Barrault “Château Tire Pé” 2010 Bordeaux “Diem” (Bordeaux) – Such a pretty, elegant interpretation of Bordeaux. Not, I think, one you’d want to age (but who knows?), but it manages the trick that so few early-drinking Bordeaux manage: a perfect poise between cedary dark fruit and just enough structure. I could drink this by the case while I wait for my (diminishing) stocks of more aspirational Bordeaux on their long journey towards maturity), and am beginning to wonder why I don’t. (8/12)
red
Cave dweller
Cavalier “Château de Lascaux” 2001 Pic Saint-Loup “Les Nobles Pierres” (Languedoc) – Corked. (8/12)
The Storrs aren’t all closed
Storrs 1998 Zinfandel Lion Oaks (Santa Clara County) – 15.6%. The last bottle of what was once a mighty stash, and the crisp acidity that always carried the wine remains, while the fruit has drifted diagonally towards an airy alpine berry realm, while the wood – always present – has almost entirely converted to spice, providing a more pleasant approach to the wine’s essential character. This will be missed. (8/12)
Florida via Sonoma
Cowan Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) – Light fruit, low-impact. Gentle, simple, not very expressive. Closing? It’s the most likely explanation. (8/12)
A Noval idea
Quinta do Noval 2003 Late Bottled Vintage Porto (Douro) – Extremely fruity and simple-minded. Port-by-numbers. (8/12)
Sentinental reasons
Domaine de la Terre Rouge 1999 Syrah Sentinel Oak Pyramid Block (Shenandoah Valley) – 14.5. Rich, ripe, round. Fulsome baked fruit, sun, arbor, and antique desk. While this has definitely matured, in some ways, I think its very far from anything resembling a demise, and so I continue to drink mine slowly. (8/12)
Stretched out on the côt
Morantin 2009 “Côt à Côt” (Loire) – Varietally correct, albeit on the very light side of the greenish-black herbality the grape can show in the Loire, and ultimately thin and not all that interesting. (8/12)
Pagani-nation
Ridge 2001 Zinfandel Pagani Ranch (Sonoma Valley) – 88% zinfandel, 8% alicante bouschet, 4% petite sirah. 15.4% alcohol, and brining every bit of that alcohol to the table on its eleventh birthday. This is pretty regularly my least favorite of Ridge’s “primary” zinfandel blends, though I suspect that the qualities that sometimes turn me off (excess alcohol, pruney fruit) are exactly what appeals to lovers of that periodically popular form of the grape. This is dark, grapey, plummy, and then it works itself into reduced boysenberry syrups and such that quickly reduce its appeal. The burn follows. I also wonder if holding it this long may have contributed to my ambivalence. (8/12)
Throaty
Pelletier 2008 Saint Chinian “l’engoulevent” (Languedoc) – The lightest Saint Chinian I’ve ever tasted, which is more or less suggested by the name, and there’s a certain leveling of its grape and site identifiers due to its appeal to easy drinkability. But it’s hard to deny how good it is. Soft, graphite-like structure dissolves in a fine mist of medium-toned fruit skins and apple-toned berries. I really like this. Really, really like this. Does it taste like Saint-Chinian? Well… (8/12)
Language lessons
Magnon “Rozeta” 2009 Corbières (Languedoc) – Ripe strawberry and rose hip with a more insistent, denser fruit than its otherwise bright, fresh-faced appeal might indicate. And it gets darker as it finishes, even adding a touch of wild fierceness to the departure. A very appealing wine. (8/12)