Had a fantastic dinner at GRACE on Saturday evening. We popped the Cantemerle first, and enjoyed it before our meal and with our apps… I thought it was better than the ‘00 du Tertre we had last weekend, and it paired beautifully with my [heavily seasoned] rabbit appetizer. The ‘04 Terrebrune Bandol that I brought to the meal confirmed the existence of Murphy’s Law: the one friggin’ time I do not ahead of time taste the wines I’m bringing to a meal is the one time a bottle I select to bring to a meal is corked – drrrr! So, the ‘04 Betts & Scholl Hermitage was an impromptu stand-in for the corked Bandol, and it stood-in quite admirably! It paired wonderfully with my both wife’s Sonoma duck entre, making the duck better [“more ducky”, if that makes any sense] as well as my wild boar entre [here, the boar made the wine better, highliting its depth and spicy/funky elements].
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2000 Château Cantemerle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (1/23/2010)
This is in a great place right now, and probably has room for further improvement yet. Open, with the faintest hints of leather and spice on the nose, provding accent for the pleasant red fruit aromas. Medium bodied on the palate, no visual sign of age, and no pronounced tertiary flavors to date. Good fruit on the palate, and surprisingly ample tannins to support it all – the tannins aren’t overbearing, drying or gritty – they’re just there, kicking in on the finish only. Excellent showing for a wine of relatively humble pedigree. Gut impression score: 89 - 91 -
2004 Betts & Scholl Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (1/23/2010)
very nice syrah. open and ready for business right now, although still primary. good dose of funk, but not overbearing in this regard. paired very well with duck and wild boar. gut impression score: 91-93
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