Dinner with lots of interesting mature wines

WINE TALK
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Fellow Tucsonians were invited by fellow WB Bill Jones for dinner. Bill has a fantastic cellar of mature wines. I think he and I started collectiong about the samt time in the early 70’s. Bill’s cellar is know for it’s diversity…In spite of the fact that he sold off most of his burgundies in the last few years. :frowning: Bill is also an excellent chef….dinner was superb. We all brought some whites for starters, sticking with a California Chardonnay theme. I think I’m now down to 3-4 bottles in my cellar, but this group was the best to share the few that I have remaining. My palate was quite fatigued by the end of dinner, so hope that others can fill in notes. The whites were all popped and poured. Bill will need to tell us when the reds were opened. Bill recently had a trip to Portugal and we had a very nice ‘lesson’ on the quite rare Colares Arenae. Very interesting. Here are my brief notes.

2006 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - Served blind. Tropical fruit, lemon / minerality on the nose. Mid weight, lush, with nice acidity on the finish. I thought this wine was very ‘puligny-like’. I think it would fool many in a blind tasting. 93

2006 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - Served blind. Some oak, lemon and spice on the nose. Lush, fat…a bit more alcohol than I prefer. Nice fruit. Fair acid, but would prefer more. I preferred the Rhys Alpine. Easier to guess a California chardonnay. 92

2008 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - Some oak on the nose. Good tropical fruit. Fresh, mid weight palate. Balanced finish. Preferred slightly above the ’06. 93

2001 Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc - The outlier…Quite different from previous bottles tasted. Funky, swampy nose. Not the typical matchstick Leflaive notes. Mineral and acid…lacking of fruit. This bottle has seen it’s better days. 88

1984 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay - purchased on release and a Mount Eden classic. I was quite anxious to taste this, as a ’92 served a couple of years ago was beautiful. This did not disappoint. Deep yellow. Lemon, spice. Nice depth and beautiful balance. So much younger than what one would expect from a 30 year old Cali chard! 94

2010 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - This is a big chard. Moderate vanilla oak and alcohol. Quite lush, viscous. Lemon cream and long finish. Quite nice if you like this style. 93

1976 David Bruce Chardonnay - I’m not sure why this was never drunk from my cellar, but thought this would be a good time. The color looked a bit dark in the bottle, and sure enough, when poured, it was a bright orange and smelled and tasted of apricots. NR

1961 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva - Tobacco, tar, leather, dried cherries. A bit dried out. Big structured wine with tart acid on finish. 92

1970 Berberana Rioja Reserva Carta de Oro - Fully mature. Secondary aromas,. Earth and still nice red fruit. Long sweet finish. This could be confused with an old burg. Lovely. Some might criticize that it past it prime, but I loved it. 94

1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia - Comples nose of red fruit, tart cherries. High in acid…somewhat out of balance ot me. 91

1982 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Forchera - Browning. Leather, cedar, dried cherries on nose. Big structured wine, but nice balance. Long. Quite nice. 93

1988 Michele Chiarlo Barolo - My palate starting to fade. Need help on this one. Nice structure and balance. 92

1990 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Cadettes - Some oak. Mature, rich, big plum, grenache fruit on nose and palate. Soft tannins. Very drinkable. 93

2005 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - Dark color, dark fruits. Spice. Nice structure and balance. Needs time. 93

2005 O’Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - Lots of fruit up front. Plum, raspberry. Sweet, rich. Soft tannins. Quite drinkable. 93

2004 Adega Regional de Colares Colares Arenæ - What a treat. Such a rare wine from Portugal. Ramisco grape. Bill told us about the history, terroir, etc. Pretty closed and tight at first. Earthy, minerals, big structured wine. Needs lots of time. 94 (potential with age)

1995 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Marie Beurrier - I really liked this wine…may be WOTN for me. Red fruits. Complex secondary notes. Spice, mineral, wood. Great balance and long. Hitting it’s stride. Very burgundian! 95

Thanks Bill and Cate for a most enjoyable evening champagne.gif

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Thanks for posting your notes Roger! I must say - there were several wines I really did like. I brought the '06 Rhys and Ritchie - both were AOK with the Rhys being especially elegant. I loved the '82 Cerreto and the '95 Bonneau Marie Beurrier = Yummy. Every time I’ve sampled a O’Shaughnessy wine I’ve liked it - I need to pay attention to this observation. Great food and evening Bill/Cate!

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That Rioja is a beautiful wine. Thanks for posting

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Sounds about right, Roger. This presumably was David’s Estate Chard. Would have had a ton of new/Fr.oak in its youth. Oftentimes, there was some botrytis infection in his
Estate Chard. I expect, given that '76 was a serious drought yr, that this was pushing 15% alcohol and a bit passito/llate hrvsty.
Tom

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We drank the 1995 Henri Bonneau Marie Beurrier tonight alongside the 2001
Henri Bonneau normale and both were utterly beautiful. Burgundian is indeed the right word!

Thanks for the outstanding notes,
Michael

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Roger,
Thanks for your very good notes and kind comments. All the red wines, with the exception of the Dunn ( 6 hrs in a decanter) were served within 20 minutes of pulling the cork( the 1970 Rioja reserva might have had a few more minutes due to a difficult soft cork). I’m finishing the left over Bonneau and
La Nerthe tonight as I type this and I think the La Nerthe might be pulling ahead a little bit, fresher and more fruit showing which MIGHT mean a longer life ahead- but that Bonneau is a beauty!
Was amazed at the Rhys Chardonnay- Big thanks to Jon— but the white WOTN for me was the Mt Eden-- what an awesome wine at that age! I would have been off by 25+ yrs if ask’d to guess the vintage blind.

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Enjoyed reading your notes, Roger, on what was obviously a fabulous Summer evening of dining and camaraderie at the home of Kate and Bill Jones. I liked the theme of the California Chardonnays and being able to enjoy a few of the older reds from Bill’s cellar.

Hank [cheers.gif]

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Yes - that '84 Mt.Eden Chardonnay was a flat out OUTSTANDING wine! Purchased on release and meticulously taken care of for decades flirtysmile. I’m pretty sure I have some '01 Mt.Eden Chard somewhere - remember really liking this one when I tasted it close to release a long time ago. Thanks again Bill for hosting!

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I think a cellar inventory is way overdue! neener