There’s nothing like having dear friends visit and Traci and I were lucky enough to have Jon and Mark Hirsch make the trek out to Colorado this August.   I met Jon when I was a young pup of a whole 16 years of age and neck deep into rock climbing.  Since then, he’s been the best man in my wedding and we’ve had a fair number of climbing and biking escapades.

For this visit, he and his twin brother Mark were out in Colorado to compete in the Leadville 100. This is a crazy long (you guessed it, 100 miles or, if you prefer, 160 kilometers) mountain bike race that has a brutal 14,000 feet of vertical climbing… in case you don’t know, this is beaucoup climbing that would leave most fit people (me included) pushing their bike to the finish line (almost 40% of the starters don’t finish.)  Being the fair weather outdoors man that I am, the prospect of toeing the start line on a race like this is more than a little unsettling; however, these two suffer junkies were not only here with the lofty goal of finishing within 9 hours, they were riding a tandem… yes, you read correctly, a 100 miles and 14,000 vertical feet… on a tandem.  Now is that some brotherly love or what?  Tandems aren’t call divorce machines for no reason.  Out of the roughly 1500 riders in the race, a whole 5 entries were tandem riders and while tandems are dandy on straight trails (so they tell me), the sheer elevation and technical trails on this course make the race a ridiculous effort.

The race started at 6:30 am and the local temp was a balmy 31 degrees.  While it warmed up throughout the day, the cold and rain would play a significant factor and the riders were hammered with all out thunderstorms and hail at more than one point.  Lance Armstrong added some star excitement and at the end of the day, Jon and Mark hung on to finish well but outside their 9 hour goal.  A flat tire late in the race didn’t help but ladies and gentlemen, these two gave it their all and had nothing left at the finish.  Hats off to both of them for a stellar performance and here’s looking to next year!

A great video of the race can be found at: http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1565/48/ and a number of photos are attached below.

We had some fun meals prior to the race and a couple noteworthy bottles.  Both a 2004 Clos des Papes and 1995 Vieux Télégraphe delivered the goods. I preferred the Clos des Papes by a hair but the Télégraphe was the favorite of the table.  A bottle of 2002 Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon was tasty and the wine is aging beautifully.  I purchased these on release and have been drinking through them fairly regularly.  The kicker was the 2007 Pierre Usseglio Cuvée de mon Aïeul that got opened to celebrate after the race. Unfortunately, Mark was in the early stages of Pneumonia and Jon wasn’t feeling much better.  I did find some brave souls to help drink through the bottle and I’m thrilled to have more.  This was my first bottle state side after tasting it at the domaine and it’s truly a monumental wine.

Just an outstanding time with great people!

Wines:
2004 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape - 95 pts.
1995 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - 94 pts.
2002 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon - 91 pts.
2007 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul - 99 pts.

Photos of the race:

I have an email exchange recently with Laurent of Domaine Charvin and I asked him if he had any thoughts on the past two vintages.  Here’s what he had to say:

Hello,
I will try to do that.
08:
For me this vintage is more and more a surprise.
Even if the weather conditions was difficult in 08, the end of September and
all the job made all around the year in the vineyard has given an unexpected
result. The 08 has of course not the concentration and the weight of 07 but
they are as powerful with the same level of tannins and have a very good
balance, if it’s possible to compare it’s more  similar to 04 or 99.The
freshness is very interesting and we have a little bit less alcohol, between
13.5 14 for the CDR and 14, 14.5 for the CDP , this is not a problem.
So in the end I can say that I am very happy about the result. But I am the
wine producer, like always I’m not sure to be right and to not be influence
by the special relation I can have with my wines.

09: the weather conditions are very very good.
Humid spring, good flowering and dry weather now. Perfect!
Just an hail problem in end of June but the dry condition after, will limit
this problem.
Of course nothing is made and if will be necessary to have a nice rain in
august in some parcels to help the end of the maturity.
We will see…
Best regards
Laurent

2005 Pax Cuvée Moriah (USA, California, Sonoma County)
Showing quite a bit better than a previous bottle, this has big, intense aromatics of plum and blackberry fruit, spice, violets, thyme and brambly notes. There’s nice ripeness but also plenty of complexity as well. In the mouth, the wine is medium to full bodied with a great, smooth texture, sweet fruit and a long finish. Overall, this has an evolved profile and should probably be consumed over the next 5 or so years. An outstanding wine. (92 pts.)

Served up with some battered salmon and some homemade, twice fried chips…  It’s a mess but the fries are hard to beat…   Yeah yeah, I had a Guinness with the meal as well.

2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A rocking bottle of wine and quite possibly a benchmark Chateauneuf, the 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul is open for business with knockout aromatics of garrigue, saddle leather, meat and perfectly ripe, licorice infused fruit.  Complex but also down right hedonistic, this is full bodied with sweet fruit, a full, smooth texture and a blockbuster finish.  There’s still plenty of structure and tannin in the wine so I don’t see this fading anytime soon.  Drink these over the next 10 years or so.  (97 pts.)

2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé (France, Provence, Bandol)
Orange rind, wild strawberry, minerals and salty sea breeze aromas jump from the glass of the 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé and in the mouth, it has beautiful freshness paired with sweet fruit, a round, full texture and a long finish. While this doesn’t show the fruit of the ‘07, it’s a fantastic Rosé to drink over the next year or two. (91 pts.)