Four guys from our wine group, along with two long-suffering wine group wives got together for dinner last night at The Mill at 2T for the lastest in our continuing series of send-offs for group member Jason. I didn't take any formal notes, and missed the names on a couple of the wines, so here's some brief comments on the ones I found especially memorable.
2008 J. A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Perrières
Lovely way to start. This vintage is from after the acquisition by Jadot, and despite the hard core geek hand wringing over the "changes" at the estate I still see a well balanced, lightly oaked, medium bodied wine that carries itself with grace. In short it reminds me very much of the wines that came from this estate before Madame sold to Jadot.
1996 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill
Yeah, so ok, this is great. It is a touch darker in hue than I expected (or is that the restaurat lighting that would not have been out of place in Dark Shadows) but delivering lots of fruit along with a biscuity and slightly nutty overlay. The most notable thing about this wine is its presence. It just stays with me for a long time after I drink it, and marries quite well with the grilled octopus that was part of our tasting menu.
Frank Cornelissen 'Magma'
I neglected to note the vintage of this wine. Or am I actually trying to purge the horror of drinking it? Cloudy red, it initially had some mildly enticing fruit aromas, but was then overcome with some odd concoction that combined VA, brett and a stagnant pond filled with angry zoo animals. Undrinkable. To its credit, the Magma was better than the dry Portugese red from 1985 that had clearly fallen victim to decrepitude.
1987 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Oh my gosh, it's almost mature. Drinking very well. It's Dunn though, so there's still some tannin.
1998 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape
Glacial cellar strikes again. This was much too young, but still engaging. It did not betray the purported overripeness of the vintage, and in fact was quite linear, with some herbal tones allied to dark red fruit that only hinted at the leathery/earthy end of the spectrum.
1995 Verset Cornas
Vied with the Pol ROger for WOTN. This is in a beautiful place right now. The meaty and lethery elements are fully present and in excellent harmony with the dark fruit that is moving to the background. Alas that the ribeye was not part of the tasting menu.
Fun night!