Our monthly poker gang met recently at Tom’s clubhouse, with the wine and food supplied by the previous month’s winner, Karl. As usual, all of the wines were served blind, though this time around Karl did provide us with some clues on a little cheat sheet.
N.V. Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. Karl said this bottle was purchased about 12 years ago, which is pretty incredible considering the airy, fresh and exceptionally elegant bouquet of apple, pear and soft spices the wine puts forth. In the mouth, it’s very pretty, lifted and lilting—with tangy flavors of lemon, apple, pear and chalk just rolling across the palate with ease. It’s an effortless drink that I like a great deal.
2011 Maison Roche de Bellene Pinot Noir Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes. Pete slipped this wine in at the outset to get some opinions on it, and I think the majority of tasters were pretty positive about it. It features pleasant aromas of sappy cherry, raspberry candy and pencil shavings that are rounded and pliant. There’s somewhat aggressive acidity on the palate, but also plenty of fleshy red fruit stuffing to go along with sneaky tannins in support of the juicy finish. I think it should perform well for the next several years.
2010 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes. Blair added this mystery wine to the line-up, and I thought it was showing really well. It features very fine and engaging aromas of rawhide leather, black cherry, classy earth and various baking spices on the nose. In the mouth, it’s juicy-good, with a great acid underpinning to the pliant flavors of cranberries, spiced cherries and earth, and a nice inner mouth perfume of leather and pressed red flowers. There are some late tannins, but I think this is really nice right now.
1999 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. This wine delivers a lovely, haunting nose of sweaty horse saddle, tobacco leaf, dried cherries, cranberries and desiccated leaf aromas that show a pretty feminine side allied to gentle funk tones. In the mouth, it’s not quite as fully-formed yet as on the nose, but it does feature fine depth and a meaty concentration of dark cherry, roasted meat, iron ore and iodine flavor sensations that are giving and fine-flowing through the mid-palate. The back of the palate cinches up from the acidity and tannins, so while this is really nice, I think it will be even better in 2-3 years.
1999 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Marconnets. I totally messed up the pouring order and skipped over this wine by mistake. It was all gone by the time I realized my mistake. I’ll let others weigh in with insights on the Vergelesses versus Marconnets comparison, therefore.
1999 Joseph Drouhin Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin. This is perhaps a bit bigger and more robust on the nose, with appealing notes of creamed cherries, raspberries, soft spices, leather and subtle hints of sassafras and cola nut. In the mouth, it’s pliant and creamy, with a savory edge to the wiry flavors of dark cherries, cranberries, spices and leather. It feels a bit more holistic than the previous wine, but with a slightly darker personality.
1999 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Rouge. This is the other wine I skipped by mistake.
2006 Pian dell’Orino Piandorino Toscana. I find this wine to be a bit unusual on the nose, but ultimately rather interesting. It opens with bright red cherry and red currant fruit, slowly folding in some clay, football, charred wood, toasted herb, sexy spice and porcini suggestions to round things out and provide some grounded warmth to it. It’s pasty and plush in the mouth, with creamy concentrated flavors of cherry and raspberry fruit dominating throughout. It’s really giving, warm and fun–growing more and more pleasurable the longer I stay with it.
2009 Société Cooperative Castelmaure Corbières Col des Vents. This wine presents some simple and not all that appealing aromas of dark berries, olives, bay leaf and rubber inner tube. That leads to a palate that’s lifted and dark-flavored, but also a bit thin and overly simple.
2004 Château des Tours Vacqueyras Reserve. This is dark and leafy, with aromas of limestone, herbs, black raspberries and chocolate-covered cherries that are outgoing and zesty. In the mouth, it’s very fruit-forward, with flavors of cherry cough syrup and dark chocolate leading to a slightly alcoholic finish. It’s direct and driven, but not very nuanced.
1988 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo. This pours a relatively pale garnet color and offers up a bouquet of old leather, dried cherries, mushrooms, cigar box and some funky caramelized red fruit in the background. It seems a bit reduced at times, but it’s complex, layered and finely old-fashioned. In the mouth, it seems cleaner—with a pleasingly mellow red-fruited core and a very nice flowery inner mouth perfume. My issue, though, is that the wine is extremely drying on the finish—giving it a tough-skinned feel when all is said and done.
1997 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Villero. Although it took a while to become evident, this bottle was CORKED.
2005 Tenute Dettori Dettori Romangia IGT. This wine is super-cloudy, with some wild and fun aromas of orange blossom, maraschino cherry, red grapefruit, yellow gumdrop, tropical fruit, strawberry licorice rope, mint, balsa and gentle funk. It’s soft, sweet and tangy in the mouth, with flavors of fruitcup, peach, maraschino cherry and toasted caramel atop an interesting nuttiness. It takes a little while to adjust to it but I dig it when all is said and done.
1989 Daniel Jarry Vouvray Moelleux. This wine presents a wooly nose of smoky lanolin, dried sweet pineapples, beeswax and fine minerals. In the mouth, it’s pithy and punky, with fine yellow fruit, sweet peach and honeycomb flavors supported by bright acidity—leading to a fine and energetic finish.
After hours (not blind):
2004 Château Quinault L’Enclos St. Émilion. Tom kindly dipped into his stash after hours for this wine, which displays an inviting and sort of sexy bouquet of black cherry, eucalyptus, cedar, charred wood, camphor, classy tobacco and oak spices. It’s wiry and lithe on the palate, with youthful structure and sleek tension to the leafy blackberry, black currant and charred wood flavors. I enjoy this a lot.
2010 Chappellet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Signature Reserve Napa Valley. This is big and plush on the nose, with plenty of aromas of purple berries, plums, menthol, vanilla and oak. It’s not overly exaggerated, but it’s definitely bold and outgoing at this young age. In the mouth, it’s creamy and very nicely concentrated, with loads of mountain berry fruit in a zesty profile. There are some confectionary notes that come in on the finish that need to resolve, but there’s powerful stuffing here.
-Michael
