In the middle of a kitchen remodel, Traci and I were able to escape to a friend’s house for a relaxing Saturday evening. The grill was pegged at 700+ degrees (a spray bottle of water was required to keep things in check) and a couple of 3 inch Prime New York Strips were the perfect foil for some young, blockbuster wines. The 2005 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta Colchagua Valley showed stunning purity and a level of refinement that you don’t find in many wines. A Bordeaux look alike, this is packed with cassis, earth, lead pencil, tobacco and high class oak aromas and the palate is silky, refined and long. Just a stunning drink, this is approachable now but has enough stuffing to warrant decent cellar time. The 2005 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes had been double decanted earlier that day and then placed in a cold cellar with the cork in. In hindsight, we might have done better with a slightly more aggressive decant regime and this continued to open up in the glass and the last glass was easily the best. Simply packed with dark blackberry, earth, graphite and licorice notes, the palate is gorgeous with full body, a silky texture and a blockbuster finish. This needs 5+ years in the cellar (10 really) and should drink just dandy for 15 years after that. Simply a stunning wine!

If you’re ever planning a kitchen remodel… call me and I’ll do my best to talk you out of it..

As always, thanks for reading!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Random Notes, tasting notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.