Our friends Adam and Ann invited me and my wife over to their place about two weeks back to meet their new baby boy and share a nice meal. After some back and forth, we decided on a white wine flight tailored specifically to our wives’ tastes and a red wine flight that would allow us to check in on the progress of some 2001 Spanish reds.
Flight One--Paired with a selection of 5 cheeses chosen to complement these wines:
2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carriere Knights Valley. The bouquet of this wine is cool and refined and reined in—featuring chiseled but classy aromas of cool river stones, graphite and lemon sour ball. In the mouth, it is certainly creamier than one would expect given the nose, but it still has great definition. Delightful layers of lemon meringue, cream, hazelnut, vanilla and brown spices fill the mouth beautifully and really pump out the flavors. The finish brings back more of the sense of crispness and minerality—leaving a very lasting impression. Overall, it is a languid and fleshy yet structured and finely-etched Chardonnay that is a delight to drink. My white WOTN.
2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay Belle Cote Knights Valley. The Belle Cote is more luscious on the nose, with aromas of hazelnuts, lemon slices, herbs, chalk and sweet yellow pixie stick dust holding court. In the mouth, this is denser than the La Carriere—with more obvious weight and an oily glycerol texture. It is less structured and the oak seems more obviously in play, but the dense and full-throttle pear, lemon, pineapple and guava fruit profile it presents certainly has its own appeal. It pushes to all corners of the mouth and shows no sign of backing down any time soon. It is absolutely stuffed and stacked, but could use more time to pull everything together and better integrate that oak character. Even so, I’d happily drink more of this right now.
2005 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard Sonoma Coast. The Aubert is lighter-colored than either of the Peter Michael offerings, with a pea-green tinge to it. It has a very vibrant and youthful bouquet to offer--with lots of pit fruits, some citrus notes, crushed gravel and chopped herb aromas that grow and grow throughout the evening. In the mouth, it delivers a massive amount of flavor on a lighter, more airy frame than either of the previous two wines. It is really sneaky intense, with an explosive quality that defies any overt heft. The flavors are rounded and classy, with rich pear, star fruit and tropical notes that just continue to slowly expand and lengthen the longer one stays with it. There are some smoky barrel spices and woody overtones that will take some more time to resolve and integrate, so despite being excellent now, my advice is to hold another 3-5 years and watch it really blossom.
Flight Two—2001 Toros paired with a lovely avocado and shrimp starter:
2001 Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos Toro Vina San Roman. I’ve had this wine a few times over the years and really enjoyed it, but this was over-the-top its best performance yet. The aromatics are just stunningly beautiful--with enveloping and sexy notes of sweet creosote, cranberry sauce, mulling spices, menthol, black cherry, rich mocha paste and furry funk all warring for attention but folding together effortlessly in a gorgeous cornucopia of sultry, silky and lingering balance. I really do not want to take my nose out of the glass even for a minute. In the mouth, it opens with flavors of rich mocha, all kinds of exotic spices, super-ripe cherries and other pure red fruits that hold all the way through to the finish. It is fleshy and layered, with great polish and fantastic length. It is not too full-bodied, but it does have super-sized amplitude and push to it. There are no hard edges whatsoever, but there may be a shadow of alcohol just below the surface that thankfully never really manages to push through the veil. The tannins, too, are soft and rounded, though they do kick up more significantly around the 2-hour mark. So, while this is insanely good now, I have no fear of holding it, either. My WOTN.
2001 Bodegas Pintia (Vega Sicilia) Toro Pintia. The other wine in this flight is a whole different beast. It starts out smelling sort of bohemian--with aromas of patchouli oil, sensimilla and sweaty funk assailing the senses. After a while, though, it morphs to include somewhat more typical aromas of sweet cherry, leather, horse stable, mince pie and a bit of spice cake. It takes about an hour to all come together, but it more or less does find a consistent personality after that point. In the mouth, it is chunkier and more full-bodied than the San Roman—totally fanning out across the palate with its creamy flavors of dark cherry, cranberry and dark spices. There’s also a whisper of warmth from the alcohol, but more notable is the tannin structure that plays a much bigger role here than in the San Roman. Indeed, at about the two-hour mark, the tannins get a bit excessive and clunky. Overall, this seems to need time to integrate, but in the end it seems certain to have a longer aging curve than the San Roman. Try again in five years.
Flight Three—2001 Priorats (mostly) paired with big honking strip steaks on the grill:
2001 Bodegas Aalto Ribera del Duero P.S. (Pagos Seleccionados). The nose here is a fine balancing act of earthy and grounded aromas of creosote, white pepper and leather versus fresher and more lifted notes of fruitcake, pure cherry compote and melted chocolate. With all that going on, it manages to coalesce into an engaging and driven bouquet that is nicely appealing. In the mouth, it is smooth and rounded, with a totally creamy feel to the intense red fruit and spice flavors. It has some light, spicy tannins that add more to the mix than detract and, overall, it exhibits fine poise and balance. I quite enjoyed it, but I do have to report that on Day 2, it turns more murkily dark-fruited and almost too dense and intense for me--leaving me with the feeling that there’s really no rush to open these now.
2001 Mas Doix Priorat Costers de Vinyes Velles. This wine is rather pure on the nose, with a feeling of depth and dimension to the pristine red fruits. Those notes of raspberry and dark cherry and dark smoke invite the taster back time and again for a sniff. It is seamless and juicy on the palate, with tons of fresh crushed berry flavors well-defined by a juicy shot of acidity. Indeed, it has the strongest acidic presence of all the reds this night, yet it still manages to feel creamy and smooth. There is not a lot of tannic support (or interference). Still, on the night of the tasting, my one complaint was that it did not seem to stand out among this company other than for its more obvious acidity. However, I totally changed my mind on that the next afternoon when I got another taste of the wine and it had further blossomed to bring in earthier bottom notes to support the pure fruit and had also kicked things into a higher gear in the drive and persistence arena. It was extremely impressive with that extra time and so I would suggest giving this one another 2 to 3 years in the cellar (or plenty of extended aeration).
2001 Cellar Vall Llach Priorat Vall Llach. The bouquet of this wine is exciting and inviting, with lovely aromas of creamy strawberries and raspberries supported by notes of melted milk chocolate and thick mocha. In the mouth, this is seamless and smooth, with a weighty feel. The flavors have massive presence and amplitude to them and at times butt up against the ceiling for being over the top. It feels rich and dense but never over-wrought or forced--it just seems to be its natural personality that relentlessly pushes the fruit out and ahead. For me, it gives a lot of pleasure but I could see how it would be too viewed as too much by some. I’m quite happy to drink it right now, though.
2001 Clos Mogador Priorat. Of all the wines tasted on this night, the Clos Mogador is the one playing things closest to the vest. Still, that is not to say it can’t be enjoyed now, because to some degree it can. To begin, super-rich aromas of mocha dominate the nose, along with dark cherry and earth notes. In the mouth, black cherry, black licorice and dark Belgian chocolate flavors are taut and serious, perhaps aided in that impression by significant tannins running all throughout the palate journey. It sports the most obvious structure of all the wines, as well. It takes well to the steak, but it would not be an easy wine to warm up to without that kind of meal to tame its grip. In my view, it is laced up somewhat tight still and needs another 4-7 years in the cellar. It ought to be fantastic down the road.
Sweet wine paired with a delicious salad course:
2004 Bodegas Vinos Pinol Terra Alta Vi de Licor Wine #28 Mistela Blanca . Served from a bevel-edged 500 ml bottle, this is a sweet wine made from white Garnacha. The first thing one notices is the massive amount of gunk settled on the bottom of the bottle. There must be ¾ of inch of brown/tan shaggy swamp sediment residing there! Also, the wine itself is practically orange in color. It really makes one curious to dive in and see what this is all about. On the nose, it sports aromas of mango, white raisin, vanilla and a sort of earthier cucumber slice element that gives a fresh edge to the otherwise moderately sweet notes. In the mouth, it is extremely viscous and rich, with just enough airy acidity to keep it real. Flavors of white raisin, trail mix dried fruit squares, vanilla bean, nuts, nougat and bullseye caramel candies are luscious and seem to ooze across the tongue. There is only moderate cut to the wine, but it never seems too cloying or blowsy either. Overall, I would have to say that I got a kick out of trying it.
-Michael