Just so we’re having the same discussion here, and in order to make it as relevant as possible to the rest of the board, three clarifications to my question:
(1) “Disappointing” means relative to expectations. It’s not the same question as “what was the worst wine you had in 2010.” If you had a d’Yquem or first growth from a great vintage and thought it was an 89 point wine, that would be quite disappointing; if you had a $5 bottle from Trader Joe’s and thought it was an 81 point wine, that isn’t necessarily disappointing at all.
(2) “Disappointing” also means relative to your personal wine preferences. As a corollary to the first point, if you are a card-carrying member of the AFWE and you tried a highly-rated Mollydooker or Martinelli that you thought was awful, that isn’t really disappointing either, as you expected not to like it. Plus, it would just be nice not to see this discussion co-opted by that same old back and forth about wine styles.
(3) Let’s omit corked, cooked, poorly stored, or otherwise flawed bottles that you believe not to be representative. I know that it is disappointing when this happens, but there really isn’t any benefit to anyone else in listing those out, whereas I think people are interested to learn of experiences that people had with wines that didn’t turn out to be as good as expected.
So, what tales of disappointment do you have to share with the board?
Mine would be a 2007 Foley Estates Pinot. Have had previous vintages that I thought were quite marvelous (low to mid 90 points). This vintage is rather thin, and while not flawed, it was not what I expected.
OK, I’ll bite. The 2002 Clos De Lambrays. 2001 was great, 99 was very good too, 02 was big but all clumsy and out of balance. Oak and big fruit kind of crashing and bumping and not really melding. Maybe too young?
2003 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
Took this on a cruise and had high hopes for it after a great bottle of Paul Hobbs 2003 Stagecoach Cab earlier this year. A special dinner in the high end restaurant of the ship with my wife. The wine showed too much alcohol and the fruit did not stand a chance. I know the reputation for pushing the envelope on ripeness, but this was too much. Worst of his cabs that I’ve had to date.
1990 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino (Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino) 9/14/2010 - Unfortunately, this wine is past its prime. Drink up! Earthy nose. Some floral notes. Smells sort of like a 40 year old California cab. Certainly lacks fruit but some nice acid on the back end. Not in balance. I was expecting much more from this wine!
Hopefully I won’t get blasted by Parker and Patton for posting this because the wine is made outside of Seattle, they run a class operation and they have nice labels but I scored the 1998 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate 34 points. I was expecting 88+ points but I guess I had a bad bottle…it happens!
Rasa Syrah from Walla Walla. I heard nothing but hype about this stuff and I thought it was boring and one dimensional. Thankfully I didn’t buy it because I think it costs $75 or something like that.
Close second Reynvaan Syrahs. For all the talk about their co-ferments, I was expecting complex, beautiful aromatics and all I got was black pepper and new oak.
For me, the most conspicuous disappointment was 2004 Shafer Hillside Select. It was fine and pleasant to drink, but it seemed overly soft, creamy and unstructured. It wasn’t over the top, just oddly formless for a cabernet of that age and caliber. It was even more so on day 2.
Two others were 2003 Rhones (Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Prestige and Éric Texier Côte-Rôtie Vieilles Vignes). Both were pretty basic and simple, tasting like a run of the mill Cotes du Rhone. I’m coming to learn that I shouldn’t have expectations of 2003 Rhones that would lead me to being disappointed, but at the time, I was pretty puzzled by each of those.
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