10/2018)
Wow, this wine is in a really good place right now, and even better for me, I can see the trajectory in the wine based on how the structure came through the glass today. Juicy, with medium weight of blue and red fruit. The flavors are vivid, pure. Bright, wound up well with some tannin that comes across in a slate-like way. Really just a beautiful glass of PN and indicative of the quality and craft that Jamie is kicking out. -
2015 Rhys Chardonnay Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (6/10/2018)
My last of 3 bottles and today’s bottle was the best to date. Just a light aroma of toasted wood when I swirled the glass. Yellow apple, spicy, lime, and light mineral with a decent length finish of citrus. After about 5 hours had passed, I tried the wine again, without food and really could focus in on what was in the glass quietly. What I noticed is some of the wood (or ?) had added some creaminess to the texture, along with a real intensity of the minerality that had come forward. I believe this is declassed 2015 Bearwallow, a wine I am very eager to try again soon. If this is the declassed barrels of that wine, then my anticipation for the vintage Bear Chard is going to be rewarded. -
2015 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (6/10/2018)
We drank this over about 5 hours. At first, when we initially had the opening glasses, to me this seemed oaky, giving off a vanilla bean note. Getting past that impact, the fruit showed a nice mix of lemon and pear, with medium weight and a citrusy finish. I went back to the wine later in the evening, the very last few ounces after everyone had left to retaste again. Much improved and while some of that oak remained, the wine became spicier, the finish showing the lemon and lime skin acidity and solid length. If you own these, then think about how you experience wood (at least this is what the sensation was for me) and then decide if you want to age these further or enjoy now, based on the palates who will drink it with you. There is plenty to like here, just consider aeration and age.
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