WTN: '80s Bordeaux and blinds
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:37 am
On Saturday I had to go to Restaurant Carelia to eat some entrecôte and drink some 1980s Bordeaux. Life can be so hard at times. I have to say that the piece of fat with a bit of meat sticking to it was outstanding - I have rarely had a bad meal at Carelia. The wines weren't bad either.
2005 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Pur Sang - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
Pale gold. Nice grassy nose; tart in a pleasant way, pretty good acidity to counter the richness. This bottle seemed like more age would only have done it good.
2007 Doyard Champagne Collection de l’An I Oeil de Perdrix Brut - France, Champagne, Côte des Blancs, Champagne
Pale pink. A really rather attractive nose: bread and flowers. Nicely balanced palate, but surprisingly ready to drink for such a young Champagne. Nice!
1982 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
From magnum. A really attractive scent: ripe and obviously warm year, but in no way over the top. It has all your typical Bordeaux aromatics and though is starting to show some mature elements, it still IMO could use a bit more age (I guess I like my claret more dead than alive). Rich, sweet fruit and enough structure to keep it moreish. A very nice wine. Drink and hold.
1985 Château Troplong Mondot - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
From magnum. This started out as the weaker wine when compared to Léoville Poyferré '82 and Haut-Bailly '89, but it just seemed to need a bit of time (and entrecôte) to shine. It had a lovely freshness and lift to the aroma and was in a pleasant state of maturity. A bit lighter than the two other wines and without the intensity of fruit the other two had, but it was fresh and refreshing and was very nice.
1989 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
From magnum. Very sweet, primary, dark fruit - but really lovely fruit it was, too: wet earth and blackcurrant leaves and such goodies. Rich, sweet, warm year style but with lovely tannins. Still seems a bit primary for my tastes, so though it was great fun to drink a couple glasses, I'd still say hold.
2010 Rousset-Peyraguey Cuvée Ducasse - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
12,5% abv. This was so lovely! I was told that this sees plenty of new oak, but apparently in the occasional wine it doesn't matter: this was exquisitely pure and elegant instead of oaky to my tastes. It has something like 200 g/l RS yet, unlike so many Sauternes, this had lovely levels of acidity so it was a refreshing sweet wine instead of a cloying one. Lovely.
And after the dinner we opened up several blind bottles:
2005 Tre Monti Thea Riserva Superiore - Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Sangiovese di Romagna
Five years since my previous taste, and it still smells like banana and oak. Sweet and rich and still not to my taste.
2001 Marie-Claude Lafoy et Vincent Gasse Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Sophia - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
12% abv. A producer I had never heard of, but when served blind my initial reaction was that this must be N. Rhône Syrah and from some producer who makes Texier-styled wines. In few non-Texier Syrahs have I smelled such exquisite purity and grace and tasted such lightness yet intensity. This is stunningly pretty wine.
2006 Vinarija Dingač Plavac Mali - Croatia, Dalmatian Coast, Pelješac, Dingač
14,4% abv. Served blind. A very Syrah-like aroma with slight wildness/animal quality to it, too. Sweeter than expected from such a N. Rhôneish aroma, but with lovely tannins and pretty decent acidity, too. The high alcohol is well hidden. A wine full of personality and if this is what Plavac mali can be like, I certainly want to try more. Lovely.
2003 Gigi Rosso Barbaresco Vigneto Viglino - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Not raisiny or overly sweet, but certainly shows some detrimental effects of such a hot vintage. Still quite tannic and still shows some primary fruit so though this is a cheap Barbaresco, it would ideally see more time in the cellar.
2004 Van Volxem Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
11,5% abv. An obvious Riesling aroma; dryish, fat, diffuse and lacking the precision and bite I hope for in MSRs. It's not unpleasant, but if this is what van Volxem usually does (it's the only one I've ever had) then it is over-hyped for my tastes.
2005 Schmitges Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
12,5% abv. Perfectly nice for a dry Mosel (not a style I usually care for). Nice, obvious Riesling aromas, rich and ripe enough that it doesn't seem harsh. But as always with dry MSRs I can't help feeling it would have been even better if it had been properly sweet.