Big Post - Saturday & 2004 Bordeaux

Ok, first Saturday night... The 1994 Opus One could be the finest example of this wine I've ever had (that's Opus One in general)... could this be the last of the quality, agable wines from this estate? Full of cedary spice with black plums and a freshness I've never experienced from Opus ever before. It has the classic anise quality to it as well. I wouldn't sit on this much more, but it's a great wine. Tasted side by side was the 2002 Opus One. This is a blockbuster, young, full-throttle 2002. I don't think it has a future after the next few years, but it's a good wine that was made to drink young. All black fruit and anise. Good, but not amazing. The 2000 Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva was good, but not special. I tasted this just to refresh my palate to Chianti Classico Riserva quality wines. Dry, dry, dried fruit... cranberries and cherries with dusty earthiness. A good example, but not a great wine. The 2000 Roumier Morey St.-Denis 1er Cru (the vineyard escapes me) is a wine that is ready to drink... black earth, mushrooms and rhubarb. Very good, but not the best. A nice food wine. On to the greats... The 1998 Penfold's Grange is amazing... the best Grange I've ever had, and it makes me glad I have it in my personal cellar. At 9 years old, this wine is just starting to unravel. After going through a bit of a dumb period, this wine has emerged with glorious cedar and raspberry notes with an earthiness not found in any other South Australian wine... this has always been a unique wine. I won't open mine for at least another 10-20 years when it really starts to show its stuff. After 4 hours of decanting, the wine shut completely again. I will bet that in another 3-4 years the 1998 Grange will go into another slumber - a very long slumber - and will come out of it with mind-blowing length, depth, and bredth. A stunner. Equally as stunning, and finally showing true character was the 1998 von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Pfalz, Germany. It finally turned a dark-goldish brown color and has the intensity like no other sweet wine I've ever had. The finish of sweet apricots and honey lasts for minutes - I didn't eat or drink anything for 20 minutes after my last sip and I could still taste it. One of the great sweet wines I've ever tasted. Amazing... Also tasted the 2002 Veraison Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - a great wine for the money and the mountain characteristics of this vineyard really came through with it's inky color and sweet-extracted fruit.

Had a whirlwind day yesterday. Went to the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove yesterday for a tasting of the release of the 2004 Bordeaux. While there were unfortunately no first-growths represented, there were some amazing wines and I came away with a good impression of the quality across all of the areas of Bordeaux in 2004. I won't go through them all (I tasted 70+ wines in 1 1/2 hours), but rather hit the highlites (and lowlites). The Graves whites were on the whole very good. It seemed like most producers toned the oak down a little bit on the whites and therefore the grassy-grapefruit of the Sauvignon was more clearly deliniated. The 2004 Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafite was the highlite with a complex, slightly cheesy nose. The reds were not my favorite. Though nice enough, there was not wow factor. I tasted quite a few wines from St.-Emilion, and in general, the quality was mediocre. The 2004 Ausone hadn't come together yet, but I can already tell this is not a great wine - a green note predominated the nose and palate. Pomerol fared better... the 2004 Chateau Clinet was pretty - had great color, a beautiful chocolatey-nose and a long, lingering finish. A winner. I also enjoyed the 2004 La Conseillante - this is a powerful Pomerol! On to Margaux, which I thought did very well in 2004. The 2004 Chateau Dufort-Vivens was marvelous... so sweet, silky and floral. Great wine. The 2004 Chateau Kirwan rocked... one of the best wines of the day, this has everything Margaux is supposed to offer. I thought the 2004 Chateau Lascombes was good - if you're not a fan of Bordeaux - more like California Cab than Bordeaux - you can have it. I was very interested to taste this wine as this has become a "Parker darling" since Michel Rolland took on a consulting role here... you can tell it's one of his wines. I didn't taste enough St.-Estephe to form a full opinion, but on the whole, they were ok, not great though. The 2004 St.-Juliens were very good... my favorite was the 2004 Chateau Gruaud-Larose. A powerful, tannin, classic example from this estate with one of the longer finishes... The 2004 Chateau Talbot was notable because it was a very poor example... green and lacking any real fruit and any real depth. The 2004 Pauillacs were a mixed bag- many were very good (Chateau Pichon-Baron - thick and powerful) and many were very bad (d'Armaillac & Clerc-Milon - neither had any depth and zero mid-palate.) The Sauternes, I thought, were generally good. The 2004 Chateau Coutet was outstanding. Some suffered from being unbalanced, others thin, but most were rich and wonderful.

So, I liked Margaux, Pauillac, and Sauternes - all in patches. It's a "be careful what you buy" vintage and don't buy anything you haven't tasted first...

Last night was the 1999 Antoine Rodet/ Jacques Prieur Volnay-Santenots Premier Cru. The nose on this wine is gorgeous... earth, rhubarb, strawberries - it's a silky, sexy wine that needs food and screams escargot. I wish I had some at home...