WTN Ducru Beaucaillou, Chivite GR, Saintsbury
Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:23 pm
1997 Ducru Beaucaillou
St. Julien, Bordeaux
Covert said this is at it's best right now, so I opened my remaining bottle (and cringed over the price I paid on release--$60!!!) last night to pair with a lamb/red wine/herb meat loaf. Must be his chardonnay chasers--I thought the wine was just okay: significant herbaceousness on the nose and palate in place of the delicate spice that I remember and loved about the '00 (the last Ducru I had), medium body, mild fruit on the mid-palate that segued into a plain grain/cereal flavor just before the short finish cut things off. Not great.
1988 Chivite Gran Riserva 125 anniversary
Navarre, Spain
Faded garnet color. Sweet dusty potpourri nose and, on the palate flavors that reminded me of the canned Queen Anne cherries my grandmother used to love--kind of like a Rioja if you stripped the spice and orange elements out. On the finish, an interesting grapefruit rind note that hinted at a bitter note to come that never did. Not sensational, but good and worth the $20 I recently paid for it.
2003 Saintsbury Vin Gris of Pinot Noir
Carneros district, California
A casualty of sloppy cellar management, but a lucky one because though the sweet pinot wallop is gone it's become quite a complex and interesting little wine. Flavor's more pomegranite than the typical Carneros cherry cough drop, and it shows nice structure and even some tomato leaf--almost more like Santa Barbara than Carneros. Bob liked it so much he asked me to buy the current vintage and lose them for a few years.
St. Julien, Bordeaux
Covert said this is at it's best right now, so I opened my remaining bottle (and cringed over the price I paid on release--$60!!!) last night to pair with a lamb/red wine/herb meat loaf. Must be his chardonnay chasers--I thought the wine was just okay: significant herbaceousness on the nose and palate in place of the delicate spice that I remember and loved about the '00 (the last Ducru I had), medium body, mild fruit on the mid-palate that segued into a plain grain/cereal flavor just before the short finish cut things off. Not great.
1988 Chivite Gran Riserva 125 anniversary
Navarre, Spain
Faded garnet color. Sweet dusty potpourri nose and, on the palate flavors that reminded me of the canned Queen Anne cherries my grandmother used to love--kind of like a Rioja if you stripped the spice and orange elements out. On the finish, an interesting grapefruit rind note that hinted at a bitter note to come that never did. Not sensational, but good and worth the $20 I recently paid for it.
2003 Saintsbury Vin Gris of Pinot Noir
Carneros district, California
A casualty of sloppy cellar management, but a lucky one because though the sweet pinot wallop is gone it's become quite a complex and interesting little wine. Flavor's more pomegranite than the typical Carneros cherry cough drop, and it shows nice structure and even some tomato leaf--almost more like Santa Barbara than Carneros. Bob liked it so much he asked me to buy the current vintage and lose them for a few years.