One night, in Vermont...
Vodopivec 2004 Vitovska (Venezia Giulia) Even more orange than most of its orange wine cohort. But it still brings the insanity. Tannic as hell. Cloudy. Plus: citrus rinds, green olives, very old almonds, a touch of ammoniated walnut. And is that lard that I smell? Incredibly dense, complexand, as usual, its impossible to get a real handle on a wine like this. It just defies every expectation, even when one knows what to expect. (3/09)
Gimonnet Champagne Cuis 1er Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs (Champagne) Metal-jacketed apple, makrut lime, and rhubarb. Interesting, to say the least. Im not sure how to describe the texture here, as its something a little out of the ordinary. Rhomboid? Sure, why not? Incisive, long, and strong-willed. Insistent stuff. Almost certainly needs age. (3/09)
Kreydenweiss 2001 Pinot Blanc Kritt "Les Charmes" (Alsace) Creamy apricot, orangesicle, vanilla. The textures a bit gelato-like, but theres enough acidity just to carry it off. Good, though its still Alsatian pinot blanc, and as such probably comes with a sort of qualitative ceiling. Still, the wines turning lush with creaminess, and youll probably want to drink this sooner rather than later. (3/09)
JJ Christoffel Erben 2001 rziger Wrzgarten Riesling Kabinett 005 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Sharp, gravelly, with a soda-water finish. A little disjointed. OK, a lot disjointed. But theres spice, andoh, hell, I dont know what to make of this wine. It doesnt seem to want to help, either. (3/09)
JJ Christoffel Erben 2001 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 004 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Apple, peach, and zing, though some cream is already in development. Achieving a certain coherency, which makes it quite appealing at the moment. (3/09)
Dashe 2007 Zinfandel lEnfant Terrible McFadden Farms (Potter Valley) 13.8%, native yeast, etc. Served blind. Guesses range from Beaujolais to Clos Roche Blanches famous Ct/Malbec blend, but its been served because one of the blind tasters has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the wine. Here, he likes ituntil the reveal, at which point he turns on it. Since this is just about the only useful thing one can learn via non-contextual blind tasting, I consider the experiment a success (he says with a self-satisfied smirk). As for the wine? Tastes carbonic and yes, I know winemakers insist such a thing cant be tasted, but the carbonated pop and zing is what I mean with soft earth, gentle red fruit, lima bean, asparagus, and a fair structure despite the wines lightness. Theres a fade to the wine that it didnt have last year, and the tannins a little more prominent, so Id guess that wherever the wines going, its headed there. I like it, though Im not enraptured by it, but I think its time to leave it alone for a while. (3/09)
Ravenswood 1995 Zinfandel Cooke (Sonoma Valley) 15.2%. Blackberry, pepper, and caramel (more a sign of age than something more sinister). The tannins slightly weedy. A hammer-blow, ultra-masculine wine, good but choppy and unwilling to be tamed. Im not sure, given the tannin, theres much of a future, either. Drink soon. (3/09)
Jasmin 1996 Cte-Rtie (Rhne) Very tight and strappy. Hard. Thyme (maybe?), but muted. Corked? The last bottle was. We check back on it later, and the matters still undecided, so who knows? This is the opposite of fun. (3/09)
Clape 1990 Cornas (Rhne) Smoked beef, licorice. Hard and edgy, yet with plenty of complex elaborations around the perimeter; baroque in design, maybe, but a more rough-hewn country interpretation than the overly-precious, cherubic norm. Mature? Its hard to say, but probably not. Time and time again, in the company of Rhnes (and Rhnish cousins) of greater alleged repute, the Cornas outperforms them all. Theres a lesson there, but alas one I should have learned back when the wines werent eyeing triple-digit prices with only a minor tilt of the head. (3/09)
Edmunds St. John 1994 Syrah Durell (Sonoma Valley) Corked. Holy crap, is this corked. Its like an entire years worth of TCA took up residence in this bottle. (3/09)
Texier 2000 Ctes-du-Rhne-Villages Sguret Vieilles Vignes (Rhne) Dead, with some oxidation. Synthetic cork strikes. (3/09)
Texier 2001 Ctes-du-Rhne-Villages St-Gervais (Rhne) Dead, with minor oxidation. Synthetic cork strikes again. (3/09)
Boiron Bosquet des Papes 1999 Chteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhne) Smoked bacon liqueur (aside: why hasnt anyone made such a thing? Id buy it). Porcine. Pretty straightforward aged CdP; this might have an upside, and it certainly doesnt seem to be weakening in any way, but right now its a rather large but uncomplex portion of the pig. Thats never bad. (3/09)
Anheuser 1999 Kreuznacher Krtenpfuhl Riesling Beerenauslese 049 00 (Nahe) Extremely sweet, of course, apple, grapefruit, spice, raspberry. A touch of alcohol, believe it or not. This has been opened for me, because apparently I liked it too much in the past. Well, I still like it, though not as much as before. Its not particularly complex, for sure. But its sweet riesling with red fruit notes. Wheres the bad? (3/09)
Vodopivec 2004 Vitovska (Venezia Giulia) Even more orange than most of its orange wine cohort. But it still brings the insanity. Tannic as hell. Cloudy. Plus: citrus rinds, green olives, very old almonds, a touch of ammoniated walnut. And is that lard that I smell? Incredibly dense, complexand, as usual, its impossible to get a real handle on a wine like this. It just defies every expectation, even when one knows what to expect. (3/09)
Gimonnet Champagne Cuis 1er Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs (Champagne) Metal-jacketed apple, makrut lime, and rhubarb. Interesting, to say the least. Im not sure how to describe the texture here, as its something a little out of the ordinary. Rhomboid? Sure, why not? Incisive, long, and strong-willed. Insistent stuff. Almost certainly needs age. (3/09)
Kreydenweiss 2001 Pinot Blanc Kritt "Les Charmes" (Alsace) Creamy apricot, orangesicle, vanilla. The textures a bit gelato-like, but theres enough acidity just to carry it off. Good, though its still Alsatian pinot blanc, and as such probably comes with a sort of qualitative ceiling. Still, the wines turning lush with creaminess, and youll probably want to drink this sooner rather than later. (3/09)
JJ Christoffel Erben 2001 rziger Wrzgarten Riesling Kabinett 005 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Sharp, gravelly, with a soda-water finish. A little disjointed. OK, a lot disjointed. But theres spice, andoh, hell, I dont know what to make of this wine. It doesnt seem to want to help, either. (3/09)
JJ Christoffel Erben 2001 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 004 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Apple, peach, and zing, though some cream is already in development. Achieving a certain coherency, which makes it quite appealing at the moment. (3/09)
Dashe 2007 Zinfandel lEnfant Terrible McFadden Farms (Potter Valley) 13.8%, native yeast, etc. Served blind. Guesses range from Beaujolais to Clos Roche Blanches famous Ct/Malbec blend, but its been served because one of the blind tasters has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the wine. Here, he likes ituntil the reveal, at which point he turns on it. Since this is just about the only useful thing one can learn via non-contextual blind tasting, I consider the experiment a success (he says with a self-satisfied smirk). As for the wine? Tastes carbonic and yes, I know winemakers insist such a thing cant be tasted, but the carbonated pop and zing is what I mean with soft earth, gentle red fruit, lima bean, asparagus, and a fair structure despite the wines lightness. Theres a fade to the wine that it didnt have last year, and the tannins a little more prominent, so Id guess that wherever the wines going, its headed there. I like it, though Im not enraptured by it, but I think its time to leave it alone for a while. (3/09)
Ravenswood 1995 Zinfandel Cooke (Sonoma Valley) 15.2%. Blackberry, pepper, and caramel (more a sign of age than something more sinister). The tannins slightly weedy. A hammer-blow, ultra-masculine wine, good but choppy and unwilling to be tamed. Im not sure, given the tannin, theres much of a future, either. Drink soon. (3/09)
Jasmin 1996 Cte-Rtie (Rhne) Very tight and strappy. Hard. Thyme (maybe?), but muted. Corked? The last bottle was. We check back on it later, and the matters still undecided, so who knows? This is the opposite of fun. (3/09)
Clape 1990 Cornas (Rhne) Smoked beef, licorice. Hard and edgy, yet with plenty of complex elaborations around the perimeter; baroque in design, maybe, but a more rough-hewn country interpretation than the overly-precious, cherubic norm. Mature? Its hard to say, but probably not. Time and time again, in the company of Rhnes (and Rhnish cousins) of greater alleged repute, the Cornas outperforms them all. Theres a lesson there, but alas one I should have learned back when the wines werent eyeing triple-digit prices with only a minor tilt of the head. (3/09)
Edmunds St. John 1994 Syrah Durell (Sonoma Valley) Corked. Holy crap, is this corked. Its like an entire years worth of TCA took up residence in this bottle. (3/09)
Texier 2000 Ctes-du-Rhne-Villages Sguret Vieilles Vignes (Rhne) Dead, with some oxidation. Synthetic cork strikes. (3/09)
Texier 2001 Ctes-du-Rhne-Villages St-Gervais (Rhne) Dead, with minor oxidation. Synthetic cork strikes again. (3/09)
Boiron Bosquet des Papes 1999 Chteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhne) Smoked bacon liqueur (aside: why hasnt anyone made such a thing? Id buy it). Porcine. Pretty straightforward aged CdP; this might have an upside, and it certainly doesnt seem to be weakening in any way, but right now its a rather large but uncomplex portion of the pig. Thats never bad. (3/09)
Anheuser 1999 Kreuznacher Krtenpfuhl Riesling Beerenauslese 049 00 (Nahe) Extremely sweet, of course, apple, grapefruit, spice, raspberry. A touch of alcohol, believe it or not. This has been opened for me, because apparently I liked it too much in the past. Well, I still like it, though not as much as before. Its not particularly complex, for sure. But its sweet riesling with red fruit notes. Wheres the bad? (3/09)