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Notes are in chronological order, with the latest at the top. Searching for notes on a particular wine? NOT QUITE BARGAINS. (October 27, 1999) You gotta try wines from anywhere if you want to find the sweet spots these days. Here are two that came close. Both represent appropriate value: 1998 Casa Castilla Jumilla "Monastrell" is a dark Spanish red, with lovely aromas of cherry kirsch. You get the same flavors on the palate, and the texture is nice and full. But then it hits the wall. Grainy tannins and not much finish at all. For $9.99, not bad, but I wanted more. Still, it reminds me to search out other wines from the Jumilla region, because I like the flavors a lot. 1997 Icardi Piemonte Cortese "L’Aurora" is a shy but pretty young white from Northern Italy. Pale yellow, with good but not raging acidity. Pleasant flavors of almonds and stones. It exceeded my generally low expectations for Italian whites, but I wasn’t floored. I want more fruit. Not bad for $9, but on the whole I’d have preferred a Macon for this style of minerally white wine. SIDURI WATCH. (October 27, 1999) Last time I sampled the 1997 Siduri Pinot Noir "Pisoni," I found it delicious, but in need of one or two years of cellaring. Well, I ignored my own advice and opened another this week. Happily, it’s not as packed-up as it was on release. Plummy, meaty flavors are emerging, with some Asian spice on the finish. Still needs time, but less than I thought. I’ll try another bottle in about 6 months. NOT TO BE BOARING, BUT... (October 24, 1999) Yikes, yet another night of Burgundies? Pushing our luck? If so, we lucked out. I ordered the crab cake and wild boar at Philly’s Overtures restaurant. Both were unusually flavorful, even gracious. So were the following. WHITES:
REDS:
DESSERT:
WHO NEEDS A CELLAR ANYMORE? (October 15, 1999) Seems like everyone is making wines that show well without much cellaring these days. In California, it's almost taken for granted now, and certainly the 1995 Bordeaux I've tried have been precocious. Now I must add Red Burgundy to the list. We lined up 6 worthy Burgs plus a West Coast ringer tonight, and all the ‘96s were mighty seductive. Here’s how it went... THE WHITES are decidedly uneven. To my surprise, the non-Burgundies beat the field: Nice aromas of flowers and peaches. Sharper acidity than I was expecting -- with lots of tangy apple flavors. Still, a really lovely wine that wants drinking early. ?1993 Comte Lafon Meursault "Clos de la Barre." Maybe we caught it at an awkward moment. Maybe I didn’t nurse it long enough for it to open. But tonight this wine seems pretty lean and acidic. **1992 Verget Meursault "Les Genevrieres." Blows away the Lafon, much to my wonder. Excellent concentration, with oak held well in balance. After a while, an intense note of honeysuckle emerges. Lotta fun! 1992 Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet. Not much at all here. A little bit of varietal flavor. Heat damaged? Too old? Or never very good? I’ve had better village Pulignys from ‘92. **+1994 Kistler Chardonnay Durrell Vineyard. Showing much better than last week, both right out of the bottle and after some airing. Big blast of mocha on the nose, which somehow blends in nicely with all the papaya. Even the acidity compares well to the French entries. WHITE OF THE EVENING. Happily, tonight's RED Burgundies make up for the region's disappointing whites: is everything you could want from a Burg -- and one of the only ‘90s I’ve tasted lately that seems ready to rip. It sings from the get-go. Loads of berries and a hint of Darjeeling tea. Very silky on the palate, with a lick of tannin on the long finish. As the night wears on, the wine only strengthens. I’ll name it WINE OF THE EVENING, but there was lots of competition. 1988 Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux is a little dull in comparison to the others. At first I have some hope that the flavors will at least fight to a draw against the tannins. Fifteen minutes into the game it even shows some grace. But alas, an hour later, it’s tasting oxidized. Nipped in the bud by winter's frost. %&*$#1993 Gavignet Nuits St. George "Les Bousselots" is corked, more’s the pity. But **+1996 Bertagna Vougeot "Les Cras" more than makes up for it! It’s very dark ruby and initially I fear this wine might be too young to show its stuff. But just count to 20 and KABOOM! Raspberries erupt from the glass. Lots of body and a fine finish. What sexy young thing! And ***1996 Bruno Clair Savigny-Les-Beaune "La Dominode" is perhaps even better! This one has a fragrance of violets that makes me want to dive into the glass. Doesn’t quite have the class and complexity of the older wine from Jean Gros, but I’m not sorry at all we opened it tonight! *+1996 Rouget Vosne Romanee is predictably less concentrated than the classified ‘96s, but brimming with Burgundian perfume. Racy acidity sets it apart as well. Another young beaut! And then Steve Kistler nearly steals the show again! The **+1996 Kistler Pinot Noir "Sonoma Coast" is the darkest and most concentrated red on the table tonight. Also the oakiest, but after some air, the fruit smothers any complaints I may have harbored. I’d give this one maybe two more years in the cellar to show its best, but once again, you couldn’t go wrong by drinking it tonight. CHADDS FORD FEVER. (October 10, 1999) Two wine-loving friends from Baltimore told us they were coming up to see the fall colors, and how about we get together and do dinner? Great, I said -- then proceeded to catch a cold or the flu or something. My fever peaked about the time our visitors were due to arrive. As if that weren't jolly enough, they had been caught in a 4-hour traffic jam. But somehow, magically, things turned around as we pulled corks and dug into dinner. By evening's end, I was feeling almost human and it seemed our friends were too. Here's my admittedly half-nosed impression of what revived us: WHITES:
REDS: is still packed pretty tight, but showing lots of flavor all the same. Cherry, cedar and cranberry flavors predominate at first. Then comes a burst of blackberry. Needs another year or so in the cellar. **+1978 Moillard Vosne Romanee "Beauxmonts" is still a deep garnet color, though clear at the rim. Initially you get some mild, dusty strawberry flavors that make you wonder if this wine will die in the next 15 minutes. But no! Like many fine old Burgs, it pulls up its socks and starts to dance! The dust blows away, the strawberries get more intense and you can taste cherries too. Really lovely. I have a friend who puts 1978 above all others for red Burgundy, and this wine argues his point well. I’ll call this RED OF THE EVENING. Gone in a hurry. Also showing well is the *+1978 Moillard Morey St. Denis "Monts Luisants." This wine isn’t quite so classy to start with and her voice starts to crack by the end of the evening, but in between she sings some very pretty notes. Like it a lot. The most-discussed wine of the evening, however, might be *1993 Dubreuil-Fontaine Corton-Perrieres. It’s a got a lot of bright red cherry fruit, plus a mushroomy undernote. Also shows the higher acidity of the 1993 vintage. I know folks who would love the nerve of this wine, but to me it seems a little too high-strung compared to the other bottles on the table. DESSERT WINES: is so good, I’ll even forgive the jawbreaker name. (But you know -- there should be some sort of German export law about making the name short enough that you can write it down before the other folks at your table have sucked down the contents.) Anyhow, this is a beaut. Lots of peach and apricot, a little petrol and POW! A big punch of pungent botrytis, all balanced by good acid. WINE OF THE EVENING? Maybe. I’ve accused a friend of always favoring sweet wines and hate to do the same myself, but this is sooo seductive. And we had a lot of fun with a *+Mystery Red. It’s dark purple. Aromas of chocolate, prune and blueberry. Big flavors. Not quite like anything I’m used to, but fun! Alcohol has to be at least 18%. Hmmm. From what I can discern of the bottle’s shape underneath the brown paper bag, I’ll guess that it’s not European. American or Australian, then. Australian. But no, it’s Horton Port from Virginia! Nice wine. Keep making it, guys. BLACK PRIDE. (October 2, 1999) Is there anything that these guys on Spring Mountain aren’t doing great these days? Having already swooned for the 1997 Pride Mountain Merlot, I now tried the **+1997 Pride Cabernet. And good heavens this is great stuff! Black, thick and dense. Showing some oak, but well-balanced with buckets of cassis. Reminds me a bit of the 1994 Pesquera Janus. WHEN’S THE RIGHT TIME? (October 2, 1999) "Is this the right time to pull the cork?" Don’t you love torturing yourself with that question? If not, either you don’t have a cellar or you’re just too darned happy and well-adjusted. Anyhow, this was the question that kept rearing its head tonight. We were gathered to celebrate a couple of birthdays, so the wines were under pressure to perform. As it turned out, in both the white and the red flights, age turned out to make all the difference. You couldn’t ask for a more motley batch of whites: is so old I worry the wine might fade to nothing before I can write down the name. Actually it turns out to have lots of life. Medium gold, it doesn’t taste very sweet, but there’s plenty of gracious old fruit. I found it enjoyable, but I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more twenty years ago. **+1991 Domaine LeFlaive Puligny-Montrachet Folatieres started out tight and mute, but half an hour was all it needed to break open. Big flavors of apples and pears and a nice thick texture emerged. The wine kept expanding throughout dinner. Particularly well matched to my oysters. This wine is there. Neither too old nor too young. **+1997 Patz and Hall Chardonnay Carr Vineyard didn’t seem like much right out of the bottle -- pale, perfumed, apple-flavored and maybe just too young. One hour later, however, it was duking it out the Leflaive. Super-creamy, with plenty of body and a whalloping finish. Made from Mt. Veeder fruit, the wine has ample acidity, but not too much. A well made wine that’s refreshingly different from most other Napa Valley Chards. Too young? Well, we certainly didn’t suffer! Probably could use another year or two, but I see no reason to wait, as long as you decant an hour before drinking. The reds were equally diverse: makes a lovely debut from the decanter. Garnet at the center, transparent at the edge, it gives off aromas of cocoa, wet dust, herb, cassis and horse-poop. After about 15 minutes, however, oxidation begins to show. After about an hour, it’s mostly strawberries and sweat. If you like old wines a lot, this one should please you mightily. But it’s seen better days. Drink up. **+1992 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is precisely the opposite. Gushes with deep, deep, deep black cherry flavors for about half an hour. And then the tannins come out and freeze everything solid. You can sense five fathoms of fruit underneath, but as the evening wears on, the wine just gets number. This baby is headed the way of the 1991. Decanting eight hours ahead might work, but hey, why mess with mother nature? Don’t touch another bottle for at least another three years. Way too young. Happily, **+1989 Beausejour Duffau is just what Goldilocks asked for. Promising from the get-go, smelling of violets, cherries and, uh, sweat. No doubt about the last, but it’s not enough to mar the elegance of this wine. Any tannins have melted away and the wine is velvet-smooth. Gets noticeably thinner but doesn’t fade through the evening. Lovely wine in its prime. Drink and enjoy! And both dessert wines were at peak: is very sweet indeed with complex pineapple and petrol flavors. But ***1989 Climens is sensational! Apricot, custard and a big splash of botrytis flavors, in a super-sweet, intensely rich but balanced wine. Right where you want it and WINE OF THE EVENING. BROTHER & SISTER. (October 2, 1999) No wine geeks love to argue more than Pinot Noir geeks. And there’s probably no Pinot Noir producer more argued-about than Oregon winery Beaux Frères. You don’t have to look very far for the reason -- it’s co-owned by critic Robert Parker. (It’s called Beaux Frères because he and winemaker Mike Etzel are brothers-in-law.) But the reason naysayers cite most often is that the wine is too rich and extracted. To me, this is sort of like complaining that a woman is too sexy. Since when is this bad? Anyhow, as if to answer these "make mine wimpy" types, the winery has recently started issuing an additional cuvée called Belles Soeurs. The literature says this is not really a "second wine," but a different style -- lighter and more graceful. So how, you may wonder, do the two different styles actually compare? Glad you asked. A few of us got together for dinner recently to answer precisely this question... First we opened a **1994 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay. This wine seems to have lost a little oomph since release, but not much -- and the trade-off is that the flavors are better knit than ever. No more woody splinters, some creme caramel and a whole lot of complex tropical fruit. Good time to drink up if you have any. Then we tried a characteristically weird 1992 Coturri Sonoma Pinot Noir. Not a shy wine and that’s about the best I can say. We argued over whether the principle problem was spritziness or volatile acidity. Both, I decided. Seems it may have refermented in the bottle. I wouldn’t exactly call it undrinkable, but I sure didn’t want to continue. Then it was time for the match of the evening: is one of the most impressive Oregon Pinot Noirs that I’ve tasted from this difficult vintage. Very dark, with lost of raspberry and blackberry aromas. Still backward on the palate, but you can sense the density of the fruit -- similar to the 1993 at a similar age. In a year or two, it could fan out and be a killer. Fingers crossed. *1996 Belles Soeurs is indeed lighter and more approachable. The flavors reminded me more of strawberry and red cherry jam. I enjoyed it, but you know what? I far preferred big brother. The price of this new wine is pretty close, and if I’m going to pay close to $50, I’ll take the powerhouse. We wound up the evening with a sweety from Oz: Kind of reminds me of a PX Sherry. Essence of wet walnuts. I’m tempted to call it the wine of the evening, but I wonder if I shouldn’t start disqualifying Australian fortified wines. They’ve got this game down so well, it almost seems too easy. YUCK. (September 19, 1999) Usually when a "bargain"-priced wine doesn’t thrill me, I simply shut up and move on to the next. It ain’t worth wasting the electrons. But this one annoyed me. 1996 Rodney Strong Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon is under $15. It’s dark and fairly well-endowed in the body department. And there the good news ends. It’s so acidic that it tastes like a rubber band. And I can only imagine it getting worse as the fruit drops off. Couldn’t finish the bottle. ALMOST, BUT NOT QUITE. That’s my problem with most Chinon, in a nutshell. It may be different for you. But in many ways 1997 Guy Saget Chinon les Tenanceaux exemplifies what I like and dislike about red wines from the Loire. It’s got the color and density of a medium-good Burgundy. And that would be okay, except this is Cabernet Franc, not Pinot Noir. It’s weedy at first, but then turns on the charm. Flavors of strawberry preserve. And that’s good, but it’s still a pretty simple wine. So there we are. Am I unrealistic to expect more for just $8.99? Am I pigheaded to expect a Chinon to behave like a St. Emilion? Maybe so, maybe so. And I did finish the bottle without a whimper. But on reflection, I wouldn’t buy more. WEST COAST WITH A FRENCH ACCENT. (September 19, 1999) I like the fruit-drenched flavors of great West Coast reds. I also like the herbal nuances and elegance of the French stuff. Maybe I don't have to choose anymore. There's a new breed of wines -- from both France and the U.S. -- that pretty much deliver both. Last weekend we tasted two, both from 1994, and I liked them both a bunch. The setting was a newish BYO outside of Philly. I’ll give the Fayette Street Grille on the main drag of Conshohocken a tentative thumbs up. The atmosphere is basic and the room can get a bit noisy, but the wait-staff was pleasant, the food was good and the $22.50 fixed price (with dessert) was a pretty decent deal. Just a few of us gathered here, so we opened less than a handful of wines. First a couple of Chards: . Very creamy, with lots of lees flavors still. A nice duet of fresh-baked bread and papaya. Has the intensity you expect from a Kistler, though not what I’d call a powerhouse. This wine is about as elegant as it’s going to get, and a little more subdued than on release. You got ‘em? Drink ‘em now. 1995 Storrs Chardonnay "Jekyl & Hyde Cuvee." The wine includes grapes from two different vineyards, hence the name. Nice concept and a catchy moniker, but the Chard itself kind of underwhelmed us. Aromas of pear and apple with more of the same on the palate. Disappointing finish. Maybe it dropped its fruit. Then the "best of both worlds" wines:
WINES FOR A CRABBY NIGHT. (September 12, 1999) Eating Chesapeake Bay hardshell crabs is thirsty work, so we endeavored to see what goes best with them. Along the way, I’m afraid I got distracted by the wines themselves. There were some stunners -- and don’t call the food police, but my favorites weren’t perfectly matched to the shellfish. (So what do you do when that happens? Personally, I grinned ear to ear.) WHITES:
REDS:
DESSERT:
DOING THE CHARLESTON IN BALMER. (September 3, 1999) I’ve got a new favorite restaurant in Baltimore and somewhat confusingly it’s called Charleston -- run by the same people who once owned another Baltimore classic named Savannah. It’s a trek for us, but we’re sure glad we wandered out there Friday evening to see a passel of our wine-pals. Chef Cindy Wolf and her husband (and co-owner) Tony Forman laid out one of the best meals we’ve had this year -- and somehow managed to match every wine, from dry Semillon to 28-year-old Petite Sirah. The great wines just kept rolling by. Many thanks to all who brought in some rare cellar treasures. Maybe I missed a few but I surely enjoyed: WHITES:
Then came three very different West coast Pinot Noirs:
And what a sweet trio of Cabs!
So which was the wine of the evening? Amazingly, it wasn’t a Cab or a Pinot, but...
Now you may well ask -- what can you drink after a blockbuster PS? The answer was right in front of us:
WHAT BECOMES A CLASSIC? (September 1, 1999) All too often the word "classic" is used to peddle a merely average wine or vintage, as in "This is not a great vintage, but a classic one." However, I think the word has valid uses too. When a wine hits all your spots without knocking you over the head...when it sneaks under your radar and catches you by surprise in mid-dinner...when an elegance-craver and a fruit-bomb-lover both agree it’s mighty fine... Then you just may have a classic on your hands. Last night we had two:
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