Just getting caught up on the last of my Spring leftover random tasting notes...
1994 Paul Jaboulet Aine St. Joseph Le Grande Pompee. Dark brick color. Aromatically, this offers up lots of aged leather notes, along with dried red berry fruits, dried blood and autumn leaf pile. It is crisp and savory in the mouth, where there are virtually no tannins and an elevated acid streak wrapped around flavors of red currants and raw meat juices. There are no real bass notes, with the taut acid carrying crisp red fruits along the surface. It finishes very dry and it does show some signs of cracking up and heading downhill. Drink ‘em if you got ‘em (but I have been saying that about this wine for some time!).
1999 Solaria Brunello di Montalcino. This roars up out of the glass with aromas of plum skins, powdered black cherry, soft leather, mulling spices, tree bark, tobacco and cocoa dust. It feels relatively modern in the mouth, with an awesome seamlessness and balance. It is medium-bodied, with fine acidity. Red fruits pump through from beginning to end, with the tannins hardly noticeable. It is neither super-expansive nor jammy--indeed it feels focused and refined. As the night progresses, it begins to show a bit of heat on the finish, but it is a still a very nice drink.
2004 Martinelli Syrah Terra Felice Russian River Valley. Our host informed us that when he first went to decant this wine, nothing came out. It turns out there was a hard crust that had formed in the neck of the bottle, just below the cork and it had to be broken with a spoon handle before the liquid could be released from its bond. In any event, the wine is surprisingly shy on the nose, growing a bit as the night progresses. It shows some sweet, slightly jammy characteristics, along with molten chocolate aromas at first, followed later on by meatier notes. In the mouth, it is medium to full-bodied, with a fairly smooth, open-knit texture. It has some obvious oak and a hint of alcohol, but also layers of abundant boysenberry, raspberry and blueberry fruit flavors. It does turn a bit drier on the charcoal and wood-accented finish, where a better level of acidity seems to come in and tons of dried spices kick in. I would give this another few years before trying again.
2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley. The nose is rather brambly, with initial aromas of raspberries and stems that build and broaden over time to include sarsaparilla, cocoa powder, brown spices and darker fruits. It is lush on the palate, but with a tingly zip and lots of spiciness running beneath flavors of mixed wild berries, cocoa and spicy oak. It is medium to fullish-bodied with good length and persistence of flavor right through the finish. There is some taut alcohol present but it somehow seems in line with the rest of the profile. I think I will sit on these a while longer before trying again.
-Michael