Rob and Susan were in Boston on their way North to Maine two weeks back and Andy and Lisa were kind enough to host a dinner for them and two other couples while they were in town. We started with some white wines, moved onto Champagne with the first course, Oregon Pinot Noir for the second course and a bunch of Bordeaux for the main course. It was great time!
1994 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand. We arrived to find folks already sipping on this wine. It features a large-framed nose redolent of various petroleum products, clover honey, blue slate, dark peach, musk melon and lemon oil. In the mouth, it has a mellow attack and a fine, fleshy mid-palate that at times shows some oily character. It is medium-bodied, but carries plenty of flavor on its frame, along with some moderate citrusy acidity. Early on, there is good push to the dark peach, orange and burnished tropical fruit flavors, but the wine just seems to have no length on the finish. It just sort of dissipates into thin air prematurely, which is a shame because the rest of the package is nice.
2006 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert. I really like the aromatic profile of this young Chenin. It is not really overt, but instead goes about its business by offering up gentle airy aromas of light caramel, beeswax, honey, petrol and sweet citrusy fruits holding together in a rounded core. In the mouth, it has plenty of body and heft, with definitive and overt character that seems to offer a good deal of depth already. Rich but light-footed flavors of lemon sourballs, apricot, dried grapefruit and pineapple, hard-spun caramel, chopped peanut brittle and wax candy have a faint sweetness all around. Although one does not sense a whole lot of backbone to the wine, it still seems to have some cohesive structure and never feels flabby. It finishes nice and long and promises plenty of life left.
1995 Francois Raveneau Chablis Montee de Tonnerre. This takes a while to open up on the nose--eventually revealing rather interesting secondary notes of citrus powder, rusty minerality, steel and melted wax. It is similarly though-provoking in the mouth, where it exhibits flavors of lobster bisque, dark grapefruit, lemon, hard minerals and botanical herbs in an oily-textured yet airy package. It exhibits outstanding length and fullness of mineral-tinged flavor as it flows to the creamier, sweet chalk-tinged finish. It is quite dry for the most part, yet at times flashes glimpses of more rounded and lush butterscotch character. It is just really interesting and definitely on the intellectual side, but I like it all the more for that.
1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Vintage Reserve. This wine smells a bit honeyed and aged, but also rather dusty and earthy—as aromas of dark grapefruit, hard lemon candy and honey combine with scents of dust, copper kettle and white pepper. It has a bit of a metallic or minerally character in the mouth, with flavors of apple, peach and citrus showing some aged, oxidized character. It turns tart on the finish and doesn’t really show the length one would hope. It is a pleasant Champagne, but not profound in the way one might hope.
1996 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Vintage Reserve. The 1996 is so much livelier on the nose. It has a wonderful mineral-driven character, with graphite, copper, pineapple, and grapefruit aromas in a crisp, toned package that is fresh and finely overt. It is fairly rich and quite foamy in the mouth, with a fun moussy quality and tons of flavor showing nice balance and a fine tang. Ginger, grapefruit, cherry and graphite flavors linger for a while on the nice even-keeled finish.
2006 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperence Hill Vineyard Willamette Valley. This has a bouquet that is wide open and very giving, with lively aromas of sappy mixed red and black berries, rhubarb, smoke and sous bois earth that work together quite nicely. In the mouth, it is tingly with acidity and peppery spices, but also lots of brambly berry fruit, rhubarb, dark earth and fuzzy oak. It is a bit creamy in texture, with a pretty yet light sweetness to the fruit that I like a good deal.
1990 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol. We then turned to the Bordeaux assembled before us. First up is the Le Bon Pasteur, which quite simply has an outlandishly lovely bouquet featuring a core of fuzzy raspberry, cherry, worn leather and fine mocha, with mace, incense, ash and cedar chest notes swirling around the edges in support. It is the kind of wine I could just sit and sniff all night. In the mouth, it is fresh and lively but also fleshy and fuzzy with sweet luscious fruit framed by a crushed velvet texture. Flavors of warm cherry, sweet raspberry and soft leathery elements are lush and easy, just idly draped over the wine’s soft structure. A nice earthy streak sneaks in on the finish, and with no real tannins in sight, this wine is drinking wonderfully right now. My WOTN.
1997 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan. The nose on this wine is all cool dark class, with fine aromas of black cherry, black currant and blackberry fruit accented by notes of black leather jacket, dark earth, creosote, toasted herbs and pencil lead. Although it is dark and cool, it still makes a connection in a way that makes it seem less remote or aloof than my comments would otherwise suggest. In any event, in the mouth it is again much the same in terms of personality. It doesn’t show much warmth or sweetness of fruit, but instead focuses on the fine framing elements that surround and support the cool dark fruits, such as its fine-toned glossy texture, precise balance, pinpoint tannins and powerfully sinewy structure. I am surprised at just how well it is drinking right now. It is such a different kind of wine than the ’90 Le Bon Pasteur, but I like it nearly as well—just for very different reasons. My #2 WOTN.
1996 Chateau Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe. This is another really nice bouquet--this time featuring aromas of pencil shavings, fireplace ashes, black currants, leather jacket, cool mocha paste, green pepper and mild tobacco leaf. It is gutsier in character than the Haut Brion, but in many ways shows a similarly dark and refined profile at times. On the palate, it displays ashy cinders, creosote and cedar elements to go along with flavors of black currant and spiced blackberry fruit. The tannins are more in play than in the previous two wines, but are still reasonably held in check. The wine provides a mouth-filling experience, with a fleshy, seamless texture and plenty of body. Yet, it seems largely resolved and rather approachable at times, though there is little doubt that it has plenty of life left in the tank, especially when one sees how the tannins begin to bulk up around the 1 hour mark. The wine grows in volume and unctuous character as the night goes on, giving an impressive overall performance. I’d very much like to re-visit this in 5-10 years.
2002 Chateau Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is the densest-smelling wine of the night, presenting a tight aromatic core of black currant, black cherry syrup, mace, incense and cool earth aromas. It is taut and controlled in the mouth, but is also massively chock-a-block with black currant and spiced blackberry fruit that is just tightly bundled right now. It is showing a good amount of tannin and some rough-edged acidity at this point, too. Still, there is no denying all of that full, plush fruit just waiting to be unleashed at some point in the future. I have high hopes for this wine, especially since the tannins never really seem overly harsh or interfering, just a bit dominant at this point as they await the day when that bale of fruit begins to unravel and flesh out. I really think this is going to be outstanding down the road.
1986 Domaine de Chevalier Pessac Leognan. On the other hand, this wine’s best days would seem to be behind it. It takes a bit of time to show much on the nose, eventually opening up to notes of pen ink, dirt, dark caramel, tomato leaf and black cherry. It is a bit astringent on the palate and the tannins seem at this point to outweigh the fading red fruit. Some sweet cherry notes are certainly pleasant enough, but the tannins just continue to grow with time and really block much of the fruit from climbing up through after a while.
1986 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes. Our final wine of the night is a beautiful golden dark yellow color. Fantastic aromas of dried apricots, vanilla bean, dark caramel, musky mulling spices and botrytis cream are dense and enveloping yet fresh and lively. It has wonderful sweetness levels on the palate and lovely flavors of orange marmalade, creamsicle, brown sugar and toasted brown spices that are lushly-textured and viscous. It is full-bodied and intense, and I really like the way it balances crackling acidity with rich and creamy sweetness of flavor, even at nearly 25 years of age. Impressive.
-Michael