WTN: Good stuff

Corn chips with melted cheese, hummus and salsa:
1999 Paloma, Merlot:
A wine showing good secondary development, excellent balance and depth but too much oak (although some might say its just part of the whole). For me, the oak obscures part of the flavors, narrows the palate and is somewhat drying on the finish. But for the wood component, this is world class wine. 14.3% alcohol and about $44 on release; I’d not buy it again.
Better with the dish than expected but not something I’d repeat.

Roasted sweet dumpling squash; white beans with garlic, onions, EVOO and fresh herbs; and, crusty bread:
1999 Chevillon, Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers:
Decanted in advance; still fairly closed on the nose but showing dark fruit and earth tones and enough firmness to guess NSG or farther south; sinewy and dark in the mouth with a meaty texture and a reticent, almost brooding flavor profile, well balanced and quite intense; very long finish that seems almost more expressive than the wine in the mouth. Too young, but very intriguing. 13.5% alcohol, imported by Kermit Lynch and about $42 on release; I’d buy it again.
Vegetarians rejoice; good Burgundy does very well with such cuisine.

Red sauce with chicken sausage on pasta:
2002 Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie:
Unexpectedly open and generous with pure dark fruit and earth scents; a deep, clean palate that echoes the nose and excellent length. This is harmonious, supple, lovely wine and although I am in no hurry to drink my remaining bottles, it was riveting tonight. 13% alcohol, imported by Louis/Dressner and about $15, on release; I wish I’d bought more
Fabulous with the dish. I wanted to try Beaujolais with red sauce dish as I can’t ever remember doing it before and this was a world record match. Everything in perfect balance, the umami factor at full song; a union I’ll not forget – a classic.

Whole roasted chicken and root vegetables, and, broccoli with olives:
2005 Dom. Vissoux, Fleurie Poncie:, 12.5% alcohol, imported by Geygandt-Metzler and about $20; worth much more; and 2002 Dom. Les Fines Graves (Janodet), Moulin à Vent, 13% alcohol, imported by The Henry Wine Group and about $13 on release; I’d buy it again:
The Vissoux is just achingly good wine with beautiful fruit and texture, lots of nuance and length and an almost ethereal delivery – a wine for all the senses. And it complimented the dish with additions of sweet fruit and a lovely mouth feel. The Janodet was more earthy with a salty minerality to accent dark fruit and the mouth feel was more about tension; the more savory wine, it was more harmonious with the dish but was more a backdrop than a co-star. Both were good choices but, curiously, neither amounted to the perfect pairing that the previously mentioned Beaujolais and red sauce were.

Leftover red sauced pasta with fresh zucchini and Chinese eggplant sautéed and added to it:
1996 Laurel Glen, Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain:
Penetrating nose of crushed berries, dark fruit, mint/eucalyptus, freshly turned earth and dark spices – complete, layered and harmonious; full bodied and mouth coating but without artifice or any sign of manipulation, immense dry extract here with a Baker’s chocolate structure that lends flavor, dryness and texture, very juicy fruit that follows the nose and keeps any dryness from taking hold and delivers two bottles of flavor in a single 750ml, intense, perfectly balanced, supple and completely of its place; infinite finish. The most impressive CA cabernet showing I have encountered and although other vintages of Laurel Glen may be likened to Bordeaux, this bottle is 100% California and beautiful because of it. No rush to drink it but it surely is spectacular now. 12.5% alcohol and about $45 on release; considering today’s prices for cabernet, this is stupidly under priced.
Good with the dish but not as good as the Beaujolais pairing reported earlier in this note.
(Aside: I have this dream about making wine in California; it’s the one where I don’t try to make a popular style but rather buy or grow the very best fruit from a really fine site, take what I am given, and do only what is needed to retain that innate quality. Although I don’t see a lot of evidence to make me think that doing it that way can make great wine, there are such wines – and this is one of them. Truly, the stuff of dreams . . .)

Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

(Aside: I have this dream about making wine in California; it’s the one where I don’t try to make a popular style but rather buy or grow the very best fruit from a really fine site, take what I am given, and do only what is needed to retain that innate quality. Although I don’t see a lot of evidence to make me think that doing it that way can make great wine, there are such wines – and this is one of them. Truly, the stuff of dreams . . .)

You can certainly make great wine that way. You just can't make a lot of money.

(Aside: I have this dream about making wine in California; it’s the one where I don’t try to make a popular style but rather buy or grow the very best fruit from a really fine site, take what I am given, and do only what is needed to retain that innate quality. Although I don’t see a lot of evidence to make me think that doing it that way can make great wine, there are such wines – and this is one of them. Truly, the stuff of dreams . . .)

You can certainly make great wine that way. You just can't make a lot of money.

And at the prices they want for dirt in CA, that makes it hard - but then, that's why we have dreams, eh?
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

I've thought long and hard about the same thing, only in a little corner of the Mosel or perhaps (as there is so much untended land) the Mittelrhein, but came to the conclusion that the dream is likely more important than the reality, at least for me.

I've thought long and hard about the same thing, only in a little corner of the Mosel or perhaps (as there is so much untended land) the Mittelrhein, but came to the conclusion that the dream is likely more important than the reality, at least for me.

I will think about that.
Thanks, Jim

Yeah, why let reality spoil your dreams. For some people it works out well, but the nitty gritty of the hard labor and several years wait for the vines to mature enough to produce wine grapes and the uncertainties of ever recouping the investment--scary! Almost as scary as opening a restaurant and you probably know what a high percentage of those fail. One advantage to growing vines--they don't need a lot of moisture and react well to some stress. With the current drought we are experiencing in North Carolina, other crops are not reacting well to stress.

Jim, thanks for the great notes as always. I have several bottles of the 2002 Roilette and the 2005 Vissoux Poncie in my cellar and your descriptions of these wines are triggering a Pavlovian response. Do you have a sense of what the drinking windows might be for these two? Obviously, it sounds like one wouldn't go wrong to open them now, but what do you think the odds are that they will continue to improve in the coming years? (I have lots of cru Beaujolais in my cellar but very little experience aging them.)

Also, it's good to hear about the Fleurie/red sauce match. I have opened cheaper Beaujolais with pasta, pizza etc. on the assumption that their high acidity would enable them to stand up to the tomato sauce and I've always been pleased with the match, but hadn't though to do it with a cru. I'll have to try that sometime.

One advantage to growing vines--they don't need a lot of moisture and react well to some stress. With the current drought we are experiencing in North Carolina, other crops are not reacting well to stress.

JC,
This may be the saving grace for the NC wine industry, as trying to grow grapes in a temperate rain forest is like trying to plow the ocean. And NC wines are pretty awful.
Several years ago, as part of a marketing project at ASU, a friend of mine tasted through most of the wines produced in NC - he let me try them, too. He then went and gave a talk to the assembled NC vintners about their products.
Essentially, he told them that their wine was mediocre at best and if efforts were not made to improve quality, no amount of marketing would be of great help.
I'd say he hit the nail on the head, at least based upon the samples we went through. Not one bottle would I buy.
But if global warming alters the rain forest nature of our area, maybe the industry has hope.
Or not.
Best, Jim

Do you have a sense of what the drinking windows might be for these two? Obviously, it sounds like one wouldn't go wrong to open them now, but what do you think the odds are that they will continue to improve in the coming years?

I think it boils down to your preferences.
Dressner tells me that Roilette will age a decade with ease and, from what I have tasted, I see no reason to question that.
Undoubtedly, Vissoux is made so well that it too will go quite some distance in the cellar.
My taste says the Poncie is, at this point in my life and in its, my favorite red wine. Thus, I will drink it until such time as I feel it closes down or I no longer preceive it that way. I have a lot and I see no reason to ask it to get any better, even if it will.
Others have had the Roilette recently and thought it closed, even after decanting. That was not my experience this time but it certainly isn't going south anytime soon, so holding it doesn't seem such a bad idea.
For me, neither carry a "hands-off" designation in my cellar.
Your mileage may vary . . .
Best, Jim

About the only NC wine I've done a repeat buy on so far is the Shelton Riesling (I recall that it shows a little residual sugar). Most NC wines are, as you say, mediocre at best. I hope that will change in time.

Thanks -- that's very helpful!

Others have had the Roilette recently and thought it closed, even after decanting. That was not my experience this time but it certainly isn't going south anytime soon, so holding it doesn't seem such a bad idea.

Another data point: I opened a bottle of the 2002 Clos de la Roilette about a month ago in a local BYOB restaurant. It was certainly open and showing well, and was an excellent match for mushroom agnolotti and lamb with white and fava beans that had been cooked with a little ham. To my taste, more age will improve it, and I will hold my last bottle for a year or two, but it's very nice now.