Originally posted 5/02/01.
Knut Sogner was in from Norway last week. WLDG recluse .sasha had a small gathering for him which I managed to get to, though at a late hour which thankfully meant I missed most of the Burgundies. Unfortunately it also meant I missed the ''90 and ''97 Trimbach- Riesling "Frederic Emile" while cold and in plentiful supply. Tiny mouthfuls revealed two very intense wines, full of verve and flavor with the ''90 being surprisingly forward.
I only took a couple of notes while there, but here they are.
Once again, it was nice to put yet another name to a face.
1966 Loville-Las-Cases- St. Julien
Stored well as indicated by it''s healthy garnet color. Boy, did it have a bizzare and non-too-appealing nose to start off with. Green pepper, cooked green beans and baked potatos were the first aromas out of the glass. Thankfully, swirling removed those smells and old red cherry, mushroom and earthy, leather aromas took their place. Tannic and quite astringent. Nevertheless, there''s some nice underlying sweet cherry fruit present, along with some earth and leather. Not particularly complex, and it is a bit too dried out for my tastes. I would imagine some food, which I did not have with it would've helped it some. Drink up. B+/B.
1990 La Conseillante- Pomerol
Surprisingly herbal on the nose with sweet red fruit, earth and light smokey oak aromas. On the palate, this wine is either in an awkward stage, or an off bottle. There''s some nice red cherrry here, but it''s being surpressed by not so pleasant herb flavors. Earth and light oak flavors round things out. There''s good balance, but the wine isn''t leaving much of an impact in the mouth. I''ve had much better showings of this wine. Low B+.
1970 La Fleur-Ptrus- Pomerol
Gorgeous, complex nose of fresh berries, red currants, cherry, earth and light oak and tobacco. This bottle must''ve been stored in a Scottish castle as it''s showing plenty of youth. Still firmly tannic with juicy acidity that begs for food. Similar flavors as aromas, with the red fruit showing a nice richness to it. Quite a lovely mouthful. A-.
1964 Huet- Vouvray, "Clos du Bourg," Moelleux
Ahhhh. Another nice, old Chenin. A lovely, complex nose that reminds me of an older version of many of the ''95 Huets, full of earthiness and polleny-honey and a dash of shoe polish. Mature and a bit weary with age, the wine still has life, but suffers a little bit in the vitality department. Nice old Chenin fruit, light sweetness with like flavors as aromas. Finish is a little short. Still, a pleasurable experience and yet another example of why Huet rules. B+.
Knut Sogner was in from Norway last week. WLDG recluse .sasha had a small gathering for him which I managed to get to, though at a late hour which thankfully meant I missed most of the Burgundies. Unfortunately it also meant I missed the ''90 and ''97 Trimbach- Riesling "Frederic Emile" while cold and in plentiful supply. Tiny mouthfuls revealed two very intense wines, full of verve and flavor with the ''90 being surprisingly forward.
I only took a couple of notes while there, but here they are.
Once again, it was nice to put yet another name to a face.
1966 Loville-Las-Cases- St. Julien
Stored well as indicated by it''s healthy garnet color. Boy, did it have a bizzare and non-too-appealing nose to start off with. Green pepper, cooked green beans and baked potatos were the first aromas out of the glass. Thankfully, swirling removed those smells and old red cherry, mushroom and earthy, leather aromas took their place. Tannic and quite astringent. Nevertheless, there''s some nice underlying sweet cherry fruit present, along with some earth and leather. Not particularly complex, and it is a bit too dried out for my tastes. I would imagine some food, which I did not have with it would've helped it some. Drink up. B+/B.
1990 La Conseillante- Pomerol
Surprisingly herbal on the nose with sweet red fruit, earth and light smokey oak aromas. On the palate, this wine is either in an awkward stage, or an off bottle. There''s some nice red cherrry here, but it''s being surpressed by not so pleasant herb flavors. Earth and light oak flavors round things out. There''s good balance, but the wine isn''t leaving much of an impact in the mouth. I''ve had much better showings of this wine. Low B+.
1970 La Fleur-Ptrus- Pomerol
Gorgeous, complex nose of fresh berries, red currants, cherry, earth and light oak and tobacco. This bottle must''ve been stored in a Scottish castle as it''s showing plenty of youth. Still firmly tannic with juicy acidity that begs for food. Similar flavors as aromas, with the red fruit showing a nice richness to it. Quite a lovely mouthful. A-.
1964 Huet- Vouvray, "Clos du Bourg," Moelleux
Ahhhh. Another nice, old Chenin. A lovely, complex nose that reminds me of an older version of many of the ''95 Huets, full of earthiness and polleny-honey and a dash of shoe polish. Mature and a bit weary with age, the wine still has life, but suffers a little bit in the vitality department. Nice old Chenin fruit, light sweetness with like flavors as aromas. Finish is a little short. Still, a pleasurable experience and yet another example of why Huet rules. B+.