Dammit Janet, Open That Bottle!

Jon, thats the spirit.....it was badly corked..so, 0 for 2. .

There will be a few more of us joining you.

Good one Jim, seems to work OK eh. My Barolo appears to be on track too, have half a bottle left from last night. Will go down well whilst on coyote watch here as there are quite a few in the area.

Wot no TN, Bob! Given the wine's age I would expect the left over half to go badly off overnight but maybe it should help you to chase away the coyote. Do they do a lot of damage?

2003 La Vielle Cure from Fronsac. My last bottle and that is good . Dark purple with nose and palate of black cherry and a touch of eucalyptus. Nothing very special here and probably near peak as tannins were mostly resolved. As the wine breathes thru the meal, the black cherry morphs into plum. It looks like I need to spend a LOT more on a Bordeaux to get a complex red wine like a mid-range Napa Cab. with 13 yrs. on it.

Jim, I think that a 2003 from Fronsac is a small and atypical sample on which to base that conclusion. Of course I have little experience of mid-range Napa Cab but, for example, Ch. Poujeaux from the 90s and early 00s is a lovely wine and can be bought for c.€20 in current vintages. For my palate, I have found some very satisfying Bordeaux at <€10 but it requires great care in selection.

TN coming Tim but it did hold up pretty well overnight.
Coyotes will go after chickens, even sheep and goats. Many here have a llama with their stock and that seems to be a deterrent!!

Coyotes are opportunistic foragers that will consume anything of nutritional value. Coyotes primarily feed on small mammals, even in urban environments, but they will not turn down an easy meal, nor will they pass up a free meal of artificial food sources. They will scavenge exposed garbage or other refuse, and may even kill and consume house cats and small dogs.

One reason coyotes have continued to persist into modern times is that they can accept a varied diet. Mice, rabbits, poultry, livestock, wild fruit, songbirds and sometimes game birds can be found in the coyote larder. Because coyotes sometimes prey upon livestock, they have been looked upon with disfavor by sheep and cattle raisers. In their defense, usually one or two coyotes in an area find livestock a favored source of food. Often times, only the weak or very young animals are taken. Good husbandry on the part of the sheep or cattle raisers can substantially reduce livestock loss to coyote.

Well, this one worked!

TN: 1988 Fontanafredda Barolo.

Cellared for lord knows how long in a closet. Opened 4 hrs, not decanted. Crumbly cork, very pale color with browning on the rim. Initial veggie tones on rim did blow off, spice, herbs, prune, tar, leathery but alas no violets.
Still had good fruit, fair acidity, some earth notes but obviously a veteran! Tobacco, cherry, tar, medium bodied if that. Brief hint of ripe fruit as we got down to the sediment.

So pretty good, look forward to forgotten bottles.

[Robin Garr]

We were busy last night and didn't have time to focus on wine, so we put off Opening That Bottle until tonight. I was a little worried when our 2001 Chateau des Charmes Equuleus had an iffy cork, but all turned out well, very well.

Château des Charmes 2001 “Equuleus” Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard Niagara Peninsula VQA

Purchased at the winery during a “NiagaraCool” WLDG weekend in 2006 or 2007. The bottle was very dusty after a decade of passive cellaring at cool room temperature, but there’s no unusual ullage, and the capsule turns freely. That was the good news. The cork, though, got me fretting: The corkscrew went in too easily, and it started crumbling and ultimately fell apart in the middle as I drew it out. Luckily, the inner end was intact and still apparently in good shape, and once I got it out and strained out the fragments, the wine was not only still sound but really very good!

A Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (26%) and Cabernet Franc (24%), aged one year in French Tronçais and Allier oak barrels. In the glass it’s clear, not hazy, but very dark, reddish-ruby fading only slightly at the edge, with no evidence of browning. There’s distinct cassis/blackcurrant with a more subtle hint of something like charred meat and smoke in the background. Rich and full in flavor, black-fruit flavors follow the nose, shaped by fresh-fruit acidity and soft but perceptible tannins. Creme de cassis lingers on the flavor, with grace notes of stony minerality in a very long finish. 13.5% alcohol. Definitely Bordeaux-style and holding up very, very well, although the drying cork makes me happy I didn’t wait any longer. If you have a bottle of this wine that’s been kept under better cellar conditions, there’s no rush to drink it whatsoever. Hand import. (Feb. , 2017)

FOOD MATCH: Gardein “porkless” cubes and grilled organic tofu sauteed in deeply browned onions and garlic, served over bulghur.

WHEN TO DRINK: Mature, capable of further aging if, and only if, it has been kept under good controlled-temperature cellaring conditions. Note well, though, that the winery suggests only a 5- to 10-year aging window.

VALUE: The price tag is long lost, but Wine-Searcher.com shows a $30 average U.S. retail for the 2010 and 2011 vintages. The winery website currently offers the 2012 Equuleus for $42 Canadian

WEB LINK
Here's a fact sheet on the 2012 Equuleus on the winery website.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors (Canadian only) for Château des Charmes Equuleus on Wine-Searcher.com.

We ought to do this more often. I have many "special" bottles which I need to be jogged into opening . This time short-listed candidates were a 30+ year old Bordeaux, a massive '95 Syrah based red from Dom.Peyre Rose, arguably one of Languedoc's best, or this Brunello. The pairing was osso bucco in a sauce enlivened by white wine and tomato. I concluded that the dish would swamp the fine points of a mature Bordeaux and would need more acidity than Mediterranean rim Syrah would be likely to provide. I think that the Brunello was a good choice and it has become my Wine of the Year to date.

1990 Tenuta Col d'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (2/26/2017)
This was a lovely classy Brunello. Colour still quite deep with just a few amber tints. Nose expressive with mature balsamic tinged and savoury red fruit and typically ripe Tuscan odour of marmalade in the cooking pot with a touch of leather. Palate was quite full, deep and seamless still with plenty of fruit, silky texture, minerals, some forest floor, fresh and tangy acidity and enough tannic support on the long finish to suggest that the wine will still enjoy many healthy years ahead. Excellent.

Posted from CellarTracker

Tim, I could not agree more when you say we should do this more often. I am game, we could title it on the Open Mike theme if Robin thinks it is a good idea??

[Robin Garr]

Tim, I could not agree more when you say we should do this more often. I am game, we could title it on the Open Mike theme if Robin thinks it is a good idea??

Sure, or better yet, how about a "Open That Bottle" theme?

Sounds like a good suggestion. We should see some more notes posted in the next couple days eh.

[Jenise]

I tried, but had two consecutive bad bottles.

But you had 3500 others to choose from.

[Jenise]

Bob Parsons--just loved the way 'coyote watch' rolls off your tongue. You have mushing dogs or horses or both? Can't recall.

Jon--I felt real pain reading about your bad luck with those first two bottles, especially the Chave. I take it the Rafanelli cheered you up just fine, though: I just bought two for my cellar. I can't remember the last time I saw Rafanelli at retail; in fact, I didn't really as it's restaurant-only here. But I have friends.

We opened the 1988 Latour I threatened to get around to at last. Forgot we had plans for Sat and Sun so opened it somewhat on a lark Friday night to go with patty melts. Hardly an august meal for Latour, but I kind of liked that we did it that way because in a sense that's the point, isn't it, to stop putting it off waiting for something special?

First we decanted it to remove sediment and added an hour of breathing time--was prepared to go longer but it didn't need it. It rocked right out of the gate. Nose of loam and leather with a muddled but attractive sweet berry on the palate with a hint of black olive. Other reviewers on CT mention encountering this wine in a blind tasting and thinking syrah/No. Rhone, and I can see why even though it lacked any tar. Our bottle was in excellent shape and we dawdled over it for hours. I was surprised and impressed that the last drop was identical to the first--it's not going anywhere.

Rats. The Ridge Lytton Springs totally fell apart tonight. Just barely drinkable if you're thirsty and not choosy. Tannins and acidity and red color are the only things left.
I totally hate it when that happens!

[Jenise]

Rats. The Ridge Lytton Springs totally fell apart tonight. Just barely drinkable if you're thirsty and not choosy. Tannins and acidity and red color are the only things left.
I totally hate it when that happens!

John, that was only an 04? That should never happen with a Ridge; it's plenty young considering the producer. Poor vintage or bad bottle?

I know it shouldn't happen with a Ridge! I bought it at Cosentino's in San Jose in '06, so it was just released, and it's been in my cellar, which is refrigerated and probably provides reasonably good storage. It's the first Ridge that I remember this sort of thing happening. Likely just the bottle.
'04 was not the best DCV year, but not a bad one either.

Jenise: Jessica and I had a wonderful visit with Dave Rafanelli in 2008 and got on his mailing list..Spent time with , if memory serves, 9 labrador retrievers of assorted colors and sizes, tasted some wines and took a tour of his cave and cellars..He probably spent close to 2 hours with us .Have ordered his wines in restaurants, don't recall seeing them at retail..His cabs are terrific as well..I believe his daughter makes their merlots.

[Jenise]

Jon, I have fond Rafanelli memories, too. Visited the winery once in Sonoma back when it was hard to get past the grumpy old man. Then 25 years or so ago (I can't believe I've lived long enough to say that) Bob and I would fly into Seattle from Anchorage AK for medical procedures not available at home. We'd head straight to a great pan-Asian restaurant called Wild Ginger, and order various seafood dishes and a Gunderloch spatlese. Then we'd come back for dinner and have some of the meat curries with a Rafanelli zin. With only two of us we couldn't do it all in one meal, and it was unthinkable to skip one or the other. Anyway, it's distributed in WA state now but designated "restaurant only". I'm a restaurant, she lied.

Jenise: Have heard stories about Dave being a grumpy old man but he could not have been nicer...It all started with me seeing Rafanelli zin by the glass while at dinner in Willy's Wine Bar in Healdsburg, ordering and drinking it and falling in love with it.. and then searching around for a place to buy some and coming up empty..One of retailers suggested I call Dave..Nothing ventured, nothing gained, guess I caught him at the right time..He asked me how soon cd I get there? I said 20 minutes, He said "done", here's the combo to the gate on my driveway, will see ya. .the rest is history..

[Jenise]

Great story about Dave. He was perfectly lovely to us too. I'd heard rumors so was careful, but didn't need to be. I think you just need to be straightforward--he doesn't suffer fakes or fools.

Well, here is one I have had my eye on so lets go with the 2005 Domaine Huet Le Mont Sec Vouvray! Rare experience and hopefully not premoxed. Think Rahsaan knows this wine?
Stay tuned forumites.

Well, I had 2 glasses last night and quite delicious, but not that sweet. Great mid-palate where acidity carried through to the memorable finish. TN will follow of course.