WTN: Pipestone, Ponzi, Produittori, La Couspade and Cantemerle

[Jenise]

Because cases of wine temporarily block my access to the Italian section of my cellar, I chose a 2003 Pipestone Mouvedre (Paso Robles, California) to pair with pasta in a smoked pork and fennel sauce. Good choice. Red and black fruit, herbs and rare beef flavors are in this wine, and though yeah it's 15% alcohol, if you have to put up with 15% alcohol this is the kind of bright, balanced wine you want it to be in--we saw the alcohol more than we tasted it.

Thinking Italian white for another pasta meal a few days later of farfalle in a walnut, sage and brown butter sauce, I opened a 2006 Ponzi Arneis from Oregon. Blind, I might have guessed it be pinot blanc in that it was chardonnay-like in it's light yellow color and body, but probably not chardonnay with a spicey sweet honeydew melon nose and midpalate and dry finish. Alcohol's nicely in check at 13.5%. Excellent wine, and $18 locally.

Another night we opened a 2005 Produittori Langhe Nebbiolo. I had seen these around town at around $22 and not taken the bait, so when I found them in Seattle on sale for around $15, I bought a few to fill out a case thinking, in a year like 2005, could I go too far wrong? Wish I'd bought more! Floral nose with red fruit, tomato leaf and fruitcake spice, it's balanced with pleasant acidity and light, silky tannins. Drinks perfectly now (and better with an hour to open) and delivers quality above it's price.

The 1995 La Couspade (St. Emilion) we opened last week was quite a surprise, having had two sensuously mature bottles about two years ago. This one was neither sensuous nor mature, but was quite firmly on the youthful side and exhibiting an unhappy green herbal streak like a 100% cab franc, which it's not. If you own this wine, let it sleep....

And finally, last night, we opened a 1999 Cantemerle (Southern Medoc)just to see how it's doing. In mentioning it, I have to thank Covert Harris and Walt Carpenter, who both praised this wine and caused me to search the country for a case back when the 2000 was already out and twice the price the price of the, in their opinion, better 99. It's been fun to watch it grow up. Though at first a skinny little kid, relatively speaking for Bordeaux, it's filled out nicely in all the right places and is now a handsome young man. This is the first bottle we've been able to drink without decanting. Fragrant and peppery with ample red and black berry fruit and a touch of herbs, still somewhat angular in the trademark Cantemerle way but the tannins have relaxed considerably and there are really no hard edges. Would seem to be entering a prime drinking window.

I find Ponzi does a nice job with both Pinot Blanc and Arneis. I usually like their Pinot Noirs as well although I tend to favor the regular P.N. over the Reserve. Jenise, have you ever had the Ponzi Deux Verres Pinot Noir?

Agree with the Pipestone Mourvedre, just one of their great ones.

Better wait, then, to drink the bottle of 1999 La Couspade, Jenise?

I've got both the '03 and '04 Pipestone Mourvedre in stock...in fact, if I hadn't been so lazy, I would have pulled the '03 to drink today...instead, cuz it was easier to reach, we the the '04 Merlot with a Mexican lunch...nothing complex, but smooth tannins, dark fruit, nice medium body, and easy enuff to like for us to drink the whole dang bottle. In general, good value for everyday drinking....

I kinda thought your view on them was a bit bleaker...I like their philosophy of winegrowing, and it is a cool location to visit...

[Jenise]

JC, no, I've never had that Ponzi. What is it?

Brian, I'm not familiar with the 99 La Couspade, but based on vintage generalizations I would guess it would be ready to drink now to the next three years.

Jim, my view of Paso is generally weak. Pipestone absolutely stood out from the crowd during our visit there last fall, but considering the overall weight of the wines there I could not exactly hope that outside of that context, that is back amongst the type of wine I normally drink, the Pipestone would be as appealing as it was there.

My apologies, Jenise. The Deux Verres is the reserve Pinot Noir from Torii Mor, not Ponzi. The 2002, which is the only vintage I've had, was quite tasty and I felt worth the price (in the $30's). Also had an artistic label of two wine glasses on a colorful background.

I have to thank Covert Harris and Walt Carpenter, who both praised this wine and caused me to search the country for a case back when the 2000 was already out and twice the price the price of the, in their opinion, better 99. It's been fun to watch it grow up.

You are most welcome. How nice that you like these "little wines," as Dale Williams likes to refer to them. I wish I had a better term, that had no diminishing connotation, but there just isn't a term other than a "Cantemerle kind of wine."

Almost all of my Cantemerle kind of wines have been drunk up. I must find a bunch of other-than-'03 Crus Bourgeois to fill the void while awaiting my bigger wines to mature, going back to 1995, mostly. I am even holding off on all my '99s, except for Cantemerle, and its second wine, as I expect them to still improve. The handful of '97s I have left can of course be consumed, but I am trying to preserve them, as I can't stand the idea of that taste disappearing forever from my life.

So I am going to do something unprecedented for me: I am heading out the door to the local wine shop to buy something other than Bordeaux for tonight. Lynn said she would have suggested that, but never considered that I would do it. I might even leave it up to the proprietor to pick something for me.

Your "covert" assignment--find an enjoyable red wine not from Bordeaux.
Let us know what you end up with and how you like it!

Your "covert" assignment--find an enjoyable red wine not from Bordeaux.
Let us know what you end up with and how you like it!

Thanks, JC, but I am sorry to disappoint you. I discovered that the store actually had some very inexpensive Bordeaux, less than $15 per bottle. So I picked up some 2001 and 2002 Cru Bourgeois and a couple of bottles of the 2005 second wine of D'Issan. I needed to try the CBs, so that I could buy a couple of cases of it if it was okay. I am out of inexpensive reds. My wife and I decided that I would pick up some Rhones and Riojas when I returned for my cases, because we really do want to branch out a bit.

[Jenise]

My wife and I decided that I would pick up some Rhones and Riojas when I returned for my cases, because we really do want to branch out a bit.

That's the perfect territory for you to branch out into--even if you don't drink Bordeaux, stay in Europe.

That's the perfect territory for you to branch out into--even if you don't drink Bordeaux, stay in Europe.

Maybe I won't branch much after all.

Ten years ago, Lynn and I started using the term, ‘$14 bottle’ to mean a special very inexpensive Bordeaux of surprising quality. Recently, we blended ‘Unsung Hero’, a Sherry-Lehmann term, into the same concept, but after Friday night rebounded back to a disassociation.

2005 Moulin d’Issan costs considerably less than $14, but drinks more like a Bordeaux costing $30, or more. Unbelievably the wine sports the lowly appellation of Bordeaux Superieure, probably explaining its extremely low price. But if what I read is true, Moulin comes from the d’Issan vineyard in Margaux, rather than from Entre deux Mer, or some other God forsaken place, like Mouton Cadet, and is made essentially the same way as the grand vin. It can’t be called Margaux simply because the chateaux already meets it maximum capacity at the Margaux level.

But, beyond even the consideration of Moulin d’Issan drinking an order of magnitude better than a typical $10 bottle, it also expresses an effable quality that eclipses every other wine I have tried, which I can only attribute to 2005. There is a similarity to 2000, but it goes to another indescribable level. After one sip, which caught Lynn and me staring at each other wide eyed, I picked up the phone and bought every bottle the store had.

'bought every bottle the store had"
Bordeaux Hog!

[Jenise]

That's the perfect territory for you to branch out into--even if you don't drink Bordeaux, stay in Europe.

Maybe I won't branch much after all...After one sip, which caught Lynn and me staring at each other wide eyed, I picked up the phone and bought every bottle the store had.

That made me laugh out loud--there you are, saved by the bell again. The 2005 vintage shall be your salvation. I've only had one 2005 so far, and it was a producer whose name I didn't bother to look at or retain. A $10 bottle that was definitely worth no more than $9, given me by a well meaning retailer who has a great palate but who doesn't really get Bordeaux. I shall reccomend to him find your Moulin.