Alsace (except dessert/sparkling)
1989 Gewurztraminer "Clos Windsbuhl" (Zind-Humbrecht)
I tasted this young and thought it was simply the finest young gewurz I've ever had. Where did the magic go? Now, it seems rather lean and austere, the sweetness has faded and the viscosity is a distant memory. The finish is good but not spectacular. Can this really be a typical bottle of  this?  I sure hope not. I have to believe something was awry somewhere.  As a run of the mill gewurz, it is very nice. As a former legend, it broke my heart. 85 points.

1990 Gewurztraminer "Kanzelerberg" (J-M. Spielmann)
I don't believe this grand cru  is imported in the USA.  It should be!  The wine at nearly ten years old has remarkable viscosity. The fruit is rich and sweet, open and full of ripe gewurz flavors.  It rolls around in your mouth and coats it nicely.  Some minty notes on the finish on top of the trademark lychees.  Beautiful. 90 points.

1994 Gewurztraminer "Kritt" (Kreydenweiss)
This is a nice middle ground between the big, sweet gewurzs and the lean, spicy ones of yesteryear.  The wine is just a bit off dry, but has some ripe fruit with flavor.  Mainly, though, it is very intense, with a persistent nose, and peppery spices as it airs out.  It is a bit short on the finish, but the intensity of flavor and persistence of  its front palate attack makes it stand out.  Not rich and voluptuous, but distinctive and structured. The off dry notes and ripe fruit add just enough of  a charming touch to save it from austerity.  90 points.

1994 Gewurztraminer "Hengst" Vendange Tardive (Zind-Humbrecht)
Here's another ZH legend, but this one lives up to billing. This is about the brawniest, biggest gewurz you'll ever have. As tends to happen, with a few years of age, the flamboyant sweetness that marks the young wine blows off.  But the power, depth, intensity and concentration haven't gone anywhere.  This is essence of gewurz, and the heart of the wine is the pepper and spice.  The finish never seems to fade. It takes on a bit more weight with air and becomes more viscous. Tour de force. 96 points. 

1994 Gewurztraminer "Clos Windsbuhl" (Zind-Humbrecht)
Just for good measure, here is another classic ZH that pushes the limits of how good this varietal can be. "Hengst" and "Clos Windsbuhl" are always very different, and about equally amazing. I usually prefer the Clos Windsbuhl style as a personal preference, and there is no reason here to change my mind.  Whereas the Hengst often seems brawny, tight and powerful, more likely to seem structured (and botrytisized in some years) than flamboyant, the Clos Windsbuhl is voluptuous and unctuous. Ripe, soft and off dry,  it fills your mouth with intensely rich fruit, whereas the Hengst assaults you with pure power. The nose this year is persistent and fragrant.  Both wines have depth to spare. This Clos Windsbuhl is pure pleasure. 98 points. 

1994 Pinot Gris "Clos St. Urbain--Rangen" (Zind-Humbrecht)
Another ZH classic, a wine that is virtually hors classe. I had this first as a pre-release bottling at a special tasting. It was amazing then, and, sadly, available in miniscule quantities in 1994. It is a fairly typical ZH when they are in "full-blown" style, meaning the wine is off dry, voluptuous, very ripe, and bursting with flavor. Pinot gris, other than formal dessert wines, doesn't get this ripe too often, by the way. Five years after release, a time when a lot of routine pinot gris become lean and austere, this is still flamboyant, rich and ripe. Some tasters commented that it was so rich it almost seemed like gewurz, a comment I thought was perceptive, so let me steal it. :) . If you don't know pinot gris, the only problem with this wine is that it may make you think that all pinot gris tastes like this. If only. Drinking beautifully now. 96 points. 

[Return to Top]

Australia (except dessert/sparkling) QPR Winner
1996 Grenache Old Vines "Lalla Rookh" (Coriole)
When I first reported on this wine, around release, it was a big flamboyant fruit bomb that reminded me of Clarendon. It now shows more structure and backbone, and in fact seems to be shutting down.  The first impression is still fruit driven, but firm tannins pop up soon.  The wine has the structure to age gracefully and improve, and at this point I think it really needs three years of cellaring to show its best.   Exceptional performance. 90-92 points.

1997 Shiraz "Astralis" (Clarendon Hills)
How good is this wine? Very good. It is suffused with an intense core of fruit that is ripe and delicious and seems quite approachable now.  The wine never seems clunky or expansive, but intense and focused. With air,  I was surprised to see enough tannins pop out to take over the wine, and while the tannins are supple and ripe, I wouldn't be surprised to see this close down tight for a few years in the near future.   The balance is excellent. Yet, this wine leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Here's the ultimate trophy wine, a symbol of our worst excesses.  It plays to our uncontrollable desires and exploits them.   Designed for a sole purpose, with no track record, its primary mission in life is to be expensive. It seems especially targeted at the American market. Is the wine excellent? Yes. But there are any number of shiraz-style wines in Australia just as good for a fraction of the price. The price tag here has nothing to do with quality.  There is a naked, arrogant assumption that mad collectors will pay  anything for a wine  made in small quantities that has a "premium" feel to it.  "Hey, we need an expensive, top of the line wine. Let's just make a new one and put a big price tag on it."    It is  brand new without any historical justification for the fame, and without even any attempt to start low. (Hey,  even  though Colgin may be at ridiculous prices at auction,  they started selling their wines at reasonable prices and let fame build slowly......) Ridiculously priced. Not a whole lot different than lower priced competitors (try Clarendon Hills' own old vines Grenache for a third the price, and you'll be just as happy....).  It is hard to view this wine as anything but naked exploitation.   It is one of the worst offenders in that regard, and an exceptionally poor value. Oh, it does delivery quality wine--but so do a lot of other wineries that aren't   just a couple of vintages into marketing a $100+  a bottle wine.   P.s.. See the Lalla Rookh review above. That was $17 retail.  Same scoring.  90-92 points.

1982 Grange Hermitage (Penfold's)
I've been waiting for this...This bottle is at long last, fully open. It is just spectacular. Sweet and gorgeous, expansive and generous, this wine just attacks the taste buds. I held some carefully in my glass for a while and let it air.  After the first assault, the American oak took over and was frankly a bit too prominent for awhile. With more air, it began to integrate with the wine. It never fully disappeared, but it became more balanced.  Then, I just forgot it. The fruit is wonderful, and now perfectly in balance. 96 points.

1997 Eclipse (Noon)
This Rhone-clone mixture, grenache, shiraz, shows a bit acidic on opening, and a bit disjointed. Surrounding the supple tannins and acidity, though, is a lot of sweet, rather delicious fruit.  This is the first time I have had this wine.  If it settles down and develops, it will be beautiful. If the fruit remains a side-show for the overly aggressive components of the wine, it won't.  I think two years of cellaring will help a lot.  88+ points.

1995 Chardonnay "Yattarna" (Penfolds)
The new white trophy wine on the block.  Widely hailed as "the White Grange," this finely crafted chardonnay from Penfold's has a unique demeanor and is a classy wine, but it hardly justifies the hysteria that has pushed prices on the tertiary market to within hailing distance of triple digits and sometimes beyond.  (The same, I suppose, might be said of many other trophy wines, but that's another story. Actually, it's a whole article.) In Australia, at retail, this was about a $45 US wine.  Of course, the market price quickly escalated there to double or triple that.  Anyway...On opening, this wine is an odd, but very pleasing, combination of cream and crispness. The acid cuts through the buttery fruit, and it wind up in a nice, reasonably lingering finish. The wine has a touch of elegance, its body is not too big and brawny, and I think it is in the process of coming into balance. Give it another year for peak.  Still, opened next to a bunch of big time chardonnays, this was the first to fade in the glass, and it thinned to the point of emaciation.  Still, off beat but excellent. 90 points.

[Return to Top]

Bordeaux (except dessert/sparkling)

1989 La Dominique and 1990 La Dominique
Gorgeous wines.  The difference between the 90 and the 89 is that the latter is a bit more astringent, the former a bit fruitier. The 89 also seems a bit more sauvage, perhaps a bit brettier. Either way.  I like them about equally, they are just a bit different. The 89 took longer to open, and after being decanted finally shed some astringent tannins and blossomed. It never had quite the sweetness or velvety character of the 90, and it was a bit gamier, and had more bacon fat.  On the other hand, the 90 never quite seemed to have the pure power and depth of the 89.  Both wines seemed chocolately, and were very similar in flavor.  The styles were slightly different, but I liked them equally well. Both superb.  92 points each.

1990 d'Armailhac
This is an elegant and distinctive Bordeaux that is drinking just beautifully now. It retains intensity and vibrancy, and has probably not quite hit peak.  But it's pretty darned good now, and actually, I think I like this better than the 1990 Mouton.  The finish is sneaky, and persists long after you thought it would stop. There are hints of leather and game, and the wine has a bit of a rustic feel, despite the smooth, velvety texture and the balance.  Yeah, it lacks a bit of depth, but it is pretty nice.  89 points.

1995 Puygueraud QPR Winner
This obscure Cotes de Francs is from the same owner as Chateau Le Pin. Mostly Merlot, it also has 35% cab franc, and 10% cab sauvignon. Still a bit too tannic, it needs a couple of years of cellaring to settle down, but it opened nicely in the glass. At less than $20, it is a fine value. The body of the wine shows plenty of velvet texture supporting the very flavorful fruit. It is soft around the edges, but it will mature gracefully, and develop more in the mid-term. It expanded beautifully in the glass, and the texture became softer and more supple all the time. A seductive Bordeaux for mid-term drinking that will make you happier than its score if you don't hold it too long. If you have trouble finding this,  it is a Monsieur Touton selection, as are most of the bargain Bordeaux below. 89 points.

1995 L'Ermitage de Chasse-Spleen 
This is a super wine, but the $38 price tag for the second wine of Chasse Spleen was rather astounding. Typical, or one of the vagaries of pricing? I don't know. But a poor value at that price. The wine is pretty fine, though, and hardly seems like a second wine, let alone a second wine from a good but tertiary property. Big and tannic, the wine needs some years of cellaring to fully open. I would say at least three, more likely five. It is deep and intense, with considerable cassis hiding under the body of the wine. It responded beautifully to air. It has a bright future, if it comes into balance, and if you can handle the price. I feel pretty confident about the former. 88-90 points.

1996 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion QPR Winner
Soft, supple and velvety, this wine shows intense and gorgeous flavors, and beautiful intensity. Less than $20 gets you a wonderful second label. It needs a year or two still to hit peak, but it wasn't so bad now, no doubt because of the high Merlot percentage (45%). A very sensual wine that I think will open and develop in the mid-term, too. This has some similarities to the Puygueraud cited above, no doubt because both wines have high Merlot percentages, but I think this gets the nod for depth. The Puygueraud holds its own in the texture and flavor department, though. This wine, unlike the L'Ermitage, has no issues regarding balance and tannins. If it develops well with a little cellaring, it could be a "A" wine. 89-90 points. 

1995 Baury QPR Winner
Another under $20 Bargain Bordeaux , this time from Margaux and the owners of Brane Cantenac. Velvety and supple, this medium bodied wine is a nice drink. At a price point under $20, it is a good value, too. It had some distinctive nuances, some tobacco and tar, and a lot of folks will like that sort of thing in particular.  But while the wine had a certain elegance, it lacked the depth of the La Chapelle, or the pure sensuality of the Puygueraud. Still, very nice and rather interesting. 87 points. 

1995 Peymartin
From the daughter of the owner of Chateau Gloria. This is bright and focused, and 65% cabernet, with a dollop of everything thrown in after that. The wine is ripe on opening, but curiously the flavors are never as intense as I expected. Medium bodied, well done, and a good value at under $25, but not quite as impressive in quality to price ratio as some of the other Bordeaux listed above. Never really seems especially distinctive or interesting, despite some initial promise, although it never really does much wrong, either.  I am betting this won't develop much, but it is possible that some cellaring will give it a score closer to my upper range. 85-86 points.

1996 Capbern Grand Village QPR Winner
Tasty, but rather odd. Bright cherry fruit From the owners of Calon-Segur. Rather light and soft, seems more merlot dominated than its advertised blend (65% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot and the rest cab franc). Supple, early drinking wine, I think. Fun in the short term, for sure. Under $20, and a nice value in a tasty Bordeaux. 86 points.

1995 and 1996 Carruades de Lafite Rothschild 
The big problem with these wines is the hefty price tag of $62 and $50, respectively. Ouch. But the 1995 shows beautiful elegance, supple and velvety fruit and the capacity to develop. It seems just a touch closed at the moment, but the wine has remarkable finesse for a Bordeaux. The 1996 is a bit tighter, but opened quickly and dramatically. It, too, displays beautiful finesse and surprising charm for such a young wine. Frankly, though, for the price you can do better. In terms of texture and sex appeal, I liked the Puygueraud about as well, and in terms of bigger wines, try the L'Ermitage de Chasse Spleen or  perhaps even the La Chapelle de La Mission at a half to a third of the price. Pricing insanity aside, these are real nice wines. The '96 in particular has a nice finish. For the 1995: 88 points. For the 1996: 89+ points, as it has a bit of an upside potential if it develops well.

1996 La Fleur St. Georges
From the owner of L'Angelus. This Lalande de Pomerol is rather underwhelming. Soft--too soft; supple--and rather too supple--the flavors were dull, the body was so-so, and it just never did anything to catch my attention anywhere. The wine needs some oomph, and didn't compensate with either texture or flavor. 83 points. 

1995 Chateau de Fonbel QPR Winner
This St. Emilion with a pedigree (from the owners of Ausone), is another fine $20 value. Just when you thought it was unsafe to buy Bordeaux, right? A bit herbal and expansive, this is a distinctive wine with some character and nuanced flavors. A touch of game and leather add to the mix. Sixty percent Merlot, the rest cab franc. Racy St. Emilion.  87 points.

[Return to Top]

Burgundy (Red) (except dessert/sparkling)
1988 Bonnes Mares (Comtes de Vogues)
Medium-bodied, and drinking pretty well, this shows softness and velvet, and it seems smooth and mature, but not thin.  It lacks flavor and intensity, though, and for grand cru from this producer, it is a pretty weak effort.  As a Chambolle-Musigny, you'd think it was pretty fine, but this lacks any distinction at all.  85 points.

1995 Chambertin (Bertagna)
This is a delightful and delicious Burg that stops just sort of really special. The flavors are broad and expansive, with nuances of tomato.  The wine is not particularly intense, but there are enough underlying tannins so that it requires a year or two more of cellaring to peak.  It seems spicy,  and has a touch of candy on the finish.  With air, it acquires some elegance and charm, but it also thinned out too much for my tastes.  This wine does a lot right, but I want more depth from grand crus. 89 points.

1993 Gevrey-Chambertin "Lavaux St. Jacques" (Denis Mortet)
Served from magnum.  This shows tight and focused, and still has some astringent tannins, as you might expect.  It really needed 45 minutes of aeration in the glass to open.  Once it did, it showed some classic raspberry varietal nuances, and a bit of game.  This is a sterner style of pinot; if you're looking for flamboyant sweet fruit, this is not that type of Burg.  Needs a couple more years of cellaring, and could well improve more and merit a better score.  88+ points.

1991 Vosne-Romanée "Les Beaux Monts" (Rouget)
For a 1991, in fact for anything, this is a huge wine.  Yet the bigness isn't so much from concentrated fruit as from astringent tannins.  Eventually, with air, some strawberry fruit pokes through, but I tend to suspect that this wine has some balance problems.  I have to say that big, tannic pinot noir is a cause for concern after eight years, as far as my instincts go, and when the fruit seems this far submerged, I wonder if the wine will ever fully develop.  At the moment, the wine seems rather hard and charmless. Not exactly what I consider to be a pinot noir role model.  Maybe time will help.  85+ points. 

1987 Nuits St. Georges "Les Cailles" (Chevillon)
Amazingly powerful for a 1987,  this wine is nonetheless cracking up.   It is all tannins, and rather ferocious, astringent ones at that. The fruit is lost, and holding in the glass for awhile didn't help much.  No flavor to speak of.   If I called the Rouget, above, hard and charmless, that comment is redoubled here and I think this is less likely to improve, too.   82 points.

1993 Vosne-Romanée "Les Beaux Monts" (J.J. Confuron)
Opened for some hours before I got to it, this wine nonetheless seemed to be drinking pretty well.  It showed firm and structured, with the tannins outbalancing the fruit somewhat. Ultimately with this wine, the tannins will prevail, and the fruit will fade long before the tannins do.  With aeration in the glass, the nose took on some pruney notes indicative of a wine on the verge of oxidation and unpleasantness. Still, the focus and persistence on this wine was admirable. I can't actually say it was a lot of fun to drink, though.  86 points. 

1993 Clos Vougeot "Musigni" (Gros Frere et Soeur)
Also opened for some time before I got to it, this wine presented a bit of a different picture. Simply put, superior balance, although perhaps not as much weight.    The fruit had settled into a charming and elegant mode, with a reasonable amount of velvet, and smooth, round aspects. Gentle, subtle berry notes poked through. A lot of charm. 89 points.

1989 Nuits St. Georges "Clos des Forets St. Georges" (Domaine de l'Arlot)
This pinot today shows lean and structured, with a hint of tannin.  The wine broadens with air, but never really develops a lot of flavor. Its austerity is not unpleasant, though, and some will like the style.  Still, it seems to me pinot noir needs more flavor than this, and age has probably dimmed the fruit.  86 points.

1990 Vosne Romanée "Les Chaumes" (Daniel Rion)
I found this to be a fascinating wine with a ton of character, although it certainly won't please everyone. It is drinking beautifully now.  On opening, it was a touch hard, but the wine quickly opened. It became smooth and velvety.  The fruit was mingled with some game and animal, probably brett, but not in quantities sufficient to mar the wine. In fact, I found the touch of brett rather interesting as integrated with the fruit.  The length was good, and the wine never faded in four hours open.  Those who prefer sweet raspberry fruit will want a different style. Even though I often want sweeter fruit myself, this was so well done that I liked it a lot.  Classy, well balanced, distinctive. 90 points.

1971 Volnay Domaine de Chateau de Beaune  Ancienne Cuvée Carnot "Caillerets" (Bouchard)
What do you expect from old Burgs?  My answer is usually nothing. Factor in the negociant issue. No expectations at all, right?  Then, you stumble across one like this. Someone, somewhere had the good sense to store this wine perfectly. If tasted blind, I would have guessed 1985, not 1971.  One caveat: it seems to have more fruit than several '85s I've had lately. The wine opens just a bit tight, but with a beautiful cranberry nose. Then it explodes in the glass and holds effortlessly for hours. Some spicy tannins emerge, soft and supple.  But the fruit is the show here.  It gets more velvety with air, and cherry flavors become persistent and wide open. The nose becomes more powerful.  The body is wrapped around a soft and gentle core that is hard to resist.  Where, oh where, did this wine get so much fruit and power at this age? Now, if it said "DRC" on the label I might understand.  92 points. 

1959 Corton (Drouhin-Laroze)
Another old Burg from a middling producer. Not much here, right? Well, wrong again. This wine is thinner than the Volnay, as one might expect from the extra decade+ of age.  But it is equally pristine.  The wine still has some grip and focus, the fruit still has some velvet, although there are some signs that it is fading and losing its flavor. Still, there are light cherry nuances that are delicious, and the wine is elegant, pure and delicious. Drink now.  89 points.

1996 Pommard-Epenots "Clos des Epenaux" (Comte Armand)
Way too young at the moment, and decanting briefly didn't help at all. The wine shows tight raspberry fruit, a stern structure at this juncture, and considerable depth. The nose is rather closed.  It is too hard to really enjoy at the moment, and its one failing is one it cannot help: it's just too young. Come back in three to five years.  89-91 points.

1988 Clos de la Roche (Olivier Leflaive) 
Gentle and appealing, this wine taken on its own merits provides some pleasure and enjoyable, smooth cherry fruit. It is a bit flat and staid, though, without much intensity of flavor. For Clos de la Roche, you want to see more depth and persistence. It opens nicely, holds for awhile, but eventually declines. The broadly expansive fruit has some charm and is suitable for milder dishes, but this wine needs to be drunk before it gets too much older. I would note, though, that there were supple tannins still and the wine has a bit of a backbone and good balance. A decent performance eleven years out from a negociant not known for its reds, but hardly a "real" grand cru. 87 points.

1989 Morey St. Denis "Clos de la Bussière" (Roumier)
I've had some bottle variations on the 89s, but this is a fine one. It opens a bit hard and tight, and then blossoms beautifully. It has all the velvet and the intensity that the Clos de la Roche, above, lacks, and more depth, too. The intensity of pinot flavor that characterized the wine in its youth has declined a bit, and the key here is integration of fruit and body into a well-structured whole rather than a gorgeously fragrant and sweet pinot. Still, this is aging gracefully and beautifully. 90 points.

1996 Beaune "Les Vignes Franches" (Domaine Mazilly)
After tasting this, my first thought was that it was Burgundy in a laid-back Chinon style. The wine, just three years old from a big 
vintage, is soft and gentle to the point of being a bit flat. It lacks depth and intensity. At the same time, it did deliver some nice cherry flavors and was fun to drink. If the mid-palate was a bit disappointing, the wine did have some saving graces. Good cheap Burgs aren't easy to find, and in the grand scheme of things $24 for 1er cru 1996 Burgundy isn't so bad. Whether you think it is worth it for a wine that is already fully ready and doesn't have much structure is up to you. But you'll enjoy drinking it if you drink it soon. 85 points.

1996 Savigny-Les-Beaune "Aux Grands Liards Vielles Vignes" (Camus  Bruchon)
This powerful Savigny is made from old vines, and opens with considerable if supple tannins. It delivers with some air some fairly intense cherry fruit flavor--too sweet to be called raspberry and almost candied-- in the mid-palate. The nose was sweet, too, and the wine was clearly a crowd pleaser in style. It seemed to have just enough velvet and smoothness to come into balance, but it also dulled a bit with air. The wine needs some time, and could develop more. I tend think it will merit a B+ not a "A," though, at around this time in 2000, when it should be better knit together. The body was a bit too light for my tastes, and I had some concern about the way the flavors disappeared with aeration. Still, real nice Savigny, and the delicious flavors made up for a lot. About $30. 88 points.

1997 Vosne Romanée "Les Suchots" (Jacques Cacheux)
This is an elegant, delicious Suchots that just works. Supple tannins support a medium bodied wine with sufficient depth to coat your mouth with fruit, and enough flavor to be redolent of fresh raspberries on the finish. It also has a nice velvety texture and a lot of finesse and elegance. Not the deepest, longest, biggest Suchots you've ever had, but lots to like. Very approachable, and drinking nicely. About $55. 90 points.

1997 Griottes Chambertin (F. Esmonin)
Gorgeous raspberry fruit dominates this wine. The intensity and persistence of the flavor belies the lightness of the wine. At times, it 
seems thin, and not exactly what one expects from Chambertin. Yet, the finish is good, the flavor is expansive and never dulls, and the wine is loaded with charm and elegance. It does not have the velvet and mouthfeel of the Cacheux, above, but it has more flavor, and more persistent flavor. I cannot give it spectacular marks considering its lightness, modest structure, and early maturing nature, but right at the moment it is pure pleasure. Drinking pretty well now, and certainly not a keeper. About $50. 90 points.

1994 Chambertin (Jean Trapet)
Old fashioned pinot, and one of the nicer 1994s I've had. Whereas the  Cacheux, above, is velvet and the Griottes, above, is pure flavor, this is a more rustic wine with greater weight, some earthiness, leather and enough raspberry fruit for balance and flavor. Tasted next to the Esmonin and the Cacheux, I preferred the weight and depth on this wine, although it does not match either of the other two in terms of finesse or intensity of flavor. In fairness, it seems bigger and deeper in part because the Griottes is so light by comparison. Aging gracefully, and drinking nicely now. Under $60. 90 points.

[Return to Top]

Burgundy (White) (except dessert/sparkling)
1995 Bienvenues-Batard Montrachet (Jadot)
Good, but underwhelming.  A classic white Burg nose of noisette is light but persistent.  The same might be said about the body.  It never develops much depth or concentration, but shows a lot of elegance and good length.  A very pleasing wine, if underwhelming in light of its status.  88 points.

1991 Corton-Charlemagne (Louis Latour)
Ready to roll.  Superb nutty aromas and nuances, and bright tannins make this a pleasing wine all around. For Latour Corton Charlie, it is a bit on the thin side. Relatively speaking, and not too unlike a lot of 1991s these days.  With air, it seemed to have relatively little depth. But hey, it was a lot of fun while it lasted.   89 points.

1995 Puligny-Montrachet "La Truffière" (Colin-Deleger)
Light to medium-bodied, this wine seems inoffensive and boring for its pedigree.   Flavor--not much. Lean, a bit austere. Some decent leesy notes, average finish for a quality Burg. This is one of those wines that is stunning mostly for what it doesn't do.   85 points.

1992 Puligny-Montrachet "Les Folatières" (Leroy)
Nothing was better about this wine than its stunning, hazlenut nose. It opened pungent and persistent. It gathered strength ever after. The lees flavors and aromas suffuse this wine and give it every bit of character and distinction that it has. The palate per se is not as interesting as the nose,  and the fruit is so dominated by the lees that it sometimes seems muted, but spicy tannins perk up the wine and give it some brightness. Good weight and length add up to a delicious white Burg.   92 points.

1991 Corton Blanc (Chandon de Briailles)
I was introduced to this estate not too long ago, and I'm finding more and more to like every time I find one of their wines. This is one of their rarest, the Corton Blanc (as distinguished from their Corton-Charlemagne). I  haven't been so impressed with '91 whites of late, but here's an outstanding performance. It opened a bit tight and dull, and the finish was a bit crisp. The air was all it needed. In fifteen minutes, the wine blossomed. True, it has some vintage thinness. It is a bit restrained. But with air, the nose developed gorgeously, the wine's elegance married to hazlenut flavors from lees, and the finish seemed fairly intense and more flavorful.  It kept getting better all night long. I like a bit more weight, but in this style, it's a big winner. 90 points.

1994 Corton-Charlemagne (Louis Latour)
Like '91 whites of late, I haven't been so impressed with '94s.  Yet, here's another unexpected big winner. The explosive nose, plenty of fruit, oak and lees, followed through perfectly into a rich, brawny wine dominated by the weight of the  fruit. Yet, with air it developed some elegance and charm, too. I wound up liking this a lot, in all its incarnations. It does not quite have the depth of a truly great vintage, but in this vintage it is a real achievement.  92 points.

1995 Puligny-Montrachet "Champs-Canet" (Louis Carillon)
After two lees-suffused white Burgs, I tasted this one.  A study in contrasts.  This is good cheer and smiles, while the Latour and Corton Blanc are as intense as they can be with their age and/or vintage limitations. This, of course, is youthful and exuberant. There are some tingly tannins, but the fruit seems pure and round, less flavor from oak and less, although the texture is a bit creamy. The cream is balanced, though, perfectly by the acid, and the wine not only doesn't seem flabby, but it seems lively and bright.  An elegant, flavorful wine with a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe a year away from peak, though.  90 points. 

1995 Puligny-Montrachet "Clos du Vieux Chateau" (Maroslavac)
 This is a middle-of-the-road white Burg. The wine gets a great nutty nose from what is obviously long lees contact, and the lees also provide the persistence of the finish. But the fruit is of average weight and depth, perhaps even a tad on the thin side, and the mid-palate seems just a touch thin. I enjoyed the wine well enough, but it sometimes seemed to promise more than it delivered. Its development with air was uninspiring, but at least  it didn't fall apart. 87 points.

1996 Bourgogne Blanc (Domaine Caillot) 
This declasssified Meursault runs under $15 and will be considered by some to be a great deal. On opening, the chill allowed the wine to show only acid. With warmth, some vanilla and creme brulée appeared on the finish and balanced out the acidity. The wine developed some flavor. The wine has good weight and mouthfeel for its generic Burgundy classification. While it came into balance, though, the lingering impression is still of a somewhat crisp wine that lacks the lees intensity and flavors I like. Those who are more into high acid wines will think it is a super bargain, instead of merely a good one. Drinking well now. 85 points. 

1997 Chassagne Montrachet "La Grande Montagne" (Bachelet-Ramonet) 
This opens with spice that quickly develops into lemony acidity. The wine is a bit disjointed at the moment and needs one to two years of cellaring to improve and come together, but I don't think that will transform it into something special. Although there is more acidity on the finish than the mid-palate, the fruit is sometimes hard to find. For a wine with a $40 price tag, it needs depth, intensity and lees contact. 84-86 points.

[Return to Top]

California / USA (Red) (except dessert/sparkling)
1992 Cask 23 (Stag's Leap)
A typical Stag's Leap. At this juncture, it is tight and angular, lean and focused. With air, it starts to open, and fruit pops through. However, the tannins here are considerable and the flesh is modest.  This needs another three years at least to open and let the tannins moderate. The flavors are muted, but will eventually emerge. 88+ points.

1986 Cask 23 (Stag's Leap)
Open and elegant, this is all sunshine and light, in comparison to the rather astringent 1992, above. The finish is persistent, but the flavors oddly dull.  As always, it exudes a lot of charm, but it certainly has shown more pizazz in its time.   87 points.

1968 Cabernet (Mirassou)
Simply hideous.  The body still shows some weight but the fruit tastes vegetal. Asparagus was the popular consensus.  Unpleasant. Pretty close to undrinkable. Certainly, no one bothered to do so.  This was never supposed to be the type of wine that would hold for 30 years.  65 points.

1971 Cabernet (Beaulieu)
For the regular bottling, this has held remarkably well, even though it is clearly over the hill.  The pruney nose is rather unpleasant, but the palate was better, at least for starters. The wine showed decent texture and velvet, but had a bit too much decay on it to get past and allow it to be really interesting. Remember, though, this is just the regular bottling. In that context, it did pretty well at age 28. I think in retrospect drinking this around 60 degrees instead of more like 72 degrees would have let it show better.  78 points.

1978 Cabernet/Merlot "York Creek" (Ridge)
Ridge's little brother cab has held well. This wine has thinned, and is light and airy. But it is absolutely pristine with no hint of decay, and flavor left.  It doesn't last long, though, and heads down hill gradually, but steadily through the night.   The flavors mute and then fade. Fun while it lasted. 83 points.

1978 Cabernet (William Hill)
This wine was William Hill's first vintage, and it was a legend in its time.  Today, the fruit shows some wet earth, touches of decay, that spoil the presentation. The body, though, is massive and the tannins firm.  It probably would have helped in the original vinification to have backed off the tannins a bit so the wine would have been approachable sooner. Still, once you get past the decay around the edges, this brawny monster still has some stuffing left.  Came around fast with air, and headed down hill not too long after, though. I wonder if a better bottle of this would show more pristinely? There is certainly plenty of stuffing here.  83 points.

1968 Cabernet (Inglenook)
This is not even one of the special "cask" designated wines that Inglenook made in this era. Surprisingly, it is still alive and worth drinking, although clearly faded and on the downhill path.  There are flavors of decay around the edges, the wet leaves, a bit of oxidation. But it is retains a nice medium-body, was obviously perfectly stored with not a hint of seepage, and still has a touch of tannin on the finish.  The flavors are muted, but there are still some.   This wine needed drinking fifteen years ago, but it is not dead, which for a regular bottling some thirty years later, is rather impressive. It also held in the glass for a couple of hours without significant degradation.  What do you think this cost at the time.....$4? Oh, yeah. California wines can't age, they just win blind tastings and then fall apart in five years. Remember, this is just the regular Inglenook, not any of the cask-designated wines.   82 points.

1997 Petite Sirah (Behrens & Hitchcock)
Lush, voluptuous wine with tons of sweet fruit and some underlying tannins. I liked it a lot.  With air, became more Rhone-ish and less clone-ish.  More than anything else, I loved the velvety texture.  Very approachable now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it shuts down in the future.  90 points.

1994 Pinot Noir "Bien Nacido" (Bernadus)
This is my first experience with this California estate, and I'm impressed.  Velvety and rich, bursting with flavor, this lovely pinot rolls around your mouth and coats it with fruit.  But the wine also retains balance and intensity.  Delicious. Drinking perfectly now.  90 points.

1997 Pinot Noir "Hirsch" (Flowers)
  After a brief moment on opening when it seemed hard and unforgiving, this developed in the glass into a fruit bomb. The flavors seem to gravitate more to expansive cherry than focused raspberry, but whatever they are, they are flat out delicious. For awhile, this was simply pure pleasure. Yet, it was a little disquieting to see the wine decline after an hour and a half or so. Once the sweetness of the fruit faded, the wine seemed to have very little left (by contrast, see the note on the Roumier, 89 Morey St. Denis). I enjoyed this wine at times a lot more than the low end of the scoring range would indicate, but taking it as a whole, I have to think that it shows some structural defects that will not serve it well as it ages. Relatively new winery, no track record. Let's see what happens. If  I were sure of its future, the score would be higher. Its high moments were pretty high. But here's what I think is an appropriate range, taking its future into account. 88-90 points.

1993 Bacio Divino
This is a super-tuscan type blend, about 65% cab, with the rest mostly sangiovese. One oddity is the addition of 10% petite sirah. I don't quite understand the thinking behind that, but I guess there's nothing wrong with a little experimentation. Anyway...I liked it Rustic and earthy, the wine is drinking nicely now, and with a few minutes of air shows broadly expansive flavors, and smooth fruit, with some touches of leather.  It didn't quite leave me truly enthusiastic, but it touched all the bases, did nothing much wrong and was fun to drink. A little more intensity would have helped, but I was happy to drink this, and would like to try new vintages.  89 points.

1993 Cabernet Stag's Leap District (Shafer) 
This regular bottling of Shafer was showing quite nicely. Medium bodied, and rounding into form nicely with air, the wine showed varietally true flavors and enough depth to be interesting. A bit short on the finish, though, and could use more concentration. Still, provides a lot of charm and elegance in the Shafer fashion. 88 points.

1989 Cabernet (Dalle Valle) 
As an '89 cab, this isn't so bad. As a product from a famous winery, it is rather underwhelming. The wine is drinking as well now as it ever will, and I think it should be drunk rather than held. A medium body thinned fairly fast with air, and the wine seemed a bit weedy at times. The finish was mediocre, but OK. The flavors revealed deterioration of fruit more than classic cab varietal nuances. On the whole, a rather routine wine showing some age, but not quite over the hill. It has its moments, but I am not exactly scouring the stores to buy any. 85 points.

[Return to Top]

California / USA (White) (except dessert/sparkling)
1993 Chardonnay "Sleepy Hollow"(Talbott)
Pretty wine. That's about the way I sum this up.  It's not enormous. It's not "Diamond T."  It sneaks up on you, with hints of sweetness and elegant, graceful notes.  This is drinking perfectly now, is very charming and deceptively fine.  89 points.

1997 Gewurztraminer (White Hall)
From Virginia!  Served blind, I guess minor/mediocre Alsace or New World.  Virginia is another wrinkle, though. As was pointed out to me, guessing even minor Alsace has to be counted a moral victory. How many drinkable and varietally true gewurzs does California make? Not many. This one was light and piquant, with a pretty nose that presaged fully open fruit.  It was a bit flat on the mid-palate and the mid-palate fruit eventually faded too soon. The finish was very respectable for a wine in this class. Most importantly, it had decent weight and tasted like gewurz. A bit too short in depth and concentration, though, to be special.  83 points.

1991 Gewurztraminer (Navarro)
One thing you could say for that Virginia gewurz is that it kicked the butt of this more heralded New World effort. Most would say that Navarro is the California standard bearer for gewurz. I've never been real impressed. Granting that this is eight years old, not a comfortable aging curve for California whites, it seems to have nothing but density.  It is certainly deeper than the White Hall. But it lacks any flavor whatsoever and seems flat and boring.  It would be hard to identify this austere, lean, bone dry wine as gewurz. I presume its opaque flavor profile comes from the age of the fading fruit.  You drink it, you nod, nice weight. But then...hey, where's the flavor? 80 points.

1995 Chardonnay "Camp Meeting Ridge" (Kistler) and 1996 Chardonnay "Cuvée Cathleen" (Kistler)
So many vineyards, so little wine. Kistler keeps finding new sources, but the allocations from these sources are pretty small. The CMR produced under 300 cases.  Opened next to a bunch of big time, powerful chardonnays, it was certainly one of the top wines on the table, and had a few votes for best of the night.  I rate it about even with the Cathleen and Kistler's own "Kistler" vineyard (reviewed last month), but on the whole I like  the others somewhat better.  Anyway..........it's terrific. Drunk next to the '96 Cathleen, another very small production wine, the CMR seemed crisper, more elegant and more perfectly balanced. The Cathleen seemed deeper and richer, more expansive, and, oh yes, oakier. Here, there was a some noticeable delineation in style.  Both wines though were suffused with flavor, leesy notes and ripe, succulent fruit.  I think the Cathleen gets the nod for depth and richness, but knowing some people would rather have more balance and finesse, let me say that the CMR will win some of these head to head battles.    92 points for the CMR; 94 points for the Cathleen.

1997 Chardonnay "Peter-Bass" (Flowers)
This is a very nice wine that had the misfortune to be opened in very fast company.  It finishes with lees flavors and good length, but in between it seems tight and a touch thin after airing out, at least compared to some of the other wines.  Pretty and fun, it has enough intensity and flavor to be interesting, but not enough to be great. 89 points.

1996 Chardonnay "Gauer" (Marcassin)
Youthful Marcassin in full flight--as good as it gets. Whether you'll like it as well in five years is an open question (my answer: no), but who cares?  Tonight, this shows about as well as any California chardonnay you have ever had.  And while Marcassin "Gauer" is often the poster boy for big, thick, oaky, over-the-top chards, this has better balance than any other year I can recall, without sacrificing flavor and intensity. Opened next to a bunch of wonderful chards, it was quite simply the wine of the night. Creamy and rich, intense and ripe, the flavors never quit and the nose was stunning.  To quote Austin, "Yeah, baby."   97 points.

1996 Chardonnay (Mer et Soleil)
Underrated chard? Well, this was a pleasure to drink. Beautifully focused.  The wine has a medium body, but never gets to the point of seeming thin or hollow, although it certainly isn't the richest, deepest wine you have had. The finish is excellent for its level, and while there is a goodly dollop of oak, it is not overbearing.  Flavorful and charming.  A lot of fun. 89 points.

 [Return to Top]

Dessert / Sparkling Wines

1996 Echo "Pacific" Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine QPR Winner
This Scharffenberger sparkler is only about $16, and I rather liked it a lot. An excellent deal in that price range. It shows tight and crisp, with a nice, focused attack and a bit of a tart, lemony finish that some objected to, but that I found acceptable in context. Length was very good for this price range.  Medium body, grew and expanded with air.  Nicely done. 88 points.

NV Porto "Six Grapes" (Graham's)
I reported on this not too long back. Maybe that was a different release, maybe a badly stored half. This full bottle, though, is completely different. Here, we get a very fruity, soft, velvety, and very sweet porto that is absolutely delicious. In  terms of structure, to make the comparison I made last time with 91 Taylor's LBV, this has relatively little. Relatively.  Not much firmness, very supple tannins,  not much backbone. Just pure, glorious red, sweet fruit.   The Taylor's can use some age. This you will have trouble keeping your hands off of. 90 points.

NV Muscat "Special" Rosewood (Chambers)
This is an intermediate cuvée from Chambers, exceeding the regular one by a fair margin in density and concentration, as well as price (about $60 versus $13).   Worth it? Well, $60 a half is a lot of money, and that's up to you. It's a bit much.  Still, these wines are hard to make, and this is exceptional and unique.   The cross between a wine and a liqueur delivers intensely flavorful fruit with a bit of a sugary finish, even though the overall aspect doesn't at first appear to be that sweet. Rich and satisfying, although not in a syrupy style familiar to TBA fans. This is a different ballgame.  93 points.

1995 Riesling "Bechtolsheimer Homberg" Eiswein (Bretz)
Delicate and lovely, this compact little riesling is subtle but filled with flavor.  It starts slowly. You think, "Nice. Some Apricots. Airy." Then, it builds. No, it never gets heavy.  Thick and syrupy isn't the style here. But the flavors expand and linger. The finish is beautiful.  The fruit nuances, apricots, peaches, are delicious.  Tons of fun. 90 points.

1996 Bonnezeaux "Cuvée Zenith" (Renou)
SO, sexy, SO racy.  This Loire wine just sorta seems exciting. The acidity is bright and up front, yet the fruit is so persistent and off dry that the acidity never seems overwhelming, just refreshing.  The length is excellent.  The wine seems medium bodied and airy, but not thin. I think it will acquire some weight with more time. It is just exciting to drink now--I don't know how else to say it---but I think it will show way better in three to five years, too.  93 points.

1995 Fonseca Guimarens Port
Lush and gorgeous, this is simply a fruit bomb.  The fruit is sweet, velvety and rich. So scrumptious that you have to stop drinking and remind yourself it is high alcohol.  Takes no prisoners.  Sheer hedonism, not too serious or too structured. You won't care.  92 points.

NV Blancs de Blanc Brut "Le Mesnil" (Alain Robert)
This is not really vineyard designated; it is just that all the fruit comes from the Le Mesnil grand cru area. This is in a brawny, oxidized style. Toasty and rich, with hints of oxidation around the edges, the wine delivers tons of power for its NV Brut level.  Rich and yeasty. Very nice NV.  89 points.

1991 Port Quinta da Vargellas (Taylor)
This is a brawny single quinta tasted from a half bottle, that did not fully open even four hours after decanting.  The fruit is a bit overwhelmed by the tannins, but at the end of the night, there was some sweetness and fruit.  Cellar for another three to five years at least, and then give it another try. This strikes me as a rather austere port that will become good, but never great.  88 points.

1989 Sparkling Gewurztraminer (Navarro)
This had a brief moment in time where it was charming. There was a hint of off dry. The bubbles were pretty nice. The wine was light and elegant. It had decent length.  But as it warmed up it flattened out and became rather unattractive. The flavors were poorly defined and a bit oxidized on the finish. Ultimately, it became boring and hard to deal with. Drunk cold, it was way better. 81 points.

1992 Gewurztraminer Beerenauslese "Kirchheimer Geiskopf" (Hammel & Cie)
This is a gentler, sweeter version of a BA. Frankly, if you forgot it was a BA, it was just lovely.  It lacked the sweetness, thickness, viscosity and richness to really be a dessert wine, though. On the other hand, forgetting its designation, it was gentle and moderately sweet, airy and charming. A very pleasurable, if uninspired, drink. 86 points.

1989 Gewurztraminer Late Harvest (Husch)
In its youth, a take-no-prisoners TBA-styled wine, this is now about to die.  There are still things to like. The fruit is doused with apricot nuances that I liked. There is still some syrupy viscosity. But the decay and oxidation take its toll, and the wine just isn't much fun to drink any more. 84 points.

1989 Gewurztraminer (Navarro)
The color was an offputting dark brown. I knew what that meant. This bore no resemblance any more to anything one might call a gewurz. It was good Tokaji, though. Massive in its youth, this wine is still thick and viscous, and very sweet. The finish is still long. I liked the primary peach and apricot flavors of the fruit. But, let's face it, while it had some things to offer, from this bottle, this wine was going over the hill.  the fruit also had nuances of whiskey and raisins. The oxidation around the edges got to be an unpleasant and persistent defect. There were things here to like, but I would rather have had this five years ago. Too many age-related defects spoil the brew.  86 points.

1993 Rosé Brut (Roederer)
Bone dry, big and brawny, this Brut opens nicely with air and then develops some toasty characteristics that overwhelm hints of oxidation around the finish.  Steely and powerful.  90 points.

1993 Muskateller Eiswein "Durkheimer Hochbenn" (Kurt Darting)
I really tend to think that Muscat is the most underrated white wine grape. So fragrant, so flavorful, so distinctive. Yeah, they don't tend to live so long.  But so what? This is another beautiful one. It opens showing great balance and focus, but just a few minutes of air lets the wine expand and round out perfectly. It takes on weight and richness.  It seems to get sweeter. The finish is long. As always with Muscat, the nose is beautiful and persistent. The perfume never seems to end. Drink now.   91 points.

1990 Raymond-Lafon Sauternes
Unlike the massive, tight 1989 and the closed, barely budging 1988s, this 1990 seems ready to roll. Sweet, friendly and wide open, the wine shows remarkable viscosity, a considerable dose of sugar, and a rich, persistent finish that never quits.  Beautiful Sauternes. 92 points. 

1992 Eiswein Burgenland (Hopler)
This Austrian wine is fading a bit, but still shows great balance, persistence, and charm.  Airy and elegant, medium sweet, and plenty of finesse. 88 points.

1989 Vouvray "Clos du Bourg" (Huet)
This beautiful chenin blanc from one of the Loire's greatest producers is tasting youthful, and giving hints that it has miles to go.  The length is remarkable, and the components of the wine are mingling brilliantly, with a balance of acid and mouth-coating fruit. The wine is silky and elegant, the type of wine that sneaks up on you, even though it doesn't seem big.  Beautiful, and a perfect summer wine (adequate, but not entirely heavy enough for a lot of desserts). 90 points.

1986 Lafaurie Peyraguey Sauternes
Probably my favorite Lafaurie of the decade, this wine is in prime time now, and showing beautifully.  The fruit is still rich and ripe, with excellent weight and depth,  but the wine is beginning to get some caramel and character around the edges. Well marked by botrytis.  The length is excellent, and the flavors linger. The nose is mango and apricot.  A beauty of a Sauternes. 93 points.

1995 Riesling Extra Dry Majoratsfullung (Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt)
This German sparkler was showing a hint of off-dry fruit, and some nominal amounts of toast. But this is more in a light and airy style. Drunk chilled, it is an elegant and refreshing summer sparkler. Warming up, it flattens out and shows little persistence. Nice for what it is; just don't expect it to be something else. 85 points. 

1990 Scheurebe Beerenauslese "Bissersheimer Goldberg" (Grafschaft Leiningin)
This BA has passed the flamboyant, syrupy fruit stage, if it ever had one, but forget about that. Taken in its current context, the with is a charmer, beautifully balanced, persistent and fragrant. As a BA it is a bit too light, but as a wine to drink....utterly charming and elegant. 89 points. 

1997 Pinot Gris Late Harvest (Mendelson) 
Already turning amber at age two, this wine opened nicely for about three minutes, showing some nice apricot nuances and powerful, sweet fruit. Then, it pretty much went downhill gradually, losing some thickness and sweetness regularly. Routine dessert wine, that shows too much oxidation for its age. 80 points.

1997 "Joy" Late Harvest Chardonnay (Rombauer)
Generally, when I've found late harvest chardonnays, e.g., Greenwood Ridge, they have been on the lighter and more elegant side. Not that there's anything wrong with that.  This reminds me more of Beringer Late Harvest Riesling.  Picked at 45 brix, it is syrupy, ridiculously rich, ripe and fragrant. Simply delicious.  A great dessert wine.  The frosted bottle is pretty cool, too.  My suggestion: drink up. I don't think this will age so gracefully, and it would be a crime to waste a drop of this at its peak when it tastes this good now. 92 points.

1995 Monbazillac "Cuvée Madame" (Grande Maison)
This has a beautiful botrytisized nose, which gives way to the trademark creme caramel body. Delicious, and medium sweet. The wine is a bit shy on depth and body, though, and could use a little more stuffing. Long on charm, but the concentration level of the fruit is a bit wanting. Still,  no one will be unhappy with this at less than $20. 87 points.  

[Return to Top]

Germany (except dessert/sparkling)
1989 Gewurztraminer "Gimmeldinger Meerspinne" Auslese (Muller-Catoir)
A beautiful wine, drinking perfectly. Personally, I don't think this will improve. It seems to me as good as it will ever get. And how could you keep your hands off of it anyway?  What was no doubt utter flamboyance in its youth has become genial, easygoing charm. The wine has a nice core of sweetness and ripe fruit.  It goes down easy.  It has lost the lusciousness of youth, but the balance is impeccable and the charm undeniable.  You could drink this all night long.   90 points.

1995 Spatlese Riesling "Ayler Kupp" Halbtrocken (Peter Lauer)
 This is a high acid Riesling with a good body that pushes the limits of tolerance, depending on your tastes. The lemon and citrus is very heavy, and stops just short of overbearing. The good news is that it does stop short of overbearing, the wine has good depth and the acidity even begins to integrate a bit--just a bit--with air. On the whole, I lean to liking it, more or less, but it is a bit out of balance. 87 points. 

1994 Riesling Kabinett (J.J. Prum) 
For Prum, one of my favorite producers, this is a very light, thin and watery Riesling. Suffused with lemony notes, at times the acid is all you get. Not that the acid is really all that high--there just isn't much fruit to balance it out. Rather boring, and completely hollow in the middle. 82 points.

1989 Scheurebe Trocken (Muller-Catoir)
It seemed like a cross between a heavy kerosene-style riesling and a heavy acid, cat pee sauvignon blanc. It has good weight, but the off-putting nose was rather annoying. The sauv blanc aspects clashed with a distinct lemony nuance on the finish, more familiar to me on some of these wines. Fans of high acid wines will still find some hurdles here, given the odd nose.  Not entirely displeasing, but altogether too odd for my tastes.  85 points.

1996 Riesling Auslese "Durkheimer Nonnengarten" (Kurt Darting)
A sensational Auslese from Darting. Rich and ripe, this wine is remarkably viscous, very sweet and suffused with flavor.  The fruit rolls around your mouth and coats it. I've had a lot of Ausleses that I could drink as regular wines, but this one probably works better as a dessert wine at the moment.  Beautiful, and hard to resist. Yet, there is more here than charm and sugar. The quality and depth of the fruit is exceptional.   I wonder how long my stash is going to last now that I see how this is drinking.  94 points.

[Return to Top]

Italy (except dessert/sparkling)

1990 Brigante (Sasso)
Very nice, and drinking beautifully now.  The structure is a bit stern, but not overbearing, and wrapped around the backbone is sweet and pretty cherry fruit.  The length is decent, and the wine never fades through the night.  It lacks a bit of pizazz, but it is solid and enjoyable. 88 points.

[Return to Top]

Rhone/South/Southwest France (except dessert/sparkling)

1990 Chateauneuf du Pape (Pegau)
A wine with style, class and distinction.  This wine shows some sauvage qualities, and has a bit of a bacon fat finish. But surrounding that touch of game, which I found attractive overall, I got a wine with persistent fruit, perfect balance, tons of flavor and character. Not big and lush, but intense and smokey. 91 points.

1991 Ermitage "Cuvée Cathlin" (Chave)
Simply awesome. On a night in which there were many fine Rhone wines trotted out, this one stood head and shoulders above the others. It was in many respects one of the great Northern Rhones I have had. I am just sorry I couldn't find a way to get more of it. What doesn't this wine do? Like tons of concentrated, sweet fruit? No problem. Like a bit of character, a touch of bacon and game? No problem. Like them deep and thick? No-o-o problem.  Like a velvety texture?  No problem!  And at 8 years old, it seems like a baby that has hardly budged. 97 points.

1996 Cote Rotie "La Viaillere" (R. Rostaing)
Medium-bodied, a bit smokey, and a bit disjointed.  This wine seems oddly flat in flavor, and I think the answer is that the components are just not well-knitted together yet.  It should come around, and be a beauty, but it is a bit hard to evaluate at the moment. 89-91 points.

1995 Chateauneuf du Pape (Vieux Telegraphe)
VT is on a roll, and this vintage is pretty darned good, too. It is very tannic at the moment, and completely disjointed.  Still, the fruit is tremendously sweet and flamboyant, the nuances are of smoke and mesquite.  Delicious, and will drink better in a couple of years.  90 points.

1991 Hermitage "Monier de la Sizeranne" (Chapoutier)
This doesn't have anything like the depth or concentration of the Chave, above. But what it does give you is a pretty, silky and elegant wine, with a lovely velvety texture and nice nose. It goes down easy, less filling, tastes great. 90 points.

1990 Cote Rotie "Grandes Places" (Clusel-Roch)
This wine does a lot right, but how brett-tolerant are you? Unlike the Chave, which had some bacon fat that added character, this ultimately became dominated by animal flavors.  It started OK, showing a lot of velvet, and good fruit, medium body, and good balance. With air, it got gamey, and then went even further after that. Ultimately, I couldn't drink it any more. At its best, I would have given it around 88-89 points. By the time it was done, I was thinking more like 79 points. But hey, maybe you like fecal flavors in your wine more than I do; there is that school of thought. ;)

1989 Gigondas "Prestiges des Hautes Garrigues" (Santa Duc)
Utterly bizarre. The wine has good weight. The palate ain't bad. But the nose is simply hideous. It seemed to me that it was, uh, boiled asparagus. But maybe I'm being too kind. Couldn't get past it.  Poured it out. The person who brought it said this was an atypical bottle. Well, anyway, this bottle gets 70 points. Oh, sure, I'm overrating it, but....

1991 Cote Rotie "Cote Blonde" (R. Rostaing)
Tight and focused, this wine somehow manages to provide open fruit flavors anyway. It is delicious and persistent, with a long, long finish. A beautiful wine. 1991 may have been bad in Bordeaux, dicey in Burgundy and most other places in France, but the Northern Rhone did some nice things....  92 points.

1989 Chateauneuf du Pape "Cuvée des Cadettes" (La Nerthe)
This Chateauneuf is elegantly balanced, silky and smooth.  The body is a little on the light side, though, and the flavors take some time to poke through. When they do, they are gentle and enjoyable, with some hints of game and leather,  rather than assertive and prominent.  The finish is excellent, and the balance beautiful, but the wine is a bit shy on depth.  It is a charming, lighter-styled Chateauneuf that is fun to drink, but stops short of  producing anything interesting enough to justify its special cuvée status. 88 points.

1990 Chateauneuf du Pape (Les Cailloux)
This underrated Chateauneuf just does everything right. Spicy and intense on opening, it blossoms beautifully in the glass. The flavors become broad and expansive, the fruit is sweet and delicious. Not a powerhouse, but plenty of depth and concentration. This wine has plenty of life left, but I like how it shows now.  91 points.

1997 Condrieu "La Doriane" (Guigal)
Brawny, burly Viognier, aged in 50% new oak--and it shows. As it warms up, the wine shows spicy tannins and a big, voluptuous mouthfeel not matched very often by producers of this varietal. Compared, however, to other vintages of La Doriane that I have had, the wine never seems to develop much flavor and it seems a bit dull. I wonder if it is the bottle or the wine? The aromatics and delicacy I expect from viognier are missing. 88 points.

1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Guigal)
Spicy and peppery, this is an outstanding Chateauneuf from Guigal. Bursting with flavor, this has some game around the edges of gorgeous, sweet fruit, and enough structure for aging. I am not always a big fan of Guigal's Chateauneufs, but this is a beauty. Opened with some two dozen wines from various regions, this may well have been my favorite for its combination of pure flavor and velvety texture.  About $30. 91 points.

1995 Cote Rotie "Brune et Blonde" (Guigal)
 Raspberry fruit pokes up through a haze of fine tannins, and hints of acid. The wine is completely disjointed on opening, yet that great fruit still pokes through. With air, it became a bit more velvety, but the tannins never quite moderated in the time I had to play with it. Needs about three to five years of cellaring to show better, and I think it will as the tannins are ripe and the underlying fruit intense. 88-90 points.

1995 Hermitage (Guigal)
Astringent tannins hide the fruit, and the wine never really develops in the glass. With time, some fruit pokes through, but the wine seems to have some balance problems, and a lot less elegance than the Cote Rotie, and less flavor than the Chateauneuf. I liked it least of the three, but it is hard to evaluate now. It may well improve considerably with cellaring, but I'm not sure it will ever show as well as the other two generic 1995 Guigal Rhones, above. 87-89 points.

[Return to Top]