Florida Jim
Florida Jim
1999 Juge, Cornas Cuve C:
The Burgundy of Cornas; translucent color; light aromatics of olive, earth and red fruit; elegant in the mouth and almost attenuated, balanced, still pretty youthful fruit; some length. Not its best showing but a respite from all the other heavy CA syrahs on the table.
2000 Raveneau, Chablis Monte de Tonnerre:
What has been, for the past several years, an acidic, angular chardonnay as turned into a fresh, lyrical Chablis; lovely outdoorsy scents of flowers, earth and mineral; medium weight, seamless and fresh in the mouth, quite lively and balanced; excellent length. Nine years makes all the difference.
2008 Grey Stack, Chardonnay Wagner Family Vnyd.:
I like the acid structure here and the wood is not overdone but there just isnt enough fruit at the moment to make this worth opening. If youre drinking red wine and need to clean your palate, dandy absent that, leave this alone for at least a couple years.
1994 Vincent Arroyo, Petite Sirah Reserve:
Young, fresh, clean, dark in demeanor and it seems as though it were bottled yesterday except, it is integrated, not drying on the finish and, to be honest, decent no more than that, but decent.
Marginally better by the end of the evening.
After a couple days in the fridge, nothing has changed.
(Aside: It is the rare petite sirah that is worth cellaring. If you dont like them when you taste them, cellaring isnt going to help much. And if you do like them up front, drink em. Every lifetime or so Ridge will do one that should be cellared until you grandchildren are grown and it will be special and wonder of wonder- it will have actually developed. But in 40 years of drinking wine I have run across exactly one of those. With petite sirah, it seems to me that what you see is what you get and always will.)
2005 Tete, Julinas Clos di Fief:
Just delightful; fullish but without weight, clean but true to terroir and a fine grained texture that drives through to a long, lovely finish. Pretty damn spectacular and in no way as closed as Id have guessed. Yum!
2002 Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie:
Closed at first but with time it opens nicely although not completely; firm, rich, structured and not at all typical of the AOC; long and tannic. Needs time, patience and food.
1999 Belle Pente, Pinot Noir Cuve Mystre:
A combination of over-ripe and under-ripe grapes and it doesnt work; reminds me of a motor-sailer they were all the rage when I was sailing but the truth was, they did neither well. And at this age, this isnt going to get better. Last bottle.
2000 Louis Michel, Chablis Vaudesir:
-- Blame it on the bossa nova - so maybe it was the company or the fact that we were in the park at a party or that the evening had turned from warm to cool but whatever it was . . . : Denise sat down and took a taste and said this is what I need; Diane told me this was one of her favorites; Doc perked right up; and, I, just thought about how good the world can be when everything aligns. Not the flesh of the Clos but such an ethereal nose flowers, spring water, flint, fresh air well beyond my miserly capacity to describe; in the mouth, plenty of cut, flavors that follow the nose with layers of nuance, depth, breadth but an utterly weightless delivery refreshing in a way that I dont think many wines are and a very long, detailed finish. The butterfly that lands on your shoulder when you least expect it.
Oh my, oh my, oh my!
2006 Overnoy, Arbois-Pupillin:
Once again, the poulsard that comes across as ripe and rich without any turn toward the atypical; a terrific, translucent gem that makes people take notice and eschew other wines just to taste it again. A wine that you dont expect to find universal favor and you are wrong. Yum and then some.
Best, Jim
The Burgundy of Cornas; translucent color; light aromatics of olive, earth and red fruit; elegant in the mouth and almost attenuated, balanced, still pretty youthful fruit; some length. Not its best showing but a respite from all the other heavy CA syrahs on the table.
2000 Raveneau, Chablis Monte de Tonnerre:
What has been, for the past several years, an acidic, angular chardonnay as turned into a fresh, lyrical Chablis; lovely outdoorsy scents of flowers, earth and mineral; medium weight, seamless and fresh in the mouth, quite lively and balanced; excellent length. Nine years makes all the difference.
2008 Grey Stack, Chardonnay Wagner Family Vnyd.:
I like the acid structure here and the wood is not overdone but there just isnt enough fruit at the moment to make this worth opening. If youre drinking red wine and need to clean your palate, dandy absent that, leave this alone for at least a couple years.
1994 Vincent Arroyo, Petite Sirah Reserve:
Young, fresh, clean, dark in demeanor and it seems as though it were bottled yesterday except, it is integrated, not drying on the finish and, to be honest, decent no more than that, but decent.
Marginally better by the end of the evening.
After a couple days in the fridge, nothing has changed.
(Aside: It is the rare petite sirah that is worth cellaring. If you dont like them when you taste them, cellaring isnt going to help much. And if you do like them up front, drink em. Every lifetime or so Ridge will do one that should be cellared until you grandchildren are grown and it will be special and wonder of wonder- it will have actually developed. But in 40 years of drinking wine I have run across exactly one of those. With petite sirah, it seems to me that what you see is what you get and always will.)
2005 Tete, Julinas Clos di Fief:
Just delightful; fullish but without weight, clean but true to terroir and a fine grained texture that drives through to a long, lovely finish. Pretty damn spectacular and in no way as closed as Id have guessed. Yum!
2002 Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie:
Closed at first but with time it opens nicely although not completely; firm, rich, structured and not at all typical of the AOC; long and tannic. Needs time, patience and food.
1999 Belle Pente, Pinot Noir Cuve Mystre:
A combination of over-ripe and under-ripe grapes and it doesnt work; reminds me of a motor-sailer they were all the rage when I was sailing but the truth was, they did neither well. And at this age, this isnt going to get better. Last bottle.
2000 Louis Michel, Chablis Vaudesir:
-- Blame it on the bossa nova - so maybe it was the company or the fact that we were in the park at a party or that the evening had turned from warm to cool but whatever it was . . . : Denise sat down and took a taste and said this is what I need; Diane told me this was one of her favorites; Doc perked right up; and, I, just thought about how good the world can be when everything aligns. Not the flesh of the Clos but such an ethereal nose flowers, spring water, flint, fresh air well beyond my miserly capacity to describe; in the mouth, plenty of cut, flavors that follow the nose with layers of nuance, depth, breadth but an utterly weightless delivery refreshing in a way that I dont think many wines are and a very long, detailed finish. The butterfly that lands on your shoulder when you least expect it.
Oh my, oh my, oh my!
2006 Overnoy, Arbois-Pupillin:
Once again, the poulsard that comes across as ripe and rich without any turn toward the atypical; a terrific, translucent gem that makes people take notice and eschew other wines just to taste it again. A wine that you dont expect to find universal favor and you are wrong. Yum and then some.
Best, Jim