July 4 Weekend Wines

J

John M

John Meier
Brief notes on wines from the long holiday weekend.

Amplify Wines Carignane 2014. Lighter than some roses, crunchy with tart fruit and a bit earthy. This would make a good Thanksgiving wine, with enough cut and character to hold up to the traditional rich and heavy foods.

Bloomer Creek White Horse Red 2010. A Finger Lakes blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It started a bit tannic and disjointed, but gained richness after being open a while. More Loire than Cheval Blanc, this was full of energy with darker fruit flavors (plums and black cherries??) and the tobacco and herbal notes one gets from Cabernet Franc. The wine of the weekend. I need to get back to Hector and buy some more.

Sinskey Point of View 2011. A Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend, balanced toward lush fruit but certainly not a jammy wine. This was quite nice, but the Bloomer Creek had more fans.

Arnot-Roberts Watson Ranch Chardonnay 2014. After a couple of hours this opened up to become a nice blend of peaches and citrus fruits. I read there is minimal/neutral oak use, but I thought I noticed it, so there is something oak-like in its structure. I loved the 2013 version of this wine, and this was very good, but it didn’t convince me to splurge on additional bottles of the 2014.

I hope there's something in the above that someone finds useful.
 
Around here:

Scherrer 2008 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Country - slo-o for a day, a two-headed beast: some glasses showed a restrained but minerally palate, just a little too ripe to be Bourgogne Rouge but classy anyway; other glasses held a brutal wallop of piney, VA-tinged concord juice; no idea why my nose went back and forth on this; anyway, it was a really good match with the delicately smoky ratatouille

A. Bonhomme 2014 Sancerre "La Forcine" - pretty good zip, some minerality but also apple and rose, nice

V. Clicquot NV Champagne Brut Rose - astringent, bitter, thin, awful
 
2000 Coeur de Cuvee (magnum) 12.5% abv -- beautiful. nice depth and roundness but still zippy. impeccable balance and complexity. Probably will still evolve and maybe even improve, but there is also a decent chance that this is at its apogee.

2010 Metras Fleurie (magnum)12.5% abv -- still young, but seems to entering a very pleasant drinking phase. Great effect of depth and flavor with very little weight. Delicious to wine geeks and normal folks alike. damn magnums are too small.

2005 Roulot Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Rouge -- a bit muted at first, but after 30 minutes delightful. beautiful nose. terrific in the mouth; multifaceted, delicate red fruits and rich earth. (if the Metras was better with the bacon cheeseburgers, the Roulot was better on its own afterwards.) Kudos and thanks to the host!

2012 Ulysse Collin Les Maillons (BdN) -- great way to end the evening; this is just beautiful, if obviously youthful. Ripe but not heavy. That, along with just enough structure and acidity, makes for a really lovely drink.
 
originally posted by kirk wallace:

2005 Roulot Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Rouge -- a bit muted at first, but after 30 minutes delightful. beautiful nose. terrific in the mouth; multifaceted, delicate red fruits and rich earth. (if the Metras was better with the bacon cheeseburgers, the Roulot was better on its own afterwards.) Kudos and thanks to the host!
Click to expand...

Roulot ... I am jealous.
 
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