Joel Stewart
Joel Stewart
Coming back to the US is not a bad thing...for one, I can find wines in my cellar that I completely forgot I had. For two, I can pull corks right and left and share wines with my parents...and cook in the kitchen with Mom. I sense those days might be limited.
2001 Chateau Musar Blanc - The '01 white defies description. This is the wine where you believe Gaston when he says his whites are superior to his reds. Consumed over a 5 day period, it did nothing but improve upon it's beauty. 12.5%, but bigger than that. Glossy, Rhone-ier than the norm (at times), shape-shifting nose and palate: nuts, sherry-deglazed butter, roasted meat, blue cheese...then some rs upfront, a bit of viognier-like waxiness and a huge middle reminiscent of aged burgs which extends to a long, long finish with plenty of zip and anise notes. Easily the most memorable white this year. Difficult to describe but extremely pleasurable. This is a wine that circumvents words, so I do not come close to capturing it. It is a flood of memories of many good whites from the past all rolled into a single bottle. Doubters of the house should skip the red and try this.
2001 Chateau Musar Rouge - In a fine state for it's youth. Less ready to drink than the white, but easily consumed. A jubilant wine with blood orange notes mixed with beef juices and just a touch of barniness. Pinot-like earth and fresh acidity. Light, but packed with flavor, probably the best pairing for turkey I've had so far. More barn on day two...kill it on day one, I say. Drink if you must, but really, hold.
2006 Brundlmayer Langloiser Steinmassel Reisling - 13%, it wears it's weight well. Savory rainwater, a bit of funk, some lentil on the nose. Palate starts out right with green apple and spices and just a touch of tangy spritz, but the spices overwhelm and eventually turn dry and bitter on the finish. Like a spoken sentence that begins with the most perfect cadence and pronunciation and quickly devolves into caustic guttural noise. I've had better bottles of this, even a year ago...so maybe it's in transition.
1994 Hauth-Kerpen, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Reisling Spatlese - Still fruit forward, somewhat nutty in the middle, zippy fresh acidity on the finish. Like previous bottles, this too was a bit musty on nose and palate at first, which dissipated with air. Good, but not really a contemplative wine on it's own. Rather, it screams for a big fuckin' seared slab of fois gras, so that's what the next bottle is going to fuckin' get.
2009 Ameztoi Rubentis - A fun wine, all saline and spritz, it reminds me of the fun bottled in vinho verdes. Dry and decent bead....it's like pink spritzy seawater. Unfortunately, it commands a heftier price than it deserves, I think. Freshness over complexity. Good, but not twenty bucks good.
2009 Senorio de Astobiza, Txacoli de Alava - 13%, and from more inland I hear. Hondarrabi Zuri, Petit Courbu and Gros Manseng. This too shows a saline side, but with a bit more weight and depth. Screaming acidity lifts the wine up, and I prefer this. No spritz.
2003 Clos Mogador, Priorat - Not as good as last year's bottle. Surprisingly green. Best thing going for it is the delicate, refined mouthfeel, which is a big part of the admission price here. A bit clipped and not as much depth as before. To think of what I could buy with what I spent on this. Better on day 2, with the developed acidity. Still, it's too much....or just not in my wheelhouse anymore.
2001 Orcella Orsus, Monsant - 100% garnacha. This is an unusual grenache and I like it. First of all, it does not look nor taste big. Aged ruby in the glass, it is like a cross between a streamlined RdD (with it's cherry, silky notes) and a Musar (with it's subtle Rhoney notes and touch of barnyard). Relaxed now with age, but still taut in the right spots, dry and dusty chalk tannins on the finish and nearly tastes as if not innoculated, fer cryin out loud. CdP and yet something else. Likey.
2006 Taittinger Domaine Carneros - Tasty shyte. Fine bead, crisp, restrained, elegant. Fine lemony finish and just a touch of greenness. Gluggable, but holds it's own with extended air time.
2004 Luneau-Papin L d'Or - This too, is a candidate for white of the year. Holy crap, I am so glad I did not drink all of these up. My mother, who taught me all I know in the kitchen, but does not "know" wine, sipped a couple glasses of this and at the end of the night said thanks for sharing that world class wine. She is so right. As good as it was on release, this is in a stupendous state. Full of conundrums, but completely solid.
2001 Chateau Musar Blanc - The '01 white defies description. This is the wine where you believe Gaston when he says his whites are superior to his reds. Consumed over a 5 day period, it did nothing but improve upon it's beauty. 12.5%, but bigger than that. Glossy, Rhone-ier than the norm (at times), shape-shifting nose and palate: nuts, sherry-deglazed butter, roasted meat, blue cheese...then some rs upfront, a bit of viognier-like waxiness and a huge middle reminiscent of aged burgs which extends to a long, long finish with plenty of zip and anise notes. Easily the most memorable white this year. Difficult to describe but extremely pleasurable. This is a wine that circumvents words, so I do not come close to capturing it. It is a flood of memories of many good whites from the past all rolled into a single bottle. Doubters of the house should skip the red and try this.
2001 Chateau Musar Rouge - In a fine state for it's youth. Less ready to drink than the white, but easily consumed. A jubilant wine with blood orange notes mixed with beef juices and just a touch of barniness. Pinot-like earth and fresh acidity. Light, but packed with flavor, probably the best pairing for turkey I've had so far. More barn on day two...kill it on day one, I say. Drink if you must, but really, hold.
2006 Brundlmayer Langloiser Steinmassel Reisling - 13%, it wears it's weight well. Savory rainwater, a bit of funk, some lentil on the nose. Palate starts out right with green apple and spices and just a touch of tangy spritz, but the spices overwhelm and eventually turn dry and bitter on the finish. Like a spoken sentence that begins with the most perfect cadence and pronunciation and quickly devolves into caustic guttural noise. I've had better bottles of this, even a year ago...so maybe it's in transition.
1994 Hauth-Kerpen, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Reisling Spatlese - Still fruit forward, somewhat nutty in the middle, zippy fresh acidity on the finish. Like previous bottles, this too was a bit musty on nose and palate at first, which dissipated with air. Good, but not really a contemplative wine on it's own. Rather, it screams for a big fuckin' seared slab of fois gras, so that's what the next bottle is going to fuckin' get.
2009 Ameztoi Rubentis - A fun wine, all saline and spritz, it reminds me of the fun bottled in vinho verdes. Dry and decent bead....it's like pink spritzy seawater. Unfortunately, it commands a heftier price than it deserves, I think. Freshness over complexity. Good, but not twenty bucks good.
2009 Senorio de Astobiza, Txacoli de Alava - 13%, and from more inland I hear. Hondarrabi Zuri, Petit Courbu and Gros Manseng. This too shows a saline side, but with a bit more weight and depth. Screaming acidity lifts the wine up, and I prefer this. No spritz.
2003 Clos Mogador, Priorat - Not as good as last year's bottle. Surprisingly green. Best thing going for it is the delicate, refined mouthfeel, which is a big part of the admission price here. A bit clipped and not as much depth as before. To think of what I could buy with what I spent on this. Better on day 2, with the developed acidity. Still, it's too much....or just not in my wheelhouse anymore.
2001 Orcella Orsus, Monsant - 100% garnacha. This is an unusual grenache and I like it. First of all, it does not look nor taste big. Aged ruby in the glass, it is like a cross between a streamlined RdD (with it's cherry, silky notes) and a Musar (with it's subtle Rhoney notes and touch of barnyard). Relaxed now with age, but still taut in the right spots, dry and dusty chalk tannins on the finish and nearly tastes as if not innoculated, fer cryin out loud. CdP and yet something else. Likey.
2006 Taittinger Domaine Carneros - Tasty shyte. Fine bead, crisp, restrained, elegant. Fine lemony finish and just a touch of greenness. Gluggable, but holds it's own with extended air time.
2004 Luneau-Papin L d'Or - This too, is a candidate for white of the year. Holy crap, I am so glad I did not drink all of these up. My mother, who taught me all I know in the kitchen, but does not "know" wine, sipped a couple glasses of this and at the end of the night said thanks for sharing that world class wine. She is so right. As good as it was on release, this is in a stupendous state. Full of conundrums, but completely solid.