TN: Birthday Wines: Bdx, Port, OR Pinot, Riesling, CA Cab, Champagne, Jura, Navarra, etc.

For my birthday this past Friday, I opened several bottles of wine from 1983, my birth year. Among them were a couple of Bordeaux, Port, and California Cabernet. We had the party at my fiancee’s wine bar in Forest Grove, the Urban Decanter. I invited as many folks as I could think of and some of them also brought bottles to share. Here are the notes, as best I can remember, from that night:

NV Eric Rodez Blanc de Noirs: Hadn’t had this bottling before and really enjoyed it. A bit oxidative/aldehydic on the nose and palate but that folded in nicely with tart red berry flavors and a glorious amount of bubbles. Plenty of minerality to go around too, but that countered some yeasty flavors to even things out. Really nice wine!

2007 Domaine Rolet Cremant du Jura: Lemons and funk dominated the nose, but not the bad funk. Very interesting stuff. Texturally the acidity and bubbles helped lift up the riper citrus flavors, while a nice dollop of minerally stuff coursed through the mid-palate. Fun to drink.

2004 Eric Rodez Millesime Grand Cru Champagne: Just wasn’t my cup of tea, though I appreciate getting to taste this style of Champagne. Maybe one day I will enjoy it more…For now though, too oxidized and rich for what I prefer.

2008 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Kreuzwingert Riesling Mosel: Clean, tart, flavorful, delicious. What a fun bottle to taste. I know nothing of the producer but my friend Dan brought this just for kicks and it turned out to be delightful.

2007 Brooks Ara Riesling Willamette Valley: Already showing some petrol on the nose, along with a nice bit of stone fruit and citrus mingling together. A bit clunky tasting at first, but as it warmed up, it became more harmonious. I liked how much acidity was still present and how it wove through the stone fruit, white flower, and citrus essences. Wish I had a few more bottles.

2011 Seven of Hearts Very Special Reserve Pinot Noir Willamette Valley: Won’t be released for another 6-8 months, per the winemaker. Lots of bright, tart red fruit and plum notes. Great acidic backbone, showing potential for how great 2011 could end up being. Rich, full texture with a bit of oak still jutting out but I get the sense that it’ll recede given more time.

2009 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills: My first experience with this producer. Screaming acidity right out of the gate. Ripe cherry and strawberry flavors along with some minerality that played well against the forest floor and woodsy undertones. One of the best 2009’s I’ve yet tasted.

1985 E. Guigal Hermitage: Pretty epic stuff. The bouquet was all meaty, black fruited, earthy aromas. Plenty of depth and concentration too, but not at all heavy-handed. I loved how much acidity and tannin were still present, offering a nice foil to the ripeness. Wish I had many more bottles because I think this is drinking great now but may even get better in five years.

1983 Chateau Pontet-Canet Pauillac: Opened and decanted for about an hour. The nose was a crazy mish-mash of dusty red soil, smoked meat, campfire, char-griller, and no fruit at all. On the palate, after about an hour, we found some dried red fruit, dusty soil, and dried herb flavors. More time brought those into harmony but never quite to the forefront. I think this wine has just started a downward ascent, but the amount of acid and tannin present were pleasing.

1983 Chateau Lynch-Bages Pauillac: Popped and poured, as the decanters were in use. Smokey-meat brett was present, along with floral and herb tones, black cherry, and licorice. This is glorious right now, singing perfectly. The best kind of brett you can imagine was here too, adding complexity and depth. What a wine!!

1983 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley: Impressive if solely for the amount of primary flavors still present. Ripe red cherry, plum, blackberry, and woodsy soil were all here. We decanted this for a few hours, mainly because the cork crumbled. It’s drinking surprisingly well right now and is at its peak. Lots of flavor and intensity that got more integrated and brought a nicely finessed nature after a few hours decanting.

1983 Nino Negri Sasella Valtellina Superiore DOCG: Dead on arrival.

2003 Ch. Moulinet-Lasserre Pomerol: Brett bomb at first, but it blew off with a few hours. Turned out to be almost enjoyable. Behind the brett was some medicinal notes, cherry, licorice, and oak barrel aromas. Without that stinky brett, this would have been a fun, drinkable Bordeaux.

2005 Laderas Graciano Navarra: Black cherries, black soil, licorice, all steeped in black tea. Crazy fun but so dense and almost impenetrable right now that it needs 10 more years to settle down. That said, it was a real treat.

NV Gaja Grappa Costa Russi: Well, it’s grappa after all. Like firey grape juice going down, with a kick to the nuts from the heat. Enjoyable as a palate cleanser though.

1983 Smith Woodhouse Port Portugal: Tasted alcoholic and somewhat thin to me, lacking structure and subtlety. Maybe others liked this?

Overall the tasting was great fun and I think everyone had a blast.

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Happy birthday old friend. The wines read delicious.

Very glad to hear about the '83 Lynch. I will be opening one up this month.

How much air/decant time did you give the S-W?

Way to celebrate! nice wines…

About two hours, maybe a bit more. No one touched it until probably 9pm and we started around 7 or so.

I might recommend decanting for 1-2 hours, as I feel it only got better and better that night. The next day, our bottle was pretty flat though, but its death was graceful.

There’s your probable answer. It likely needed 10-12 hours in a decanter to blossom.

I have about half a bottle left, will retaste tonight to see whats happening.