Pessac-Léognan Château Latour-Martillac 2014
Lively, citrusy, green apples a touch of richer tropical fruits. This is not the vintage that shows the most concentration and texture but the oak is integrated and adds complexity. Good time to drink this.
Giuseppe Quintarelli Primofiore 2013
From the nose I knew this wasn’t my usual cup’o’tea. Dried cherries, prunes, sweet spices, tomato leaf and dried herbs. This is not for the faint of heart. Rich, complex, plush but some acidic cut is providing relief. Noticeable heat on the finish (less so with time and air). Worked well with grilled lambchops and veggies.
Château Clarke 2015
Lone bottle of this in my cellar. Probably gifted. All oak upon opening with dark espresso and cigar leaf. This subsided quickly to leave a wine of medium everything: concentration, acidity, finish and interest. Not a lot of tannins to speak of. Still half a bottle left.
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Last night we drank the guy on the right, magnum of 1990 Ch. Poujeaux at Vintage in Ketchum ID. the bottle was in excellent shape, great fill, and the wine showed beautifully. Corkage policy is a bit brutal - $50/$75/$100 progressive, and they did charge $125 for the mag.
The other two will be dispatched over the next several days.
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I posted my purchase of this guy in another thread.
Perfect example of a solid Moulis with almost 30 years of age. Clear deep garnet. Medium intensity nose with predominantly tertiary aromas including grilled meat, forest floor, mushroom, dried herbs. More fruit adds in on the palate, including cassis, bing cherry and blackberry. Medium+ intensity and body; medium+ tannin and acidity, medium alcohol at 12.8% (how quaint), medium+ length of finish. I’d score this wine 92.
What a terrific education. This taught me once again that 10 to 20 years produces flavors and aromas exactly to my taste, though that’s obviously a function of terroir and vintage. I’d rather have this younger the next time, but delightful nonetheless.
ETA: yeah, I bought better glasses. Spiegelgau.
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Last week I opened a half bottle of 2006 Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges that had been gathering dust in a corner of the cellar for years. I bought a few '05s and '06s, probably from PC back in the day. Over the years they had been mostly fine. I now realize, as sometimes happens, that I should have given them all more time, as this was fantastic. Right out of the gate this was crazy good. Had to check that it was just the villages wine as I had also bought some 1ers at that time (though maybe not in half, I can’t recall). Regardless, this was in a great spot. No rush to consume but not sure it gets much better. A perfect wine and format for a weeknight.
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2015 Occhipinti “Il Frappato” Terre Siciliane (1500 ml)
TN: (48 hours in) ageing gracefully, smooth and harmonious, dried cherry and fig, mouth-watering acidity, and a beautiful floral perfume; very much alive and exceptionally well balanced
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2017 Mickael Bourg Les P’tits Bouts:
Nose: blackberry, plum. No vegetation. Perfectly nice but not as thought provoking as some other Bourgs IMO
Taste: still black fruit but lighter than expected. Maybe some red fruit hiding. Iron, some thick tannin that elongates the length of the sip and gives it some grip. But not as long as finish as hoped. Maybe some back end green taste on the finish?
Unbelievable with braised English short rib. Perfect pairing to limit the tannin and heighten the power of the wine. Not as easy drinking on its own.
Decanted for ~2 hours before dinner.
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I hate opening my last bottle and realizing I drank the rest of the case way too young.
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Davey Strange posted a glowing TN on this very wine in the “Most Ugly Label” thread.
Then Otto Forsberg posted his disappointment with the '22 and '23 vintages, which worries me a bit since I have some '16, '17, '19 and '20 in the cellar. He described '23 as “natty and acetic.” Hopefully, the problems are limited to those vintages. Bourg leans natural in his winemaking, although he does use a little sulfur at bottling.
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I will admit grabbing this bottle tonight, which was next to a 2020 Rostaing Ampodium in my fridge, I was struck by how there couldn’t have a starker contrast of label design from the same region 
I have healthy amounts of the 16, 17, 19, and 22 myself. Maybe we can each check in on one and give the other some assurances
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Good morning, Warren,
I have not had the 17 in years, but a reliable friend has and described it as ‘a mini-Allemand, in a good way’. The only vintage I have had recently was actually a few days ago, a 2020. It was extremely good and not at all filth natural wine.
I hope you will forgive me if I do not linger to write a note as I am feeling a tad out of sorts. It is 04:30 and I cannot sleep and, with perfect timing, I was just looking for a tasting note on Elitistreview for a friend and the first post I opened from the search results was me reporting on my cat being put down.
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I had a glass off the remaining half bottle of this tonight and it was an abomination: glossy, soft, extracted, woody, vanilla juice. Either it was always that and the Quintarelli played it down or my palate was taking a night off. Stay away.
The 2000 is still quite vibrant and delicious. That’s a nice looking stem
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2006 Dusted Valley Syrah, Walla Walla Valley
This bottle has been banging around my life for about 20 years. I think I got it through some wine club subscription back when I got my first apartment, and since then it has basically moved from closet to closet. Curiosity finally got the better of me.
Surprisingly, it’s quite good.
Pop and pour, the nose was immediately fruit leather, something faintly antiseptic/medicinal, and a very pronounced meaty aroma. On the palate there wasn’t much obvious fruit at first, but there was still surprisingly lively acidity. Very little tannin remains, and what’s there is silky and resolved. Dark, tart, no real alcohol burn, with maybe a little plum hiding underneath everything.
With tomato meat sauce pasta it really woke up. The fruit opened up into big stewed, leathery plum, with a green bell pepper or herbal note through the midpalate and some spice with a slight alcoholic tinge on the back. Nice tart acidity still showing, with super silky tannins that were almost not even there.
This is one of the few actually mature wines I’ve had, and the most interesting thing was how the flavors felt more like echoes of flavors instead of the direct, in-your-face flavors I’m used to in young wine. You have to kind of focus and savor it.
Pretty cool experience, and a lot better than I expected
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Took this one down at Ketchum Grill tonight. I was a bit worried about the level but the wine was great.
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Cantemerle is one of the most consistently best-aging 5th growth Bordeaux out there.
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Nice stem!
jealous!
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Blind Burgundy was the theme yesterday afternoon as we celebrated a group member’s pending nuptials.
I didn’t take much in the way of notes on the Champagnes, but the Henriot was bright and elegant, very nice, while the Charlier had a nuttiness that had me guessing it was a 1996. Tasty, but I never would have guessed a 2008.
The whites were very impressive. The Dauvissat was outstanding, dark gold color and some butterscotch but fresh citrus and bracing acidity, it rounded out with air. My last bottle and $33 well spent when I bought it on release. The Jadot C-M Blanchot punched well above its weight, rich, but nimble, with mouth-coating texture with great persistence and mouth-watering tartness, my guess was Corton-Charlemagne.
The Chavy was good with a tart finish but lacked the structure in the middle to bring delineation to the fruit. It also suffered from following the two previous whites. I confidently pronounced that the Fevre wasn’t speaking “Chablis” to me, which all but guaranteed that it would turn out to be a Chablis. It had nice concentration, bright with melon, lemon, and some saline minerality that should have clued me in on its source. I’ve been pleased with some recent wines from Fevre.
I was way off on the age of the Grivot, guessing 2001 based on its approachability, though the freshness of the dark cherry fruit should have let me know I was off. Joining the fruit were nice spice and a hint of menthol, I don’t know that I’ve had a Grivot Clos Vougeot since the 1996 at a comparable age and this was far friendlier. I struggled with the Jadot CSJ, as it had a strong evergreen/eucalyptus aroma that seemed familiar but that I couldn’t place, joined by dark cherry and plum with plenty of well-integrated acidity and fine tannin. It’s good now but I don’t think it has reached its peak.
The Mortet Lavaux St.-Jacques reminded me of Chambord, loaded with sweet raspberry liquor fruit and a little heat, young and fruity with fine tannin. I didn’t love the Duroché, as it was a little muddled and brawny and an off-putting medicinal/petrochemical note came out on the finish with air.
The Thierry Mortet showed Luden’s cherry cough drop dark cherry fruit and spice with great purity of fruit that led me to Morey, with a good combination of acidity and tannin delineating the fruit. It’s a nice, gulpable Burgundy. The Faiveley was a textbook red Burgundy, with bright dark cherry, sous bois, earth, and leather, and far more approachable than I would have expected. When I think of red Burgundy, this is the profile that immediately comes to mind.
The Chevillon was an interesting comparison to the 2002 Vaucrains I opened the night before. Rustic and a little bretty with a fair bit of tannin, the dark fruit got a little brighter with air, good, but it could use more time. Finally, the Leflaive Corton showed slightly candied cherry and spice that reminded me of Williams & Selyem, not terribly serious but fun and sneaky long.
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