Baumard 1997 Savennières “Trie Spéciale” (Loire) – Feels sugary, tastes like just-sprouted asparagus. It’s a weird combination, and there’s probably a reason you’ve never seen asparagus candy on the market. Maybe in Japan, I dunno. They’ll try anything. (2/08)
July 2008
Deluise
Caves Dom Teodósio 1963 Garrafeira Particular (Portugal) – Old brown sugar, dark fruit, earth, tar, and dead roses. This is just barely clinging to a semblance of faded life, though the necrophiliac in the room (the one who brought it) likes it more. (2/08)
Cris de coeur
Pellé 1997 Menetou-Salon Morogues Les Cris (Loire) – 1.5 L. Beet, spiced fennel seed, and a lot of incoherent treble screeching. Drink a few years ago. (2/08)
Reverdy or not
P&N Reverdy 2006 Sancerre “Cuvée Les Coûtes” (Loire) – Grass, dry fruit rinds, sand, and banana skin. I’m not sure what this is trying to be. It’s fairly appealing, but… (2/08)
Get the Clape
Clape 1994 Cornas (Rhône) – Corked. (2/08)
Chopin
Etude 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) – An insular wine. Chocolate-covered cherries and nearly-crisp blueberries. Dense, tough, and hard. Turns hot on the finish. Just OK. (2/08)
Solare, oh, oh…
Col Solare 1995 Red (Columbia Valley) – Served blind, with guesses all over the map, but nothing approaching the target. It’s crisp, with dill-infused blueberries and walnut-tinged tannin. It would be OK for a cheapo red, which of course it’s not, and it’s clearly falling apart rather rapidly. A failure. (2/08)
Col Solare 1996 Red (Columbia Valley) – Also served blind, with similarly wild guesses no nearer the mark (but no one appears to think it’s the same wine as the previous version). My favorite assessment: “it smells like wood that’s soaking in water.” And indeed it does, plus minty chocolate, grass, and abrasive tannin. A slightly more coherent failure. (2/08)
Hardys boys
Hardys 1995 Shiraz “Eileen Hardy” (McLaren Vale/Padthaway) – Thick blueberry laden with eucalyptus. Simple, but if one accepts that simplicity (which is difficult given the price), it’s tasty enough. (2/08)
And a Coutet to you, sir
Coutet 2003 Sauternes-Barsac (Bordeaux) – Silky peach, cinnamon, clove, and peach syrup with a particularly surprising balance. Which makes me wonder… (2/08)
Fischer king
Dr. Fischer 1990 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Beerenauslese 3 91 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – I find this wine very difficult to access, other than an apple-dominated intense sweetness, but the balance seems flawless despite my tiring palate. (2/08)