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Tasting Notes
March/April, 2008

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. 

Austria Beaujolais Bordeaux Burgundy   California/USA  Germany New Zealand  Rhone/S/SW France Spain

Austria (except dessert/sparkling)
2006 Gruner Veltliner "Loisium" (Steininger)
This was disappointing, high in acidity, with little body and less viscosity, it seems thin and tart, with heavy lemon-lime overtones. It is not undrinkable, but I can think of a lot of Gruners I would rather have. 84 points.

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Beaujolais (except dessert/sparkling)
2007 Rosé (Louis Jadot)
For a suggested retail price of $13, this is very nice pink with good fruit, but its calling card is its refreshing acidity. It is clearly on the fresh and sunny side, rather than projecting a dense and powerful style. It is elegant, but lingering on the palate. The color is tending to salmon. The aromatics are lovely, too, and the price is right. Get this while it is fresh, and Summer pleasure awaits. Make sure it was well stored. At its best, it is delightful, but it is style tending more to a white wine than a red, and it will be sensitive to mistreatment. This is the type of wine to buy now for Summer use. 85 points.

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Bordeaux (except dessert/sparkling)

1989 Chateau La Conseillante
This opened rather dull and a bit simple, all but blown away by its companion, the less heralded 1994. The rest of the evening was a case study in how class will out, and the world rights itself. About two hours after first being opened, this literally doubled in weight. It wasn't done evolving either, as the backbone became apparent for the first time at that point. Suddenly, the light, rather simple wine was fleshed out and intense, penetrating and increasingly powerful. It opened dumb--but it kept getting smarter. If this is a typical bottle, this seems a bit shut down and could use some air. It has years--decades--of useful life left, I think. 95 points.

1994 Chateau La Conseillante
By contrast with its 1989 sibling, this was quite delicious right off the bat, surprisingly good, earthy, with a succulent finish, quite bright. It went nowhere afterwards, not improving at all. In fact, if anything, the acidity seemed a bit dominant by the end of the evening, and the flavorful fruit with those touches of earth no longer seemed as interesting. This is elegant and often charming, but is probably as good as it is going to get right now. 89 points.

1998 Chateau La Pointe
There is not a lot of flesh here, but this is quite attractive on opening, fresh and bright, with a tight focus. Its development over the evening is less than awe inspiring, though. As it opens up, it flattens out a bit too quickly, and begins to seem rather ordinary. It is still tasty and enjoyable, but ultimately it lacks distinction. 87 points.

2005 Chateau Clinet
Beautifully textured, this is focused and polished, with ripe tannins and delicious fruit. Its succulent finish and tasty demeanor are not its only advantages, however, as it is also gripping and penetrating, showing beautiful structure. This looks like a winner. 95 points.

2005 Kirwan
Sexy and beautifully balanced, this wine is ripe, with well integrated tannins and a sensual texture. It may not be the most intense or deepest wine of the vintage, but it is utterly charming and hard to resist. It should drink well on the younger side, and it should be a crowd pleaser for most of its life. 92 points.

2005 Léoville Barton
This looks like another fine LB, although it is a bit shut down. It is quite elegant, but underneath that elegant demeanor is a lot of power, and a very focused and precise wine. When this unfolds, and it may take awhile, it should be a beauty. This should age beautifully. 95 points.

2005 Léoville Poyferré
Bright and lively, with ripe, rather delicious fruit, this wine seems beautiful at the outset, but shows lurking power, like so many of the 2005s. Modern winemaking? But built to age gracefully. It is suave and elegant, and likely to hold beautifully for some decades as well. 94 points.

1994 Chateau Lafon Rochet
This bottle opens with a rather young feel, the fruit in the middle seeming rather youthful. Its concession to age is some thinning in the mid-palate, and there are herbal notes on the finish. It is an elegant and rather classy wine, with a certain brightness, but not much real distinction. It is drinking nicely now. For the original purchase price of $22, it was a nice value in a wine that should hold beautifully for fifteen years. 88 points.

2000 Chateau Magdelaine
Elegant and graceful, this wine opened rather tight, but not showing much in the way of concentration. It is bright, sunny and succulent, and only gradually reveals fruit flavors with air. The finish is average at best. It is a very nice, almost Burgundian Bordeaux, surprisingly restrained and a bit reticient. It could use another couple of years in the cellar. 89 points.

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Burgundy (except dessert/sparkling)
1999 Chambolle-Musigny "Charmes" (Hudelot-Noellat)
This lovely Charmes starts off bright and succulent, with sweet fruit obvious and delicious on the finish. Air produces focus, and the wine shows its intensity and subtle power with time, producing more grip on the finish. It turns a bit austere with time, but it seems like a prime time wine with years to go. While the wine becomes more intense, it never quite loses its lovely fruit. 90 points.

2000 Gevrey-Chambertin "Combe du Dessus" (Mortet)
Sweet and almost sappy on opening, this is a wine that has a certain "new world" echo to it, seeming plump, fruit forward, and not necessarily focusing much on structure. Who cares? It is simply delicious, and while hardly an intellectual or vin de garde Burgundy, it tastes so good that its flaws or deficits seem unimportant. It is nuanced with black cherry notes that linger on the finish. It does have the ability to improve with some air, picking up some weight and showing some welcome intensity. It has held beautifully in the last few years, but I would tend to drink this sooner rather than later as I am not sure if there will be much interesting left when the beautiful fruit fades. 91 points.

2002 Beaune "Clos des Mouches" (Drouhin)
Smooth, plump and succulent, this opens bursting with flavor, but showing little more. The pretty red berry nuances are drilled into the palate by the acidity, and the whole is very pleasing, particularly as the wine expands in the glass and picks up some focus and intensity with air. This is a hedonistic and delicious Clos des Mouches. 90 points.
 

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California/USA (except dessert/sparkling)
2003 Pinot Noir "Santa Rita Hills" (Clos Pepe)
I loved this wine at the winery, but my first taste of it later on was uninspiring, as it seemed thin, dull and simple. Marginal TCA? Shut down? In any event, this is another animal. It has fleshed out, gained weight and shows bigger and riper than I ever remember it being, with sharp, piercing bursts of fruit and tannin. It seems to lack the elegance I saw in it at the winery, but perhaps some decanting or more time will bring it back into balance. It is good to see it resemble serious wine again, though. 89 points.

2004 Pinot Noir "Cohn" (Kosta Browne)
This has a fuller feel than some Cohn bottlings I've had, and I rather liked the mouthfeel. The flavor profile was another matter, rather sweet, a bit candied, a touch of chocolate on opening, and a perhaps a bit of heat on the end. This has its moments, but as a Pinot Noir seems a bit clumsy and eccentric.  87 points.

2002 Pinot Noir "Kistler Vineyard--Cuvée Catherine" (Kistler)
There have been times over the years when this bottling, delicious though it always is, has borne little resemblance to Pinot Noir. This, by contrast, is a far more elegant presentation, beautifully balanced, with lovely aromatics, and sweet, but not eccentric, fruit on the finish. Laced with black cherries and a touch of strawberry, it is refined and restrained, while still bursting with flavor. 94 points.

2004 Optimus (L'Aventure--Stephan Vineyards)
Elegant and flavorful, this has delicious juicy fruit, but is far from a fruit bomb. The mid-palate is quite graceful and the wine (Syrah dominated, 70%) is bright and sunny. It was a pleasure to drink, and goes down easy. 90 points.

1991 Cabernet Sauvignon "Private Reserve" (Beringer)
Revisiting this old fave after a few years is rewarding yet again. This was a beautiful bottle. The nose still says Bordeaux, but the palate is still full of fresh, sweet fruit that still gives off intense flavor. The texture is sensual, and the wine hardly seems to have aged in the last few years, still showing young and fresh. It evolved beautifully with air, too. 94 points.

1996 Pinot Noir "Beaux Freres Vineyard" (Beaux Freres)
At least judging from this bottle, I think this wine's time has come--it should be drunk up in the near future, and it does not seem to have fulfilled earlier promise. That said, there are a lot of things still to like here, including its elegance and the lovely texture. However, while the fruit is still there, it does give some indications that it is drying out. If you have them, this is probably your last chance to get something good out of them. I will look to revisit another bottle soon. 88 points.

2000 Pinot Noir "Sonoma Coast" (Kistler)
I once considered this a relative success for the vintage, but it is certainly well on the way to cracking up. There is a pungent nose, but it is not so pleasant on the palate, which seems candied. It finishes harsh, having neither finesse nor good balance obvious. It had its moments on opening, but it was hard to take more than a glass. 85 points.

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Germany (except dessert/sparkling)
1989 Riesling Spatlese Trocken "Oberhauser Brucke" (Donnhoff)

Dry, austere and steely, this has acidity levels that make the mouth water, and with air the acidity seems to dominate the wine even more. I liked this a bit when poured and for a short while after, but it ultimately seemed a bit shrill and lacking in charm. The acidity will no doubt preserve it for some time, but I find it hard to believe it will improve, so drink up. 85 points.

2003 Riesling Spatlese "Oberhauser Brucke" (Donnhoff)
Open for a few hours, this never seemed to develop into anything beyond pleasant, lacking the acidic definition one normally expects. It is a rather light and reticent 2003, relatively speaking, which might be considered a good thing, but it lacks the intensity and seems overly simple. With air, I was relieved to see some minerality cutting through the simple fruit. It will be interesting to see if this takes on any character with age, or if the acidity comes to the fore and lends the wine any intensity or focus. As it is, this will leave many underwhelmed at the moment. 88+ points.

1983 Riesling Auslese "Berkasteler Doctor" (Deinhard)
This is sturdy and monolithic, and completely dry. It has a feeling of solidity, but there is no fruit flavor left, it all having dried out. It is mostly acid and a certain brooding demeanor. There is little here to still appreciate. The color was dark amber. This was served from a 375ml. 80 points.

1990 Riesling Auslese "Hochheimer Holle" (Franz Kunstler)
This Auslese has a touch of caramel, as its most prominent feature is the burst of sugar still surviving on the finish. It is othewise well on the way to drying out, and indeed, as the wine sits and airs out, you discover that the first few sips were the best, and it is all downhill after that, the fruit losing flavor and the wine drying out quickly.  The color was forbiddingly dark. This was served from 375ml. 84 points.

1990 Riesling Auslese "Wachenheimer Rechbachel" "R" (Dr. Burklin-Wolf)

This seems light and delicate, just a little fruity, with a certain tropical, perky note. There is also an odd nuance on the nose, a dirty gym socks aroma, that is there, but not strong enough destroy the wine. Other than that, nothing really stands out, as the wine seems foursquare and a bit simple. This was served from 375ml. 85 points.

1990 Riesling Kabinett "Geisenheimer Monchspfad" (Schumann-Nagler)

This interesting Kabinett is remarkably rich, dry but tinged with some apricot notes. It is tangy and succulent, with bright acidty driving home the fruit. Although dry, it is still relatively fruity for its age and status, and has held quite well. A very nice performance. 87 points.

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New Zealand (except dessert/sparkling)
2007 Vin Gris Rosé "Hawkes Bay" (Wild Rock)

This has a suggested retail price of $16. It is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Malbec and Pinot Noir. Despite the initial onrush of fruit, it finishes dry, with strawberry and cherry overtones. It has rather good depth for a pink, and good acidity as well. The nose promises lots of fruit, and the wine delivers that, bursting with flavor. This is not always your delicate style of pink, but it is still refreshing. 87 points.

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

2007 Tavel Rosé (Chateau d'Aqueria)

Chateau d'Aqueria is one of the more prominent estates in one of the world's great rosé regions.  This is a typically lovely effort, with pleasing fruit surrounded by good acidity. It is the type of fresh and sunny wine that will be a pleasure to drink in the Summer. It can seem almost a bit brooding and steely initially.  This has a suggested retail price of $17, though, so you do pay a little for the reputation. It might be worth noting, however, that it was the only pink on this page that actually seemed to improve with air. 88 points.

1998 Cotes du Rhone "La Pialade" (Chateau Rayas)
Light and thinning, this is a modest wine at this juncture, although it has pleasant aromatics, some brightness, and a certain classic demeanor. It has probably seen better days, although it has not begun to show any real decay. Drink up. 86 points.

2001 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Charvin)
This opened tight and completely closed, throwing off some aromas of game, and relatively little else. It expanded slowly, but when it came around it became remarkably succulent, with the acidity leaving the mouth watering a bit. A little more time allowed it to show power and a tannic backbone that bodes well for the future. The best thing you can do with this, however, is cellar it for a few more years, give the fruit a chance to open, and the tannins a chance to soften. 92 points.

1998 Rasteau Cotes du Rhone (Gourt de Mautens-Bressy)
In its youth, this was a tannic monster as wines from this producer can seem to be, but it has come around nicely, and better than I thought it would. It actually opens up seeming rather soft at the moment, throwing off game and smoked meat nuances. As it airs out, it evolves beautifully, the flavors increasing, and the wine becoming a little sterner. This is a good time to approach it, though. It just needs a little air to show its best. Don't be fooled by the shy, initial demeanor. 90 points.

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Spain (except dessert/sparkling)

2007 Garnacha Rosé "Gran Feudo"  (Bodegas Julián Chivite)  QPR Winner

This all Garnacha pink from Spain is a nice deal for a suggested retail price of $12. It is relatively rich, with a surprisingly mouth coating palate. It is dry and fairly dense, with nice strawberry flavors lingering on the crisp finish. There is a sort of sweet 'n' sour note on the finish due as the acidity mingles with the good fruit. It is a pink that will win some fans.  86 points.

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