Closing out 2009 with an old Bin 75 recap

I've really fallen behind on recapping all of the Friday night tastings I've attended at Bin 75, so I'll finish off the year with one of the best nights we had this fall. This night featured quite an array of great wines, and even included some special treats from Chris at the end of the evening.

The night began with a 2005 Chante Cigale Chateaunef du Pape. Most everyone there knew it was a CdP, but figured a little older (I went 2001). It was good, but not spectacular. We followed with another wine from the same area and vintage, the 2005 La Roquete Chateauneuf du Pape. Again, most of us were on CdP, but this time the wine was quite closed, and I guessed it to be a 2006.

Next we moved up the Rhone Valley for the 2000 Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote Rotie. It had a great nose but then on the palate threw everyone for a loop. I really had no idea, and no one else did either. We then followed this with another Syrah, but this time it was the 2005 Vina Montes Folly, a Syrah from Chile. I was leaning toward Aussie Shiraz, but in one of the great pickups, Keith nailed it as Chilean Syrah.

Our next two wines were both from Piemonte, starting with the 2003 Albino Rocca Vigneto Brich Ronchi Barbaresco. I was on Nebbiolo, but guessed 2001 Barolo. Our next wine was mine, the 1996 Bovio Arborina Barolo. A few folks were on it as an aged Barolo, but not everyone. Regardless, it was a fantastic wine, truly hitting its stride.

We next had the 2001 Castelgiocondo Brunello, which I nailed as a Brunello from that vintage. It was a very good wine, though I think it possibly included something other than just Sangiovese.

We followed that with the 1988 Cos d'Estournel, which had a lot of bell pepper on the nose, but was really ageing well most of us guessed it to be a mid-90's Bordeaux. We then had a 2003 Lagier Meredith Mt Veeder Syrah that had the unfortunate luck to follow the Bordeaux and thus stick out as a little too modern. After that, we returned to Bordeaux for the 2003 Lynch Bages. This wine showed the characteristics of the hot vintage, as it was a little sweet and acidic for me.

We finally concluded the regular portion of the tasting with the 2001 Feudi di San Gregorio Taurasi Riserva Piano di Monte Vergine. I initially leaned toward Southern Italy before changing my mind, but the huge tannins should have been a dead giveaway. Even with a lengthy decanting, this wine was still not quite ready to drink. It will be a great wine with several more years of age.

Finally, Chris had been in the bar with some friends and donated his remaining wine to the group, which was quite a treat. First up was the 1994 Vega Sicilia Unico, a fantastic wine though no one could ID it. I guessed it could be a top vintage northern Rhone, perhaps 1999 Cornas. Regardless, it was really quite nice if still a bit young. We followed that with the 1990 Leoville Las Cases, which was truly what a nice aged Bordeaux should be like. It was really hitting its stride with everything in great balance.

Overall, this was quite a night, and one of the best I've had at Bin 75. I look forward to many more of these in 2010, and will also recap a couple of other late 2009 tastings in the coming weeks.

Two from California

I recently again had the need for a Zinfandel so it was off to the cellar, where this time I plucked out the 2005 Turley Dusi Zinfandel. While I've had Dusi Zins from Ridge before, I've never had one from Turley. This wine was good, though I wouldn't put it among the top efforts from Turley. It was relatively simple and straightforward for a Turley, though still enjoyable.

Right before heading home for Christmas, I opened a half bottle of the 2005 Biale Zappa Red. A blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah, this is a very enjoyable bottle, though similarly lacks a bit of complexity like the Turley. This is a feature of a less-than-stellar 2005 Zinfandel vintage, but the wine was still overall enjoyable and probably a little better than the Turley (perhaps the added Syrah/Petite Sirah components gave it a little extra dimension).

Overall, I enjoyed these two bottles, though not to the extent of the top wines from these producers. However, these wines show that even in a lesser vintage, the Turley and Biale can produce very good wines, just not the exceptional ones they will make in a better year.

Two takes on Grenache

As I try to continue to catch up on notes from the past couple of months, it will take some creative thinking to combine multiple wines into one post. For this one, I'll report on two Grenache-based wines from very different areas. Up first was a wine from the Spanish region of Priorat, the 2001 Scala Dei Iugiter. Earlier in the year, I had another wine from Scala Dei that I enjoyed, but this one was a bit disappointing. The Iugiter seemed much more modern in style and still had a lot of oak on it. For a wine of this age, it is concerning that the oak has not integrated better by this point.

The next wine was the 2003 Tir Na Nog Old Vine Grenache from Australia's McLaren Vale. This wine seemed disjointed on the first night, and I thought was probably just fading and past its peak. However, on the second night it was actually better, more balanced with some fruit still showing. It still wasn't great through, and for a wine that Parker rated 94 points, was a bit of a disappointment.

Overall, these two wines didn't do much to acquit Grenache's potential outside the Rhone Valley, though I do know that in Priorat, there are some very good Grenache-based wines, and even the prior Scala Dei was evidence of that.

The variety of Italy

I've had several Italian wines over the last few weeks, as always showcasing the tremendous variety from the country. I'll highlight five wines here from five distinctly different regions.

First was a 2004 Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani. I've found Einaudi's wines to be quite enjoyable and affordable representations of Piemonte, but this wine didn't impress me too much. Dolcettos are meant to be drunk young, and maybe this wine had lost some of its freshness. It wasn't past its prime, just didn't seem to have all that I expected.

Up next was one of my favorite consistent wine values, the 2007 Falesco Vitiano. A blend of Cab, Merlot, and Sangiovese from Umbria, this wine almost always delivers a nice bouquet of red fruit that makes it an ideal match for food. There have been several very good vintages, and 2007 continues that trend, while keeping the price tag at about $12.

One wine of the group that came from my cellar was the 2000 Morgante Don Antonio. Made from Nero d'Avola, this is one of the wines that really got Sicilian wines noticed in the US. This wine may have been aged a little longer than recommended, but it still wasn't bad. In fact, on the second night it still held together fairly well, though it didn't blow me away.

Moving back up the boot, I had another bottle of the 2007 Terredora Aglianico. I've really enjoyed this wine on the prior occasions, but this time was actually a little disappointed. It was the first time my tasting matched Antonio Gallioni's review that called the wine out for being a little heavy on the oak. I really hadn't noticed before, but I did this time. Perhaps the wine was in an odd phase, as the second night the oak had mellowed somewhat, though wasn't completely gone. I still have a few bottles left, so we'll see what happens.

Finally, I had a bottle of the 2007 Brig'aldara Valpolicella. One of my favorite producers from the area, and one whose wines we've enjoyed at Vinitaly, this was the first time in a while I'd found their Valpolicella on local shelves again. For about $12, this wine overdelivers again, a wonderful example of a simple Valpolicella. I've got a note coming soon on one of their Amarones as well, but I would encourage anyone who wants to taste a great example of this region's entry-level wines to search this wine out, I already have another bottle at home, and will likely be buying more.

The blog returns from hiatus. First up - Rhones

Ok, so it wasn't anything I announced or really planned, but things got so busy for a while that blog updates disappeared for a while. Hopefully things will start to get back on track now. With a lot of traveling and other events, I truthfully haven't had a ton of wine at home of the last month or so, which means I shouldn't be too far behind. I'll begin by recapping the Rhone wines I've had over the past several weeks.

First up was a Gigondas from the cellar - a 2001 Domaine Brusset le Grand Montmirail. This wine was definitely in need of drinking, and starting to fade. The first night the wine was ok, but by the second the soy characteristics were starting to overtake it.

Next was a wine from a great Gigondas producer, but was just a Cotes du Rhone. The 2007 St Cosme Cotes du Rhone is really coming into its own now. Made from 100% Syrah, the wine is dark, full-bodies and not as hot as many of the predominately Grenache-based Cotes du Rhones that have needed time to settle. It's definitely a recommended bottle.

I next went back a year for the 2006 Domaine les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone-Villages Cuvee Trois Cepages. As I've noted before, this wine shows that 2006 is a great vintage as well, and shouldn't be overlooked. It remains available on markdown and is a great value.

The final wine was the 2007 Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine Lirac. While not as well-known (or expensive) as the top names from Lirac, this wine is still quite impressive. Again, with the 2007 vintage it's hard to go wrong, and this wine is a great value from one of my favorite appelations. Liracs don't age as well as Chateauneufs, but they have an elegance that I don't find in any other Southern Rhone appelation other than CdP, so it's well worth seeking these wines out. I've managed to grab a couple more bottles of this to have over the next few years.