About 10 folks got together at a fine Portuguese restaurant to eat some sardines, octopus and other morsels while sampling through some random “old wines”. Obviously, some peoples’ definition of “old” is a lot different than others, but for me this was a real treat.
Starting whites:
2005 Pierre Luneau Papin Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie Le L d’Or. We started with a few white wines to pair with the starters. This wine conjures up images of the sea, with aromas of sea foam, crushed shells, chalk, slate and citrus peel. In the mouth, it feels fresh and bright, lithe and juicy, yet a bit oily in texture. There is a nice finesse to the flavors of crisp minerals, fennel bulb, tangy kiwi and smoky herbs. The bright feel continues through the persistent finish. 90 pts.
2006 Morgadio Albarino Rias Baixas. The nose here is much softer, with aromas of flower petals, cream, powdered minerals, quinine and kiwi. It is medium-bodied but surprisingly richly-textured in the mouth, holding together nicely with a gentle lushness countered by a steely streak of acidity running underneath. The finish is bright, but actually a bit puckering. 87 pts.
2006 Azienda Agricola Cos Rami Insolia-Grecanino Sicilia IGT. The nose is somewhere in between the previous two selections—with chalk, lime rind and Perrier-like minerality aromas. On the palate, this is softer-textured than the others but offers a big hit of flavor that coat the teeth a bit. The finish, though, is a bit more abrupt than previous two. 88 pts.
1986 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Potter Valley. Herein began the run of “old wines”. Golden honey in color, this wine delivers a fascinating bouquet of lanolin, beeswax, creamy blueberries, and a nutty, almost oxidized note that actually enhances rather than detracts. On the palate, it just expands to fill the whole mouth with full flavor that feels both finely focused and extremely broad. There is a fabulous squirt of pleasing acidity toward the back of the palate that somehow just makes this wine so exciting to drink. There is fine balance throughout between the live-wire acidity and the rich, creamy yet zingy citrus fruit. Lovely. Where has this producer been all my life? 93 pts.
Bordeaux and Chateauneuf:
1975 Chateau Giscours Margaux. This opens with a bit of a musty note, which diminishes with air, but never really totally goes away. The nose otherwise offers up gentle and fine aromatics of red currants, bridle leather, plum skins, warm earth and steeped orange peel. In the mouth, it is medium-bodied and seamlessly textured, with no discernable tannins and a gently aged red fruit profile. Toward the finish, though, some hard-edged acidity comes on strong and sucks the saliva right out of your cheeks. Still, there is plenty of pleasure to be gained from the softly aged qualities of the persistent red fruits. 90 pts.
1982 Chateau Lynch-Bages Pauillac. Wow, there is a lot going on with this muscled yet classy beauty. First off, the nose features all kinds of dark earth, fuzzy leather, dried blood, old cigars, black currants, gentle spices, and later on, some greener tobacco leaf notes. This is also a very big wine in the mouth, with a huge degree of intensity that never wanes. Indeed, it goes on and on and just flows so effortlessly across the palate. It has a dark feel, with black fruits and a chalky dark chocolate streak running below. It isn’t especially full-bodied, but it totally delivers the goods—even gaining a more velvety texture with time in the glass, as it continues to pump out the flavor. Great wine. 97 pts.
1988 Chateau Certan de May Pomerol. The Certan de May opens with herbal and green pepper-tinged notes that eventually yield to old buffed leather, dusty armoire, soft eucalyptus and white pepper aromatics. In the mouth, it is much fresher and comes across as much younger than the nose would seem to suggest. It offers a nice blend of higher-toned red candy notes and darker rich fruits. It has a lovely creamy texture, very good stuffing, fine length and a sense of vibrancy that sneaks up on you. The tannins are well-resolved and this seems to be drinking in a very good zone right now. 95 pts.
1982 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape. An attractive nose of warm red currants, rhubarb and persimmon lead to a luxuriant and fully-realized wine in the mouth, where it pumps out pure flavors of plum, black raspberry, chocolate and spice that gently coat the teeth. The attack is a bit soft, but the mid-palate shows much more intensity and the finish is even better—it really progresses in an exciting way across the palate. 94 pts.
California reds:
1970 Ridge Zinfandel Jimsomare Santa Cruz Mountains. The nose here shows a lot of high-toned notes of nail polish, alcohol, iodine and seaweed on top, with notes of leather, black cherry and some musty notes underneath. In the mouth, there is a very interesting sweet note on the entry and through to the middle palate, where there are no tannins and plenty of sweet blue and purple fruit left. However, it turns considerably drier on the jangly finish, ending up feeling a bit disjointed. NR.
1971 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche Vineyard Napa Valley. This wine smells its age, with aromas of old cracked leather, aged tobacco, green pepper, herbs and dried orange peel. In the mouth, it is extremely smooth and seamless, though there are some sneaky tannins that come in and impact the finish. It is medium-bodied, with fine structure and balance. It has a cool feel throughout, with black and blue fruits and cool minerality. I liked it very much on this night, but it must be said that the leftovers the next night were totally shot. 93 pts.
1987 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard Napa Valley. The nose here is more plush than the previous wine—featuring aromas of clean horse barn, turned earth, bridle leather, exotic spices, soft herbs, and red and black currants. It has a pretty red-candied and red-berried profile on the palate, which is lighter- to medium-bodied, but not lacking in intensity. It is dry, with a high acid tang that carries all the way through to the finish, where it really coats the enamel of one’s teeth, showing good persistence. 92 pts
1991 Dominus Estate Napa Valley. Red currants, black raspberry, leather and earth aromas grow as this wine sits in the glass, eventually folding in some eucalyptus notes. In the mouth, there are some soft red fruits, cream and spice flavors. It plays things close to the vest through the middle, where the fine structure and backbone provide a feeling of solid delineation but not a lot of excitement. It does have a dry and very long finish, but it feels like it needs more time. 91 pts.
1994 Beringer Vineyards Alluvium Knights Valley. This wine presents a nose that feels cool and crunchy, with smoke, minerals, frozen berries, green leaves and other cool forest greens. It is chocolaty and a bit sweet on the entry, turning more toward earthy, herbal and smoky notes through the middle. It is hanging in there just fine, in my opinion, with its medium body, and tannins that are still showing some intensity. The chocolate roars back strongly on the finish, which has some decent length. There was a lot of this wine left at the end of the night, so I took home the leftovers and drank them 2 nights later. At that point, the nose really morphed to take on big notes of peppermint dust, balsam wood and tomato leaf. The flavor profile became less herbal and much more cool blueberry-focused, with the tannins getting a bit grittier, though. The finish continued to be chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. A nice showing. 91 pts.
Italian red:
1997 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. This is not especially appealing on the nose, where it leads with nail polish, prunes, dates and a faint note of chlorine. It is very pruney in the mouth, with chewy tannins and grainy texture. One finds a full-bodied wine, but one that also is showing a bit of alcoholic warmth and some odd candied notes. It doesn’t feel real balanced right now and in the end offers little in the way of enjoyment. NR.
Sweet white wines:
1990 Schloss Shonborn Riesling Auslese Hattenheimer Nußbrunnen Rheingau. I feared the worst for this wine when the cork came out rather saturated and the bottle showed some stickiness under the foil. However, I should not have worried, as it turned out to be more than fine. It offers a beautiful bouquet, with a ton of kerosene, petrol, meyer lemon, paraffin, citrus rind and burnished copper notes that combine in a very characterful melange. It is bright and tangy in the mouth, with some crisp notes running underneath. It is medium-bodied, with very good intensity of citrus flavors, and its not particularly dense, nor over the top with sweetness. It leaves a fresh impression on the finish, which is very long and not overtly sugary. It is intense, but with everything in moderation—a real pleasure. 93 pts.
1992 Sichel Riesling Beerenauslese Kirchheimer Kreuz Pfalz. From 375 ml bottle. A dark amber in color, this wine has a bouquet of toasted crème brulee topping, apricot preserves and some smoky undertones. It is sweet and sugary in the mouth, with a bit of a ponderous feel. Browned mango, apricot and brown sugar flavors languish on the mid-palate before turning more to crème brulee and candied citrus on the finish. 88 pts.
1996 Philippe Delesvaux Coteaux du Layon Selection de Grains Nobles. From 500 ml bottle. This has a pretty nose of lime rind, browned butter, caramel, flower greens and lemon zest. This is very sweet in the mouth, with an unctuously plush texture and weight. There is solid intensity and citrusy fruit galore. The acidity just manages to hold the balance, but the overall impression is of big, sweet fruit in a lush round package. 92 pts.
1998 Muller Catoir Riesling Auslese Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Pfalz. From 375 ml bottle. The Muller Catoir displays a refined nose of sweet honey, browned apricots, orange peel, bergamot and lemon. In the mouth, this has a long life ahead of it, but for now shows moderate sweetness levels, solid weight, fine balance and a sugary finish. 91 pts.
Ports:
1979 Graham Vintage Porto Quintados Malvedos. I had too many glasses in front of me toward the end of the evening and I ended up pouring this into the dump bucket by mistake without even trying it. NR.
1977 Quarles Harris Vintage Porto. The nose jumps right out of the glass with loads of candied raspberry, caramel and spirit aromas. It is very vibrant in the mouth and just absolutely intense—in fact, it absolutely slaps you awake with its crackling fresh personality at the end of a long flight of wines. It is not very full, nor spirit-driven, instead making you take note with its lively sweet cherry fruit and acidity. This is more of a wake-up call at the end of the night than a relaxing toddy. 93 pts.
-Michael