I didn’t keep tasting notes, but I remember it having
notes of match stick on the nose and having a minerally finish.
A festive get together with a few good friends to celebrate the Fourth. Both whites were good but the 2013 Rhys Alpine Chardonnay was stunning, with age bringing weight but still quite fresh. The 2012 Skyline Syrah needed some air to open up and did so nicely, but I always preferred the Horseshoe Syrah to the Skyline. The St. Cosme was enjoyable but the ripe fruit and wood made it more reminiscent of a restrained California Syrah than a Cote Rotie. We finished with two tasty Madieras, fitting selections to celebrate our founders.
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• 2021 Prima Materia Refosco.
This was delicious. From CT review:
Dried cherry, rosemary, fennel seed, almond, light vanilla. Supple tannins. This had a very smooth mouthfeel and hides its 14.1% abv well. Went gangbusters with flank steak.
Score: 92 (91 + an extra point for being so damn delicious).
Relative to expectations:++
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Decided I should try one of the potentially corked 2014 Morlet Passionnements from LB for USA250 tonight (photo of my order’s delivery status back in May below). It was apparently good enough thankfully, but not great. I have the second bottle with a relatively engorged cork (though no apparent seepage) that I’ll open for a friendly gathering soon, so no worries there, I hope. Am looking forward to the Mon Chevalier iteration of the same vintage once the weather hold passes.
(Bottle on the left has the engorged cork that is pushing up on the seal, more prominently viewed from the top down)
2013 Denis Mercier Cornalin: Cornalin is a rare Swiss grape variety planted in the Valais region around the town of Sierre in the Swiss Rhone Valley. It’s unrelated to any major wine making grapes, having evolved independently from other rare alpine varieties. About 1% of Swiss wine production is Cornalin and it is virtually all consumed domestically. Historically Cornalin was used for producing cheap rustic wines and it nearly died out completely, but was revived in the 70s and Denis Mercier was one of the pioneers in recent years to start making age worthy Cornalin wines.
This was from a Magnum and was still very young with virtually no detectable tertiary notes - dried black cherries and blackberries with some pepper and spice, tannins very well resolved. Wonderfully rounded and with a long finish, a really lovely bottle of wine.
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Two bottles of Madeira for the fourth, that you finished- now thats a Berserker boss move there.
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We opened four sparkling wines for the 4th. I was in the mood for austere and racy, and all four bottles delivered. The Doyard was so tightly wound that I wasn’t getting any fruit - unusual for this bottle. The 2018 Haliotide Stolo BdB is a lemonade acid-bomb on the attack, but opens up into lush fruit and brioche on the midpalate.
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I think you missed the “with” in “finished with.” We were actually quite moderate in our consumption. You were the subject of part of the discussion, however, as somehow Iceland came up in conversation so I had to share the picture of your fermented shark experience.
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Glad you enjoyed the bottle. It brings me joy to see fellow Berserkers enjoy bottles from my cellar. I also agree in general that far more bottles are consumed too young than too old. This is especially true when the bottles are properly cared for.
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Not bad - but glad I didn’t wait any longer to open this 1991 Beringer Howell Mtn Merlot. Fruit was fading and still had some very strong tannins, but otherwise delicious with burgers!
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Love these! Bummer that this bottle’s fruit was on its way out, but these offer so much tertiary interest and I hope that compensated some!
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1000%! The bottle didn’t last very long 
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The Tissot is a nose full of strawberry followed by a very austere palate and short finish. It was lovely even though my description is not.
The Camensac is starting to drink well.
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Those Tissot bubbles are always so gooood.
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I honestly do not recall buying a 6 pack of this but glad that I did. Pure and crunchy red cherry fruits, some herbal action and a delicious floral dimension. The palate is quite powerful with powdery tannins giving the wine length and presence. Really good and wishing that I had a nice bowl of pasta ragu to accompany.
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Not often I do midweek drinking but the Switzerland v Columbia match resulted in my son have a sleepover at mates and no one its interested in an early start in the office so I can sleep until 8 and avoid any fuzzy head.
2019 Pape Clement Blanc - Bordeaux whites in general have a really bad QPR and I can’t say in general these wines are worth the money, but I really do think these are fabulous wines. This is the second of a case of 6 and it’s such a luscious white wine, smooth, rich and tropical and it’s almost like sucking on a tropical flavored peach. I had the highly acclaimed (and hugely priced) 2009 vintage of this a couple of years ago and it was magnificent and I think this will also go a long way. It’s like taking business class for a short European flight - totally overpriced for what you get, but while you are there it feels worth the money.
2017 Donatsch Unique Pinot Noir - high quality Swiss Pinot Noirs, like the Pape Clement this is the second bottle of a case. Still tastes very young, the oak is now starting to integrate but still there on both the nose and palate (these are 100% new oak), but dark fruits come through and the finish is long, young and smooth. I’ll hold the next bottle for 5 years, I have a couple of 2011 and I think I try an another bottle soon.
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