We spent the day yesterday cooking, watching football, recovering from New Year’s Eve, and working on a brand new hangover with a few friends. We had some outstanding wines in the process. I wrote no notes but can offer some impressions.
2005 Grand Veneur CDP: From magnum. We consumed this in the afternoon before firing up the BGE for the first standing rib roast of 2010. While it seems fairly modern in style, it is well made. Very dark and potent, the wine opened up after about an hour of air. It is still a touch monolithic, but offered up some garrigue and spice. Nice way to start the day.
2007 Tribouley “Orchis”: My first Tribouley was an eye-opener. This wine rocks. Generous red fruit, flowery and lush. I think I paid around $18 for this and consider it an absurd qpr (Thanks, Mike!). A few pegged this as their wine of the day/night.
2006 Saxum JBV: Huge, chewy and syrupy, this accompanied the roast pretty well. Dark red fruit, grilled meat, scorched earth. I thought the alcohol was in check, but some noted that it was boozy. It could have been a meal unto itsself, yet it barely lasted through dinner.
2006 Copain JBV: Opened as a counter-point to the Saxum, this was universally preferred (and was my wine of the day/night). There is not much to say other than that this was powerful yet elegant, exceptionally well balanced, and a pleasure to drink even at this point in its young life. I think this will be magnificent in five years.
We also had a few bottles of Cava for some toasts, but I don’t have anything to report on them.
We had the ‘07 Saxum James Berry Vineyard as one of many bottles on New Years Eve, and I freakin’ hated it. It was thick, chewy, oaky, chocolatey, and mega amounts of alcohol (‘boozy’). Terrible wine, honestly. Honest to God I have NO clue how people actually enjoy it, but even more so, how it can be called the ‘perfect wine’, by garnering a perfect score. It was the worst wine of the wine (WWOTN) for me, by a mile - however, I did not try the Wild Horse Pinot Noir that somebody brought. (Not so sure I wouldn’t have preferred it to the suckshake that is Saxum JBV)
Nice notes Brad. Glad to hear about the Tribouley. I almost popped one on xmas, but decided to wait since I only have 2. Guess I should see about getting more!
When are we getting together? I feel like I’m missing out on all the wines!
I’m sure I would hate it, but the Saxum sounds worth trying…also the phrase Suckshake is pretty awesome!
That’s exactly what it is - well, I would actually prefer to call it a Sh*tshake…
Brad, I can imagine the Copain is MUCH better - I had the '07 Copain JBV and it was superior to this ‘perfect wine’ (aka Sh*tshake) by such a factor as to be unmeasurable.
Brad I totally agree with you on the Copain, here’s my note from NYE
2006 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (12/31/2009)
Big ripe nose of dark fruits, asphalt, and smoke. Going in the nose had me thinking that this was going to be your typical James Berry, but it is not! Boysenberries and raspberries dominate on entry with asphalt and a charred wood. There is a huge amount of minerality as this finishes that really separates it from others expressions of this vineyard. Still quite tannic at this time ( starting kind of dusty but after being open for 5 hours really clamp down and become more aggressive. It is enjoyable now with about an hour of air, but did really shut down at about 5 hours, so I will not open another for at least a year.
Joe, If I had been taking formal notes on the Copain JBV, they would have looked a lot like the note you posted. Nice job. The asphalt and smoke descriptors are very accurate.
Todd, I am going to use suckshake as a descriptor (when appropriate) from now on. I have a few of those “perfect” JBVs in storage, so maybe I’ll get a chance to use the term in a note later on this year.
Mike, based on your recent notes, it doesn’t seem like you are missing out on many wines. Feel free to bring your other Seven Stones over any time! If you really want to try a Saxum, I need to make some room in my racks. We can post notes and get Todd riled up again.
There are some great wines I didn’t take notes on since they were less formal get together with some friends. 2000 Dom, Krug, 78 Inglenook, 95 Beau, you know…the usual!
I am curious to try the Saxum, but I am afraid. Plus I don’t want to upset the Todd
Not. I call my wines suck when they do. I did enjoy the least of the 4 bottles I brought though things get fuzzy around the time we really got to that one.
If our board has an agenda I need to be filled in though so I can tow the party line my kapitan!
I’m with you on the alcohol part on the 07 Saxum JBV. I was disappointed with it. Had a hard time seeing it as a “perfect” wine at this point. Hope the other bottles come around.
Oh and I should add, no where near 100 points to me but that’s most a stylistic discussion. I do not see how a wine made in that style can ever take on the characteristics that would take my head to another place and make me think it near perfection. The wines I have had that did such things to me were of more classic styled wine making that had less to do with fruit and more to do with balance and secondary complexities.
All this talk of the Saxum and I missed this note. One of my favorite finds over the last few years Brad. The price is climbing on it but it still represented an excellent value 2005-2007.
Copain talk–love it. My TN from July 09 on the 2006 JB was not as vivid or praising as yours, nor like the recent Copain 2007s. The 2007 Copain JB is tremendous, a mixture of new Copain style with still reverence for the vineyard and the fruit centric aspects that JB does so well. The 2007 will outlive and exceed the 2006, for sure, but I will open a 2006 in the next couple months and see where I stand with you guys.
Frank, I had the 2007 once a few months ago, and I agree it is an impressive wine. My thought then was that it was more approachable now than the 2006. I enjoy them both, but they are different wines. Some time later this year or maybe early next year, I am going to tee them up side by side.
Cris, the Tribouley really is a terrific wine and wine value. In our group of seven drinkers, three called it WOTN and four chose the Copain (no votes for the suckshake) – interesting results considering the price points of the wines. Never having tried any Tribouley before, I was delighted with it and will definitely keep an eye out for more.
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If you really want to try a Saxum, I need to make some room in my racks. We can post notes and get Todd riled up again.
