TN: Sips and slurps

WINE TALK
1

A bunch of things over the past few weeks.

  • 1997 Pian Delle Vigne (Antinori) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (8/20/2009)
    Quite pretty. Fantastic balsa, sour cherry, dark chocolate. A bit astringent when first decanted, but after 4 hours it had really smoothed out dramatically. Very fresh with sweet and sour elements, lovely dryness indicating a lot of structure left, taut, a little tense, yet plenty of stuffing. Quite a nice Brunello. (93 pts.)
  • 2000 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (8/18/2009)
    Not quite what I was looking for. Volatile and porty on the nose. Nice freshness to the palate but lacking some punch. Disappointed. (87 pts.)
  • 2007 Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Boucauds - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (8/11/2009)
    Grassy, acidic, proper. Goodbye dad.
  • 2004 Alban Vineyards Pandora - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley (8/8/2009)
    Pretty intense stuff, simmering plums, pepper, gamey, intense and ripe. This reminded me a lot of a recent SQN Raven Grenache but was deeper and more intense. Quite delicious. (94 pts.)
  • 2001 Château de Malle - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (8/8/2009)
    Quite delicious, still young, loaded with botrytis, sweet cream, and mouthwatering acidity. (89 pts.)
  • 1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (8/7/2009)
    Lovely, resinous, pine needle, quite silky and mature. Not showing the gamey complexity that I get from the Cuvee Reservee, but there was a nice, spicy, leathery edge. The bottle disappeared quickly, clearly delivering pleasure with ease. (91 pts.)
  • 1996 Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon Rochefort-sur-Loire Les Rayelles - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon Rochefort-sur-Loire (8/7/2009)
    Quite advanced, maple syrup, slightly burned edge, not showing much acid, old socks on the nose. Pleasurable and sweet enough but not really showing any cut or acid. (85 pts.)
  • 2005 Edmunds St. John Rocks and Gravel - USA, California (8/6/2009)
    Day 1 was pretty uninteresting. Sweet, somewhat nondescript, aromatically boring. Not much structure. Maybe 80 points.
    Day 2 was a pretty reasonable transformation into an interesting wine. Much more brambly with some attitude, a little green veggie action but in a good way. Sweetness is gone. A bit of a Syrah-dominant personality, but I am curious to what the blend is. Solid wine. (85 pts.)
  • 1985 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (7/30/2009)
    This is usually a mindblowing bottle of Las Cases, but particular bottle was more a slow-burn. Reticent aromatics move to a smouldering palate of mineral and red cherry. More tannic and firm than I am used to. After an hour the nose did start to get more expressive, so the pop and pour at a restaurant was clearly a disservice to this wine. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Interesting note on the Pegau, the ones I’ve had in the last couple of years showed great. Did you decant?

3

I have some '01 de Malle in half bottles. Hope they come around and blossom in a few years.

4

I have never been a fan of the '85 LLC - solidly made, no doubt, but at least IMO eclipsed by the '81, '82, '83, '86 and '88 in that decade.

5

Have to agree that the '83 and '86 are stellar wines…haven’t had an '85 yet to make the blanket statement though.

6

Eric, you seem to be a pretty significant buyer of Pegau, and the review are almost always good, so I can see why.

7

Interested to read this. Had a couple of bottles of this over the course of this year, the last in June. My experiences have been similar to yours, Bob. Correct but not hugely moving. I know others are much bigger fans of this vintage. I have one bottle left, perhaps it will be third time lucky.

Thanks
Peter

8

Brief decant. I have a strong preference for the Reservee over the Laurence, although the 2001 Laurence ROCKS while the Reservee is sound asleep.

If you have been underwhelmed by 1985 LLC you haven’t had a really good one. It can be an utterly stellar wine. Yeah 1982 and 1986 are better, but 1985 can actually deliver more pleasure.

9

A couple of observations:

The 2000 Clos de Papes. My most recent tastings have been that this wine is pretty shut down, in its silly phase. The 2000 CdP vintage was not really a stellar one, but don’t let this tasting lead you to far.

I know this is not what most want to hear, but I think you just got bad timing on this wine. Try it again in about 5 years when it wakes up again. I think the score will jump about 6-8 points.

10

Gordon, thanks. I have had a lot of 2000 CDP that offer a ton of pleasure right now, and I have read a lot of positive notes on 2000 Clos des Papes of late. But for me right now it is weak. So better to wait 5 years than do anything else.

11

I agree. Although the last time I had the 1985 Léoville las Cases was quite a while back - i.e., 2nd November 2006 at my small group’s Blind Bordeaux Challenge IV where I ranked it 2nd Place after the 1986 Cos d’Estournel - I remember it to be a wonderful wine. Of the better LLC vintages from the '80s I’ve had, I liked '85 more than the '88 and marginally less than the '86. The '82 is undoubtedly good, but I found the '86 and '85 more the style I like.

12

You DO love your Chateauneuf!
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13

The 2000 Clos des Papes I had last summer was one of the best wines I tasted last year. Good bottles and bad bottles, I guess.