96 Alban Reva, Pierre Moncuit, Craggy Range, Clos Pepe, Vati

WINE TALK
1

Last night Traci and I had the good fortune of heading over to Sasha & Kiara’s (ENO Wines) place for dinner and vino. Sasha and Kiara cooked up a terrific meal…leek soup, sumac/pomegranite skirt steak with a potato/mushroom gratin, salad and dessert…everything was awesome. Here are some brief impressions of the wines, since I took no notes…
NV Dehours Brut Rose
Fit the definition of round Champagne. Red fruits - strawberries, a little soft but tasty. I wanted a little more crispness in this wine.

NV Pierre Moncuit
Per the sales person at Paul Marcus, this NV is all 1998 fruit. this was very good and a terrific wine for $40. Crisp, apples, slight nuttiness, meyer lemon. A definite buy again.

2004 Craggy Range “Les Beaux Cailloux” Chardonnay, New Zealand
Accompanied the leek soup and very nice. It’s crisp and loaded with hazelnut, white flowers and white peaches. slight citrus quality and loaded with slate. Terrific.

1996 Alban Reva
Unmistakably Alban on the nose…funk/reduction. And for the alcohol police this is 13.7%. Terrific wine that is in a great place right now. Packed with fruit, tar, licorice and smoke. Silky blackberry liqueur…if I were giving points last night…this would be a solid 92/100

2000 Cuvee Vatican Reserve Sixtine, Chateauneuf du Pape
Decanted about 3 hours prior to consumption this really disappointed. All wood tannin cloaking whatever fruit and interesting stuff that may be underneath…

2004 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir
This was terrific as well. Interesting herbal component, bright red fruits, nice acidity with just a hint of spiciness. Drinking very well right.


All in all a great evening…surprised to see that Parker gave the Reva 87 points…I think he missed that one for sure.

2

Nice lineup Tony. Lot’s of stuff I dig there. The Pierre Moncuit is often ~$30 around here and that makes it one of my favorite value Champagnes. We had the 04 or maybe it was 05 Clos Pepe Estate last night and it was one of my favorites on the evening. I think it will be best in another 3-5 years.

3

The whole line-up from this house is worth the effort.
And I am not much of a bubbles fan.
But when you’re good, . . .
Best, Jim

4

Glad to hear that the '04 Clos Pepe is drinking well right now. I have a number of them I’ve been hiding away in storage. I’ve found that one is rewarded with patience with the Clos Pepe pinots.