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Tasting Notes
September/October, 2009

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 California/USA  Dessert/Sparkling  Germany  Rhone/S/SW France

Bordeaux (except dessert/sparkling)
1989 Chateau Le Gay
This has a smooth texture, a certain oaky overlay that makes it gentle and a little one dimensional all at the same time. Light and rather simple, I kept waiting for this to show a little character and distinction, and it never did. It is pleasant enough--a luncheon claret, as the British might say, but little more. 87 points.

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California/USA (except dessert/sparkling)
2007 Meritage "Crimson Topaz" (Clos LaChance)
The latest release samples that have come across my desk from this winery are in their value line. Everything has a suggested retail price of $18, which means it might appear on shelves considerably lower. This is in fact a blend of 76% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and tiny dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon. Call it a right bank Bordeaux blend. Softly textured and scented with oak-derived vanilla nuances, it is a pleasing every day wine without a lot of mid-palate concentration or depth. There is just a little intensity around the edges, though, and it has some focus. Tasty but straightforward, it drinks nicely as an everyday wine. Drink now and over the next couple of years. It won't age particularly well. There were 1,008 cases produced. 85 points.

2006 Merlot "Violet-Crowned" (Clos LaChance)
The Violet-Crowned Merlot, which in fact has 13% Cabernet Franc, is smooth and well integrated, which just a little of that herbaceous Cab Franc note on the finish. Easygoing and without much in the way of mid-palate concentration, it is less oak-influenced than the Meritage--although that may be a function of the additional year of age as well--but otherwise similarly constructed. The Cab Franc does give it a little character if you like the herbaceous nuance, making it a little more French and a little less a New World fruit bomb. The finish is short and the structure is modest, however. It is ready to drink now and will not age well. The integration of oak is probably best here of the three wines reviewed on this page, but I it became less and less interesting nonetheless as it aired out. There were 3,500 cases produced.  84 points.

2006 Syrah "Black-Chinned" (Clos LaChance)
This is in fact 12% Grenache, 8% Carignane and 4% Cinsault, in addition to the Syrah. Rather full in the mouth compared to the other new releases on this page, this is nonetheless along the same lines--approachable, soft and easy drinking, which is the intent for wines in this value-priced range. The oak-derived vanilla notes are rather too prominent here, but a little less so than on the Meritage, above, and with air some of those classic bacon fat aromatics emerge, giving this some character and typicity. If I had to pick, this would probably be my pick of the three for its depth, character and integration of parts. The good news is that this is also the easiest to find as there were 7,226 cases produced. 85 points.

1999 Lytton Springs (Ridge)
Since my last look, this has evolved and aged pretty decently. As is often--too often--the case with wines from this winery, the oak is too obvious, and it has a bit of a blueberry vanilla shake touch to it. Air still does it some good, though. It drinks better after an hour, showing a bit more character and increasing intensity on the finish. The tannins will likely outlive the fruit and this wine will increasingly show more oak than anything else. This is a wine that shows very differently as time goes on. I hate it initially as it showed nothing but oak. Some 30-40 minutes of air helped it. Then the fruit started to fade, the tannins emerged and the oak took over again. This is one of those wines that makes me laugh when I hear professionals bragging about how quickly they can blow through hundreds of newly released wines a day. This was something very different every 30 minutes--and it's 10 years old. Once past the oak overlay, it is a little stern; the fruit is not as exuberant as it once was. I periodically wonder why Ridge is such a favorite with those who claim to like more elegant, French-styled wines. Yes, the balance in other respects is usually different than the monsters, as this wine demonstrates--that's the good news!; but the oak treatment is often too obvious and intrusive, affecting the wine's flavor in a prominent fashion. That's the bad news. Here we are 10 years on--it's still obvious. They often work it out--but you still have to wonder why it is so prominent so long after other wineries (Phelps comes to mind) have changed their styles and types of oak. Ridge does many great things, no question there, but the stubborn insistence on this type of oak treatment is not a feather in the cap. 89 points.

2006 Tempranillo "Dunnigan Hills" (Matchbook)
As a sub-$15 attempt at a tempranillo (with some dollops of other grapes), I guess this isn't bad. It is a little bright around the edges, a bit oaky and light, a bit one dimensional, with that Rioja-ish feel, not necessarily a compliment with regard to certain styles. There was some American and Hungarian oak used. Although very little oak of any sort was new, it did spend 19 months in barrel, according to the winery, which is on the long side for a wine of this modest depth. It improved a bit with 15 minutes of air and gained some balance. Still more air saw it fade as there is not much mid-palate concentration. The longer it aired out, the less interesting it was. 84 points.

2005 Pinot Noir "Occidental" (Rivers-Marie)
This had a great nose, but very little else to get excited about. Elegant in the mid-palate and rather soft, it was focused. That said, the flavors were leaning to strawberry, an indication of very ripe fruit, and the alcohol (14.2%) was too obvious at times. The longer it aired out, the less I liked it, and the wine slid downhill fairly quickly. 87 points.

2006 Pinot Noir "Gowan Creek" (Goldeneye)
This Pinot from a winery now owned by Duckhorn is toasty, with a vanilla overlay from oak, and a bit sharp on the end. It has nice density, but seems simple and one dimensional, too influenced by oak, but reasonably mouth filling. I actually liked the bite on the end--it cut through the oak. 88 points.

1989 Monte Bello (Ridge)
I kinda liked the way this started off, granting that it was bizarre and seemed flaw with some volatile acidity and gaminess. There was some sweet fruit and a little character. It was mediocre, but not bad. Time was not kind, though, and it slid downhill fairly rapidly after shaking off its bottle slumber stage. I suppose it had its moments--just not many of them, and you need to be a little tolerant of its flaws, or you will like it even less.  84 points.
 

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Dessert/Sparkling
2003 Coteaux du Layon "L'Anclaie Beaulieu" (Pierre Bise)
This bottling has always been a favorite, they age well, they are always nicely balanced and they just plain taste great. This is lovely, too, with apricots and peaches on the finish, the apricots up front, the peaches dribbling in, with decent acidity in the background and fine focus in this relatively fat vintage. This is not quite as piercing as some, but overall the balance is very nice. 92 points.

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Germany (except dessert/sparkling)
1999 Riesling Spatlese “Graacher Domprobst” (W. Schaefer)
This wine has been coming along nicely, showing dry, the acidity well integrated, mature notes around the edges, while bright and fresh in the middle. It is washed in stones, and shows pear and apple nuances.  89 points.

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Rhone/South/SW France (except dessert/sparkling)
1995 Bandol "Cuvée Speciale, La Rose Folle" (Chateau Pradeaux)
This has always been a bottling that had a lot of tannins, seemingly built for the long haul, despite the low price. I thought in fact that it might be a bit unbalanced. As it shows now, the fruit has aged and taken on some mature notes. It seems soft and gentle on opening, but the tannins are still there and with air the tannins give the wine a rather stern feel. It has notes of game and earthiness, not much flesh, an astringent finish that becomes more drying with air and a lot of brightness. At this point, this wine demonstrates that it will never really be in balance, I suspect. But it still drinks nicely as a low priced wine with a lot of character. 87 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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