SEASON OPENER WINES - shane’s (9/13/2009)
A new quarterback is in town and the beloved opened up against the pack, so what does that mean, some wines, food, and the promise of a lot of fun
starter whites
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2006 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
nose: extremely layered with great depth that leads into beautiful tones of honeysuckle, all sorts of white florals, tree fruits, lemon peels, and bits of hi-toned spices with some bits of spiced pears. A nose that one can really dig into to try to get into the crevices that exists currently. Youthful as the tones are exuberant at the same time, but deftly balanced
taste: incredebly balanced and well layered medium/light feel with crisp medium+ acidity that gives a real nice spine. Delicious tones of honeysuckle, pears, various nut based spices, and a whole lot of white florals that evoke a spring field on the palate
overall: a baby, but ever delicious at this precocious stage. Comes off with a real youthful exuberance to it, but there is a real good balance to it that holds it all together that makes it very enjoyable. This is a beautiful CdP blanc that will be very interesting to drink when its fully mature (93 pts.)
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1986 Domaine Michelot-Buisson Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
nose: my first thought on smelling this is great, its not oxidized, then the real fun begins as its really changes a lot on the nose with varying tones of blood oranges, smoked nuts, hot oils, and a whole lot of meyer lemons with some other various citrus tones along with a slight bit of oxidative tones of bleu cheeses that would be expected for a white this old
taste: a real beautiful full feel strikes you right off the bat with nice medium acidity that is rather sneaky in its approach. Well balanced and mature tones of smoked nuts, all sorts of hazelnuts, a bit of hot butter, hot oils, meyer lemons, and a slight touch of blood oranges all round out together
overall: I bought this on a lark on winebid and what resulted was something beautiful. About 1.5cm ullage with a nice rich golden color. The nose kept on changing, but was never in any real danger of dying out, instead it provided a moving target that was fun to track and discuss about, and really just presented a thrill in of itself as I expected it to be shot, or at least on the full end of its downslope, and it was far from that. If one has a bottle of this can they age it further, sure, but this was a perfect fully mature meursault that certainly made for a lot more fun then watching Cutler throw 4 ints (92 pts.)
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1997 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
nose: presented a nice contrast to the 86 as this one has a much more nuttier nose with well defined tones of smoke, bits of oysters, lemon custard and tones of meringue. Well balanced with good depth, but not as expressive as the 86
taste: excellent depth with a nice and rich medium/full feel and tones of meringue, lemon custard, all sorts of nutty tones and bits of green apples. Excellent medium+ acidity gives this a really good spine and comes across as younger then the previous two bottles from last year
overall: this really grew in the glass along with added depth. An excellent mature meursault with a lighter golden color to it that came across as a white burg that could easily go for more years, but there is little regret in opening this up as its in a good place right now (90 pts.)
Blind Syrahs
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2007 Saint-Cosme St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
nose: cool and laid back nose filled with tones of charcoal, black pepper, black cherries, smoke, crushed floral tones and bits of crushed rocks along with some mineral rich earth tones. Very pungent with great balance to it, but seems to be holding back a bit right now
taste: excellent full body feel with a great silky feel and rich tannins with tones of charcoal, black pepper, black cherries, crushed rocks and a good bit of mineral rich earth tones. Toned back a bit right now, but is certainly an old world wine
overall: came off as young which is to be expected. Gave some conflicted ideas at first as it was done blind. Certainly holds itself as a northern rhone and as the signatures are there. Needs time obviously, and should be a beautiful st joseph in a few years as the parts fully come together (91 pts.)
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1992 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
nose: gorgeously balanced nose filled with dark red cherries, all sorts of dark floral tones, cardamon spices, other various spice tones, black fruits, and bits of funky tones that give a real nice backdrop. A load of class right here that was in stark contrast to the younger wines, this has a sense of itself and what it wants to do
taste: very polished with a great silky and medium/full feel and well balanced tones of smoked game, black pepper, black fruits, dark red cherries, cardamon, and other various spice tones. Excellent depth with all sorts of polish that comes from aging
overall: a great ruby rim with little bricking or browning. It was fairly obvious that this was the aged wine in the bunch. A whole lot of polish and class to the wine, this is was just textbook northern rhone (93 pts.)
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2006 Jemrose Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley
nose: much more ripe nose in contrast to the st joseph and le pavillion, which is interesting as this normally comes off as almost northern rhone. Great and well balanced tones of crushed black fruits, black cherries, charcoal, and a good helping of black pepper all balance well together. Shows off its california base in the more explosive nature and somewhat riper nature it posseses
taste: young and rich with good full body and firm tannins with great and balanced tones of bacon fat, crushed black fruits, black cherries, and a good helping of black pepper. There is a explosiveness on the palate that stands in contrast to the northern rhones that were previously had blind that makes it stand out a bit
overall: a wonderful syrah. This needs a bit of time to fully come around, but is soooo enjoyable right now with a good decant. Has great syrah flavors and does a great job of being a california/northern rhone hybrid (91 pts.)
a CdP to make us feel better
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2004 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
nose: good funky nose with nice tones of black cherry liqueur, dark spices, a good amount of garrigue, and a good helping of meaty tones with some bits of dark berries. Good balance and nice depth, but nothing really exciting
taste: excellent medium feel with good tannins and a nice smooth feel along with tones of melted black licorice, garrigue, black cherries, and black cherry liqueur tones. Nice tannins with good depth
overall: a quality CdP, does it needs to do and is fairly standard. Enjoyable and fairly straightforward (90 pts.)
well, Cutler threw four interceptions and we lost to the packers. At least the wines were great, the food was great and the conversation even better which more then made up for the sub-standard result
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