Poggio al Tesoro wine dinner Feb 28, 2024

 Tasted five of their wines with an excellent dinner helmed by Charlie Deal, formerly chef owner of Jujube in Chapel Hill--one of my favorite restaurants in CH. This is a relatively new winery (around 2003) founded by Walter who had already been a vintner if I recall around the Veneto.

'21 Vermintino was refreshing, featuring grapefruit and other citrus nuances, grown on sandy soil close to the coast of Bolgheri.

'21 Mediterra: smoky and a bit of volatile acidity at first. Strawberry fruit with plenty of acid and not much tannin on the palate. 40% syrah, 30 Merlot and 30 Cab Sauv. Young vines. My impression was of a smoky syrah with the other two in the background to provide a bit of acid structure and smoothness. The winemaker confirmed it's blended to emphasize the syrah, grown closer to sea on sand and clay soil (like syrah in the Rhone region). 91 from Vinous. $23

 '20 Seggio: Merlot, CS, CF, Petit Verdot 10%. Spicy along with the fruit, some tannin with a long finish featuring cherry and more spice, a touch of heat. Merlot sets the tone, making it very pleasing. PV adds mineral and helps with the pretty long finish. Totally enjoyable but lighter and doesn't stand up to the steak in the same way as the Sondraia, next. 93 points from Vinous. $40

'19 Sondraia, CS, Merlot and CF. Much more tannin. Pauillac style, CS dominant at 65%. Mint is strong, calling to a CA cab. This will be better in a couple years. Blacks cherry. Hint of green (he says yellow, sweet) pepper. Tannins and aromas with air are dusty, like a Rutherford Bench cab. I suppose this too is a bench-type cab grown mostly on Bolgheri valley floor but farther in from the sea than the others. Goes great with the steak. Will really shine in 2 years. Cherry echoes with the steak's fat and char. My favorite among these. Also 93 from Vinous, which I think is too stingy, 94 from me, clearly better than the Seggio which is also very nice; with age this could go to 95 points. $70

'19 Dedicato a Walter 100% Cab Franc. Less tannic than Sondraia with lots of spice on the finish. Has the herbal note of CF. I prefer Sondraia because it's a bordeaux blend done right. This also has some oak influence. With more air got more interesting and appealing with cherry and black fruit. This is barrel fermented in 100% new porous oak (should not impart a lot of extra flavor to the wine itself). Several different vineyards used around Bolgheri.$170

 

 

2018 Don Melchor Cab Sauv (Chile/Maipo) $100

 Received 96 from Vinous, 95 from Parker.

Quite fruity with gentle tannins that complement the finish. ALcohol in good balance with acid and fruit. Long finish, very little sense of puckering from tannin. Lots of fruits, some tea and mint, yes some sour cherry as Vinous says but also a hint of stone fruit, violet, oak, cassis. Just delicious fruit. Woodsy, piney with air. I have a second bottle of this in the Eurocave.

2016 Mt Eden Cabernet Sauvignon

 Tasted in 2023, note is not dated.

A little lightening at the rim but still deep purple otherwise. Nose on opening lovely creme de cassis, hints of spice, vanilla, blackberry, woodsy. Taste: lots of fruit, lots of acid. Long, warmish finish. Tannins are soft. The taste isn't as complex as the nose, which is really beautiful. I'm guessing this is 100% cabernet sauvignon. Taste is more strawberry/cherry than the nose. I wish I could have a bottle in 3-4 more years--the acid will preserve the wine along with tannins, and then it'll be magnifique. Galloni gave it 98 pts and says drink starting in 2026; Parker 97+, drink starting 2022. And I was wrong, this has 12% merlot, 7% cab franc and 2% petit verdot. Jancis Robinson says 17.5, drink starting 2020.

After airing, the taste got more complex, still with a very long finish. With discounts for suggestibility, after reading online reviews, I do sense some mint and menthol on nose and taste. All in all, one of the best wines I've had in past few years. I have Domaine Eden '17 Cab to try (it's the less expensive bottling) and as of the tasting, one more bottle of 2016 Mt Eden.

2019 Leoville P., 3rd try of 1st bottle kept by Coravin, Jan. 20, 2023

 The nose is much more open, complex and captivating this time. Raspberry, violet pastille candy(?), mint, pine woods. Deep purple color. Tannins already pretty soft. Somehow reminds me of a Calif. cab. Silky with a long, long finish featuring some licorice. Maybe a red fruit like pomegranate.

Malescot St. Exupery 2019 Tasted 10/18/22

 Dark ruby more than deep purple in color. Classic Bordeaux nose but not much Margaux perfume at first. Plum, red fruit on reluctant, fairly closed nose. With some extra pouring, some blackberry came out on nose. Very velvety on the palate with high acid, kind of chewy fruit that persists on the long finish. Medium body. Plenty of soft tannins. This one seems to need more time in bottle than the Leoville Poyferré. 93+ points for now.

Leoville Poyferré 2019 tasted on 10/14/22

 Just before going into hospital for CAR-T...

Initially pretty closed but some gamey aroma plus cinnamon. With swirling, other exotic spices. Not so much fruit on the nose in first few minutes. Didn't decant. On palate, it's warm with very long finish. Plenty of fruit and acid, and tannin too (but soft). More fruit, including melon, with air. Some hint of flowers. The fruit flavors are atypical.

 Notes on tasting at Hillsborough Wine Co on Jan 18, 2024

Les Hauts de Milly '21 Fourchaume Chablis

Reasonably deep gold. Smoky, flinty, minerality for sure with intriguing peach, hint of apple, something exotic like kumquat or another melon thing. One of the better chablis I've had. Maybe also now I'm enjoying the subtlety more. As good as Diatom Santa Barbara '22, but different too. 93 points

Cellier aux Moines '21 Givrey Pinot Noir Burgundy

Absolutely stunning on the nose. Pine, woodsy spice, balsam, tar--all very woodsy. Fruit more on tasting with a long finish, some tannin, moderate alcohol and body. Cherry with some notes of other red berries. Fairly dark color for a PN. This is one I'd happily drink. With air, more fruit tones developing. Not sure which. Love the nose! 94 pts

Haut Brisson 2020 Bordeaux

Oh boy, very forward and drinkable, fruity with some mineral component on the taste. For me, mineral means a sort of chalky feeling on the tongue, who knows what it's supposed to mean? Everyone seems to use the term differently, and I've read that scientific study shows the vines cannot actually absorb minerals from the soil. Needs more research.  Anyhow I'd call this wine a ringer for New World insofar as it's very fruity on the nose, licorice, cherry, candied strawberry too. Delicious. Soft tannins but very much apparent on the long finish. Not very high in alcohol but enough with the tannin to preserve the wine. 93 pts. More oak evident with air. Like it lots. 93 pts

Lagarda '20 Malbec: Big, deep wood and dark fruit, typical Malbec spice. Really dark. Plenty of tannin, full body, finish carried by tannin and alcohol. Big in all respects. Some stinky cheese with air. 89 pts

 2019 Pichon Lalande    November 21, 2023

Enjoyed this first of six bottles with Max, Emily, Laura, Sarah and Estelle (in the peanut gallery). Decided I'll open one of these precious jewels each Thanksgiving time. Initially it is wound fairly tightly but with some nice hints of red fruits and traces of blue. The palate is surprisingly soft, with soft, well-integrated tannins. The finish goes on foreever with mostly red fruit notes and a little licorice, some fresh wood, forest and flowers. 

After 30 minutes in decanter, more black fruit hints and coffee. Perfect balance of acid, tannin and fruit. The accompaniment of tenderloin expertly cooked by Max with the wine is amazing! The long finish is the most impressive and though young, it's really quite drinkable--just as the '19 Pontet Canet was at RDV last summer.

 Notes from visit to RDV winery tasting July 2023 (with Sarah and also Sharon O'Brien). This is reputedly the best winery in VA and they daringly create a tasting of three bordeaux-style wines, theirs, a real bordeaux, and a bordeaux styled wine from CA. Notes:

Pontet Canet 2019: Surprisingly forward and drinkable: coffee mocha, blueberry and blackberry. Though it's still obviously very young it's not super tannic, or rather the tannins are very soft. I love this. It has noticeably more vanilla oak than the others.

Lost Mt '19 (RDV) Fruity in taste, and more tannic than Pontet Canet. But nicely balanced. A good amount of alcohol, presumably good for aging. Coffee coming out with more air, and ripe plum.

Ulysses '18 (owned by Petrus and Dominus). Very forward with eucalyptus, and a bit of spicy veg. Very pleasant and distinctive spice. Cranberry essence, nice long finish. Warm too but good balance. No merlot. This is also beautiful and very different from Pontet Canet. Super complex, even with some lavender.

 1982 Mouton Rothschild (final bottle of the original 24) tasted November 2021. The cork fell apart and wine was rescued using cheese cloth with help from Sarah, Emily, Laura and Max. Beautiful old cab nose with off-notes. Does smell of age for sure and the rim color is the perfect gradation of brick to darker interior. Very familiar lead pencil and tobacco nose like my memory of Mouton. Long finish with a little heat, some fruit and oak. Absolutely remarkably fresh for a 39 year-old wine. The finish is very long still! With air the nose became fruitier and taste also fruitier--so even more glorious with airing, and here's a wine nearly 40 years old that still improves with 30 minutes in glass, even after two decantings. Remained great after 1 hour. Max made a fabulous, best-ever duck dish.

 2018 Catena White Stones Chardonnay

Spice, cantelope, mineral and very fruity but balanced with acid and perhaps the longest finish of any chardonnay I've ever tasted. Of course with more time in glass more coplex nose. Ginger maybe provided the spice. The person who led tasting at Catena (attended with Max, Nov. 2019 trip to Argentina) said green peppercorn. Definitely a popcorn butter element, and some smoke. Carmelized pineapple. Finish is incredible, mineral-acid-fruit balance perfectly persists. Color is light golden yellow, not super dark looking considering how rich the wine tastes. Another hour on in glass: very fruity, almost like another wine. This one scored in high nineties with experts and I agree. Bottle tasted in 2021.

2013 Clos Mogador

 December 4, 2020. Ethereally complex and deep nose. Road tar, vanilla toffee, blackberry, coffee, mint, sweet flowers. Hint of Cabernet in the blend. Long perfectly balanced finish. Med-full body. Rim shows aging nicely, still deep purple center. 97 points from me, 98 from Parker, 94 from Vinous. Totally lives up to my expectations; this is consistently my go-to Priorat when I'm looking for the best. 

Update: had final bottle at Bin 54 with Sarah on July 14, 2023. Even better with 2.5 more years of age. And I preserved 1/4 bottle that was left with air pump preserver so as of July 17 still a beautiful wine of immense complexity and breeding.Mocha, mint, berry, flowers (esp on July 14). Long finish with some alcohol heat to keep the finish going on for minutes.

2016 Mas Doix Salanques

 Mas Doix is one of my favorite wineries. The top of the line wine is Mas Doix, second wine Salanques which I think is just slightly younger vines (still quite old). Had a wonderful tasting with the owner in 2016 (the year this wine's grapes were growing in the vineyard) with Tom and Daniel Banks. The owner had just hosted a tasting for S. Korean sommeliers and already had several older vintages of the flagship wine open so we had a particularly superb tasting, and he was very generous with his time so it was a really memorable experience. (As were several of our other tastings in Priorato.)

On this wine, the nose at 4 years old is opening up nicely, and so beautiful. The impressions of spearmint, flowers and pine needles join with the cherry fruit to mark this as a Priorat. Grapes are 65% grenache, 25% carignan and 10% syrah and that's what this smells like to me, Grenache dominating but spice, woodsy odors from carignan and syrah. Aged 14 mo. in oak. On palate there's plenty of alcohol and acid for long life and this carries a pretty long finish with noticeable but softish tannins. I'd guess this will peak in 2-3 years and last till the late 20s. I'd give it the same 93+ as Parker.

Parker says 93+ points: The 2016 Salanques is phenomenal, one of the finest vintages ever. It has an expressive nose combining notes of flowers, wild herbs and berries and subdued minerality, reminiscent of wet slate. The palate is medium-bodied, with a little less alcohol, fine, slightly dusty tannins and very good freshness. It's terribly balanced and tasty. It should develop beautifully in bottle. 18,000 bottles were filled in April 2018.

2018 Zuccardi Concreto Malbec

 Beautiful deep purple. On nose spicy blackberry and red fruit/berries too. Along with melon and tea. Goes down very easily! Very gentle soft tannins. Almost imperceptible alcohol 14%. Long finish. This is what Malbec can be when done right. I’d give it 94 points. 

Parker says 95. Says it’s stomped by foot! Concrete vats, egg shaped, as Max and I saw when visiting Zuccardi in November 2019.

2010 Saxum Broken Stones GSM

 August 6, 2020: first post in a long time. Want to at least occasionally record some observations as I'm now able to have an occasional glass of wine without ill effects. This evening I had some 2010 Saxum Broken Stones ($90), preserved nicely by Coravin for a few weeks since I first opened it. Incredibly complex featuring blackberry, coffee + cream, wintergreen and other mints, flowers, lavender and pine woods. The alcohol and acid were prominent at first but calmed down with some airing. Medium body with mild tannins at this point. Medium finish. Particularly impressive on the nose. 94+.

Parker said:

Even more perfumed and up-front aromatically, the 2010 Broken Stones is a brilliant effort. A multi-vineyard blend of 63% Syrah, 19% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache, and 3% Petite Sirah that was aged mostly in new French oak, it offers up a gorgeously pure array of black raspberry, charcoal, licorice, lavender, and assorted floral qualities on the nose. This flows to a full-bodied, deft, and elegant palate that has no hard edges, a weightless feel, and masses of fine, yet firm tannin on the finish. Give bottles another year or three, and then drink over the following 12-15 years.  96 points. Drink 2014- 2029.

John Duval Plexus GSM 2014 in Denver

As I can now (knock wood) seem to drink a glass of wine with no ill effects much of the time, I'm going to start trying to write again about good bottles I've had. Recently had 2010 Clos Mogador, which was very good but not as spectacular as expected, a bit one dimensional and flat for a Mogador; Beaune 1er Cru Jadot 50th anniversary, ditto, at birthday dinner with Linda at Elaine's, tannin is gone which is generally good but didn't have the expected richness and depth; and John Duval Plexus GSM 2014 which rated 92+ by Parker so chose for the Thanksgiving dinner shared with Emily at The Nickel, Hotel Teatro's restaurant in downtown  Denver. Coincidentally, John Duval, formerly chief winemaker of Penfold's, stays regularly at that hotel because he makes frequent trips to Denver for some reason.

I found the wine delightfully fruity and complex, smooth tannins, evolving and revolving around cores of mulberry, lavender, spicy vanilla. A good example of why I love Aussie reds when they're well-made like this one. Very easy to drink but not, I'd say, a mere "fruit bomb." Hope to visit Duval and other boutique winery tasting room/restaurant in Barossa in March.

Here's what Vinous says about this wine (93 points, quite strong for Vinous): (aged for 14 months in 90 percent used and 10 percent new large French oak barrels) Vivid ruby-red. Expansive aromas of ripe red berries, candied flowers and spicecake, complemented by a subtle mineral nuance. Juicy, concentrated and seamless on the palate, offering sweet raspberry, boysenberry and lavender flavors that become tighter and more lively with air. Shows excellent depth as well as vivacity; fine-grained, firming tannins build slowly on a long, floral-driven finish. In the context of high-end Aussie red wines, this one delivers exceptional value.

2014 Alto Moncayo Veraton

This is the second wine of Alto Moncayo which I've written about before. It's about half the price in the US. It's still wonderful. It's a good advertisement for grenache. Incredibly complex and pleasing. Initial two openings (March 23-25, 2017): Almonds, gardenia, red berries like pomegranate and cranberry. Preserved with Coravin, poured again March 30 showing even more complex nuances of mint along with the red berries. Smoother now, tannins pretty much gone. I'd like to taste this next to the flagship Alto Moncayo Alto Moncayo as it's called, which I'd guess has fuller body, more tannin, longer finish.  By itself the Veraton is hedonistic and fun. The winemaker is Chris Ringland of Australia.

2014 Caymus Cabernet

Enjoyed this--immensely--at Circa Foggy Bottom with good friend Prof. Maria José Canel of Madrid. The Caymus cabernet, a hedonistic wine, shows a kaleidoscope of flavors from pine and cedar wood inflected cassis to blackberry to cranberry with many spicy nuances. Maybe even some almond or other nut. It goes down about as easily as a cabernet could. The tannins are barely detectable but there's enough acid and tannin to allow the wine to age and I suppose develop even more complex aromas. I expect some purists would think the wine too extracted and emphatic, a little pushy and obvious. OK by me. It was a terrific accompaniment to the nicely cooked salmon I had. More subtle wines have their place too, of course, but it should be ok to enjoy a wine that just comes up and gives you a big hug.

Unfortunately my Coravin preserver is locked in my car in Alexandria so although I took the bottle home (2/3 full), all that preserved it was its original cork and the refrigerator. It tastes pretty good just the same, two days later.

Here's Parker (94 points): The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley has a dense opaque purple color, a kiss of blackberry and cassis fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel with ripe tannin and a long finish. It is very Caymus in its immediate accessibility, but has plenty of staying power and depth. This is lush, full, intense and pure. Drink it over the next 15 or so years.

2012 Stonestreet Chardonnay Broken Road

These days I'm not able to drink wine very often. It's a great frustration. But on New Year's Eve with friends I just had to share a bottle of this Stonestreet from my lonely cellar, a Sonoma vineyard that makes some of my favorite California chardonnays and cabernets. A beautiful place to visit and taste too.

So, this wine had a wonderful nutty, caramel spice aroma that got more and more floral, I think, as it sat in the glass. The taste was refreshing even though full bodied with a nice fruit and mineral finish. 93 points.

It reminded me that good chardonnay can be nearly as complex and enjoyable as good reds. I wish I could've drunk another couple glasses but somehow I had the self-restraint not to. For those who think chardonnay is boring or passé, this bottle (among many others) would have to give them pause. Furthermore, the notion that something like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc can compete with an excellent chardonnay seems far fetched to me. With a few exceptions of course, like a great white Bordeaux, but they cost way more for the same quality level in my experience. Lesser known whites like Godello and Albarino can also provide a lot of pleasure. But time in and time out, chardonnay does the trick for me--granted, "different strokes for different folks" is true and to each his or her own, etc etc.

Parker says 93 points too: The 2012 Chardonnay Broken Road, made from Dijon clones, is the most tropical of these Chardonnays, revealing lots of pineapple, mango and a hint of bananas. A wet rock-like component provides minerality. It should drink well for 4-6 years. 
 

2003 Sociando Mallet finally comes around

Bought this one around 2005 when it was released to some acclaim, but each bottle I opened over the following 8-10 years was a disappointment. The wine was unyielding, tannic, not much to please either the nose or palate. Finally, last night I opened one of my last 2 bottles and it was a revelation. Tastes like a lovely mature Bordeaux with a pronounced floral, lavender and black currant/huckleberry aroma and tastes to match. Very round now, velvety mouth feel, and moderately long and sweet finish with just a hint of tannin left. Nice purple color too.

Parker gave it a 94 when it first came out. More recent tasting (Aug 2014) he gave it a mere 90. I'd say a 92 is about right for the bottle I just tasted. Here's what Parker said in the more recent review:

This fresh Northern Medoc demonstrates how strong the 2003 vintage can be in this sector of Bordeaux. The tannins have softened considerably, and the wine reveals a youthful dense ruby/purple color. Notes of white flowers, blackberries and black currants are found in this still youthful, medium- to full-bodied, rich wine that is just approaching full maturity. It should provide plenty of pleasure over the next decade.