With this issue, I've discontinued the practice of putting photos on every single monthly page in order to save download time. Photos are, of course, one of the hallmarks of this site and will remain on "standing" pages like "Best Buys." Frequent visitors to the site will have them cached. If photos are your thing, visit my Photo index, too.

Back to MainTasting Notes Summary Page
(or use your Browser's BACK button
or click on "Tasting Notes" in the Contents frame!)

• 1994 Puligny-Montrachet "Druid" (Dujac) This is a very nice village wine which can be had for around $25-$30. It has a sharp, tangy bite from tannins, but the oak provides sweetness and roundness here, too. Underneath, there's a touch of thinness in the center, but more than adequate stuffing for its classification. This needs time to integrate the oak with the fruit. Worth seeking out if you can get it at a reasonable price. 88+ points, the + denoting room for improvement if the oak and fruit knit together well. At the moment, oak predominates.
• 1994 Meursault "Les Clous" (Dujac) By comparison to the Puligny above, this wine is thinner, has less fruit, less oak and less appeal. It does manage to provide some flavor. It's not a bad wine, but in its price range, similar to the Puligny, it's a bad value and just an OK white burg. Pleasant, but pricey for what it is. Lacks real distinction. 84 points.
• 1993 & 1994 Morey St. Denis (Dujac)The 1993 provides pretty cherry notes, a bit herbal on the finish, elegant, and more or less ready, although this will improve more. Lacks the depth for a great wine, but a very nice village wine with supple tannins. 87 points. The 1994 has a bit more of a tannic bite at the moment, but lacks lushness, glycerine and depth. It's a bit boring, but pleasant enough and worth buying if you were to get a really good deal on it. 83 points. The '93 is way superior.
• 1993 & 1994 Clos St. Denis (Dujac) Two nice wines, but perhaps poor values. The 93 is lusher, rounder, deeper, with a reasonably good velvety mouth feel, with ripe tannins. It's an elegant wine, as the Clos St. Denis from Dujac usually is, not a blockbuster. Drinking pretty well now, but will hold. This is certainly not the stereotypical big, tannic 1993 monster, although one wonders if a bit more depth and concentration in this vintage might not be called for. A wine for those who appreciate finesse above power. 90 points, just barely, and it leaves you with a faint sense of disappointment in that you tended to expect more. The 1994 has a pretty berry nose, opened quickly, and seemed to be drinking well now. Its future development is in doubt, and I don't predict a long, glorious life or great improvement. The wine lacks real depth and concentration. You expect more from grands crus. 86 points.
• 1993 Gevrey-Chambertin "Aux Combottes" (Dujac) Shows little depth, opens hard and very tannic, has a nice core of sweet fruit in the mid-palate, but as it opened it thinned out fast. This wine can use a little cellaring and may yet improve, but doesn't look to be a huge success. 86+ points.
• 1994 Chambolle-Musigny (Dujac) A little beauty. Strong raspberry flavors, very intense and forward, high in glycerine, sweet and ripe. Admittedly, as it sat in the glass, not much developed after that first burst of hedonistic fruit, but this is sure a fine achievement in the vintage for a village wine. Drink, don't hold. 88 points, with point deductions for longevity impeding a higher score. It gives a lot of pleasure at the moment.
• 1994 Bonnes Mares (Dujac) Showing absolutely nothing at the moment. Tight, tannic, utterly closed. After half an hour or so, it just started to open, and it seems like this wine has significant potential. It's hard to evaluate well at the moment. Probably a poor QPR, though. 90+ points, with all the points based on potential. If this balances out, it could be a super 1994. If it doesn't, it will just be hard and charmless.
• 1994 Clos de la Roche (Dujac) Some stinkiness on the nose, a little animal flavor, a bit short on depth... but it also has pretty berry flavors which ultimately came to predominate. A sweet core of fruit in the center. Thinned out very fast. 88 points.
• 1992 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Beaucastel) A very good, but not quite great Beaucastel. I sat with this lovely wine for some time, watching the pure blueberry fruit meld into a well structured wine with a firm backbone, fine balance and elegance. This is not an opulent wine, although it's lush enough. In depth and concentration it falls just short of being a real star. As it is, it does a lot right and in this vintage may be a better value than more famous years. 90 points.
• 1994 Castello di Poppiano Syrah (Gucciardini) This wine is a little amazing. Italian Syrah (actually 10% sangiovese). Odd? The wine's a bargain. For around $15, you get a wine that opens very jammy, with slightly candied fruit. It doesn't seem varietally true at first. Tastes good, but seems to have a certain oddness you can't quite place. With an hour and a half of air, it develops syrah nuances, a syrah nose, and syrah flavors. Finally. Throughout, the wine displays more than a little lushness and ripeness. If you like forward fruit and good deals, this wine is simply fascinating. This is a medium term wine with relatively little tannin that I suspect will be best for drinking 1998-2002. 89 points.
• Non-Vintage Egly-Ouriet Rosé Champagne Pretty rosé that lacks the richness of Egly-Ouriet's bigger wines, but still delivers flavor. There's just a touch here of mouth coating fruit (although sometimes in rosés you get none!) and the wine shows mostly balanced, elegant and frothy. 88 points.
• 1986 Beychevelle A wonderful 1986 that is drinking surprisingly well. One thing I've always liked about good, recent Beychevelle is the lushness and velvety aspects the wine seems to attain routinely. In some vintages, they seem bit light and lack depth. It stands to reason that 1986 is the perfect wine for Beychevelle. The ferocious tannins are moderated by the velvety, sweet Beychevelle signature, but the vintage character gives the wine backbone and weight. The tannins are supple, the wine is lush and with air acquires finesse, too. Not a monster wine, still could be said to lack a bit of depth, and the fruit moderated fairly quickly with air, but this is a Bordeaux that should please just about everyone. 92 points.
• 1982 Léoville Las Cases After stripping off the capsule of this wine, it became apparent that the level was a bit low (although well into the neck) because it had leaked a bit. So, probably this is not a pristine bottle. Still, it showed plenty. At first, it was a bit dumb and we decanted it. Then, it showed some tannic bite, put on weight, expanded and showed remarkable finesse. A bit of lead pencil and tobacco, a dollop of disappointment under the circumstances. 90 points.
• 1992 Gewurztraminer "Hengst" (Zind-Humbrecht) Talk about the virtues of patience! This wine seemed to open thin, dry and unexciting. I left it alone, and came back about ten minutes later to find that a small nuclear explosion had occurred in the glass. This wine is not the sweet, late harvest, flamboyant style we see so often in Alsace these days (and with ZH), but old style gewurz. Suddenly, the pepper bubbled up, the fruit was pristine, spicy and elegant, and the balance of the wine was impeccable. Not the deepest most concentrated ZH ever, but superb classic gewurz; a winner in its own right. 92 points. This was, by the way, a fantastic food match for some spicy crab cakes.
• 1993 Turley "Hayne Vineyard" Zinfandel Sweet and tannic, aging gracefully, this wine lacks the depth and concentration of the 1994, but some may prefer it that way (not me). The wine has a core of sweet fruit that grabs your attention and won't let go. I would like to see a little more lushness, though. 91 points.
• 1994 Macon "Les Cras" La Roche Vineuse (Merlin) This rare bottling hardly ever comes into the USA. If you want some, try Neal Rosenthal importers in Manhattan. Prepare to beg. If anyone is making better Macon than Merlin, I don't know who. This wine, however, is not the lush, deep marvel that it can be. Still, forward and fruity, a bit of citrus and acid apparent, this is a Macon for people who don't like them. 89 points.
• 1994 Condrieu "Chaillets" Vielles Vignes (Cuilleron) In some years, this wine is a candidate for one of the greatest viogniers you've ever had. Not this year. The nose is fragrant and beautiful, redolent of citrus fruits. The finish is long and leesy, with an odd but delightful nutty aftertaste. But it's not as lush or fruity as it sometimes is, and it's marred by some sharp acidity protruding through a wine with not enough flesh to support it. On the whole, there was something about the total presentation I disliked, but it still did a lot of things right. 88 points.
• 1994 Pouilly-Fuissé "Tournant de Fuissé" (Ferret) A middle of the road PF from a producer that often produces ethereal wines. This wine did nothing wrong, and nothing especially right either. That's not what I want to see from Ferret. 87 points.
• 1959 Chateau d'Yquem Bringing this was a bit of joke. I bought this wine even after noting its very dark color. Clearly, it had been poorly stored and was in dubious condition. On opening, it proved to be throughly maderized. I had one similar bottle before and knowing what was coming, I served it blind. The good guesses were madeira and Tokaji. One person managed to guess Sauternes. Either he tasted through the maderization and I'm really impressed or it was a lucky guess. Indeed, this wine tasted more like Essenzia than great Essenzia. As one person noted, "it's impossible to kill this wine." Indeed. The maderization just made it more unctuous. If you didn't mind the fact it tasted like Tokaji instead of Sauternes, this was still a lot of fun. NO score; it's too weird under the circumstances, but I liked it a lot.
• 1992 Weinbach Clos des Capucins Pinot Gris "Selection de Grains Nobles" Tasting this after the Yquem was amusing and did a disservice to this sweet little beauty that caresses your mouth and finishes with sugary elegance. It fought back nobly and earned 90 points.
• 1995 Banyuls "Les Clos de Pauilles" (Doutres) This good value Banyuls ($10 or so per half) is tight and closed, and needs some cellaring. With a lot of air, the wine becomes thicker and richer but formidable tannins pop out, too. Some raisiny aspects covered by lush fruit (if you catch it with the right amount of air). This wine demands a few years in the cellar. 90 points.
• 1995 Turley "Aida" Zinfandel My own observation is that early on the Aida from Turley usually shows this way: almost a fizz on the finish, a wine tingling with supple tannins that hide the itnensity of the fruit at first, then a big hit of tight, dense, ripe fruit. The Aida never shows the intensity of Hayne in my view, but it's important not to dismiss this wine on how it shows this young, when the dominant characteristics are the tingling, almost fizzy nuances. I've found the elements knit together well with a year or so of cellaring and some air, and you begin thinking about the sweet fruit. 88+, with potential for improvement.
• 1966 Haut Brion Some oxidation on the finish, but on the whole, a sweet, somewhat flamboyant wine that shows well. Elegant, not much depth, but up front a tasty dollop of black currant fruit that leaves you wanting seconds. The touch of oxidation on the finish makes me say I would drink rather than hold this. 88 points.
• 1953 & 1959 Latour A tale of two great vintage wines. I admit to never having had the '53 Latour before so I cannot tell you if its poor performance is typical of the wine or the bottle. The level was a bit low. From this bottle, count the '53 pretty much gone. Surprisingly, less maderization than I'd expect, but tastes thick and clumsy, with few discernible fruit flavors. Call it first growth sludge. The weight and depth of what this was is still apparent, and is the only redeeming value of this wine at this point. 68 points. The '59 is a 'nother story entirely. Tasted from magnum, it opens tight with some mouth drying tannins and not much fruit. Good balance and color. With air, some fruit comes out and the wine actually shows a bit of intensity. "Tea leaves" notes of decay on the finish. It seems to me, for all this did right, that it was underwhelming and lacking in fruit. It had more depth and weight than the 66 Haut Brion, but nothing resembling its fresh fruit flavor at any point. Pros and cons, hemming and hawing. I'm glad I had a couple of glasses. I'm sure glad I didn't pay for the bottle.... 86 points.
• 1953 Haut Brion Well, I'm getting annoyed at the poor showing of my birth year wines. I hope they aren't typical. Call this dead. It had no social redeeming characteristics whatsoever. Thin, oxidized, taste and smell of decay. 55 points.
• 1982 Silver Oak Cabernet "Napa;" 1985 Silver Oak Cabernet "Alexander Valley;" 1986 Silver Oak Cabernet "Napa" May as well do these as a group and get it over with. (g) In sum, a very strong showing. Why do I have this nagging feeling that the SOs of the '90s won't turn out this well? The 1982 Napa is a wine of its vintage. This is a distinctly anti-California vintage, producing subtly intense wines of balance and finesse compared to a lot of other years. The 1982 SO Napa is a child of this vintage, showing restraint, some elegance, supple tannins and charm. The fruit is fading just a bit, and after the wine was open a while, the oak began to take over. There were those who claimed the fruit made a comeback. I do not agree. At the end, this was all oak. There was a moment in time when the wine came into balance and was very nice indeed, but the end result was sweet American oak. Of course, if you don't like oak, don't drink Silver Oak. There. I said it. (g) Still, held very well, was very enjoyable, and if you liked this vintage style, it was a big winner. 87 points. The 85 AV and the 86 Napa opened on parity, seeming very similar. The main difference between the two when I went back to them at others' insistence was the AV faded, the 86 gained power. The 85 was richer and sweeter than the 86, and perhaps for awhile more appealing. Licorice on the finish, nice ripe fruit. In many respects, the antithesis of the '82. Tons of fun, but some of the sweetness seemed oak inspired as the fruit settled down. 88 points. The 1986 Napa was neck and neck with the '85 AV for awhile, but ultimately showed more depth. When the AV faded and moderated, there wasn't a lot left. When the Napa had the same advantages of air, it developed. Supple tannins, more fruit than you sometimes expect to see, and lasted all night long. Whether you preferred the 82 or the 85 was largely a matter of food matchups, preferences and style, but this wine was just better. 92 points.
• 1992 Marcassin "Gauer" Chardonnay Served a bit too warm, this wine was fat and chunky, wrapped in vanilla, oak and tannins. Just when you thought, though, that this was a simple, one dimensional wine, you came back to it to find it blossoming in the glass. Not too much chardonnay does that; I'm glad I waited, even though the wine wound up a bit warm. 91 points.
• 1992 Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Ruchottes" (Ramonet) This burg opened thin, acidic and tart, showing nothing at all. With air, it rounded the sharp edges off, and developed nicely in the glass, but never got to the point where I found it a particularly tasty or focused wine. The wine seems a bit out of balance, and what I liked best about it was the beautiful, intense, nutty nose, that, however, did not fully follow through on the palate. 87+ points. This wine may develop with some cellaring and has potential for improvement.
• 1993 Kistler "Dutton" Chardonnay All around the edges, this wine seemed hollow and the oak seemed too dominant for the fruit at times. But in the core, was a concentration of sweet, ripe fruit that I could latch on to. Not my idea of great Kistler, but not bad. 86 points.
• 1986 Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot For old merlot, quite remarkable, but clearly showing some signs of age. The tannins are still there, the finish shows mouth drying astringency. But in the center is a core of sweet fruit and a lot of big fruit. The tannins moderated with air, the mature nuances never became oppressive. For a more restrained wine with some nuances of maturity, this showed well. 89 points.
• 1985 Dominus The capsule when stripped revealed some signs of minor leakage, so this was probably not in prime shape. I attribute the tea leaves, autumnal notes to the leakage and oxidation. Under the circumstances, this was still a remarkable performance. The wine had a healthy dose of tannins, mouth drying at times. In the center and while it was in prime time, it had an intensity of fruit in the mid-palate that wines like Silver Oak, say, never achieve. The tannins moderated with air, but by then the tea leaves aspects of the fruit took over, and the modest damage the wine had sustained showed. In context, a fine performance. 88 points.
• 1994 Woodward Canyon "Charbono" Cab/Merlot (Washington State) Served blind. A little beauty. Seemed a bit thin, although became lusher with air, but was so sweet, pretty and friendly it was hard not to admire it even though it lacked a bit of depth and intensity. I thought it was a Silver Oak experiment, perhaps a second label wine. Whatever, tons of fun. All sweetness and light, not big, not deep. Just fun. 87 points.
• 1995 Leonetti Merlot Pulpy, redolent of whole berry fermentation (whether it had it or not, I can't say......) and not altogether pleasing. The forward cherry fruit was sweet, but not, to me, especially enjoyable. There were lots of flavors, but not necessarily ones I wanted to see. 85+ points. This is very young and may come around and improve, but I'm not buying any.
• 1986 La Jota Cabernet Spicy, with puckery tannins. Big and brawny, but with welcome notes of maturity on the fruit. This wine is edging into balance and is a great match for strong meat dishes. 90 points.
• 1975 Pichon Lalande; 1979 Pichon Lalande The '75 had a bad cork, showed some signs of seepage, and still was a pretty big wine that had the ability to develop and expand in the glass. Like the Dominus above, though, it couldn't quite overcome the damage done, and the oxidation and earthy notes left the wine's fruit in a relatively unenjoyable state when coupled with the still significant tannins. 85 points. The 1979 was simply lovely. A re-release from the Chateau, this wine was absolutely pristine. There, I said it. PRISTINE. You got a couple object lessons on this page of how fruit gets damaged. Here's how it matures gracefully. Supple, soft, unobtrusive tannins. The once grapey fruit from this vintage has now moderated and integrated with the wine. The whole is a mature wine with plenty of fresh, soft fruit, in perfect balance. A wine with lots of finesse. This did not hold all that well, but it held long enough for a wine of its age to be considered a complete success. 90 points.
• 1889 Malmsey Solera Madeira (Henriques) An oddity. You may never find it again. And why bother? The tannins are still significant, the fruit is not as sweet and rich as I'd like to see. The dominant notes are of, well, maderization. Ok, but unimpressive. Lacks richness. 78 points.
• 1993 Ca Togni dessert wine You have to like this style. Aromatic, roses and flowers, very sweet, very velvety, very soft, no tannins to speak of. If it is your type of thing, you'll love it. If not, you'll wonder why you're not drinking port or something with tannins. (g) It works better for me as an aperitif. No score; it is what it is.
• 1990 Menada Cabernet/Merlot (Bulgaria) Cloying, cherry, bubblegum flavors, without much trace of varietal correctness. The wine shows decent weight for its modest price (say around $7-$8 or so) but while it has flavor, the flavor is unappealing and atypical. 75 points.
• 1990 Volnay "Caillerets" (Pousse d'Or) This opened a little hard without much fruit or flavor, but when it opened it was pretty and sweet for awhile. The strawberry notes didn't last long, and the wine faded, eventually showing some oxidation and decay around the edges. But if you drank it at the right moment, it provided some appealing moments in a medium bodied, restrained wine. Tannins will outlive the fruit on this wine. 86 points.
• 1994 Pinot Noir Reserve (Domaine Serene)(Oregon) Like the Volnay, this opened a bit hard, too, but at its peak it provided more flavor and more fruit. I question the future for this wine. It was flat out delicious once it opened, but didn't last all that long (albeit it had higher peaks and lasted longer than the Volnay). It had a substantial hit of tannin that requires some cellaring, but optimal drinking time for this wine will be compact. I'd guess 1998-2001. 89-90 points, depending on how it develops.
• 1994 Chateau La Roque "Pic Saint Loup" Cuvée Cupa Numismae Beautiful, inexpensive ($12) Southern French wine, largely syrah that does just about everything right. It is a medium term wine, and I suspect it is drinking about as well now as it ever will, although it is by no means in danger of falling apart with a few years of cellaring. I like the concept of drinking this young. It tastes too good now to ignore. Nice velvety aspects, high in glycerine, sweet fruit, although not heavy, this has excellent balance and good intensity. 90 points.
• 1990 Chateau La Roque "Pic Saint Loup" Cuvée Cupa Numismae This wine still has a lot going for it. The fruit is open, gentle and still flavorful. The body of the wine has thinned, though, and the fruit fades fairly quickly while open. There is a noticeable decline in intensity from the 1994 reviewed above. The evidence suggests that this would have been best drunk a couple of years earlier, but the wine is by no means dead, even if past peak. 84 points.
• 1983 Fonseca Port Average Fonseca, which is still pretty good. This 83 shows a big burst of tannins at times. It has nice fruit, but I suspect not enough to balance out the wine in the long run. The fruit needs some development, and the tannins need some moderation, but there's the rub....I suspect long cellaring isn't going to improve matters much. Lest I give the wrong impression, this is still a pleasant Port, flavorful and moderately sweet. It's just not an exceptional one. 87 points.
• 1993 Charmes-Chambertin (Arlaud) Fruity, forward, a tad sweet, develops well in the glass and shows a healthy dollop of tannins on the finish. This is a friendly, ripe Burg that is drinking pretty well, but will hold and develop well for a few years, too. It does not, however, strike me as a wine to hold too long; the most pleasing thing about it is the forward fruit. No point in destroying that. All around pleasing, but just misses exceptional. 89+ points.
• 1983 Chablis "Montée de Tonnerre" (Ravenau) I've posted on this before, and I say again, one of the best Chablis I've ever had. This has held SO well, developed so beautifully.... I've seen 88s and 89s closer to death. The wine shows mature flavors of truffles and earth, but nothing about it suggests oxidation or death. The finish lingers, and were it not for several other enticing wines nearby, I could've drunk this all night. I find it hard to imagine anyone actually not liking this, but if you prefer wines fresh and youthful, it may not be as enticing to you. Let me say, generally I prefer them fresh and youthful, too, but I'm still giving this 95 points. SO what do you think that means? (g)
• 1990 Meursault-Charmes (Lafon) An awesomely concentrated Meursault that opens a bit hard, a bit closed, a bit sharp. Then, it keeps developing and opening in the glass, and the fruit is so thick underneath that after awhile your mouth is coated with oily chardonnay. A quick sip is deceptive with this wine. You need to sit with it. Better yet, cellar it for at least three, maybe five years. 92+ points. Substantial improvement almost certain.
• 1994 Newton Chardonnay "Unfiltered Cuvée" A bit fatter and more obviously oaky than the Lafon (although with air and by the end of the evening the Lafon showed more oak than I first thought, too), this wine is not as likely to mature and develop well. In fact, it's drinking pretty well now. Good balance, ripe, not heavy, oak noticeable but not overbearing, this wine does nothing wrong. It needs about a year of cellaring, but depending on your preferences, you won't be unhappy drinking it now. 90 points.
• 1992 Clos de la Roche "Vielles Vignes" (Ponsot) A gorgeous 1992, thick and velvety, sweet, delicious raspberry fruit, supple and modest tannins, a long finish. The nose is intense, with herbal notes. I can't offhand think of a 1992 that is any better. Of course, I haven't had them all. If you disagree, send samples. (g) The general presentation of this wine is simply exceptional. The fruit coats your mouth, and while it does have some of those herbal (at its worst, I've said vegetal) notes a lot of 1992s show, in this wine it seems like a touch of character, and there are no complaints. The ripe, velvety aspects of this wine give me what I so often look for in Burgundy as my personal Holy Grail, and so rarely find. The only fault I can find with this is that it seems to lack the backbone to age well. This isn't going to be 1985 Ponsot, in other words. That type of depth and intensity isn't there. But at the moment, who cares? 93 points.
• 1979 Clos de la Roche (Ponsot) Pre-"vielles vignes" era. Simply lovely. Unlike the fat, velvety, happy 1992 above, this wine shows some fading color and thinning fruit, yet everything else is perfect. The wine shows no other hints of age, the fruit is gentle but intense, the flavors are delicious and the finish lingers. Held well for hours. This wine wins you over with its persistence, elegance and pristine fruit. No perceptible tannins left; drink don't hold. But this is a marvel for a 1979 at this age. Whether you prefer this to the 1992 is just a matter of personal preferences. The 1992, I think, will likely not be as appealing 17 years later, but clearly shows deeper, richer fruit now.....take your pick. May your life always be filled with such choices. 92 points.
• 1990 Chambolle-Musigny "Les Amoureuses" (Serveau) Pleasing, middle of the road Burgundy that opened hard, developed nicely, showed good balance, reasonable berry flavors. Did nothing particularly wrong, but not really distinguished either. This is holding well and can still develop. 88 points.
• 1989 Gewurztraminer "Furstentum" Vendange Tardive (P. Blanck) Deep enough so that it showed absolutely nothing on first opening, then blossomed in the glass, suddenly developing a sugary finish. This is a pretty VT, a bit restrained, a bit tight, but a little too elegant for my tastes. When I go to relatively youthful VTs, elegance is not what I have in mind. 88 points.
• 1977 Port (Fonseca) Simply a great port. Heady, intense nose, tight and tannic. This wine fools you into drinking it because with decanting and air, the sweet fruit--and boy is there a lot of it---bubbles up. But this has miles to go before it hits peak, still seems closed, and underneath the first layer of fruit, there are several others. Considerable, but not overbearing tannins. Most of all, this has an endless finish. 95+ points.
• 1995 Martin Brothers Allegro Moscato Very pleasing, inexpensive, summer wine. Fresh, petillant, mildy sweet, light in alcohol, and the always pleasing moscato flavors. There's nothing complicated about this wine, but if you have a porch, pull up a chair, chill it down, and do some sippin' on a warm summer night. Pure fun, enough fruit to have a finish. For what it is, 90 points. (Keep in mind, my scores aren't to be compared across categories).
• 1991 Dow Port In a bit of a difficult stage to drink and evaluate now, the tannins are coming on strong with this Port, and the fruit is well covered underneath them. Aeration is essential if you're even thinking about popping this muscular port right now, but realistically the right answer is another decade or so of cellaring. The fruit underneath is sweet and intense, but I am not so sure there is enough of it considering the ferocity of the tannins. On the other hand, this is a pretty decent port that can be had fairly cheaply. It's not 77 Taylor, but it's under $30 a bottle for a 750 ml, too. 88-91 points, depending on development. I'm hedging.
• 1993 Talbott "Diamond T" Chardonnay A lovely Talbott that has matured beautifully. A bit woody, but the sweetness here sure isn't just from the oak. For all of its ripeness, the wine has acquired enough finesse to avoid being clunky. This is definitely on the fatter side of chardonnay; those preferring them lean and elegant may not pick this as first choice, but there are fatter still and the few years of age has let things knit together on this wine. 92 points.
• 1991 & 1992 Menada Reserve Cabernets(Bulgaria) These are two good value wines, when cheap is really important. Both can probably be had for less than $6 in the appropriate market, maybe a lot less. They have similarities and flaws. Both feature cherry flavored, soft, accessible fruit that seems to lack typicity. The 91 though has some leathery notes that cut the Beaujolais-esque fruit, and the '92 is more intense and closer to typical of cabernet. It even shows a hint of structure. The 92 actually opens a touch closed, and then develops a welcome bit of concentration on the mid-palate with air, although it's not as fruity or as immediately appealing as the 91. Hardly perfection, but worth trying when economy matters. Some, less concerned with things like varietal flavors, will enjoy them more. 1991: 79 points. 1992: 80 points.
• 1995 Merlot (Menada)(Bulgaria)A very similar style to the cabs, with the intensity of younger fruit. The key flaw here is a metallic finish, and a harshness to the flavors. The way the fruit presents itself is very similar. 74 points.
• 1990 Egly-Ouriet Champagne A big, tight, powerful champagne, that seems to lack the creamy richness of the 1989, but ups the ante in terms of sheer muscle. The simple answer is that this is way too young, very closed, too tight, and needs a few years of cellaring to come to peak. With air, it developed some flavor and earthiness, but never fully came around. At the moment, I like the 89 way better, but I'd say this needs to be reevaluated in a couple of years, and may well be the bigger if not better wine. 91-93+ points.
• 1994 Marcassin "Gauer" Chardonnay Another young wine that needs some cellaring. This is considerably lighter and less oaky than the 1992. In fact, it is the lightest, most restrained Marcassin I've ever had, in fact too much so. It opens showing little if anything, then develops some flavors and fruit but together with surprising elegance for this estate, which traditionally emphasizes fat, ripe fruit. It will be interesting to see if this takes on the weight of the 1992 (some may not care, and some may prefer it this way; I did like the fact they seemed to back off the oak just a tad....). I don't think it will, although I will grant you the wine is still shaken up, a bit cloudy and a bit disjointed. This wine is still closed, too, and ideally needs at least a year in the cellar just to allow really intelligent evaluation. No matter how you look at it, though, it's a fine wine, but it doesn't seem to be Marcassin. It will be interesting to see if this develops. 89+ points.
• 1982 Meursault "Clos de la Barre" (Lafon) A wine that has aged with impeccable grace and elegance. It still delivers flavor and fruit, with a pleasant little tinge of truffles on the finish, although all elements in this wine are very restrained. There's not much backbone left, and the wine is soft and gentle, having just left it's optimum drinking period. Even considering that it is probably just slightly on the downhill slide and would have been better drunk a few years ago, class and breeding win out. 88 points.
• 1992 Canepa "Gauer" Chardonnay A wine with a bit of a tannic bite, this opens initially as a doppelganger for the 1992 Marcassin "Gauer" Chardonnay, just not quite as heavy, not quite as oaky. Same vineyard, and I hear Helen Turley had a role here, so maybe that's not so surprising. In fact, I liked this rather better than both the 1992 and 1994 Marcassin for some time during the course of the evening. Considering that this has a price in the mid-twenties, and can actually be bought without being an allocation item, there's a hint for you. For sure though, by the end of the evening, the Marcassins were still coming on and developing, while this had faded into an oaky residue. Excellent while it lasted, though. 91 points.
• 1986 Stag's Leap "Cask 23" Cabernet From this bottle, at least, this wine seemed a bit tired, a bit oxidized. The fruit still had glycerine, the wine still showed the famous Cask 23 elements of balance, but there was too much wrong with this to really like it. 84 points.
• 1982 Corton-Charlemagne (L. Latour) Opened beautifully, with hints of mushrooms and earth, nicely balanced, a bit restrained and slightly on the downside. The distinctive character and leesy nose made up for the lack of intensity on the flavor, though. The wine became more of a disappointment as time wore on. With air, it did not develop much in the glass, and its character faded away all too soon. If it had held better, the score would've been much different. Good for a glass, not a night. Too bad; it went from a star to an also-ran rather quickly. 87 points.
• 1983 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer "Gueberschwir" Vendange Tardive The only thing that would tell you that this wine was approaching age 15 would be your knowledge of how intense and fruity young Zind-Humbrechts can be. Still fresh, balance overtaking heavy sweetness, this wine opens slowly and then (unlike the Corton above) keeps opening and expanding in the glass, finally displaying varietally characteristics of pepper and spice, to go with the oily lychee nut flavors. The wine shows no sign of fading, although it's certainly thinning from its youth. At the moment, the marriage of a long finish and maturity gives this some finesse that you don't see often in gewurz. 92 points.
• 1994 Ramspeck Meritage This Bordeaux-style blend Californian does a lot of things right and ultimately crashes and burns anyway. Too bad. Nice, intense nose, some good lushness to the fruit, nice flavors, BUT the acidity levels on the wine are out of whack and overbearing. It tastes like someone dumped quite a lot into the vat, spoiling a potentially nice wine. 81 points.
• 1996 Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc A blend of white Rhone varietals, including viognier, this delightful wine is a great summer quaffer. A touch sweet, with emphasis on fruit flavors that coat the mouth and linger, it seems to be drinking well now. This is not a wine that seems too subtle. It just tastes great. I wouldn't hold this, but it will sure provides a lot of pleasure for the immediate future. The only flaw is the price tag. For nearly $30, you expect a little more depth and some aging potential. 89 points.
• 1994 Chignin-Bergeron Vin de Savoie This obscure wine is made in white Rhone style from Rousanne, but it's cheap! I liked this a lot. Fat fruit, pretty, lingering finish, you roll this around in your mouth and think "vin de savoie?" Nah. But yes! Good value, fine stuff. 90 points. If you can't find this, the importer is Hand Picked Selections in Virginia.
• 1990 Mongeard-Mugneret Richebourg This is my third try at this wine, and I still can't say much for it. It opens hard and develops some, but the angular fruit never matches the tannins or provides the intensity of flavors I'd like to see in a supposedly great wine. On the finish, mostly tannin, a little herbal, too. A bit hollow in the middle. Holding this wine a few more years will dramatically improve it, but it will never be worth what it costs. Not bad, but a pricey Burg that doesn't deliver much value. 88 points.
• 1985 Silver Oak Napa Drenched in sweet American oak (a flavor I'm more and more beginning to dislike because of its intensity), this wine still provides a lot of fruit and structure. Spicy, tannic, dense, and still interesting, to me at least, notwithstanding the oak issue. But this is very much a case of being willing to overlook a flaw in light of how many good things are going on. This is still too tight and would benefit from another year or three of cellaring. 91 points. Those annoyed at the oak will rate it lower. Those who don't mind may up the score. I saw a lot that was impressive, oak notwithstanding.
• 1983 Chateau Palmer A great Palmer. In its youth, this wine seemed just big and dense. As it has aged, it remains fleshy, but there is also some elegance and finesse typical of Margaux that is emerging now, too. Suddenly, you see that, yes, there's an awfully big difference between this and, say, Montrose. I think this is drinking pretty well, but it will continue to improve. I liked best the lushness and velvety character of the fruit on this wine, which is always one of the characteristics that I find most appealing. It's my type of wine. NB: I've tasted bottle samples that were a little overly mature; this was pristine. The fruit was open, sweet and ripe. Considering that so many of the others next to which we drank this Palmer were tannic monsters, this had an unfair advantage. 94 points.
• 1986 Chateau Montrose Opened with ferocious tannins, but the fruit was there and with air it began to be approachable. The wine shows some game and leather, and is a sharp contrast to the increasingly lush and elegant Palmer. Yet in its own right, it is superb, but this demands cellaring for years, at least five. In the very long haul, I suspect the tannins will outlive the fruit, but there will certainly be a long period where this is a no-holds-barred, go-for-broke, exciting Bordeaux. There's a chance that it won't develop that well, but I think it will. 92 points.
• 1982 Cos d'Estournel Nothing. Can we say "nothing?" Taste. Taste again. And again. Nothing. No flavor, no fruit. It took an hour for this get to a point where you realized it was wine. Then, it was still tight and tannic, remarkably dense and very hard to evaluate. The flavors are so hidden on this wine, I can only say, stick it back in the cellar and check it out again in five to ten years. No score; unreadable.
• 1986 Cos d'Estournel Surprisingly more open than the 1982. At least you can taste some fruit flavors. The tannins seemed to be under control at first, revealing themselves mostly on the astringent finish. More popped out as the wine aired in the glass. This wine is a bit more balanced and a bit more restrained than the 86 Montrose, above. It may well be that this wine's balance will carry the day and make it the better wine in the long haul. Let it sit a few more years.... 92+ points.
• 1989 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape (a) Cuvée Laurence and (b) Cuvée Reservée The Laurence is a specialty Cuvée made in very small quantities and is considerably more expensive. Sitting side by side, these wines were so similar as to be hard to differentiate. In theory they are the same wine, only aged differently. The Laurence should be much softer and ready to drink. At various times, it did not seem so, although it softened faster than the Reserve as the evening wore on. Both wines were nicely focused, and both seemed like they would benefit from a little more cellaring. Neither seemed completely open. These are big wines and there are some nice tannic hits on each. These brawny Chateauneufs from an up and coming producer are full of potential and power, but I just never seemed to get this night the flavor I've had from some Pegaus in the past. I vote for cellaring these two and the score is a "potential" score, so look out for that "+" potential. 92 points each.
• 1986 Chateau Ricaud (Loupiac) This Sauternes satellite produced a nicely botrytised wine that is now a little short of fruit. Gentle, pleasant, but not going to remind anyone of a great Sauternes. A bit too thin. This needs drinking. 81 points.
• 1995 Mas de la Dame, Cuvée Gourmande This wine is just a bit disjointed and needs a year or two to come together. Still, for a $10 wine, it's a best buy. The first whiffs are very Beaujolais-esque, the fruit seemingly too, well, bubblegummy, as I like to call the taste that results from carbonic maceration vinification. Underneath, there's a pretty considerable tannic hit for a wine in this price range, and just a tad too much acidity. As I say, the component parts are just off in their own directions at the moment; this is going to improve dramatically, so don't misunderstand an otherwise unappetizing review. Medium bodied, roasted herb flavors. Cellar for at least a year, maybe two. 84+ points.
• 1994 Riesling Spatlese Graacher Himmelreich (J.J. Prum) One of Germany's great producers makes a great wine for around $20 here. Just a touch of sweetness makes the acidity moderate and refreshing rather than sharp. Then factor in the quality of the fruit here. So lush and concentrated that it coats your mouth with tropical fruit flavors. It has a lingering finish and surprising depth. Absolutely delicious, perfect in the summer, and a flat out fine wine. 92 points.
• 1994 Sangiovese (Swanson) and 1994 Siena (Ferrari-Carano) First, we had the Rhone Clones. Now we have the Tuscany clones. Italians, of course, played a major role, and still do, in California's wine history. We are only now starting to see lots of famous Italian grapes getting the premium varietal treatment in winemaking, though. The list keeps getting longer: Atlas Peak, Flora Springs, Shafer, Martin Brothers, Silverado, etc. And although we see the occasional Nebbiolo, mostly we see Tuscans: either sangiovese or cab/sangiovese blends. So, here are two entrants in the new wine trend. The Swanson is a major player in this crowd. I like the lushness of the fruit. The velvety, flavorful aspects almost obscured the fact that the wine is medium bodied, nowhere on the level of Swanson's Syrahs, for instance. There was a touch too much acidity on the finish, which was on the short side. 88 points. I sometimes wonder what the point is of making pure Sangiovese; it often seems to be a grape that badly needs a blending element to lend a bit of intensity. And it often seems to be a grape that works well when used as the blending element, lending a bit of softness and roundness, say, to cabernet. Either way, the Super Tuscans are among Italy's most popular wines, and the Siena blended sangiovese/cab seeks to imitate them. The cab flavors and nose predominate here, and initially provide more of interest than on the Swanson. The Swanson, though, held together better as the evening wore on while the acidity in the Siena became rather annoying, and failed its early promise. Nice wine, but with a hedge. 87 points.
• 1995 Swanson Chardonnay "Carneros" Swanson seems to do little wrong these days, with awesome Syrahs, great Semillons, a nice Sangiovese (see above) and more. This Chardonnay is a bit too young, and a little disjointed. Medium bodied, a bit of a tannic bite from oak, and component flavors like oak and lees finish standing out. Give this a year, and it will be a very good, but not great, Chardonnay. 88 points.
• 1994 Puligny-Montrachet "Les Folatières" (Chartron et Trebuchet) This wine lacks the intensity and flavor of great PMs from this producer and this vineyard, but is still pretty good. Drinking fairly well now, but not showing quite enough depth or concentration to be deemed exceptional, this wine is medium bodied, well balanced, and a bit of an underachiever. 88 points.
• 1993 Kistler Chardonnay "Cuvée Cathleen" Rich fruit, considerable but not overwhelming oak, intense bouquet redolent of nuts. A very fine 1993 Chard from Kistler. This wine is drinking well now, and is so user friendly that it is hard to resist. Along with the hit of initial flavor, the wine developed nicely through the night and the oak melded with the fruit. One of my favorite 1993 chards. 93 points.
• 1989 Beaune-Marconnets (A. Morot) There are some pros and cons here. The good news is that the wine has a gorgeous core of raspberry fruit that is sweet and delicious. The bad news is that it seems a bit herbal, a trait that mars pinot noir in my mind with odd flavors. Sharp and focused, this still does a lot right. 90 points.
• NV Callaway "Sweet Nancy" Chenin Blanc This late harvest chenin blanc was over 39 brix at harvest. With some age now, it is, predictably, turning honeyed and syrupy, with beautifully rendered flavors redolent of canteloupe and other melons. This will probably age well for a year or so more, continuing to improve, and then it's future is uncertain. I wouldn't keep it for the long haul. 91 points.

Copyright © 1997, all rights reserved, Mark Squires.