Had a few friends over for a roast chicken dinner last night. They brought some pretty tasty wines.
2014 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Cuvee Buster Les Monts Damnés - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
My second time with the wine and it's a thing of beauty. It's neither too rich, nor too lean. The fruit is ripe and starts to head towards orchard and maybe hints of tropical before being pulled by its traditional citrus and mineral character with slight herbal notes. Perhaps a little plush when first opened, it focuses nicely and the acid spine stiffens with a bit of air. A wonderful match with the asparagus risotto. Solid A-.
2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
A rooster strutting its stuff and a perfect example of a 2000 with it's sexy, if uncomplicated profile. What it lacks in stout structure and layers of depth is made up by an easy going, fruit forward personality. Probably one of the most gluggable Giacosas out there with it's sweet baked cherry fruit, earth, tar and spice character, especially when when combined with its soft tannins and relatively low acidity. Drinking beautifully now and probably at peak. Don't over think it, just enjoy it for the fun and hedonistic bottling that it is. There are plenty of other wines from Giacosa to get cerebral with. A/A-.
1996 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Bricco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A structurist's dream as this is a tough, ungenerous and rustic wine. Nicely aromatic, with it's earth, leather and red fruit. That profile carries over to the palate, where the fruit shows a tart red plum and cherry character, but the leather, earth and bark flavors keep the fruit in the background a bit and then the structure hits you like a tsunami. Just a sheer wall of austere tannins that completely dries out the mouth. Food helped, but, even so, the wine remained tough. Needs time to be tamed, but I wonder if there will be much fruit left by the time the tannins resolve? Low B+.
1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Elegant with nice acid levels and fully of smoky, bacony, red fruit and peppery green olive tapenade goodness. The fruit seems a little less intense than just a few years ago and there's more tertiary development and a slightly leaner feel to the wine, so it's probably peaked. Just lovely with the roast chicken. Solid A-.
2001 Ch“teau Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
A nice cap to the evening, but showing more advancement from half bottle than I've seen in 750. Rich, but a little less vibrant than previous bottles. Plenty of botrytis and pineapple character with a good hit of VA when first opened. The wine is now starting to take on more mature marmalade flavors and the oak profile has shifted more from coconut to butterscotch. Good length and balance and the wine shed the VA and came together nicely with air. Lovely stuff. Low A.
Some pictures from the evening.
The group.
The wines.
Asparagus risotto with sous vide egg.
Roast chicken.
Posted from CellarTracker
2014 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Cuvee Buster Les Monts Damnés - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
My second time with the wine and it's a thing of beauty. It's neither too rich, nor too lean. The fruit is ripe and starts to head towards orchard and maybe hints of tropical before being pulled by its traditional citrus and mineral character with slight herbal notes. Perhaps a little plush when first opened, it focuses nicely and the acid spine stiffens with a bit of air. A wonderful match with the asparagus risotto. Solid A-.
2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
A rooster strutting its stuff and a perfect example of a 2000 with it's sexy, if uncomplicated profile. What it lacks in stout structure and layers of depth is made up by an easy going, fruit forward personality. Probably one of the most gluggable Giacosas out there with it's sweet baked cherry fruit, earth, tar and spice character, especially when when combined with its soft tannins and relatively low acidity. Drinking beautifully now and probably at peak. Don't over think it, just enjoy it for the fun and hedonistic bottling that it is. There are plenty of other wines from Giacosa to get cerebral with. A/A-.
1996 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Bricco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A structurist's dream as this is a tough, ungenerous and rustic wine. Nicely aromatic, with it's earth, leather and red fruit. That profile carries over to the palate, where the fruit shows a tart red plum and cherry character, but the leather, earth and bark flavors keep the fruit in the background a bit and then the structure hits you like a tsunami. Just a sheer wall of austere tannins that completely dries out the mouth. Food helped, but, even so, the wine remained tough. Needs time to be tamed, but I wonder if there will be much fruit left by the time the tannins resolve? Low B+.
1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Elegant with nice acid levels and fully of smoky, bacony, red fruit and peppery green olive tapenade goodness. The fruit seems a little less intense than just a few years ago and there's more tertiary development and a slightly leaner feel to the wine, so it's probably peaked. Just lovely with the roast chicken. Solid A-.
2001 Ch“teau Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
A nice cap to the evening, but showing more advancement from half bottle than I've seen in 750. Rich, but a little less vibrant than previous bottles. Plenty of botrytis and pineapple character with a good hit of VA when first opened. The wine is now starting to take on more mature marmalade flavors and the oak profile has shifted more from coconut to butterscotch. Good length and balance and the wine shed the VA and came together nicely with air. Lovely stuff. Low A.
Some pictures from the evening.
The group.
The wines.
Asparagus risotto with sous vide egg.
Roast chicken.
