Well, about a month late, but for those interested here are my notes from that wonderful NYE dinner at Andy’s:
1989 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia. Gerry started us off with this white and it soon became apparent after a few sips that this was likely a Heredia white Rioja. It is a darkish yellow color and offers up lovely aromas of waxy lemon, banana peel, apricot, liquid caramel, earthy nuts and some general funk all framed by a steel and iron edging. The first taste is a bit sour and oxidative, so I put it aside for a bit. After a while, it does indeed seem to find firmer footing, turning nicely oily-textured and smooth through the mid-palate. It finds a solid vein of freshness and runs with it, carrying along nice flavors of lemon rind, herbs, yellow fruit and hard minerals with a pleasant tingle on the outside edges of the tongue. The finish is a bit sharper but lingers nicely. A second glass later in the evening brings back some of the harsher elements of steely acidity and oxidative qualities, so I might suggest letting this breath a bit and then drinking up fairly quickly. I was a fan of the wine and enjoyed it a good deal, but it was not to everyone’s taste, I could tell.
N.V. Gaston Chiquet Champagne Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ. The first wine is light gold in color and has a very persistent mousse and a lively fine bead. The aromas are real classy and controlled, with aromas of bread dough, pear, lemon/lime and a light mineral dusting. It is not effusive, instead going for a measured approach as it folds in additional aromas of fresh ginger, talc, apple skins and brown spices in fine complex layers. It is much the same in the mouth, with a fine, classy feel from start to finish. It is medium-bodied and quite focused, with a deft touch to the light-footed acidity. The finish has an effortless ease and shows fine persistence. This was a great way to start the formal tasting portion of the evening. By the way, it was disgorged May 16, 2008.
2002 Vazart-Coquart Champagne Grand Bouquet. The bouquet here is much more immediate and lively, with a big blast of aromas featuring chalk paste, cool graphite, lime pith, tangy citrus layers and tons of cool smoke riding above a strong yeasty component. In the mouth, it is real perky, with a bright personality that could wake the dead. Flavors of lemon and lime, river rocks, chalk, citrus peel and grapefruit are quite effusive, though a bit linear and not nearly so rounded or classy as the previous wine. It feels very driven and sharply cut and I do respect its sense of nervous tension.
N.V. Thierry Triolet Champagne Grande Réserve. This wine is a bit darker gold in color than the previous pair of Champagnes. It shows a lot of minerality on the nose, with a more pinpoint bouquet than the previous entry—featuring directed aromas of graphite, lemon rind, granite and botanical herbs. Right now, it feels pretty narrow and stingy, needing to let out the sails a bit. In the mouth, it features by far the sharpest acidity of the whole lot. The flavors of black smoke, grapefruit and lemon zest feel similarly chiseled. It has an extremely dry finish, with more of an apple flesh profile. It just isn’t very friendly or inviting and was my least favorite of the flight.
N.V. Pierre Moncuit Champagne Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru. This wine is a pale gold color, with very tiny bubbles rising quite slowly up through the glass. It features a fine and lively bouquet that also feels pretty and creamy. It’s the sort of Blanc de Blancs profile I typically dig, with aromas of white flowers, chalk dust, yeast and cool smoke doing their thing in finely-balanced form. In the mouth, it has a nice bit of explosiveness as it totally fills the corners of the mouth with creamy-textured flavors. But it is not big and blowsy or overly-foamy by any stretch. Indeed, for all its feminine charms and class, it has a big-boned structure over which a solid wall of flavor is draped. It has a certain controlled boldness of flavor I find quite attractive. The finish is well-focused and elegant and pulls one back in for more. If it weren’t for the next wine, this one would have been my wine of the flight.
1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. This wine has the purest nose of the evening, with effusive and persistent aromas of chalk and clay, smoke, wild herbs, pear, apple and darker fruits that seem almost more vinous than sparkling. In the mouth, the wine has effortless cohesion and a sense of completeness, along with great length. It seems to have a deep inner sweetness to the fruit that just works. Flavors of apple, peach pit and citrus rind combine with bits of smoke and perhaps white pepper to provide a nice little accent to the tangy, juicy finish. It has nice body, a great mouthfeel and a gentle acidity that combine for a really nice drink.
2001 Château de Rayne-Vigneau Sauternes. This is a fairly dark burnished gold color and comes across on the nose as rather mature, as well. It features scents of liquid caramel, apricot, peach pit, dark toasted meringue and dark brown spices. Caramel is the most dominant flavor component on the palate, along with a good deal of not especially well-integrated dark-toasted wood notes along the edges. It shows a lot of dark spices, a solid dose of maple candy and a sort of raw brown sugar component from time to time, as well. Although quite sweet, it is not particularly full-bodied or unctuously-textured and despite the rough and tumble profile, the finish manages to feel even-keeled and balanced, if not all that complex.
2003 Château Raymond-Lafon Sauternes. Served from 375 ml bottle. This Sauternes is a much lighter color and the nose is airier and more finessed all around—featuring aromas of dried apricot and pineapple, light caramel, light brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and clove. In the mouth, it’s really lovely, with a limpid and oily-smooth mouthfeel that rolls around on the palate with beautiful dried apricot and peach flavors. It has a good deal of richness to the fruit, but is medium-weighted and pretty, with enough acidity to keep it clean. It’s not a blockbuster, but it is real nice.
1987 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. The appearance of this wine is a bit concerning, not because of its rather faded color but because of this white powdery material floating around on top like powdered sugar or something. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the bouquet here. It is absolutely gorgeous, with all kinds of old leather, sweet smoke, tobacco leaf, dried raspberries, mocha paste, Swedish fish candy and strawberry jam aromas just wafting through the recesses of the brain. It is a fascinating sweet nectar that I could sniff all night. Sadly, in the mouth, it is just a shadow of what it is on the nose. It tastes of sour cherry and crabapple, with a lot of sour acidity. It also tastes a bit oxidized to me in a way that is distasteful. There is a sweet core of red fruit down deep, but the rest of the wine seems attenuated and tough, perhaps damaged somehow? It is a terrible shame that the wine is not complete after such a glorious nose—I’d love to taste a pristine example of this.
1970 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja. This is a darker color than the previous wine, with the nose showing fine notes of dark leather, dirt pile, cranberry, sour cherry and vegetable garden leafiness. On the palate, it feels rather traditional, with a tangy acidity to the red cherry, red licorice and raspberry flavors. The texture is real nice, with a surprising creaminess over its medium-weighted frame. It finishes very dry, with a distracting metallic tint that grows stronger as the creaky old acidity starts to come forward more. Interesting, a few of us came back to this wine much, much later in the evening and it had transformed quite a bit, with some tasters saying they could not believe it was the same wine. The second glass features complex aromas of mushrooms, coffee grounds, orange peel and almond liqueur that just seem to pop up out of nowhere. On the palate, too, it feels less tinny on the finish and altogether more holistic. So, while over the course of tasting the first glass seemed to die out, letting the wine sit in the bottle a few more hours seemingly brought it to a higher point. A fascinating reminder of why it can be rewarding to follow an older wine across several glasses over the course of an evening.
1999 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia. The nose here is mellow, with faded red flowers, dried raspberries, cherry candy, earth and something sort of like fresh gooseberry popping up in the background from time to time. In the mouth, the cranberry sour acidity is again rather forward, but the fruit is more substantial and also of a darker and more serious tone. It also displays much more of a tannic presence toward the back of the palate. The finish seems a bit clipped to me, and while there seems to be nice potential here, the wine feels too young.
1998 Bodegas Roda Rioja Reserva Roda I. Wow, this is a much darker-colored wine than anything that has come before it. The nose shows off a lot of mint and cedar elements to go along with aromas of dark spice cake, tea leaves, milk chocolate, tobacco leaf, chalk and mixed red and black currants. In the mouth, the heft and body feel a bit obvious and internationally styled coming on the heels of its predecessors. However, it has a real nice and creamy texture to it and a fine feeling of cohesiveness. Some fine spices and ash notes combine well with cherry and currant fruit to make a pleasing flavor profile that feels well-balanced through the dry finish. Still, I admit that I have liked this wine better in the past and I suspect it has something to do with how much it stood out this night as less traditional in nature.
2000 La Rioja Alta Rioja Reserva Viña Ardanza. Ah, here we have the first “complete” Rioja of the night, in my opinion. This just has it all going on and does so within the context of what I personally like in Rioja. The nose is very appealing and pleasantly complex, with aromas of cedar shingles, peppermint dust, jalapeno pepper, fresh tobacco leaf, suede leather, creamy dried cherries and campfire embers coming across as classy and in balance. It is a bit darker fruited in the mouth and also shows off flavor components of fine mint and cocoa dust. There is obvious but rather cool acidity that is far less sour or intrusive that what one finds in some of the earlier wines of the evening. It is medium-bodied, with tannins in moderation and everything seemingly in its place. This is both a great sipping wine and a very food-friendly wine that was my clear WOTN.
2004 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Reserva. This is a very dark and meaty-smelling wine, with all kinds of Syrah-like scents of cracked black pepper, cooled bacon fat and tire rubber right up front. There are also some notes of mince pie, menthol, tomato plant leaves and cool dark fruit that in no way would I associate with Rioja had this been served double-blind. In the mouth, it features loads of black and blue berries in a chalky-textured wine with big amounts of dry extract. It has an obvious tannic structure and a very dry profile. It is young and structured and a bit tough-skinned right now, with a cool and serious demeanor that probably needs time to mellow.
1995 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva Ygay. Along with the 1987 Tondonia and the 2000 Ardanza, this wine was right up there in terms of aromatic silken beauty. It offers a gorgeous set of aromas that include notes of rawhide leather, macerated cherries, spice cake, tobacco, tea leaves and red currants. On the palate, it is fairly full-bodied and the flavors it delivers really expand out to fill all the corners of the mouth. Pretty flavors of dried cherries, raspberries and strawberries have an interesting fuzziness to them as they just continue to pump out the pleasure. The tannins are a bit too noticeable right now, but this wine has all of the components to be something really special once all of that comes together more seamlessly. Still, this is delightful now and was my runner-up WOTN.
-Michael
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