WTN: Siduri, Stellenzicht, Beaucastel, Lungarotti, Clos des Papes

Lunch notes November 2007-11-10

2002 Bourillon d’Orleans Vouvray La Coulee d’Argent – this one was quite hard to place – we thought it had a chard nose, and it took awhile to work down to Chenin blanc as there were no telltales of that varietal. Steely clean nose, and a nice fruit element, sweet a little on palate but finishing dry. and with good acidity. Very nice.

2001 Roar Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard – very ripe pinot nose gave away it’s country of origin, and the sweet iodine element was not pleasing although it put some off more than it did me. Sweet and a bit uninteresting.

2001 Siduri Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard – what a great comparison. Much closer to a Burgundian nose, slightly leaner, sweet middle and better acid balance at end. Easy to choose between these two.

1988 Lungarotti San Giorgio – a cab blend IGT wine from Umbria that I always enjoy. Particularly good showing with mature soft recognizably cabernet nose (it is 50% cab), with a hint of cheesiness, great mouth feel and the weight and feel of a Bordeaux. Excellent.

1994 Stellenzicht – from one of the Nederberg auction events and just a lovely wine. A bit of cherry in the nose, a sweetness at the tip of the tongue, elegant and long, with the only possible hint that it was a Cape wine being the terminal acidity which was slightly high.

1999 Montirius Gigondas – corked.

1998 Clos des Papes Chateuneuf du Pape – a nice wine now at peak. Medium colour, slight heat in the nose and a bit of pepper, smooth elegant and ready.

1995 Jaboulet Cornas Domaine St. Pierre – known more for their Hermitage or even southern Rhone offerings, Jaboulet bought a small 7.5 acre parcel in Cornas and started making a single vineyard wine which in my experience is far superior to the negociant version they also produce. Also medium colour with a but of garnet at the edges, this had a really good fragrant syrah with a little pepper and lots of mature cassis, medium to full body, much less rusticity than one finds in many Cornas, and a smooth lengthy finish. Good now and no rush to finish this one.

2000 Ch. de Beaucastel – this was a new age Beaucastel – the ‘old age’ wines wouldn’t have let you near them at this age. Clean nose of sweet berries with a bit of anise and black pepper, and no hint of Bret. Smooth and sweet in the mouth and ready to roll.

2000 Thorn-Clark William Randell Barossa Shiraz – big mint and euicalyptus nose that we tossed around a bit between California and Oz, because the wine was not a big sweety as many Oz wines can be. Settled on Oz and shiraz pretty quick. Tons of oak and a hint of pine in the nose, sweet (but not cloying) on palate and although a bit simple a great cheese wine.

2003 Chapoutier Cornas – would have been intere3sting with the Jaboulet. Youthful nose with a metallic element, medium body, obviously young and one senses for early drinking. I still have some 1995 and it was made for much longer aging.

[Jenise]

Must state at the outset that on Friday, for completely unknown reasons, my palate was whacked. There was a flat spot where taste buds used to be in the center of my tongue--like I'd smeared butter there--and I only perceived flavors from around the edges. Consequently, I took very sparse notes.

2002 Bourillon d’Orleans Vouvray La Coulee d’Argent – sweet acid of the kind you get in green plums, nice fruit, and stemmy flavors. Liked it a lot though I never would have guessed chenin let alone Vouvray.

I could have just shot our waiter, who with absolutely no malicious intent but obviously no understanding of our brown bag game, completely ruined the surprise of the next two wines which I had quietly asked him to serve together, explaining why so he understood why I had brought two wines instead of the requisite one. Completely misunderstanding, as he began delivering glasses he announced: "Same vintage, same vineyard, different producer!"

2001 Roar Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard – very ripe and mature nose of sweet and slightly stewed red fruit and iodine which made it, for me, wholly unpleasant.

2001 Siduri Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard – better because it had fresher fruit and less mature flavors, but it too had that annoying iodine quality, though it was certainly less intrusive (but perhaps only because there was more fruit to distract one's attention).

1988 Lungarotti San Giorgio – I was so busy enjoying this that I failed to take Note One.

1994 Stellenzicht – bing cherry flavors with a lot of dust (which I love). Good acidity keeps it lithe.

1999 Montirius Gigondas - What's a monthly luncheon without a corked wine from Coop?

1998 Clos des Papes Chateuneuf du Pape – vitamin minerality in the nose, good body and strong flavors. Not recognizable to me initially as Southern Rhone. Seems at peak but should hold here awhile.

1995 Jaboulet Cornas Domaine St. Pierre – Everyone said this drank more like a St. Joseph than a Cornas, but to me--who has almost no experience with St. Joe--it seemed classic Cornas, with its sweet violet nose and red fruit. Lovely, lovely wine.

2000 Ch. de Beaucastel – Delicious wine, and so much more relaxed and ready than the 2001 I had last Tuesday night.

2000 Thorn-Clark William Randell Barossa Shiraz – big eucalyptus and black currant nose, creamy, big but balanced, not sweet, very elegant. Been curious about Thorn-Clark wines for a long time and it was a pleasure to taste this (also, curiously, this wine more than any other seemed to cut through the butter dam on my tongue).

2003 Chapoutier Cornas – You described it well. This is two 03's I've had in the past week that did not live up to (or do I mean down to?) expectations of this vintage for over the top fruit and high alcohol. Excellent.

1999 Montirius Gigondas - What's a monthly luncheon without a corked wine from Coop?

Ouch!

[Jenise]

I think he's doing it on purpose. Nobody could be that unlucky.

2003 Chapoutier Cornas – would have been intere3sting with the Jaboulet. Youthful nose with a metallic element, medium body, obviously young and one senses for early drinking. I still have some 1995 and it was made for much longer aging.

2003 Chapoutier Cornas – You described it well. This is two 03's I've had in the past week that did not live up to (or do I mean down to?) expectations of this vintage for over the top fruit and high alcohol. Excellent.

We just received this here, and having read these notes I was almost tempted to buy it. But I just wanted to make sure of a few more points: there was no over-ripe/raisiny aromatics? No flabbyness? No hollowness on the mid-palate? No harsh tannins on the finish? Was there any Cornas typicity?

-O-