SteveTimko
Steve Timko
1999 Domaine de la Charbonnire Chteauneuf-du-Pape Cuve Spciale Les Hautes Brusquires - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Chteauneuf-du-Pape (1/8/2010)
This is a tasty, balanced wine. It tastes old world, but it doesn't taste much like southern Rhone.If I had tasted this blind I might have guessed a Cotes du Ventoux on steroids. It's 60 percent grenache and 40 percent syrah but the syrah clearly dominates. The Chateau Fortia Cuvee Du Baron has a higher percentage of syrah but the grenache is prominent, at least in the ones I've tried. The grenache seems to have disappeared in this wine. I'm surprised in reading notes on this wine in other vintages that describe it as being a great terroir wine.
Bacon fat on the nose. Some earthiness. On the palate, white pepper, plums and other dark fruits. A little bit of licorice. Good finish.
It seems to be more a wine I respect more than a wine I like. I love Charbonniere, but this is my least favorite Charonniere. A Kermit Lynch import.
2000 Domaine le Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras Cuve Azalais - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Vacqueyras (1/8/2010)
This turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The two prior bottles of this I opened has none of the vibrancy of young Sang des Cailloux (which is great to drink young). I wondered if there was a problem with the bottling since this is gray market and not a Kermit Lynch import (I thought maybe it was filtered). Or I wondered if they were heat damaged. The last one, tried about three years ago, need a couple of hours to open up and it wasn't that great then.
This one was great as soon as I popped the cork. It's drinking well now. First off, this seems darker than just about any Sang des Cailloux I remember. Black like Cornas. Terrific nose. Smoke. Garrigue. Herbs. Saddle leather. Just all around good grenache funk. Plum and currants on the palate. Befitting a wine whose name is blood from stone, lots of minerality. Great finish. The tannins have resolved. Nice feel to it as well.
This is a terrific wine and I'm glad I've got a couple of bottles left. I wish now I hadn't opened those other two when the wine was shut down. With the tannins in check, the mature Sang dex Cailloux is a good food wine. Ginday Imports Ltd.
2005 Kukkula Sisu - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
At a tasting a year earlier this was my second favorite wine of the night at a Rhone tasting. The extra year of age helped this wine. It was my favorite wine of the night. It's adding some depth. It's not fair to just call this balanced. It's elegant. The oak seems to be receding. The red fruits are less prominent. Softer dark fruits are coming to the forefront. A very nice finish. I didn't think this would be a long-term ager but after a year I can see this is probably a wine to lay down for six to 10 years. I like it. The winery Web site says its dry farmed.
2006 Villa Creek Mas de Maha - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
The wine store where my wine group bought these bottles ran out of competently made Rhone style wines so the people running the tasting decided to include this wine, which is 60 percent tempranillo. The difference immediately shows up with blood on the nose. On the palate, it's ripe but not as big as the Villa Creek Willow Creek. Not really soft cherries like I get with so many Rioajas but a little bit of a bitter cherry flavor. Short finish. This seems to be a better food wine than the 2006 Villa Creek Willow Creek.
2006 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuve - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
Big. Stereotypically Paso Robles. Balanced but you get the sense the alcohol is bursting at the seams. Licorice and black cherry on the nose. Bigger on the palate with red fruits. I liked the 2005 version of this much better.
2006 The Australian Premium Wine Collection Grenache Tir Na N'og - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (1/8/2010)
We taste wines blind for a reason. I probably wouldn't have guessed I would have liked an Aussie grenache second best of the seven wines served (six blind and one warm up). But here you go. It tastes ripe and I incorrectly guessed a 2007 Southern Rhone. Intense nose. Cherry and strawberry and some Priorat-like chocolate. The palate is still kind of closed and the tannins on the finish are mildly puckering. Dark fruits and some cherry on the palate along with some oak. Good finish. I think this will be better in three or four years.
2005 Domaine du Joncier Lirac Cru des cotes du Rhone - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Lirac (1/8/2010)
My least favorite wine of the night. It was served blind in a flight of three and we were told there were two French wines and an Australian wine. I picked this as the Aussie, mainly because it's slightly out of balance and the alcohol was poking through. It stood out in the lineup like me at a singles bar. I got volatile acidity on the nose along with some Loire hipster diaper poo. Others in the group liked the nose and called it earthy. The palate was mainly dark fruits and some herbs. It had a nice finish. It could improve with age. We may have caught it at a bad time.
2007 M. Chapoutier Ctes du Roussillon Villages Latour Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Ctes du Roussillon Villages Latour (1/8/2010)
This was my third favorite wine of the night. It was No. 1 in a flight of six wines blind and the last sip was the best, suggesting maybe it was still opening up by the time I finished it. Still tannic. On the nose, there was northern Rhonish bacon fat along with herbs. Probably the best nose of the night. The palate was fairly tight but opened up. It's bigger than the typical French wine but balanced. The palate is dark plums and other dark fruit along with pepper and some herbs. Good finish. I suspect this will improve for several years.
2006 H. Brunier & Fils Vin de Pays de Vaucluse Le Pigeoulet en Provence - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Vin de Pays de Vaucluse (1/8/2010)
Another nice bottle of this wine. Simple, but definitely of the Southern Rhone and Provence. The 2004 seemed more life a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This is more generic. A nice dark cherry core spiced with garrigue, pepper and herbs. Short finish. Quite pleasant., A Kermit Lynch import.
2000 Philippe Faury St. Joseph Blanc - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, St. Joseph (12/6/2009)
First sip, tastes oxidized and alcoholic. Oddly enough, as it gets more air, the oxidation largely subsides. White fruits and flowers on the nose. The palate is honey, dried fruits and nuttiness and a streak of lime. A bit thicker than regular white wine but not too much so. Good finish. Good balance. The main flaw would be a bitter, quinine-like kick to the finish. I like this wine. A Kermit Lynch import.
Day two: Better on the second day. It added a little depth and the bitterness dissipated.
This is a tasty, balanced wine. It tastes old world, but it doesn't taste much like southern Rhone.If I had tasted this blind I might have guessed a Cotes du Ventoux on steroids. It's 60 percent grenache and 40 percent syrah but the syrah clearly dominates. The Chateau Fortia Cuvee Du Baron has a higher percentage of syrah but the grenache is prominent, at least in the ones I've tried. The grenache seems to have disappeared in this wine. I'm surprised in reading notes on this wine in other vintages that describe it as being a great terroir wine.
Bacon fat on the nose. Some earthiness. On the palate, white pepper, plums and other dark fruits. A little bit of licorice. Good finish.
It seems to be more a wine I respect more than a wine I like. I love Charbonniere, but this is my least favorite Charonniere. A Kermit Lynch import.
2000 Domaine le Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras Cuve Azalais - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Vacqueyras (1/8/2010)
This turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The two prior bottles of this I opened has none of the vibrancy of young Sang des Cailloux (which is great to drink young). I wondered if there was a problem with the bottling since this is gray market and not a Kermit Lynch import (I thought maybe it was filtered). Or I wondered if they were heat damaged. The last one, tried about three years ago, need a couple of hours to open up and it wasn't that great then.
This one was great as soon as I popped the cork. It's drinking well now. First off, this seems darker than just about any Sang des Cailloux I remember. Black like Cornas. Terrific nose. Smoke. Garrigue. Herbs. Saddle leather. Just all around good grenache funk. Plum and currants on the palate. Befitting a wine whose name is blood from stone, lots of minerality. Great finish. The tannins have resolved. Nice feel to it as well.
This is a terrific wine and I'm glad I've got a couple of bottles left. I wish now I hadn't opened those other two when the wine was shut down. With the tannins in check, the mature Sang dex Cailloux is a good food wine. Ginday Imports Ltd.
2005 Kukkula Sisu - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
At a tasting a year earlier this was my second favorite wine of the night at a Rhone tasting. The extra year of age helped this wine. It was my favorite wine of the night. It's adding some depth. It's not fair to just call this balanced. It's elegant. The oak seems to be receding. The red fruits are less prominent. Softer dark fruits are coming to the forefront. A very nice finish. I didn't think this would be a long-term ager but after a year I can see this is probably a wine to lay down for six to 10 years. I like it. The winery Web site says its dry farmed.
2006 Villa Creek Mas de Maha - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
The wine store where my wine group bought these bottles ran out of competently made Rhone style wines so the people running the tasting decided to include this wine, which is 60 percent tempranillo. The difference immediately shows up with blood on the nose. On the palate, it's ripe but not as big as the Villa Creek Willow Creek. Not really soft cherries like I get with so many Rioajas but a little bit of a bitter cherry flavor. Short finish. This seems to be a better food wine than the 2006 Villa Creek Willow Creek.
2006 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuve - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/8/2010)
Big. Stereotypically Paso Robles. Balanced but you get the sense the alcohol is bursting at the seams. Licorice and black cherry on the nose. Bigger on the palate with red fruits. I liked the 2005 version of this much better.
2006 The Australian Premium Wine Collection Grenache Tir Na N'og - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (1/8/2010)
We taste wines blind for a reason. I probably wouldn't have guessed I would have liked an Aussie grenache second best of the seven wines served (six blind and one warm up). But here you go. It tastes ripe and I incorrectly guessed a 2007 Southern Rhone. Intense nose. Cherry and strawberry and some Priorat-like chocolate. The palate is still kind of closed and the tannins on the finish are mildly puckering. Dark fruits and some cherry on the palate along with some oak. Good finish. I think this will be better in three or four years.
2005 Domaine du Joncier Lirac Cru des cotes du Rhone - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Lirac (1/8/2010)
My least favorite wine of the night. It was served blind in a flight of three and we were told there were two French wines and an Australian wine. I picked this as the Aussie, mainly because it's slightly out of balance and the alcohol was poking through. It stood out in the lineup like me at a singles bar. I got volatile acidity on the nose along with some Loire hipster diaper poo. Others in the group liked the nose and called it earthy. The palate was mainly dark fruits and some herbs. It had a nice finish. It could improve with age. We may have caught it at a bad time.
2007 M. Chapoutier Ctes du Roussillon Villages Latour Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Ctes du Roussillon Villages Latour (1/8/2010)
This was my third favorite wine of the night. It was No. 1 in a flight of six wines blind and the last sip was the best, suggesting maybe it was still opening up by the time I finished it. Still tannic. On the nose, there was northern Rhonish bacon fat along with herbs. Probably the best nose of the night. The palate was fairly tight but opened up. It's bigger than the typical French wine but balanced. The palate is dark plums and other dark fruit along with pepper and some herbs. Good finish. I suspect this will improve for several years.
2006 H. Brunier & Fils Vin de Pays de Vaucluse Le Pigeoulet en Provence - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Vin de Pays de Vaucluse (1/8/2010)
Another nice bottle of this wine. Simple, but definitely of the Southern Rhone and Provence. The 2004 seemed more life a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This is more generic. A nice dark cherry core spiced with garrigue, pepper and herbs. Short finish. Quite pleasant., A Kermit Lynch import.
2000 Philippe Faury St. Joseph Blanc - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, St. Joseph (12/6/2009)
First sip, tastes oxidized and alcoholic. Oddly enough, as it gets more air, the oxidation largely subsides. White fruits and flowers on the nose. The palate is honey, dried fruits and nuttiness and a streak of lime. A bit thicker than regular white wine but not too much so. Good finish. Good balance. The main flaw would be a bitter, quinine-like kick to the finish. I like this wine. A Kermit Lynch import.
Day two: Better on the second day. It added a little depth and the bitterness dissipated.