TNs: Qualities Hard to Describe

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Ian Fitzsimmons

Ian Fitzsimmons
2002 Lecheneaut Morey St. Denis
Day 1, poured half off into a 375 and sealed it; sipping the remainder was like licking a rock. My wife said This tastes like nothing.

Day 2, I uncorked the 375 in the morning and left it out on the counter all day, decanting just before dinner. The wine was still brambly, but the tough stony quality of day 1 now felt like cool molten rock, conveying pinot fruit and a thrilling textural sensation in a deliciously energized package. Nothing rich, not great Burgundy in any conventional sense, but compelling and addictive. We got a similarly delicious liquefied rock sensation from 01 Pavelot Guettes opened earlier this year. its something I dont get from Beaujolais, and worth paying for, if you can afford it.

2009 Coudert Fleurie Roilette Cuvee Tardive
I wouldnt post another note on this wine except for my reaction to it the first day. I got nothing at all from the aroma and flavors. But swallowing it brought a palpable sensation of wellness and inner cohesion, as if the wine were chemically pulling me together somehow. I experience this curious response from time to time: it has nothing to do with a wines flavor, but is a delightful surprise when it happens. Second day this wine was remarkably good in the conventional way.

Other notes:

2002 Von Simmern Erbacher Marcobrunn Kabinett
Perfect Rheingau Kabinett: sturdy, rounded edifice of stone and acid with a bare memory of its former sweetness. Really good. At peak: falls off abruptly second day.

2001 Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr SL
Fine, honeyed, round. Whiff of petrol blows off immediately. In a nice place for food or solo reflection.

2000 Petite Eglise
Nice conventional Bordeaux experience, previously hard, now really starting to drink well.

2006 Droin Montee de Tonnerre
Panicked into drinking early by Nathans trauma with this winemaker. Day 1, rich texture with bits of acid and flavor bursting through like popping mud bubbles. Day 2, initially weird and screechy, almost caustic very peculiar. But then settled down to refined, elegant 1er Chablis. Go figure.

2002 Leoville Poyferre
Burly and fuzzy, like an old teddy bear, but with a sweet streak of defining acidity. Inelegant but lovable. I bought this wine in part because the owner said 2002 was one of two vintages in the past decade or so when he did not chaptalize.

1999 Doennhoff Schlossboeckelheimer Kupfergrube SL
Modest attack and restrained flavor profile, but nice intensity and persistence. Delivered unflaggingly over a three-day period from a re-corked bottle

2005 Hureau Lisagathe
Rich mlange of tannins, acids, and some cherry fruit. Capsicum flavor prominent young now hardly discernable, but the gestalt is still a bit stand-offish. Perhaps two more years? 14% abv.

2003 J.J. Christoffel Uerziger Wuertzgarten AL **
Surprisingly light and delicate, considering the vintage; moderate sweetness in check, no petrol, very pretty. Will be interesting to see how this develops.

1999 Beaucastel
CdP, nothing special. Bought four bottles of this wine on sale at Bassins several years ago to see what all the fuss is about; this is my second one and I dont see it yet.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons: swallowing it brought a palpable sensation of wellness and inner cohesion, as if the wine were chemically pulling me together somehow. I experience this curious response from time to time: it has nothing to do with a wines flavor, but is a delightful surprise when it happens.
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Well at least we've got that much straight!
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
1999 Beaucastel
CdP, nothing special. Bought four bottles of this wine on sale at Bassins several years ago to see what all the fuss is about; this is my second one and I dont see it yet.
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I don't recall much fuss about the '99 Beau specifically. I've had various bottles of this wine over the years, and while they've certainly been good, I don't think they're special. To me, they represent a recent Beau trend towards cleaner wines (contrast, for example, the '90 or '95 with the '99 or later Beaucastel wines). If anything, the '99 Beau will be an earlier wine than the '98 or '01, which are denser.
 
I haven't checked in on any of those wines lately, but I recall that 1999 has an atypically high percentage of Mourvdre, even for Beaucastel. I would have expected it to take longer to come around for that reason.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
2006 Droin Montee de Tonnerre
Panicked into drinking early by Nathans trauma with this winemaker. Day 1, rich texture with bits of acid and flavor bursting through like popping mud bubbles. Day 2, initially weird and screechy, almost caustic very peculiar. But then settled down to refined, elegant 1er Chablis. Go figure.
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Florida Jim opened my eyes to this producer years ago, and I've had good results. They can show some wood when young (like the '07 is showing now), but my experience is that they age well.

originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
2002 Leoville Poyferre
Burly and fuzzy, like an old teddy bear, but with a sweet streak of defining acidity. Inelegant but lovable. I bought this wine in part because the owner said 2002 was one of two vintages in the past decade or so when he did not chaptalize.
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Thanks for this note. Premier Cru sold this wine years ago for something like $25, if I recall correctly. As it's my daughter's birthyear, I bought, but have not yet opened a bottle. By "fuzzy" and "old teddy bear", do you mean that it lacks precision, or that it's resolving, or falling apart early, or . . . .?
 
...I bought this wine in part because the owner said 2002 was one of two vintages in the past decade or so when he did not chaptalize.
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No need to apologize (sheesh-since when is 'bordeaux' a term for HATE??)
 
originally posted by Cliff:
I haven't checked in on any of those wines lately, but I recall that 1999 has an atypically high percentage of Mourvdre, even for Beaucastel. I would have expected it to take longer to come around for that reason.
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That makes sense. I keep getting suckered by CT notes into opening wines too young, though I should know better by now.

originally posted by Asher:
Thanks for this note. Premier Cru sold this wine years ago for something like $25, if I recall correctly. As it's my daughter's birthyear, I bought, but have not yet opened a bottle. By "fuzzy" and "old teddy bear", do you mean that it lacks precision, or that it's resolving, or falling apart early, or . . . .?
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The sensation on the tongue was fuzzy, so probably I mean what you're calling lack of precision. Maybe it's what other people call velvety, I'm not sure. I recall people at the time of release saying it would be good for 'early drinking;' maybe you should try one and estimate whether it will go the distance.
originally posted by MarkS:
...I bought this wine in part because the owner said 2002 was one of two vintages in the past decade or so when he did not chaptalize.
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No need to apologize (sheesh-since when is 'bordeaux' a term for HATE??)
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Not sure I follow, Mark. Apology?
 
Ian, with all the anti-Bordeaux rhetoric on board here the past year, I found it a tad funny that you could only like a year like 02, which most professional critics were down on and by-pass riper ones. It's like the grenache grousing. Sometimes a ripe(r) wine can hit the spot; it doesn't make one a bad person. Or a lover of hedonistic gobs. Follow?
 
When 99 Beau came out, like a lot of 99s, it tasted much better young than did its 98 counterpart. When I opened a bottle a couple of years ago, it was unlike a lot of 99s in that it was shut down fairly tight. I haven't had one since. I opened a 98 a couple of nights ago and liked it very much. But I have to say that none of the wines, post 95, have reached the heights that the best Beaus of 81-90 have. They are cleaner wines and are preferable in that they are not subject to the extreme brett blooms of the earlier Beaus. And they show signs of aging better and longer. But none of them has ever given me the moments of transport I have gotten from 81s, 83s, 89s and 90s or, for that matter, even 86s and 88s. But I'm quite willing to write this off to being an old and jaded fogie. As I said, the 98 was a very nice wine.
 
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