WTN: Fèvre Clos 2004, Acacia Pinot Noir 1982

My good friend Antti helped me to transport a few boxes of books (I don't have a car or a license!), so as thanks I made dinner and opened up a couple interesting wines. He's a Burgundy fanatic so it seemed natural to start with a good white Burg. I don't have any mature Burgundies, but it was surprisingly approachable. Also, because of the lack of mature reds, I opened up an old Californian Pinot which was lovely. It showed no signs of going downhill during the three hours we had the bottle. Thanks to Wade Hostler for bringing it - terribly generous!

• 2004 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (11/5/2006)
  Lightish yellow, but deeper than expected for such a young wine. The nose is lovely and fresh: highly mineral, lime, almonds. The palate is also very nutty, but not oaky, with much minerality and ripe fruit. The acidity comes out prominently only on the aftertaste, but even the mid-palate is well balanced if a bit fruit forward. It is surprisingly approachable now, but obviously needs age. It as at the same delicate yet powerful. Very good.
• 1982 Acacia Pinot Noir St. Clair - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros (11/5/2006)
  I was a bit worried this might be over the hill. It wasn't. In fact, it was drinking superbly just now and seems to have the structure to go a while more. There was lots of sediment but we didn't decant, just poured it carefully. The first glass was very Burgundian with its bright, red toned fruit, high acidity, earthiness and a slight hint of metal (but I use this as a positive descriptor, not a flaw) and rust. Lovely, in other words. With a bit of air the fruit became more dark toned, ending up as dark cherry by the second glass and it gained a sweetness to the fruit which wasn't there earlier. A lovely wine, perhaps a bit simple, but impeccably balanced and delicious.

Posted from CellarTracker

Well, not much interest here, but for the record, the Fèvre didn't budge anywhere overnight. The fruit is still vibrant, the minerality is still delightfully high, the acids are there but are lagging a bit behind, but it's every bit as fresh as it was yesterday. Apart from young Rieslings, I've never had wines that keep as unchanged when open for a day. Odd.

-O-

Otto,

That is a pretty fine showing for the '82 Acacia Carneros. I think I tried a 2001 version of this wine (the regular Carneros, not the St Clair) and it was not something I would even dream of going beyond 7-8 years.

I have been reading lots of positive notes on the '04 Fevre Chablis.

Yeah Mark, me too!! I am quite fond of Acacia but drink up pretty quick.