The Domaine Tempier offline (nyc) was tremendous good fun!
Thank you to everyone who came over. We had 11 amazing people, at least 16 fascinating wines, my counting skills diminished as the clock ticked on, and a fantastic time.
I need to get better at taking proper line-up shots as this is neither all the bottles nor a reasonable angle - oh bother.
Dinner was French racks of lamb, Provencial potatoes, Zucchini medley, chacuterie, cheese, olives, and a delicious home-made bread (curtesy of @phil.lukeman) w/ Vermont maple butter.
------Tasting Notes------
1988 Pradeaux - Sadly on the decline.
1990 Domaine Tempier La Tourtine - Fully mature. Grand Dame. Silver fox. Sophisticated. Elegant. First 3.5hrs - little dusty & pedestrian. Then the body becomes silky to the point of ethereal. The nose turns on: potpourri box, old dark cherries, dried roses, plum, harvest soil on a warm day. Palate follows - supporting fruit. Old Barolo and old burgundy had a super model child. Won’t fall off the cliff in next 12, but could see decline after that. Enjoy now @ it’s peak. It won’t fall off this month or next month, but will go over the shoulder in probably a year or so
1995 Domaine Tempier Cabassaou - My WOTN. '90 Tourtine was the silver fox, this was still dynamic and shifting and energetic - bright light through a spinning kaleidoscope. Pipe tobacco & berries, it sings and develops from hour 1 - 4 (when it was finished). To quote our friend in the Moulin Rouge - “Spectacular. Spectacular!” Just reaching peak and the peak feels like it will be a multi-year affair.
2000 Domaine Tempier La Migoua (Magnum) - Still on the way up. Mint & herb. Leather & olive. Fruit was there. Don’t didn’t get a strong directional sense of the future. Random note - for about 30 minutes there was a Worchester sauce flavor on the finish - not a in a bad way.
2004 Domaine Tempier La Migoua Mag - This is shut down right now.
2004 Domaine Tempier La Tourtine tragically corked. As Jocelyn pointed out - worse on the nose than in the mouth. The wine underneath clearly has potential for joy. Unfortunate flaw.
2007 Château Pradeaux - Bandol X 10 Ans d’Elevage - @phil.lukeman brought the People’s favorite. This has lots of life in it and, for me, still has a couple years of integration in front of it.
2011 Pibarnon - some plum jam balanced with leather. Can’t tell if this has greatness ahead of it or will just continue on very pleasantly.
2012 Domaine Tempier La Tourtine (Magnum) - Aromatic, red fruit lead with some secondary coming in. Found it together, but it’s not evolved yet.
2012 Domaine Tempeir Rouge - Sadly don’t have a note on this one
2018 Bandol Rose - Does anyone remember exactly what this was? This was a casualty of sequencing. Had it late in the evening and didn’t have the hours with air that the DT benefited from. My notes reads “fine.” Shame.
2019 Domaine Tempier La Migoua - Not shut down, but clearly a baby. Primary fruit pony. Strong oak influence. Tannins undeveloped. Recheck in 5 years.
2020 Domaine Tempier Rose (Magnum) - @Joseph_Grassa and Julie did us proper with this bottle. Upon open it’s good, strong, & very Provence. Then goes a touch of celery. Closed down for an hour and half and then sprung back to life. WowWow, boomerang and expansion! Extra dimensions of melon and more exuberant red fruit notes. Grabbing 2 of these to the cellar.
@david_s brought a sparkling Jura that he’ll have to remind me what the name was - This is lovely. fresh. Aggressive, but not unpleasant perlage. Complex, just super.
2019 Paul Jaboulet Aine Muscat Beaumes de Venise Le Chant des Griolles - classic, lovely, floral and over-ripe stone fruit, peche, apricot, pinapple, some lavender. Good acid to keep the balance.
NV Mas de Cadenet Vin Cuit de Provence - @phil.lukeman brought a wild one and I still don’t know what to make of it. In a good way.
All of the corks, with the exception of the 2004 M Mag (which broke at midpoint and was soggy) were flawless.
Special thanks to @PeterB who helped with our 1 wild cork and @Sam_Kwak who boldly shot the 80s shot.
