a week's vacation... but it wouldn't be a great vacation without family, friends and some great wine. I'll go into more detail about some... The 2006 Ch. Ste. Michelle/Dr. Loosen Eroica is a dry Riesling with lovely stone and citrus fruit with just a bit too much alcohol for my liking... while I appreciate the desire to make a dry wine, the alcohol made it a bit unbalanced... perhaps a Kabinett-level styled wine would serve better from the Columbia Valley... The 2006 Owen Roe Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir was outstanding... I will disclose that they source fruit from a friend... ripe black and red fruits, spicy, but a beautiful, elegant berry nose. Great stuff!!! First wine I've had from their vineyard... The 1989 Chateau Montrose was better than the last time I had it, but still not a great wine. I don't know if time will help it or kill it... Guess we'll find out! The 1983 Reichsgraff von Kesselstadt Scharzhofberger Spatlese was on it's last legs, but still delicious! Appeared bone dry with honeyed apricots, bruised Granny Smith Apples and a long finish. Very nice!
Day two brought a great party with plenty of bubbles and a great bottle of 1985 Graham's Vintage Port... still a baby, but nice fruit. Black plums, stewed black cherries and blueberries with a lovely hazelnut and smoked cocoa powder note. Nice! Day after was the 2002(?) Barmes-Bucher Herrenweg de Turkheim Grand Cru Riesling was beautiful, if not very young. Oily and stoney with barely a hint of RS. Long white peach and orange blossom finish. The 1989 Chateau Gruaud-Larose was beautiful... classic for this wine, this is still a baby showing lots of black berries, cassis, cedar, tobacco leaf and graphite. Powerful, too. The 1967 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo was a quick-change artist... a beautiful fill level and fabulous color... the initial nose was gorgeous... the first taste was... not good. After letting it decant for a good 15-20 minutes, I came back to it to find that the beautiful rose petals had returned, the dried underbrush was coming back to live! The wine was alive! Not only alive, but very young indeed! Cocoa powder, cranberries, dried cherries! Amazing wine, and one of the top 3 wines of the week for me. The 1988 Chateau Rausan-Segla was very nice, but unfortunately had to compete with the Barolo... lots of wet tobacco leaf and clove on this bottle. Dark and earthy with a hint of dark flowers. The 1995 Chateau Loupiac-Gaudiet was ok... not my favorite. Lots of over-ripe candied apricots, but an almost bitter, stemmy finish. Sweet, yes, but my feeling is this was one will not get any better.
The next night brought some 2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile which is an outstanding value... clean, crisp, slightly herbaceous with lemongrass, gooseberry, tart grapefruit and citrus notes. A hint of mineral fools you for just a second into thinking you're in Sancerre, but the intensity of fruit brings you right back. Dueling Rhones tonight... The 1994 Lucien et Andre Brunel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Cailloux was outstanding, despite the vintage. Still full of life at 14 years of age, this showed spiced cranberry, red raspberry, dried forest floor, barnyard, hay and dried saddle leather. A wonderful long finish. Afterward came the 1989 J.L. Chave Hermitage Rouge which was otherworldly... "Amazing, dried meat, tar, leather, dried earth, black olives" - all from my journal that night. A long, long silky finish and an unforgetable nose left me smelling the glass when I was done... Still a baby though. Many more great wines to come, but they will come another day.
Day two brought a great party with plenty of bubbles and a great bottle of 1985 Graham's Vintage Port... still a baby, but nice fruit. Black plums, stewed black cherries and blueberries with a lovely hazelnut and smoked cocoa powder note. Nice! Day after was the 2002(?) Barmes-Bucher Herrenweg de Turkheim Grand Cru Riesling was beautiful, if not very young. Oily and stoney with barely a hint of RS. Long white peach and orange blossom finish. The 1989 Chateau Gruaud-Larose was beautiful... classic for this wine, this is still a baby showing lots of black berries, cassis, cedar, tobacco leaf and graphite. Powerful, too. The 1967 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo was a quick-change artist... a beautiful fill level and fabulous color... the initial nose was gorgeous... the first taste was... not good. After letting it decant for a good 15-20 minutes, I came back to it to find that the beautiful rose petals had returned, the dried underbrush was coming back to live! The wine was alive! Not only alive, but very young indeed! Cocoa powder, cranberries, dried cherries! Amazing wine, and one of the top 3 wines of the week for me. The 1988 Chateau Rausan-Segla was very nice, but unfortunately had to compete with the Barolo... lots of wet tobacco leaf and clove on this bottle. Dark and earthy with a hint of dark flowers. The 1995 Chateau Loupiac-Gaudiet was ok... not my favorite. Lots of over-ripe candied apricots, but an almost bitter, stemmy finish. Sweet, yes, but my feeling is this was one will not get any better.
The next night brought some 2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile which is an outstanding value... clean, crisp, slightly herbaceous with lemongrass, gooseberry, tart grapefruit and citrus notes. A hint of mineral fools you for just a second into thinking you're in Sancerre, but the intensity of fruit brings you right back. Dueling Rhones tonight... The 1994 Lucien et Andre Brunel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Cailloux was outstanding, despite the vintage. Still full of life at 14 years of age, this showed spiced cranberry, red raspberry, dried forest floor, barnyard, hay and dried saddle leather. A wonderful long finish. Afterward came the 1989 J.L. Chave Hermitage Rouge which was otherworldly... "Amazing, dried meat, tar, leather, dried earth, black olives" - all from my journal that night. A long, long silky finish and an unforgetable nose left me smelling the glass when I was done... Still a baby though. Many more great wines to come, but they will come another day.
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