Two Spectacular Wines... two opposite worlds... (& WS WOTY 2007)

It's so rare that I come home and write anymore... only when the wine calls for it, and boy, did it call for it tonight. When I got into work today, I was greeted with a taste of an extraodinary Cabernet Sauvignon - 2004 Penfolds Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley, South Australia.... this is a wine I've only ever read about - the rarity (only bottled separately 7 times in 1948, 1953 (as Grange Cabernet), 1961 & 1963 (experiments for the fabulous Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon - the '63 as Bin 64 Kalimna Cabernet), 1964 (Bin 707 - though it was entirely Block 42 fruit), 1996 and now again in 2004(part of the production was bottled in screwcap), the age of the vines (the oldest still-producing Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard on the planet - back to the 1880s), and of course the legend of the intensity and purity of fruit (the vineyard was considered essential in the early experiments Max Schubert did in producing Grange). The wine had been opened a good 20 hours before I tried it, and I am very glad it was... the nose is pure black fruit with layers and layers of black ash and earth. On the palate, there was a hint of sweetness of fruit - black raspberry - and tons of glycerol, but the wine is in perfect balance. An amazing rich, chocolate & tar mouth... great texture as it truly coats the entire palate. Amazing, amazing wine. Clearly in the top 10 of the year, probably in the top 5 but unfortunately, it doesn't even make wine of the night.

The wine of the night, and possibly the year, and up there with the best I've ever tried, was the other legend... the 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti, Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy, France, was mindblowing... the nose was simply without peer... it was like I could see the soil in 3D!!! The rocks, the individual clumps of clay, the slope of where those exact grapes for that exact bottle came from.... Sweet cherry and strawberry fruit, but otherworldy exotic spicebox, classic DRC clove, dried mushrooms, turned earth, layer after layer... I could have smelled the wine forever - again, in perfect balance. On the palate the wine was... could it be... way, way, way too young... The layers and depth of fruit had certainly transfered to the palate, but they had not completely integrated and there was a good bit of grippy tannin (though all in utterly perfect balance). The finish was long and powerful, but lacking the pure elegance and silky textural quality I associate with mature Romanee-Conti (though, not the same as La Tache)... this one goes to the top for what it is now and for what it will be in the future. If I were lucky enough to have this bottle in my cellar, I would wait a good 10-15 years before I opened it.

Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year was announced today... the 2005 Clos de Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape... I hate to say I could see it coming, but this wine has been touted between WS and RP for the last few years. Great wine, sure... but another CdP???? Yes, they're making great wines at great prices other regions (Burgundy, Bordeaux) were selling their top wines for 20 years ago... and they're making a lot of it, but still...