TN: Lacuesta 1987, Chave 1997

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Martinez Lacuesta 1987 Rioja Gran Reserva - The cork falls apart as I try to extract it. Taste of brown leaves, dirt, and a whiff of madeira. Dead. (An hour later... still dead.)

Chave 1997 Hermitage - This wine must have been bottled downwind from a stable: barnyard, poop, and leather are front and center in the nose. Underneath that is a pure cassis or red plum fruit, clean and simple. My friend says it is a touch sweet but I disagree; it's just the intensity of the flavors. Nice integration of acids and tannins; rich and smooth. With time it does not become more complex. We liked it well enough, and it fit the moment, but I can think of better ways to spend the $150 it would take to buy this wine today.
 
Funny about the Chave. I remember it as pretty clean on release, and I don't recall Brett from my most recent bottle this spring.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Funny about the Chave. I remember it as pretty clean on release, and I don't recall Brett from my most recent bottle this spring.
Click to expand...

Same here.

Warm temps plus syrah and Sharon's friend Brett makes an appearance. I'm not sure what it takes to cause Jemaine to appear as well.
 
Agree with both views: the wine's bretty funkiness has been slowly coming out as it ages (plus, but that may be purely incidental, bottles in/imported directly from France appear to be funkier/more forward than ones bought in Switzerland at release and stored here since then).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
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