TN: Mount Eden, Gouges, Levet, Chanin

Fun lineup of Thanksgiving wines. All showed very well although the Levet definitely needed every bit of the time it was given. Tough to pick a favorite.

  • 2013 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (11/26/2021)
    Deep dark purple color with brightness and clear ruby edges. Classic aromas of smoked plum & cherry, mesquite char, bay leaf, fresh & dried lavender, bone broth, sandalwood and leather. Refined fresh black fruit on the palate, edgy and nervous, with sanguine and savory secondary depth of dried peppery spices, iron, florals and beef blood. Elegant middle palate, smooth medium body with piquant acid and fineness to the tannins, finishing with lengthy rich concentration. This was tapped with a coravin then decanted several days later. It needed every bit of that time, but showed great and was worth the early look. Excellent.
  • 2015 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (11/23/2021)
    Deep gold color, clear and bright. Aromas of lemon flesh, lime zest, hazelnut & clove spice, and hibiscus flower, along with hints of oyster shell and butterscotch. Rich, expressive citrus and yellow fig fruit on the palate, with dense secondary layers adding nutmeg to the spice mix, with further melted stone and florals. Broad, dense elegance on the middle palate, with well-integrated acid and rounded structure throughout. Complex succulent length on the finish. Excellent.
  • 2012 Chanin Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley (11/23/2021)
    Clear, bright ruby color clearing at the edges. Very fine aromatics of braised pomegranate & fig, with raspberry high tones, wet autumn leaves, black tea, clove, brown mushroom, cured beef and hibiscus. Rich density on the palate, high-toned fruit seamlessly melded with its secondary depth. See the notes mentioned above but adds hints of soy sauce and balsamic - just hints. Elegance and finesse throughout the palate, ample density to the structure, with ample integrated acid and fine dense tannins. Finishing with good length adding hints of minerality. Excellent.
  • 2013 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St. Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru (11/23/2021)
    Dark clear ruby color with pink edges. Aromas of fig and date fruit with clove, allspice, sandalwood, mushroom, black tea, lavender florals. Bright, high-toned red and black fruit on the palate, with ample secondary notes of wet stone, fresh purple florals and spice layers like oolong tea and five spice. Precise, elegant density with piquant acid and fine-grained tannins, finishing with sharp fruit-driven length. Very nice, drinking well and lots of upside.
    Posted from CellarTracker
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An 8 year old Gouges “drinking well.” What world is this? :wink:

I’m ever the optimist I guess. Tasted pretty good to me!

Something odder than anything Orwell could’ve imagined [wow.gif]


lol, but, I have noticed from big tastings that the Gouges style has gone a bit softer in the past decade or so. I’ve been shit at putting my notes into CT, but I also had a 12 Gouges back in April that I was very happy with and surprised at how well it was drinking.

I’ve considered ‘13 good for earlier drinking from Burgundy and the Rhone, but that’s a wide generalization. To David’s point, the Gouges had some angles to it, but was definitely a nice drink.

Matt, your note on the Mount Eden Chardonnay reminds me that I do not buy and drink enough of them! Thanks for the notes.

Ed

Gouges is no longer the Dunn of Burgundy. They and Faiveley are now so drinkable young.

Starting around what year, may I ask? I have a few from recent vintages (2015, 16, 17) that I did not even try when I received them.

Gregory joined in 2003, Antoine in 2011, fourth generation. They have a nice web site. https://www.gouges.com/en/the-estate-2/
William will need to chime in re winemaking regime flux.

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I feel like it can be a shame not to open some 17s early for the initial data point. Mostly because they can be really lovely, albeit in a very primary way.

Just going by tasting, I feel like there was a shift in the style between 09-12. The 10s and 12s didn’t come off as stern as they previously were, but I don’t have any hard data to confirm that

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Agreed. Great consistent old world style domestic chard

Ed and Jordan, Mt Eden Chardonnay was very likely the WOTF… Loved it.

At least 2013…