Stumbled upon a cool wine bar in downtown Portland with a built in slide card wine system.
Among several wines offered were 07’ Insignia, 08’ Beaux Freres, 06’ Bouchard Corton to name a few.
We started with the 08’ Pichler GV, ‘M’-
Starbright notes with a somewhat muted nose of tropical fruits and oak, palate was a bit flat with great minerality at the end, this wine has a long way to go.
07’ Pernot Batard Montrachet-
Young oak dominated nose with ripe fruit, vanilla and slate, finished with spice, baked red apple and dust. Would like to see this in 5-6 years.
05’ Bouchard ‘Mousse’-
Beautiful ruby core that ads tremendous baking spice notes, vivid, balanced with red cherry, baking spice and a hint of vanilla. Nice wine that should show well in 3-4 years.
06’ Bouchard Corton-
Viscous, with great aromatics flowing from the glass, white flowers, dark cherry, spice, smoke, meat and game, finish was long and persistent. Needs 10 years plus.
08’ Beaux Freres -
Bright with solid black fruits, vanilla, oak and baking spice, clearly young with a ripe fruit entrance finishing balanced and fat. I don’t see the difference in winemaking style that people have been talking about, this reminds me of every other young BF I have had.
09’ Ken Wright WV-
First time KW has made a non vineyard wine in a while, since 97’. Pretty purple with a nasty pickle, mustard note that kept creeping in on the wine, pretty raspberry, cherry notes lead to a mellow fruit attack. The palate was balanced, great mouthfeel with oak spice, I just couldn’t get away from the pickle.
08’ Cristom Syrah-
I knew they have been making this wine for several years but never bothered to try it. I was pleasantly surprised. Dark cherry color with a cracked pepper, game, meat nose. Compact on the palate with bacon fat and blackberry, clipped finish. I could see this being mistaken for Croze-Hermitage.
The menu looked great and prices seemed to be reasonable. Will be back.
Jb