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Tasting Notes
March/April, 2010

Tasting Notes Contents Page

QPR Winner   I give this award to wines that demonstrate an excellent Quality to Price Ratio. They are sometimes more expensive than the wines featured in my Best Buys section (which is cut off at $20), so while every Best Buy is also a QPR Winner,  not every QPR winner is an official Best Buy.  QPR winners are simply wines that are great values for a relatively  reasonable price. 

Bordeaux  Calif/USA Dessert/Sparkling Germany  Italy  Spain

Bordeaux (except dessert/sparkling)
1966 Chateau Latour
Bright and laced with tertiary notes, this wine has lead pencil nuances, a bit of earth and some game. From this bottle at least, there is also a touch of oxidation. That said, with air, it improves quite a bit, the texture in particular becomes silky and caressing, and the wine shows more intense flavors than seemed apparent at first. It is quite gentle and harmonious, if not quite as impressive as I have seen in the past. Ultimately, this was a good example of why even older wines need some wake-up time.  91 points.

1990 Chateau Lagrange
This St. Julien is just gorgeous, beautifully structured, showing power and acidity early on, but then fleshing out, coming together brilliantly and rounding into form. The focus on this tightly wound wine is just superb, even as it unfolds and delivers its lovely fruit to the palate. 95 points.

1995 Chateau Latour à Pomerol
This opens with a touch of game and a touch of mushrooms, and a velvety texture. Persistent and caressing, it is beautifully balanced and has come into some degree of harmony of late. Lively and sunny, it is increasingly a pleasure to drink. It should continue to hold gracefully, and improve a bit. 90 points.

2000 Chateau Lagrange
Gamey and laced with tar and some tobacco, this is nicely balanced and textured, and the capacity to continue to improve in the cellar. It is curiously not particularly intense--perhaps the less so than its 1990 counterpart reviewed this issue. It is fun to drink, but I can't help but wonder if the difference is all vintage, or (considering how many soft and velvety wines came from 1990), a deliberate effort by the Chateau to soften its demeanor a bit. 90 points.

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California/USA (except dessert/sparkling)
1999 Pinot Noir "High Plains" (Dehlinger)
This is still doing quite nicely, fragrant and silky, ripe and delicious. Its elegance and intense flavors make it an interesting combination that is a pleasure to drink. 91 points.

1991 Cabernet (Chateau Montelena)
It has often been said Montelena doesn't develop. Well, when I had this the first time, it was hard, austere and charmless. It is now showing tertiary notes, complexity and drinking quite nicely. Laced with tobacco and a touch of earth, this shows a bright demeanor--and plenty of tannin still. It can hold a long while in the cellar, and probably can still improve. Given its elegance and complexity, though, it is a pleasure to drink now as well. 95 points.

2002 Chardonnay "Sleepy Hollow" (Arcadian)
Seeming a bit oxidized and laced with caramel, this Chard is well on a downward slope. Served blind, it drew guesses for its odd demeanor ranging from new world Gewurz to Chenin Blanc. 77 points.

1996 Cabernet Sauvignon "Oakville" (Miner)
Not particularly interesting early on, and seeming flabby, this bright and elegant wine continues to pick itself up and expand in the glass, showing more verve with time. Its acidity and tannins meld together better, and while it never seems particularly complex, its silky demeanor eventually makes it quite charming. 88 points.
 

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Dessert/Sparkling
2006 Riesling Late Harvest (Greenwood Ridge)
Light, seemingly just off dry, this graceful little wine is pleasing, but not likely to do a really good job of holding up to sweet desserts. I'd say, drink it by itself and enjoy at this point. 88 points.

NV Old Tawny Port (Jonesy--Trevor Jones) QPR Winner 
This says it is "old," but it tastes very young, very lush, and at times seems almost grapey. It is also very sweet and as dark as motor oil, and seems to have more of a moscatel sherry feel than old tawny. There is very little intensity. It is a tasty gulp, and available at only $10. Yet, as time has gone on, I've liked this less and less and changed my view of it. It simply seems flabby, round and sweet, no verve, no acidity, no tannin, no nothing. It has a very modern feel--to a fault. I don't mean that in a good way, in other words. It is at its best on opening. It goes nowhere. On Day 2 after a few sips, I dumped the rest of the bottle. In its price range--not bad. But nothing terribly interesting either. 85 points.

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Germany (except dessert/sparkling)
2001 Riesling Kabinett "Raventhaler Baiken" (Kloster Eberbach)
Light and airy, this finishes with sharp acidity, although it does not show much intensity and grip. Fully open, laced with lemons, this is a good time to drink this up; it won't die as the acidity will preserve it a good long while, but the fruit will thin. 87 points.
 

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Italy (except dessert/sparkling)
2001 Barbaresco Reserva (Rizzi)
Fourteen months in oak gives this a rather oaky demeanor on opening; it seems very new wave-ish, not old style. I was quite pleased, though, at the way this came around, integrating the oak and showing a brighter and more intense demeanor as the acidity and tannins showed themselves. Ultimately, this was quite nice, an attractive wine with more character than I thought it had. 90 points.

2001 Roero “Roche d’Ampsej” (Correggia)
Tart and tight on opening, this improves dramatically with air, although it remains very bright and astringent. Focused and pointed, this still needs some time in the cellar to come around. 89 points.

1997 Barolo "Bricco Rocche" (Ceretto)
This has become quite elegant with time, but be wary--there is still a lot lurking underneath here. It evolves slowly, wakes up slowly, and only after a couple of hours does it begin to show how complex it is, as the fruit begins to sing and develop some tertiary nuances, and the wine's components come into harmony. This is lovely. 94 points.

2003 Barolo "Costa di Rose" (Bric Cenciurio - Pittatore Sacchetto Fiorella)
Big and powerful, this gripping wine is not just tannins and acidity, though. Its smooth, velvety texture caresses the palate, just before the intensity kicks in on the finish. Regrettably, I did not have enough time to spend with this, but while I had it, it developed beautifully. 91 points.
 

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Spain (except dessert/sparkling)

2007 Tempranillo (Volver)  QPR Winner
This very fine bargain is graceful and elegant, tasty and focused, but what impressed me most (along with its mid-teens price) was its ability to show some intensity. It has a nice backbone, the ability to age a bit in the cellar, and the feel of real wine at a bargain price. It is not likely to turn into anything special as it ages, and it may be at peak right now, in fact, but it should gracefully for several years.  89 points.

2004 Rioja (Remelluri)

This is a lovely vintage for this Rioja, earthy and bright, with a touch of tar and some intensity on the finish. Reasonably deep, it is beautifully constructed and should age well for a decade+. It is still capable of improving and becoming more complex. 90 points.

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 QPR Winner I give this award to wines that are particularly good values, even if well beyond bargain wine pricing. They are not "best buys," which I define as under $20 wines. Every Best Buy is a QPR winner, but the reverse is not true.  Note: wines tasted at trade shows and the like generally will be displayed with ranges, as it is more difficult to get a good read on a wine in those conditions.  Also, many notes on the E-Zine often come from food and wine events, rather than classic, controlled conditions.

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