Traci and I spent a superb evening with good friends recently and had some notable bottles. We served up steak frites and if there’s a better feel good meal out there, I want to know about it… Fresh fries right out of the pot are truly a magical thing.

The evening started off with a tightly wound 2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. Toasted almond, white flowers, a little floor wax and lemon curd aromas mixed with lots of crushed stone and mineral notes show up on the nose and the palate is medium bodied, tight and slightly compact. This fleshed out with air and is an outstanding, rich white to drink over the near term or with a good 5 more years in the cellar.

The steaks came off the grill at this point and we followed the white up with a stunning Chateauneuf look alike from the central coast.  The 2007 McPrice Myers Grenache L’Ange Rouge showed fantastic kirsch and raspberry fruit, full body and a great finish. This is the second time I’ve had this wine inside the month and I’ll have a full write up on this producer in November. A 2005 Château Le Pey was over shadowed by the McPrice but offered medium fruit with some tannic grip on the finish.

The evening was capped with a rocking bottle of 2003 Graham Vintage Porto. Yeessh, a serious wine that is just packed with blackberry fruit, spice, underbrush and jam notes. Full bodied, decadent and balanced, this is a beauty that should have a long life ahead of it. Didn’t pair up too well with the creme brulee but both were knockouts none the less.

A great evening with good friends and fun wines.

2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - 91 pts.
2007 McPrice Myers Grenache L’Ange Rouge - 93 pts.
2003 Graham Vintage Porto - 95 pts.

August, 2009
Coal Creek Canyon, CO

A stellar evening put on by the go to Burgundy guru, Mitch Hersh, and some mighty fine drinks were opened up.  The occasion was For the Love of Port’s own, Mr. Roy Hersh visiting Colorado and I felt a wee bit sheepish not realizing he and Mitch were related.  Never fear, I’ve made much worse blunders.

The chef for the evening was Pieter Dijkstra and he put on a show;  offering up enough food to have most of the group crying mercy by the last course.

The evening started off with a fantastic 2002 Bouchard Les Genevrières.  Very rich, full and almost lush, this still had beautiful acidity and cut.  A corked (mag no less) 1990 Heidsieck was quickly followed by a gorgeous 1988 Pol Roger Winston Churchill.  Champagne doesn’t get much better and this offered up a damn near perfect bouquet of ripe fruit, yeast, toast and minerals to go with a knockout palate.  I’ve had this on previous occasions and it has shown beautifully both times.  A 1993 Deutz had a hard act to follow but was superb.

The first official flight started things off with a bang and in hind sight, this might have been the flight of the evening for me.  When white Burgs are on, there’s nothing like the perfect mix of ripeness, texture and energy that they deliver.  The 1996 Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Cru Champgains started out with ripe, buttery and almost exotic fruit but over the flight, continued to gain complexity and more mineral nuances and verve on the palate.  The 1996 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne was the wine of the flight and boasted amazing density, depth and texture.  The nose showed gobs of spicy oak that was buffered by rich, butter laced fruit and mineral nuances and the palate stepped up from there.  A stunning bottle of wine.  The 2002 Domaine Morey-Coffinet Bâtard-Montrachet showed nothing but stink and sulfer for the first hour… clearly telling us that we were dumb asses for opening it so soon.  Patience was finally rewarded here though and the last sip was gorgeous and the class to the wine was evident.   We were all lushes and ran out of wine too soon so a young 2002 Domaine Francois Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Charmes was opened to tide the horde over.  Fresh and crisp aromas of smoke, minerals and ripe fruit where quite the contrast to the more mature bottles but this was delicious none the less.  Medium bodied on the palate with vibrant acidity and nice depth, this should drink nicely for some time.

The reds started out with an evolved, nuanced and subtle 1976 Domaine Robert Arnoux Vosne-Romanée. I think most liked this more than me and while I thoroughly enjoyed the aromatics, I think its seen better days and is on a downward slope.   Still, reminiscent of an autumn day, this was filled with forest floor, decayed leaves, leather and meaty notes.  Hell, I think the memory of drinking the wine is better than actually drinking it.  In the mouth, there was some sourness to the fruit and a touch too much acidity to really ring my bell but the aromas were captivating and it was certainly a very good, mature burg.  The 1990 Maison Albert Bichot Clos Vougeot Domaine du Clos Frantin was rocking.  Red of the night perhaps with beautiful fruit.  Deep, dark, meaty and earthy, this has a sweetness and full texture that has you coming back for more.  The 1996 Domaine Rene Leclerc Griottes-Chambertin was disappointing and all dill and herbs but the 1996 Dominique Laurent Echezeaux showed beautifully and capped the flight nicely with rich, meaty aromas, oak, subtle dill and solid underlying structure.

The second flight of burgs commenced with a lean, acidic 1996 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos de La Bussière.  The aromatics were first rate but the palate showed too much acidity to be enjoyable.  The 1996 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant made up for the travesty of the prior red and was filled with perfumed aromas of spice, ripe red fruits saddle leather and underbrush.  There was great fruit on the palate but a touch of sour acidity on the finish kept me from scoring this wine higher.  The 1996 Domaine Heresztyn Clos St. Denis showed slightly more evolved with spice, underbrush and forest floor notes but the palate was borderline lean and mean…  Is there a trend here?  Hallelujah for the 1999 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Grands-Echezeaux and this wine showed stunning, ripe, deep sappy and licorice infused fruit paired with a medium to full bodied, balanced palate and a long finish.  Certainly all good wines but aside from the final Grands-Echezeaux, these all seemed lacking in fruit with excessive, borderline sour acidity.

The dessert flight was monumental.  The 2004 Günter Triebaumer Chardonnay Ausbruch Rust was amazingly clean and massively fruited with sugared peaches and apricot jam aromas.  Very sweet but with riveting acidity, this has a long way to go and is very primary at the moment.  A much more nuanced and complex 2000 Philippe Delesvaux Coteaux du Layon Sélection de Grains Nobles was a good contrast to the ‘04 Günter Triebaumer but both paled next to the 1999 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Mézes Maly. Wow and then another wow.  Really special with browned sugar, creme brulee and honeycomb nuances that were intermixed with orange rind and mineral aromas.  The palate sealed the deal with a perfect, light yet thick texture, awesome acidity and finish that wouldn’t quit.  This would have been the wine of the night had it not been for the 1952 Dalva Porto Golden White Colheita.  The bottle had not been decanted and as such, started off slightly closed and reticent.  Over the remainder of the evening though, this continued to flesh out, showing a silky, perfect palate as well as heady, caramel, vanilla, toast and spice laced aromatics.  Sitting by the fire, sipping this and smoking a cigar… it really doesn’t get any better.

A truly memorable evening.

Starters:
2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - 92 pts
1988 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut - 97 pts
1993 Deutz Champagne Blanc de Blancs - 92 pts

Whites:
1996 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Champgains - 93 pts
1996 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne - 96 pts
2002 Domaine Morey-Coffinet Bâtard-Montrachet - 92+ pts
2002 Domaine Francois Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Charmes - 91 pts

Flight 1:
1976 Domaine Robert Arnoux Vosne-Romanée - 89 pts
1990 Maison Albert Bichot Clos Vougeot Domaine du Clos Frantin - 94 pts
1996 Domaine Rene Leclerc Griottes-Chambertin - 85 pts
1996 Dominique Laurent Echezeaux - 91 pts

Flight 2:
1996 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos de La Bussière - 86 pts
1996 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant - 93 pts.
1996 Domaine Heresztyn Clos St. Denis -89 pts.
1999 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Grands-Echezeaux -93 pts

Dessert Wines:
2004 Günter Triebaumer Chardonnay Ausbruch Rust - 93+ pts.
2000 Philippe Delesvaux Coteaux du Layon Sélection de Grains Nobles - 93 pts
1999 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Mézes Maly - 97 pts
1952 Dalva Porto Golden White Colheita - 98 pts.

It’s been a busy summer to say the least… and a late flight to LAX tonight followed by a 4 hour drive to Paso has me contemplating shutting the door and taking a nap…

Before I head out, a couple quick thoughts and updates…

The trip to Chateauneuf in June was spectacular and helped dramatically with the content for the first Issue of The Rhone Report. The newsletter has been up for a little over three weeks and has seen right around 1,000 downloads. I hadn’t had the newsletter up for two days and I was already neck deep in the next issue that will focus on the Rhone Ranger Producers in California. The trip this evening starts three jam packed days of visits and tastings. My goal is to have as comprehensive report as possible and I’ve sent 100’s of email to producers and distributors trying to taste as many wines as possible. Thanks to everyone that has put up with my crazy emails and for allowing me to taste your wine.

Site traffic continues to increase and I’m seeing anywhere from 250 to 300 unique visits a day. The large change has been the “recent pours” page, which you’re now reading, going from the most visited part of the site to a distant 3rd. I’m quite happy about that and the tasting note database is taking off. There have been over 9,000 searches and tasting note views in August alone and this is easily the most used part of the site. I’m continuing to backfill and source older bottles that I haven’t tasted while at the same time, getting through as many new releases as possible.

I said it in the first newsletter and I’ll say it again here, 2007 was a fantastic vintage for the south of France. We’re starting to see these on the shelves here in Colorado and prices remain flat at the moment. I was able to pick up additional bottles of Vieux Donjon for $45 (a steal) and both Clos des Papes and Usseglio’s mon Aieul for under $80. That’s less than I paid last year on pre-order and is on par with what the ‘06s are going for. Speaking of 2006, give these wines a try. Smack dab between two hyped vintages, these are fantastic, age worthy wines that will have a large drinking window.

That’s all for now and thanks for reading!
Jeb