Misc TNs : '81 Cos, 90 Carbonnieux, 01 Conseillante, a bunch of Garagiste, etc

WINE TALK
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  • 1998 Azelia Barolo San Rocco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (12/12/2009)
    A little better than mildly pleasing. Decent structure, but mostly just a decent bottle of generic big red without much Nebbiolo character nevermind Barolo.
  • 2005 Parmi Priorat per Martina - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (12/12/2009)
    A nice balance and restraint with bright acidity to the fruit and a solid backbone. Elements of dustiness, some oak and a little bite. Held a good and constant bead all night. Solid.
  • 1981 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/5/2009)
    Cork drilled. Ah-so’ed and decanted. Took about 10 minutes to blow off funk. Solid Cos with cedar and cranberry (only way I can think of to describe). A bit of dust and funk. Lean structure with hollow middle. Medium finish with some vitamin notes and citrus peel. Did not last much over an hr. Peaked at nice, but was mostly past prime.
  • 1990 Château Carbonnieux - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (12/5/2009)
    Really pretty and expressive. Nice dark color. Plenty of fruit on the nose with backings of old wood/leather notes. Good body on the soft side and minimal (but not flabby) structure - mature. Good balance and a nice finish with the fruit holding a good bead and the leather/wood/funk notes harmonizing. Held really well for a couple hours. By no means profound, but a lovely mature Claret that performed above its class.
  • 2001 Château La Conseillante - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (12/2/2009)
    A slide more mature than previous bottles with no oak apparent and fruit receding. Not lesser for it, but also awkwardly transitional.
  • 2006 Coche-Dury Bourgogne - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne (12/1/2009)
    Lovely chewy Pinot fruit with streaks of earth. Plenty of tannins in a pleasing form. Really vibrating in balance though not veering much into off. Very pleasing.
  • 2005 Parmi Priorat l’Esprit De Porrera - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (11/23/2009)
    Loads of sweet fruit. Apparent, but very soft spine. Rides on waves of dark fruits, balsamic notes and a strong desire to please.
  • 2007 Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Calvert Vineyard - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago (11/20/2009)
    I think a great test of a wine is how delicious it is when consumed from unconventional glassware like simple water glasses. This rocked in spades. Great berry density, a lovely acidity, a roundness mixing with graceful body. Great drinking with rounds of pizza.
  • 2007 Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Eaton Family Vineyard - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough, Omaka Valley (11/20/2009)
    Nice enough and certainly more detailed than most NZ (or US) Pinot.
  • 2003 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (11/11/2009)
    Straight up ratafia/homemade cherry liqueur on the palate which overwhelms anything else. Maybe a Manhattan peeking out here. Even the nose is muted in the face of the onslaught. Is this a flaw? Depends on what you want from a wine. Do you want a subtle wine of contemplation? Or do you want a soda-shop grown-up loving caress of syrup and fruit and alcohol’s sweet oblivion? If your Greek mother-in-law made diner food like keftedes for you tonight, the later would bring joy. The entirely-too-much alcohol serves to wash the stresses of the day away. Context is everything, yes?
  • 2006 Valle Reale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (11/9/2009)
    Didn’t make a note before, but the wine was rough-hued and un-knit. Time has provided the stitches and this was a nice fruit-driven wine with moderate depth and body. Nice MdA edges and pull.
  • 2005 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura (11/8/2009)
    Really pretty and elegant with light fruits, complex first-flush tea notes and a really delicate finish. Lovely elements arrayed in a nicely symmetrical package.
  • 2002 Benjamin Romeo Rioja La Vina De Andres Romeo Liende - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (11/4/2009)
    Very difficult to read this wine. Structured and elegant with tart fruits - almost like preserved lemon puree - and a nice finish. Balanced, yet disconcerting. Certainly enjoyed the bottle, but …
  • 2005 Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin - Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA (10/31/2009)
    Nice claret in a modern package. Well done slickness. Has a nice presence and complexity.
  • 2007 Abbazia di Novacella (Stiftskellerei Neustift) Pinot Nero - Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige (10/21/2009)
    Cooly balanced Pinot fruit with a nice profile and a mellow finish. Not particularly deep. Good.

Posted from CellarTracker

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I’m surprised the '81 Cos is already past its prime…is that common for '81’s?

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The provenance was not ideal, though it came from the same place as the '90 Carbonnieux. I suspect that bottles on the front 1/3 of the bell curve of cork quality are past prime, if that makes sense.


A.

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It does make sense - surprising, then, that so many Italian wines make it, since they seem to use anything that remotely resembles cork as a closure. (sorry, I’m just sore about my atypically high percentage of corked Barolo, and then the crappy dried up corks in the wines that are still drinking well, too)

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Troublesome notes on the Azelia. After so many bad things coming out from Gilman’s notes on 98 Barolos, not re-assuring.

Also interesting take on the Benjamin Romeo. I’m hoping that’s more vintage than producer, as I adore these wines in their youth, but have yet to experience these at 10+ years in the bottle (well no one has since the first vintage was 2000, taking Artadi out of the equation).

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I bought a lot of 1981 Bordeaux on release (also 1979, a vintage I think of as a “twin” of 1981 in many respects). My recent experience of many of these wines is that yes, many have peaked and are beginning the downward path. However, “past its prime” is by no means synonymous with “dead”. Many of these wines still provide a lot of pleasure and are delicious, if you enjoy a mature wine with little in the way of primary fruit, but plenty of interesting secondary and tertiary flavors and textures. Sometimes a little aeration can help, and more often than not my last glass is better than the first.

I doubt many 1981’s need any more time, and I’d be drinking just about any Bordeaux from the vintage. Those who want some up-front fruit in their Bordeaux may find the vintage to be a bit tired for their taste. But I still like most of them.