Last weekend I went up to the mountains of North Carolina to visit my grandmother and enjoy the cool mountain air. Loudoun drove up from Charlotte (without his wife who was off to a bachelorette party weekend) so of course there was plenty of wine to be drunk. Friday night with steaks I opened up a 2002 Haan Shiraz, which I had purchased in Charlotte a few years ago. The wine was quite nice, though a little on the sweet side. After a while, it had acquired some almost Amarone or Recioto-like characteristics - not necessarily raisiny, but just a bit sweet. I wasn't sure that I really liked that, but overall the wine was enjoyable and not too overpowering.
Saturday night, we opened up a wine I found earlier in the day - the 2007 Domaine Giraud Chateauneuf du Pape. I'm not typically one to drink something so early, but I had purchased a bottle of this producer's 100% Grenache cuvee a few weeks ago so I was interested to see how their base wine would be. This wine was certainly no slouch - after just a bit of air, it quickly began to show off the dark fruit and spice of the Grenache that dominates the blend. It certainly gives a hint of the greatness of the vintage and makes me look forward to more 2007 Chateauneufs.
We actually finished later Saturday night with a 1999 Michele Satta Cavaliere. This Supertuscan had been in my cellar for a while and I recall it having very good reviews when I bought it. I felt that the wine was somewhat disjointed, as the fruit was fading a bit to me, but there were still some serious tannins. Loudoun enjoyed the wine a bit more, picking up some pear notes, but to me there wasn't much. With the tannins, this wine seemed to be out of balance, and I have little faith that at this advanced age it would ever get into balance (and may not have ever been). While this wine was a disappointment, the weekend was quite enjoyable visiting with my grandmother and hanging out with a good friend with good food and wine.
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Important side note: Lee & I also enjoyed 2004 Bogle Phantom over this weekend that I thought was fabulous. I had been holding onto this wine year after year, determined to get some age on it before opening because I was curious to know what it would do. My patience paid off because I could not imagine how this wine could've been better. The balance between the fruit and tannins was absolutely perfect. I don't have the depth of wine experience as Lee by a long shot, but this was definitely one of the more memorable wines I've had.
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