Once again our moderator extraordinaire found himself in the Bay Area, another excuse for some wine debauchery. Six of us met at Rich Table in San Francisco. After another 2 or three times, Charlie may learn that it gets cold in San Francisco most summer evenings; fortunately the wines warmed us just fine:
1985 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (6/14/2018)
Corked, but still shows pure sweet fruit very burg like. NR (flawed)
1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (6/14/2018)
Medium light body, dusty fruit on the nose, missing the savory truffle notes I associate with older Chave; very pure, burgundy weight fruit, faded with age but delicious nevertheless, some air time definitely brings out more structure and a bit more complexity, but this is at the end of its life. Sacrilege to say, but I think most Rhones are not capable of lasting 30+ years, better at the 15-20 year mark where they have a little more stuffing left. (92 pts.)
1994 Noël Verset Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (6/14/2018)
Medium light body, amazing baking spice nose, beautiful medium cherry, with dark raspberry/strawberry notes woven in, fabulous fine structure, good acidity, simply ethereal. (96 pts.)
2004 Thierry Allemand Cornas Sans Soufre - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (6/14/2018)
Fairly dark, not quite opaque; amazing nose: floral, mint, blueberry, pine forest, then fabulous dark fruit with a purity of essence in the form of a slight blueberry/raspberry sweetness, excellent fine structure, good but not dominant acidity, just so much creamy intensity, pure and vibrant. (96 pts.)
1996 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (6/14/2018)
Wow. Excellent dark fruit, great structure and balance, excellent acidity, quite youthful, pure and tasty. (94 pts.)
2013 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (6/14/2018)
Some sweet oak on the nose, then deep, sweet, rich fruit, good acidity, nice medium structure. Very young, would like to come back to this in 10-15 years. (93 pts.)
After dinner we headed over to a new wine bar called High Treason to meet up with a few other folks and drink a few more bottles:
2006 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (6/14/2018)
Excellent depth and intensity, some warmth of the vintage, but good balance, and quite tasty. (92 pts.)
2006 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée La Colombiere - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée (6/14/2018)
Quite nice darker fruit, good fine structure, with a silkiness and creaminess on the palate. If I didn’t know what this was, I might have guessed a Morey wine, with its somewhat darker profile. Tasty and enjoyable. (91 pts.)
2010 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambolle-Musigny Les Véroilles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny (6/14/2018)
Medium deep strawberry red in color, this is all about the lightly spiced strawberry/raspberry flavors, hint of tart acidity, with a lush higher toned sweetness coming through on the finish. Elegant, lush, wide open for drinking. I don’t know how much better this will get, it’s pretty approachable right now. (90 pts.)
2004 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (6/14/2018)
Relatively light nose, not showing the typical Rougeard perfume; great intensity on the palate, with medium red fruit, spice, raspberry undertones, excellent fine structure. Amazing combination of depth, intensity, and elegance. Fabulous. (94 pts.)
2011 Marcel Juge Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (6/14/2018)
The nose, OMG, the nose, so complex, a melange of spice and earth, one of those wines you can just sit there and smell without feeling any need to taste it. But taste you must, and disappoint it does not: fabulous dark, complex fruit, great intensity with blackberry and pomegranate notes, excellent acidity, has subtle power with amazing elegance for such a young wine. One of the best Syrahs I’ve ever had. And such an amazing, complex nose. (97 pts.) Thanks again to Matt Latuchie, who happened to be in town on business, and brought this.