Opened my first Hundred Suns today — the 2022 Gamay Noir. A gracious mix of old world and new world sensibilities. A nice mix of sour cranberries, earthiness, pepper and a very dark mineral finish. Lovely peony edge to the nose which gives this away as Gamay. Matched well with grilled tuna. Restrained but not delicate.
Ive always thought suzor would be better with more prominent tobacco notes, lioks like im not the onlyone
I wish I had bought more of the '16 cab franc rose back when it was available. Every bottle was better than the last. I have only 1 left and I have no idea how long to hold it.
No photo but had a 2012 EMH Black Cat Cabernet Sauvignon over the weekend. Really lovely old world feel to it, and still in excellent shape.
From CT review:
<30 minutes air. Beautiful aromatics of cherry/blueberry, vanilla, cedar, pencil lead. Gorgeously integrated on the palate, with maraschino cherry and tobacco leaf dominating. Tremendous grip, very strong tannins, just supple enough to blend harmoniously with the wine. High fruit, high acidity, high (but softening) tannins: wiser people than I say this is not going to get any better but by the book this is not going to go into decline soon. Screw it: this is fully mature and a delightful Napa cab for grownups.
Send a PM to Emily and she’ll help you out.
Oh, and on BD16 be sure to get your CF rose’ fix from T Berkley. It’s pretty good.
Her roses are long gone, unfortunately. I’m down to a 375. I think I bought around 5 cases of this. I had my last 750 the Thanksgiving before last, and that was the first time I noted perhaps a bit of decline. I’m going to finish my 375 this summer.
Drinking the 2018 Vincent Gamay Noir. Fruit is still tart and crunchy, perhaps surprisingly so. Right in my wheelhouse.
I tore through the Claire Hill Lolonis Chardonnay and ordered another case. At the price point, it’s my favorite domestic chard.
I promised myself I wouldn’t touch this for another 3 years, yet…here we are. Similar notes to last time (which noted a ton of cherry, baking spice and a grassy lift), although the mineral/earth tones came through as much more clay-like this time. The fabulous cherry tones are almost spritzy on the nose (I don’t mean physical carbonation, more like a lively but pixilated lift). Some stalky edge that it didn’t get last time. Memo to self: for the love of Jah leave your last bottle of this alone for at least 3 years. Plenty of development possible here. This sort of shut down over the course of a few hours - not really grumpy but more reticent - which to me points to plenty of life ahead of it.
Yes, this was great. Now leave the last bottle in the dark until 2027.
Since my last post in January:
2018 Bevela Chardonnay Fractured Emergence
2012 Jean Edwards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
3x -2022 Liquid Farm Rose Vogelzand Vineyard - (a/k/a Pink Crack)
2015 Maison Harbour Bourgogne Blanc
2013 Zepaltas Cabernet Franc Pickberry Vineyard in Magnum
How was the Zepaltas? I had a few bottles of the Cab Franc and liked them on the younger side. The one bottle I aged a bit lost the freshness that made it so fun to drink in its relative youth.
Virage 2012-firing on all cylinders or volts…….
I think that sums it up, Corey. It was linear and benign. Didn’t really age into anything complex and had lost a lot of primary fruit. Nothing vegetal except r green pepper though. Maybe a bit of plum and faint black pepper. No tanin to speak of.
Had the ‘18 and ‘19 earlier this year in a vertical I picked up this last BerserkerDay. This one was the best of the three. Delicious deep red fruits, a touch of bitter cherry pit, some mild acidity in the background, minimal tannins. A lovely medium bodied red, it was a great pairing for a sausage, corn, and potato boil with Old Bay seasoning (none of the shrimp lovers in the family could make it). Everyone enjoyed it and it disappeared quickly. I don’t know that I’m a buyer at the $55 release price but at the $33 BDay price I’d buy it all day long.
By the way, we started with another of this year’s BDay offerings from Battuello, their 2022 Valdiguié rosé. Very good stuff and I’ll likely order some of their current release, the 2023, sometime this fall. Similar in style to Bedrock’s Ode to Lulu with a little less acidity and perhaps a little more complexity.
I’m not sure exactly what came from where, but we had a bunch of them a week ago Saturday. Tercero, Apollo’s Praise, Jean Edwards. All good.
Stereophonic was tasting at a local street fair this weekend. This, the gruner, and the malbec were all really nice and different in their own unique ways. I also tried a SLO-coast chard that hasn’t come out yet and was great: bright, crisp, some mineral notes and low oak. Certainly won’t hesitate to buy more from this producer.