Beauty In Chaos
Jones Family Vineyard
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
I coravined some of the 97 early this week and as I sipped it, it was had not to think it was the best Jones Family I’ve had. A score of 98 and I have not given a wine 98 in a very long time. But no matter where you go, there you are.
Tonight I had the 01 at the “Tasting House” and it was amazing. Their Short Ribs are amongst the best I’ve had. A deliberate wine bring knowing the wine & how well it pairs w/ short ribs.
1997 was an outstanding vintage. I think we can all agree on that. Jones Family is a TRB wine that should not fly under the radar in any vintage and I have had nearly all those good vintages since 97.
The 1997 is ethereal. The nose is pure beauty. Perfectly ripe and resolved fruits. Blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, both plums & juicy strawberries. Perfect baking spices; clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, sandstone/limestone, fresh tobacco, cedar to sandalwood, dark, Indian/Asian spices, camphor, black licorice, berry cola, sun tea, volcanics, tree bark w/ hints of sap, dark & red fresh flowers.
The palate is incredibly, beautiful, balanced fruit & earth. Bright cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, both plums, hovering raspberries & juicy strawberries. Perfect baking spices; clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, sandstone/limestone, beautiful Indian/Asian spices w/ some plate heat, fresh tobacco, sandalwood, volcanics & dry clay, camphor, dark chocolate baking bar, black licorice, some warm caramel, berry cola, sun tea, volcanics, dark rich soil with dry leaves, tree bark w/ hints of sap, fresh & dry herbs, dark & red fresh flowers framed in lavender & liquid violets, excellent acidity with perfect; elegance, tension, balance and structured finish that last minutes landing on fresh fruit, dark spices and earth tones.
I’ve posted other bottles of 97 Jones Family that were incredible, 95-96. This one perhaps had better storage, evolution & timing. Magic. — a year ago
Domaine Dauvissat-Camus
La Forest Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2009
Nose reveals beauty & grace. Sweet & just sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, sea fossils, sea spray, light volcanics, marmalade fruit, Stone fruit with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens.
The palate is very full, round, waxy, rich with excellent viscosity. Beautiful mouthfeel. Great time for a bottle. Sweet & just a sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, healthier honey, sea fossils, white spice with the perfect depth & heat, sea spray, reductive, melted molasses, light volcanics, wet stone, elegant flintiness, marmalade fruit, stone fruit-apricot, nectarines, white & yellow peach with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens. The acidity is like a cool stone filled stream. The long, round finish is; waxy, round, lush, with excellent balance fruit & earth, gentle white spice palate heat that persists endlessly. On the long, longboard set, I get soft subtle cream notes of whiskey/scotch w/o any heat. It Hoovers center mouth.
Photos of; one of Dauvisst Cru vineyards, staff caning in the spring, Vincent, Dauvisst and photo of a vineyard that shows every bit of reason why White Burgundy tastes the way it does!
Some producer notes I read. Vincent started helping his father René in 1976 and, during the last decade, has gradually taken control of viticulture and winemaking. For him, the ultimate goal is to harvest healthy grapes that are fully ripe and concentrated which, he declares, can only be achieved consistently by hard work in the vineyard. His passion for wine enables him to put this work ethic into practice with real vigour - close pruning the vines (40 years old on average) during the growing season to restrict yields, hand harvesting at vintage time and ruthlessly discarding any rotten or split grapes. His vinification and maturation methods see him join the small band of Chablis producers who employ oak. The wines are vinified and aged in a mixture of steel vats and 6-to 8 year old wooden barrels. The wood is old and therefore doesn’t stamp any oak flavour onto the wines but does give them an extra depth of flavor and density of body, whilst still retaining their unique identities. These are intensely terroir-driven, mineral wines of such concentration that they take longer than most to reach their best, though they are every bit worth the wait. — 6 years ago
Château Lynch-Moussas
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1989
Whenever I have a really older bottle of wine, I think, what was I doing in this case 1989?
About this time of year, I was walking into Candlestick Park for the Bay Bridge World Series while this wine was fermenting. I was walking through the parking lot when the 89 earthquake hit. It was like Godzilla was a Gopher tunneling under my feet. The stadium erupted with a resounding cheer. Earthquake during the World Series...yeah! It wasn’t until an hour later that hard reality set in.
This Chateau Lynch-Moussas is a recent direct purchase from the Negotiant. 89 was a pretty good Bordeaux year. So, why not see how a 5th Growth producer wine evolved over 30 years. It’s a treat to enjoy wine with this much age.
While Lynch-Mousses has improved vastly in more recent vintages, back in the day, they made some nice wines but, not great. This wine shows beauty & elegance but, it lacks fundamental elements of high quality. However, its fruit and structure have held up nicely over the years.
The nose reveals a fair amount of; barnyard, mushrooms, ripe; blackberries dark currants, dark cherries, black raspberries & strawberries on the edges of the glass. Black plum skin, dark chocolate, raspberry cola, mocha, caramel, clove, nutmeg, burnt cinnamon, tarriness, graphite, leather, old tobacco, dark spice, dry herbs, dark, rich, black earth, stones, dry brush, steeped tea with withering red & dark florals.
The body is still full and round. The fruits are still ripe & slightly candied. The wine is still holding an interesting drinking window, it’s on the decline. While that sounds not good, I find them in this phase infinitely more interesting. Ripe; blackberries dark currants, dark cherries, black raspberries & some strawberries. Black plum with skin, dark chocolate, raspberry cola, mocha, caramel, clove, nutmeg, burnt cinnamon, vanillin, tarriness, graphite, leather, old tobacco, dark spice, dry herbs, dark, rich, forest floor, mushrooms, stones, touch of limestone minerals & crush rocks, dry brush, steeped tea with withering red & dark florals with violets. The acidity is round & excellent. The long finish is; rich, ripe, well balanced & intergraded with long drier but, very floral persistence.
Excellent with our steaks. Still has another 5-7 years of good drinking ahead with excellent storage. I also miss the 12-13% ABV of the 80’s Bordeaux’s.
Photos of; the entrance view of Chateau Lynch-Moussas, Count Jean-Baptiste Lynch of Ireland and Chateau founded in the 1800’s, the owner/operator since 1961 - Emile Casteja and their barrel room.
— 7 years ago
Château Pontet-Canet
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2010
2010 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 30 minutes and 1.5 hours. Light-medium/medium body. Silky, supple and supremely beautiful-for Bordeaux. Regal closure on a lengthy finish. So much attention to detail without it being overtly obvious. Exceptional beauty and a fave, cutting edge BDX producer-along with Durfort-Vivens in Margaux to taste the possibilities of the region. For Pauillac, nearly as gorgeous as Pichon-Lalande...a very close second. This was so stunning. 12.5.25. — 7 months ago
Guy, Annick et Yann Bertrand
Cuvée du Chaos Fleurie Gamay 2023
Yann Bertrand is finally available in MI. Was only able to buy one bottle. So good. red berries and spice — a year ago
Giuseppe Rinaldi
Langhe Nebbiolo
The 2016 is a stunning wine. Razor sharp pepper opening followed by an abundance of delicate red fruits countered by a savory finish that shows Rinaldi’s old school take on Piemonte. Pretty generic description… its beauty is in the balance, refinement and the lingering finish. Color and integration show this might be at its prime today. — 5 years ago
Château Palmer
Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2004
Merry Christmas Eve! This beauty is in a great spot. One of my favorite perfumes on a wine, Palmer is just Margaux perfection at a more approachable price - violets, graphite plum and a bit of spice that resonates in the glass. The palate is rich with dark blue/black fruits, graphite and dense silky tannins. Finish is long and unctuous. A little more bottle age may start to bring out tertiary notes but this is drinking spectacularly right now. — 6 years ago
Arnot-Roberts
Watson Ranch Chardonnay 2015
I am not the biggest fan of a lot of CA Chardonnays but, I have come to fully embrace Arnot-Roberts, this vintage & terrior.
This is not a wine you want well chilled...better just under room temperature. When well chilled, it loses too much of its beauty & sheer elegance. Shows more CA Chardonnay structure/backbone with big green apple. When it is cold it does pair better with the Lattebusche Piave Vecchio...a drier, harder cheese. When it warms, the best choice is the Jasper Hill Farms soft, full cream. white, Harbison.
After it has warmed & had about a half-hour of air, the nose is rounded, lush & ruby. Sweet & sour lemon, green & golden apple, overripe pineapple, guava, green melon, kiwi with skin, lime candy, caramel, gentle, white spice, just a glimmer of, herbaceousness, chalk, grey volcanics, melted, brown butter with yellow flowers/lilies, jasmine, spring flowers with mixed greens.
The body is rich, lush and full, a touch gluey with good viscosity. Sweet & sour lemon, green & golden apple, overripe pineapple, guava, green melon, kiwi with skin, tangerine, lime candy, honeysuckle, caramel, cream, gentle, white spice, just a glimmer of, herbaceousness, chalk, grey volcanics, limestone, melted, brown butter with yellow flowers/lilies, jasmine, spring flowers with mixed greens. The acidity is phat, round and really well done. The rich, well balanced, elegant, long finish is delicious, settling into persistent, delicate white spice.
Just misses 94.
Photos of; Arnot-Roberts vineyard, staff at harvest and Duncan Arnot Meyers (left) and Nathan Roberts in their vineyard in Forestville, where they have Trousseau planted. — 6 years ago
Kongsgaard
Napa Valley Chardonnay 2013
I’ve been savoring this bottle over several months using my Coravin. Sadly, finally finished it off. Just love tasting this golden beauty open up in the glass. Can’t wait to start on another bottle! — 7 years ago
Isenhower Cellars
River Beauty Syrah 2014
Dense inky purple. Briar, black currant and blackberry notes in nose. Blackberry and mint flavors with a touch of bay leaf. Blackberry, cherry and mint with length in aftertaste. Fine grained tannins, moderate skin astringency initially but soften quickly. Lovely flavor profile, slightly tart but softens — 7 years ago
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)
Échézeaux Pinot Noir 2005
The Legendary 1990 and 2005 Vintages, and the 'Rouge' Aroma They Revealed!
I was meeting friends for a tasting, and I said I would bring a wine with a "rouge aroma" (*Yānzhī xiāng*). My friend also promised to open one with the same scent. If it's a cool vintage, a DRC might not reveal that distinctive rouge scent, but it's more common in warmer vintages, especially older ones from hot years. Of course, 2005 is a legendary vintage—it was warm but with significant diurnal temperature variation, resulting in balanced acidity and concentration, which also creates a very strong structure.
Thankfully, the 1990 Clos de Tart, despite having a very low fill level, wasn't spoiled. Its condition wasn't as potent as a previous bottle I had opened. This one took about 1.5 hours to fully open up in the glass. When it did, it revealed that signature Jiangnan "rouge" scent—very soft, enchanting, and feminine—along with some notes of dried longan. The fruit was balanced, though the acidity was relatively weak.
Today, I'll mainly write about this DRC. Its structure is incredibly powerful. For the first two hours, it was very closed. I believe this wine needed at least four hours of decanting, primarily because the 2005s, despite being a warm year, aren't that easy to open up. The aromas only started to slowly emerge around the third hour, and we were using large decanters and glasses, waiting for a long time. Initially, for the first half-hour after opening, there was a reductive note that was a bit funky. Later, after it opened up, the nose was primarily an interplay of cypress pine, violets, and that rouge scent intertwined. Honestly, this wine felt androgynous to me—it evokes an image of a knight and a princess playing in a forest. It wasn't overly soft, and its layers were incredibly complex.
On the palate, it was abundant: primarily black fruit, sour plum, sandalwood, coffee beans, a hint of dark chocolate, and a touch of earthy notes. The tannins weren't very soft—but then again, I'm so accustomed to drinking old wines. I feel this wine will need another 10 years to truly reach its peak. Its structure is exceptionally strong, unfolding layer by layer, with beautifully balanced acidity.
Comparing these two wines, their styles are completely different. One could say it's a contrast between an iconic Eastern beauty and a Western princess. I personally adore the soft and elegant style, but the 2005 is a wine with immense structure—it possesses a feminine power that is very potent, almost like the vision of a woman holding authority in a man's world.
Drinking such magnificent wines brings me great joy! — 10 months ago
Sunset Hills Vineyard
Estate Club Select Nebbiolo 2012
Wow! My cellar aging project scores another ‘discovery’ win. At almost 10 years from harvest, this Nate Walsh built beauty was doing what aged Nebbiolo is supposed to do! Using Horton fruit (Orange, Va), this bottle has metamorphosed into a seductive herbal-rose tea. It’s acidity is almost non-detectable, yet it was the perfect pairing for Tuscan-sausages & peppers w/creamy mash. The flavors of this Nebbiolo are so alive that they danced effortlessly with the sautéed peppers and complimented the herbs in the locally made Tuscans. Just wow…1 ‘12 remains plus 2 ‘10’s. — 4 years ago
Château Ormes de Pez
Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2009
My first bottle opening of a 2009 Bordeaux. We’ve tasted a number of 2009’s, this is the first one we’ve opened. Showing the glory of 2009, even in a lesser bottling. I’ll say it again, for the value buyer of Bordeaux’s, buy good producers second, third or other wines. 2009, perhaps, the best Bordeaux vintage since 1982.
Good first look to judge better more expensive, quality producers of 2009 Bordeaux wines for when to best open your first. I would say those need another 8-10 years more in bottle to have them fully shine to buying expectations.
Family member from the Jean-Michel Cazes family that brings us Lynch Bages.
The 2009 shows better on its own than with our Wagyu Ribcap.
It simply shows the elegant beauty of the vintage. It brings similarities to 1982.
It shows velvet tannins with ripe, ruby fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, poached strawberries & raspberries. Bay leaf, wet clay, dark spice with heat, limestone, dry, crushed rocks, nutmeg, clove, soft cinnamon & understated vanillin, black licorice, dry twig, spearmint, tough leather, dry tobacco, graphite, oak barrel shavings with fresh & slightly withering; dark, red, purple florals. Acidity for days. Straight up; lush, well knitted and balanced finish that persists nicely for minutes.
Photos of; Chateau Ormes de Pez, Saint-Estephe vineyard, inside the Chateau-breakfast room and their barrel room.
1/15/21 — 5 years ago
Château Doisy-Védrines
Sauternes Sémillon Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2016
A blend of mostly Semillon with some Sauvignon Blanc. Deep lemon color with concentrated aromas of ripe fruit and sweet honey. On the palate you can taste the layers from sweet ripe fruit to honey to nutty notes adding in a touch of citrus. Long finish with an elegant ending. A beauty from Olivier Casteja. Had this for Mom’s birthday. — 6 years ago
Château Coutet
Sauternes-Barsac Sémillon Blend 2014
A blend of 75% Semillon, 23% Sauvignon Blanc, & 2% Muscadelle. Golden with complex aromas, somewhat Riesling like, and adding a tropical bouquet. On the palate this botrytis rich wine shows apple, pineapple and honeysuckle flavors. Lingering finish ending with smoky vanilla notes. Was lucky enough to get a taste of this beauty. Will contine to age in the bottle. Tasting Sample. — 7 years ago
Joseph Phelps Vineyards
Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2002
Father's Day!......dug down and reached way back in the cellar for this 2002 beauty (Winespectator wine of the year 2005 issue). Double decant (some chunky, lots of fine sediment). A dazzling inky purple with slight bricking on the edges. On the nose: red fruit, blueberry, floral, cassis, little earthy...all explode from the glass. Taste: silky and pure with black cherry, plum, cedar, mineral, coffee. Leading to a nice long finish. — 7 years ago
Jay Kline
Double decanted the night before. The 1998 pours a deep garnet purple with a opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous and imbued with an incredible perfume of ripe black cherry, black plum, purple flowers, pipe tobacco, cocoa, a mix of organic and inorganic earth, and fine warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is a wine in its prime and it’s a beauty. Drink now with some time for it to breathe before service and this should drink well through 2048. — 5 months ago