Friday Night Notes: Fourrier CSJ, Chave Hermitage, Cos d'Estournel, Brunello Ris. & more

Chianti Classico riserva 2007 – Castello di Monsanto
Slightly more than medium intense ruby at the core, without any clearing or bricking. This wine is just plain weird. Medium intense notes of cheap Merlot-like stewed fruit –I’m quit sure no French grapes are added–, sickly sweet vanillin oak and not much else. Is this a phase, or a defective bottle?
By the end of the night it morphed into something recognizably Sangiovese at least, albeit more of a Rosso di Montalcino than a Chianti. 48 hours in the fridge saw it turn into a medium-plus bodied wine, with bright blueberry notes & flavours and a little damp earth and smokiness thrown in for complexity. It possessed medium-plus flavour intensity, had decent length, balance and would end up in the high eighties if it wouldn’t have behaved so strangely earlier on. If this was representative bottle, don’t try one now! I’ll postpone judgment until I can try again.

Côte Rôtie 1999 – Michel Ogier
This was medium-plus intense ruby-coloured at the core, with a clearing rim but no bricking. Whoahhh Nelly! [wow.gif] A pronounced but somewhat austere nose made me wonder whether mushrooms were growing on my glassful of smoked bacon. There might even have been some reduction at play here, as 30 minutes of air saw a transformation to bacon fat/granite, sweet brambly fruits, a floral infusion, beef stock and dried herbs. It takes about an hour for a blossomy note to emerge, which to me indicates some Viognier in the blend.
Medium bodied on the attack, just-about pronounced acidity is well-buffered by medium-plus intense, bacon-laced black cherry and blackberry flavours. There is good depth on the mid-palate and texturally, the medium-minus glycerine-enveloped tannins make for some very smooth drinking indeed. The pleasantly minerally infused finish does an easy 20-25 seconds, so I have to award 91 points. This bottle was on the young side of maturity and while there may just be a little improvement over the next 5 years, it won’t be more than one point.

Château Cos d’Estournel 1985 – Saint Estephe
Medium-plus intense, just about translucent garnet at the core, with a distinctly clearing rim. After popping and pouring, the nose initially phased in & out with a two minute amplitude. I worried about TCA, but was mindful of confusing that dreaded monster with the damp clay-like minerality of this commune at earlier occasions. Twenty minutes of air made above cycle even out to reveal a medium-plus intense nose of graphite, beef stock, cinnamon and other spices, all interwoven with typical cassis fruit that had a somewhat dried quality to it. More air brought a minty touch, reminiscent of the very ripe vintage.
This most elegant of all Cru Classé Saint-Estèphes is perhaps a tad more than medium-bodied, which is more due to its extract than its 12,5% alcohol. Its medium tannins have some grip left and medium-plus acidity does a good job of keeping the medium-plus intense black-fruited mid-palate fresh. Its class had to be gleaned from the nicely smooth texture and quite present clay-like mineral infusion initially, but all doubts about possible infections are waylaid on the finish, which takes about 20 seconds to gather momentum and then increases to pronounced intensity for another half minute-or-so stretch. This is a Grand Vin indeed, so I’ll give 93 points and suspect it will improve for another decade.

Hermitage 1996 – Domaine J.-L. Chave
It’s been the better part of a decade since my last bottle of Chave Hermitage, but here we have a slightly translucent, medium-plus intense core with a distinctly clearing rim that sports a hint of brick.
Brought by Jack after another spontaneous and highly appreciated run to the cellar, this wine comes out of the gate with medium-plus intense notes of bacony minerals, which give way to soft black fruits, red flowers and lifted mintiness after five minutes of oxygen. Compared to the earlier Côte Rôtie, another layer of depth is present and this wine is generally much more refined.
Medium-bodied on the attack, the picture of finesse emerging above is confirmed further by its largely buffered pronounced acidity and silky medium tannins, which make for a superbly textured mid-palate. Such is the nervous character of this Hermitage, that the brambly fruits initially seem red rather than black. There is considerable depth and finesse to the intense blackberry & cranberry flavours and added complexity comes by way of a tarry hint and a mineral granite infusion. The 35-40 second finish kicks up the intensity to another level and dries the mouth in a not unpleasant way, yet its balance is preserved at all times during said stretch of time.
Considering the weak vintage, this is an extremely impressive wine and it deserves 94 points in my stingy perception. Given its current structure, moderate complexity and excellent balance I even suspect room for a point improvement over the next decade.

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Clos St. Jacques” 2003 – Domaine Fourrier
We doubly decanted this joint venture, which is by now the bottling/vintage I have drunk most often from this address. It is medium intense, translucent ruby-coloured at the core with a slightly clearing rim. Initially somewhat gassy and reduced, this noble 1er Cru transforms itself to display medium-plus intense notes of soft red fruits and dried porcini, with a gentle dusting of cinnamon.
At 14% alcohol it is still but medium-plus bodied, thanks to the lift provided by almost pronounced acidity. On the mid-palate, slightly sandy medium tannins are drawn out front by said acidity, but pronounced flavours of red cherry and canned strawberry do a good job of providing balance. Additional complexity has to be sought for and is finally determinable as a hint of autumnal forest floor, after which the finish doesn’t add anything to what’s already jotted down, but still takes an effortless 30-35 seconds before cohesion is lost.
It has to be noted at this point that every bottle I tasted out of what by now adds up to about a case, was distinctly different from the previous one. This specimen I would never have recognized as a 2003, due to its generally quite nervous and youthful inclinations, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Therefore, I’ll give 92 points for this showing and based on this bottle I would also have to predict a two point upside, but who knows what the next one will be like?

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2003 “Vigna Paganelli” – Il Poggione
The core is medium-plus intense and almost opaque, in this beautiful garnet/ruby hybrid only Sangiovese seems to be have. There is distinct clearing present at the rim.
The pronounced nose displays some VA-enhanced sweet blueberry notes, a (reductive?) hint of almonds and wood smoke. More oxygen reveals mushrooms and something vaguely feral.
Also 14%, this Riserva is firmly full-bodied. Pronounced acidity and equally fierce grainy tannins are of sufficiently high quality to preserve approachability and adequately buffered on the extracted mid-palate, which sports pronounced and rich blueberry flavours, enriched with sandal wood and lanolin. The finish brings an extra burst of intensity and I suspect the 25-30 seconds worth of balanced length is an indication of youth more than anything else.
So, in retrospect this was another 2003 one would never spot as such and my 92 points are an indication of my confidence that this will age well and improve up to two points over the next decade and a half.

Thanks for the notes Mike. I think your Monsanto was defective. I drank one last week that was beautiful. In fact my wife replied “get more of this”.

Agree on the '96 Chave - it’s one of the first wines I could clearly see having ‘potential’ (I think many times people just state that to feel better about a wine they paid a lot of money for, and is quite disjointed), and no matter how long it stayed open, it just didn’t come together.

FWIW, 100% syrah in the Ogier. But I can certainly see how one would guess viogner as I have thought the same.

Yeah pretty sure the Ogier is 100% Syrah. I had this wine last year. It is still very young to my palate. IMHO, it will age effortlessly for many years. In fact, I expect it to out live the '91, which at 20 yrs may be at it’s slow downward ascent. The '99 Ogier also saw a bit more new oak than in previous vintages. Couple this with a perfect growing season that produced amazing intensity and structure and you have the makings of a monumental wine. Mike, I hope you get another opportunity to try this wine in a few years.

Todd,

Potential or not; there was no lack of joy nor approachability in this Chave.


John/Gregg,

I assume you’re right about the Ogier, which raises an interesting point. This wine developed the deep and sweet, canned peach-like blossomy character I typically associate with Viognier. Syrah can also be quite floral, but tends more toward the red flowery end of the spectrum. As they’re rather different, I doubt I confused them. That begs the question where the blossom note in this Côte Rôtie came from.

Have not had the 96 Chave in a couple years. After reading your post I went down to the cellar to stand up a bottle for consumption sometime this week. Your notes sounds like its drinking well now. Thanks

Mike, the simple yet mysterious answer is that it comes from the Cote Rotie terroir, which does strange and wonderous things to syrah. I too have written notes about apparent viognier in Ogier Cote Rotie, back when the wine was first imported to the USA by Bobby Katcher (1988 vintage). And I too was corrected by a guy who worked the harvest at Dom. Ogier every year, so he was probably right about the cepage.

By an odd coincidence, I have the '99 airing out in a decanter right now, so I’ll try to post my impression tomorrow… FWIW, the '98 edition was a great wine when I last had it one year ago, and drinking superbly well. I’m expecting the '99 to be a bit of a bruiser, but the '98 was very refined anf graceful.

Thanks for the Fourrier note as well. I have avoided '03 Burgs, just nine bottles totaal in my cellar, but two of those are Fourrier CSJ. I’ll wait a few years more.

Mike, sounds like the wine is highly nuanced and each bottle possibly highlighting one over another. I find this with a number of burgundies and typically like them because of it. Cheers Mike

I agree that your Monsanto sounds flawed. I have had four bottles this fall and all have been delicious. I paid $15 per on pre-arrival, which easily makes it my QPR of the year.

Just to follow through with my experience last night with the 1999 Ogier Cote Rotie… My bottle showed a lovely, complex perfume that was totally captivating. But the palate was very tight and un-giving, seeming to need at least 3 more years cellaring to open up. Finally the finish began to reveal itself after 3 or 4 hours decanting, but the mid-palate never did. Will be a great wine in time.

Lewis,

Thanks for the follow-up and it seems like your bottle was less evolved than the one I tasted from. Amazing, since yours had to cross an ocean. By the way, I think it’s astounding that terroir can account for the sort of complexity that can trick experienced tasters into thinking other varieties were added.
With regards to the Fourrier CSJ, my previous comments were rather meant to suggest they should be stood up for consumption. This bottle may have indeed seemed very unevolved to a less informed person, but I have also tasted a few which were showing stewed fruit, medium to medium-plus acidity and gamey notes not unlike Syrah. This is the only vintage which prompted J-M. Fourrier to add some SO2 at the bottling stage, but the fact that it didn’t prevent wild bottle variability could serve as more proof that these wines will not age like I once thought they would.

I have less than a case of the 2003 Burgundies left now. But do have 3 bottles of Fourrier CSJ and couple of Griotte. I was planning to let them settle down for a few more years so that the “'03-ness” may subside even further.