We were privileged to be invited to a friend’s birthday dinner celebration and along with other invitees, we all took some fine wines to share and help celebrate the occasion.
During a fine dinner at Birnam Golf Club, 7 of us enjoyed the following wines our celebrant was given the opportunity to select in the order poured:
2006 PIPER HEIDSIECK CUVEE RARE BRUT- 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, vinified in stainless steel tanks with full malolactic and dosed at about 9 gpl; I’ve been able to pick this out, and other vintages from 2002 on, in recent blind formats as there seems to be a common thread prevailing in the taste profile that includes licorice, anise, mint and black pepper; I kept searching for those notes in this one and finally, we got just a touch, but not as obvious as in other bottles; regardless, this was an outstanding wine that was rich and full bodied with bright acidity and featuring honeyed lemon and orange zest especially at the back end.
NV RUINART BRUT ROSE- this is made of 45% Chardonnay from the Cote de Blanc and Montagne de Reims and 55% Pinot Noir sourced from Montagne de Reims and Valle de la Marne of which 19% was vinified as red wine; it is aged for 2-3 years and dosed at 8 gpl; the nose and the taste was a big bowl of red cherries with a few strawberries and blood orange thrown in; it was a taste treat par excellence and mindful of many previous bottles enjoyed over the last decade or so.
2012 EDGE HILL BACIGALUPI VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY SONOMA COUNTY CHARDONNAY- this wondrous wine comes from a producer with a storied past and I believe it was made by well respected winemaker David Ramey; Edge Hill has undergone numerous changes in size and ownership over the years. The winery was built in 1867 and ceased production in 1907. The original estate property consisted of 1500 acres and was portioned off and sold in smaller parcels. Louis P Martine, son of Louis M Martini who founded the Martini Winery, bought the winery in 1952 before selling it to Leslie Rudd in 2000. Rudd then sold in early 2022 (the brand, the property and existing inventory) to Joel Gott of Gott Wines in Napa. The first Edge Hill vintage produced under Gott’s ownership was from 2022 and was produced at Gotts Winery on Hoffman Lane (south of Yountville and the former Havens Winery property).
There’s even a story to the vineyards, in this case, one that is sourced from a 4 acre block of head-pruned Chardonnay vines located in the Bacigalupi Vineyard; this original block was planted in 1964 and provided 40% of the fruit for Chateau Montelena’s award winning 1973 Chardonnay entered in the Paris Tasting of 1976; this coveted block was contracted to the Rudd family from 1998 through 2017 – a period when they were the exclusive producers of wine from this block; starting in 2018 the Bacigalupi family, for the first time in their history began producing Chardonnay under their own label (Renouveau) from this block.
Our bottle could have been easily mistaken for a white Burgundy with its mineral and flint aromas that graced the honeyed lemon and apple fruit that was most prominent throughout; its super smooth mouthfeel provided the perfect medium to allow for maximum enjoyment of its impeccable balance; another recent bottle from this same vintage was equally as impressive.
2009 AU BON CLIMAT KNOX ALEXANDER ESTATE BOTTLE SANTA MARIA VALLEY PINOT NOIR- once I learned our celebrant was going to bring a 2017 version of this wine, I thought it would be good to check in on one that has a bit more age and see how they compare; there definitely was a common thread/ theme that I picked up in each with candied jujube fruit notes featuring red cherry at its most ripe and fresh state; this one also had a huge dollop of blueberry and a nice streak of spice; missing was some pepper notes that I found a few years ago in the last few bottles; this is a lovely wine that is ready now, but has the acidity to carry it forward for many more years before it reaches its apogee.
2017 AU BON CLIMAT KNOX ALEXANDER ESTATE BOTTLE SANTA MARIA VALLEY PINOT NOIR- as with the 2009, spice and candied red cherry jujube and blueberry were most prominent in this bottle which also had some smoke and burnt red berry notes; it was delivered in a nice oily texture and more fruit forward tending toward balance; it is really good now with lots of promises for being even better in another 10 years or so as it balances out and matures.
1993 CHATEAU MONTELENA THE MONTELENA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA- decanted 2 hours; it had a dark red purple color and no signs of age; the nose was replete with tobacco, fennel, leather and earth laden black currant which continued on to the back end; additional notes of licorice and tar accented super ripe plum and red currant joined in about mid palate; it was soft and smooth, graceful and even elegant to a point while still possessing some depth and power although the latter is waning.
NV RUINART BLANC de BLANC BRUT- this is aged from 2-3 years and dosed at 7 gpl; the fruit is typically sourced from 25-30 Chardonnay crus and blended with 20-30% reserves spanning many years; following its pale yellow color came aromas of fresh citrus fruit with lemon and lime most obvious; it had bright acidity, a frothy, cotton candy like mousse and was super refreshing; in fact, this would have been a great bubbly to start with as it definitely served to clean the palate, but in this case, provided a grand conclusion to a fine evening of celebration and joy.
Cheers,
Blake