I didn’t post most of my tasting experiences here through the year, but 2011 was definitely my best year yet for wine. I learned tons and shared the experiences with many good people. This year’s list mixes individual wines with truly memorable events. I wrote this so non-wine geeks might get something out of it, too, so please excuse my doing things like explaining what a Giacosa red label is. Sorry my CT notes don’t link back to CT - I copied this from my blog, and didn’t want to start from scratch.
Lunch with the Blachs
At the beginning of the year we had a lunch we enjoyed so much I posted about it on the bulletin boards (UK Wine Pages and Berserkers). If you read it (recommended for the food if nothing else) you will certainly agree that it’s worth making time for any meal cooked by Tom Blach.
1993 Clavelier-brosson Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes Sunday, January 16, 2011 - Tom went back to the cellar, returning with a burgundy which truly sang. In addition to the light strawberries, there was a funk on the nose that made me a little nervous at first, but I grew to really like. The wine was in perfect balance, medium bodied, with good fruit, a trace of acidity, and a long finish. It seemed somehow more serious than most of the others and was my wine of the night. I was tempted to sneak out with the rest of the bottle, but my conscience overcame my baser urges.
2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard Sunday, January 16, 2011 - The terrine matched up well with the 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir, Alpine Vineyard. Burgundy-loving Kevin Harvey and his team high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains are clearly inspired by France’s expression of this variety, making a leaner, more pure wine when compared to many of their California brethren. Despite its youth, this wine drank well, with mixed fruit nose, medium body, and a long pure finish. It was much more approachable than its 2007 counterpart enjoyed in November and more complex than the 2008 Rhys Alesia Sonoma Coast consumed the previous night. Tom and Richard discussed which Burgundy they could secretly substitute this for without getting called out. I believe they settled on a 5-10 year old Dujac.
Favorite Affordables
These two notes represent winemakers who make great wine at a more-than-reasonable price.
Mike Officer is both Emma’s and my favorite winemaker in the world, largely because he makes fantastic, low-oaked wines, and he refuses to raise prices much, despite being immensely popular with a very long waiting list. We averaged drinking a bottle a week of his wine, Carlisle, in 2011, no other producer was even close. Needless to say, I buy all I can every time he sends out an offer.
2007 Carlisle Zin, Papera Ranch - Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - Holy Cow! Drank this with pizza while watching Arsenal’s come-from-behind win over Barcelona. Popped and poured. Very dark red. With time, a black/blue fruited nose with clove and olive. Less red fruit and briar than expected in a Zin. Very full bodied, massive viscosity. Still quite tight core. Tannic, good acidity, dark fruit, long. With time it showed more classical Zinfandel characteristics, but if just popped and poured, some would think Syrah. Fantastic now, but maybe even better in a year or two as the core unwinds. Decant or patience suggested. I have often proposed that Carlisle’s SVD’s were great because they were interesting riffs on a theme, not because they were inherently better than the Sonoma County Zinfandel. This wine proved that wrong. The best bottle of Zinfandel since 1997 Ravenswood Monte Rosso and Old Hill, and maybe the best Zin of my life. Fantastic. Alas, I only had the one. Note I bought lots of the 2009, yay! (One already consumed too young, fantastic nose, but too primary)
The first rule of Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club, right? Well I’ve now violated what should be the first rule of the Jouan Club. Henri Jouan is a small producer in Morey St Denis who has a very limited presence in the US and UK. His wines remind me a bit of the great Jacky Truchot and Rene Engel. In other words, old school. And they are available for a song compared to highly reputed makers. Emma and I have been pounding his wine at an unreasonable rate. Looking at Cellar Tracker, I see our consumption of his wine is second only to our consumption of Carlisle. Good company!
2008 Jouan Clos St Denis - Thursday, December 01, 2011 - Popped and poured with parents - Our first bottle of this wine. Medium ruby color. Complex nose of red fruit and forest floor with just a touch of sweat. Gorgeous. Medium bodied, good acidity, and amazing complexity for such a young wine. A long finish. My father has been a bit anti-Pinot lately, and seemed very surprised this was made from the same grape. I was glad it showed so well.
Piedmont
My love for Barbaresco and Barolo dominated last year’s list, and despite my only listing one, we enjoyed several fantastic bottles this year.
One of the best winemakers in this region is Bruno Giacosa who uses some modern methods, but whose style is traditional and tremendously ageable. The very best Giacosas are labelled in red, rather than the his usual white label. This one earned its red-label. Sadly, I don’t have any of this, but I am glad that Chae was able to share.
2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - Dinner with Nick and Chae at Picolo Sogno in Chicago. This came as a result of some bulletin board discussions. I brought a wine from the same winemaker, the same vintage, and an adjacent vineyard, the Rabaja, which I truly love. But the Asili raised the level a couple of notches. Slow-O’d all day. Ruby with a little bricking. A quintessential haunting nebb nose of roses, tar, mixed fruit, and mixed spices. So complex and beautiful, the nose was enough to carry the night. Medium bodied, silky tannins, good acidity, wonderful flavors that almost matched the nose. A long finish. This was everything that modern wines aren’t, subtle and fine, rather than bold and brash. Amazing.
A few Chards
Hey look, white wine. On my list of wines of the year!?!
2008 Coches (Mersault, Mersault Rougeots, Puligny Montrachet Les Enseigneres) - If you were to ask who the greatest Chardonnay maker in the world is, many would reply Jean-Francois Coche. This year I got to try his wines for the first time. The first was with Ray Walker of Maison Ilan, at a restaurant in Burgundy. While watching him wolf down escargots, I tried the basic village Mersault Coche and thought it was great and unlike any other white burgundy or Chardonnay I’ve tried. I would guess that California Chardonnay makers who make a big buttery style are targeting Coche. And while his wines seem quite rich and oaked, they are distinct from the New World versions because they still retain excellent acidity. A few months later, Christopher Prain and I visited a restaurant in Paris famous for stocking Coche, and tried two single vineyard wines side-by-side. Both were a bit tight and far too young, but still enjoyable. I expected the more minerally one to be Puligny, and the the more round fruity one to be Mersault, but it wasn’t so easy! As a matter of fact, it was just the opposite. Funnily, I think I preferred my first lowly Coche, perhaps it was a bit more ready to drink. Anyway, just to show no consistency whatsoever (see my wine of the year at the bottom of this long post), what I found so interesting about the Coche wines is that they have the hand of the winemaker written all over them. They have lots of oak and smokey spice, making a distinctive aroma that I believe many could detect blind. They were fun, but certainly beyond my budget.
2007 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Mountains - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - I loved this wine because it shocked burgundy fans. It is far from your typical California, super-ripe, ultra-lush Chards. Served blind. A striking mix of opulent CA fruit and the minerality of a fine CdB. Excellent balance, medium body, medium finish. Most guessed Burgundy. Wine of the night.
Tasting Lunches
One of the advantages of living in London is the ability to attend some amazing wine tastings at fantastic restaurants.
1993 Faivelely Latricieres Chambertin and 1985 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Murgers - Dec 13 WIMPS - These are wines that I brought to two WIMPS wine events at the Ledbury, arguably the best restaurant in London. WIMPS are themed tastings, and folks bring really good wines to share. Why do I list these wines? Both were excellent examples of mature burgundy, that were very well received by the others. Nigel Plats Martin, who operates the Ledbury and a few other top restaurants, was at our table at the Christmas WIMPS and laughed, “Who’d of thought that the Nuits St Georges would have stood out in this group of wines?” It wasn’t meant as a left-handed compliment, we just had a rocking good table including some prestigious labels. I’ve brought the occasional dud to a tasting, and bringing a winner made me feel good. So there.
Introduction to Rousseau
1999 Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin and 2000 Rousseau Clos St Jacques at Auberge du Pot d’Étain. September 3, 2011 - Christopher Prain and I enjoyed these side by side. Most people, including the Rousseaus, consider the CSJ the better wine, even though the Charmes is from Grand Cru terroir. Countering this was the fact that 1999 is the superior vintage, though 2000 might be more approachable at this age. So this was an interesting comparison. I really liked both, and understand why so many people love Rousseau. These wines are extremely well made, clean, with a tremendous silky texture. The Charmes was tighter, and much less generous on the nose to start. But it slowly revealed a lovely red-fruit and mineral nose. It was rather light-bodied, especially for a grand cru, but was silky, complex, and reasonably long. The CSJ was ebullient in its fruit and oak, both on the nose and palate. Much fuller bodied and easier to enjoy. And that is what did the trick for me. I preferred the subtlety of the Charmes, versus the obviousness imparted by the oak in its counterpart. The proprietor disagreed, far preferring the CSJ. In the end, I wonder how much of the CSJ’s body and character comes from the oak, versus the underlying terroir. Regardless, I really liked both and picked up some 2009 of each for future comparisons.
Other Memorables
Here are a few more wines that were exceptional on their day:
1991 Heitz Cabernet, Martha’s Vineyard - Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - At a local bistro with Dan, Jan, Joanna and Corey (who brought this wine). This my first bottle of one of the historically great vineyards of California, which was unfortunately grubbed up after the 1992 vintage due to phylloxera. It used to be surrounded by eucalyptus trees which imparted a minty note, or so I thought. Upon opening the mint was more than just a note; the wine screamed “I am liquid Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies!” Seriously, it took me a few minutes to find wine in that nose. With time the wine integrated, and was an excellent traditional cab, but man, that “mint note” never went away and had me giggling like a fool. Fun wine, and most importantly, memorable.
Corey enjoying the dregs
2005 Sine Qua Non Syrah Atlantis Fe2O3~1a, b & c - Emma was recently promoted, and this is the wine I chose to celebrate. Happy days! Friday, December 09, 2011 - Opened to celebrate Emma’s promotion. Decanted for several hours, but even the initial tiny pour was fantastic. I loved our first bottle on release, and bought some more on the secondary market. Sadly, the next two were less interesting. The last was better, but I worried about a seeming over-ripeness. This bottle didn’t have that fault. Dark, opaque purple. Strong, complex nose of ripe dark fruit, oak, and savory elements. Full bodied, and the taste matched the nose. Long and quite delicious. I didn’t pick up on the pruney over-ripeness I worried about with the previous bottle. The wood was still present, but a little less obvious. I think this has come out of its shell and should continue to improve. Great wine for the hedonistically oriented.
An Amazing Truchot Dinner
My runner-up wines came from another dinner with Tom Blach. I had read raves about the wines of Jacky Truchot on-line, but had never had one. He retired in 2005, and his wines have become scarce and skyrocketed in price since then. I inquired on the UK Wine Pages, explaining my interest and asking for ideas on how to get my hands on some. Somebody suggested I set-up an off-line (a face-to-face get together to share wines), and folks started generously volunteering to bring some. While trying to choose a location, Tom volunteered to cook a meal to match. His dishes included Jambon Persillée, carrottes rapees, celri-remoulade, parmentier of duck confit, petits pois a la francaise, piece de boeuf a la Bourguignonne, noodles with snail butter, cheese, and Peach Melba. It was terrific, and every bit as memorable as our first lunch. I didn’t take notes on any single wine, but as a whole they impacted me strongly. The Truchot wines are the opposite of manufactured, not at all modern or super-concentrated. But each wine just felt right, telling the story of its vintage and its terroir. There were six of us drinking that night, and we basically killed eleven bottles, including:
2005 Huet Vouvray Petillant Brut
2003 Truchot Morey St Denis
2005 Truchot Gevrey Chambertin
2002 Truchot Morey St Denis Les Blanchards
2004 Truchot Morey St Denis Les Blanchards
2004 Truchot Chambolle Musigny Les Sentiers
2005 Truchot Charmes Chambertin
2009 Jouan Clos St Denis
1989 Remy Chambolle Musigny Les Fremieres VV
1991 Remy Clos de la Roche VV
1998 Ponsot Clos de la Roche VV
It was truly an amazing meal with Tom, Sharada, Rupert, Michael, and Martin.
Wine of the Year
And now for my favorite wine of the year, I think the first non-Syrah since I’ve started tracking these things.
1999 Engel Clos Vougeot - Enjoyed at Caves Madeleine in Beaune. The proprietor, Lolo, never lacks for opinions. His greatest wine passion is understanding terroir, or enjoying wines that taste of where they’re from; he really doesn’t like seeing the hand of the winemaker. I like to let him choose wine for us, and he seemed rather excited to share this one.
Monday, September 05, 2011 - Rather light ruby color. Initial nose strongly funky, but with mixed fruit quickly, spices, and minerals coming out. The panoply of odors confused both of us, making Christopher wonder whether the wine might be off. But, it quickly settled down, and kept transforming through the afternoon. Medium bodied, slightly chunky tannins, quite a bit of barnyard, but not in a bad way, medium-long finish. This was a transformative wine for me and helped me hone in on one of my preferences. I prefer old-school burgs, even those that aren’t 100% clean, to modern, extracted versions. I have happily been able to secure three more bottles of this wine, and look forward to sharing them.
My italicized wine notes are stored at Cellartracker, a fantastic on-line cellar tracking service. My username there is wineandgolover.
Last year’s faves are here. It seems that burgs have gained a position of dominance in my current drinking. I wonder what next year will bring?
I’ve barely touched on my experiences with Ray Walker at Maison Ilan, or Kevin Harvey at Rhys, or even some great surprises like Crowley and Toulouse. So I guess I should fix that with future entries. But there you go, these were my wines of the year, and I’m already looking forward to 2012. After all, the 2010 Burgundy previews are next week in London, which should make for an excellent start.
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