These are notes from last Sunday's Boston Poker XI get-together. I was fortunate to win for the second time and my "prize" is to host the next event and supply all the wines. It should be fun, though, as I'll be on the lookout for some fun surprises.
Starter whites:
1994 Domaine aux Moines Savennières Roche aux Moines. This was served blind. The first thought that comes to mind is that this has a funky Chenin Blanc nose, with oxidative overtones and scents of lanolin, pear and intense steel and tin can metallic notes. In the mouth, it is again showing oxidative qualities, featuring an extremely dry and crisp feel and flavors of metal, tangy lime and other citrus notes.
2003 Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Bee Block Santa Cruz Mountains. This wine features a strong nose of lemon candy and lemon cream pie, honeycomb, cotton candy and perhaps a whiff of botrytis. It is soft, yet intensely-flavored in the mouth—featuring bright yellow fruits that have outstanding persistence. A creamy texture leads to a fine, dry finish. This shows some explosiveness, yet manages to show some finer elegant qualities. This is hanging in there just fine.
2006 Varner Chardonnay Spring Ridge Vineyard Home Block Santa Cruz Mountains. This is much paler in color than the 2003 Bee Block. It is also more restrained on the nose, with some cool stones, verbena and mossy notes. On the palate, it is showing a finer level of restraint with some herbal undertones but again a very good intensity of fruit flavor and seamlessness of texture. It feels more compacted and tightly wound than the ’03, and it does show some soft grainy wood on the toasty, spicy finish. I would hold for another year and try again.
Blind reds:
2006 Arnaud Chopin & Fils Bourgogne. Wine #1 initially has a feminine nose of violets and powdered raspberry, and later on folds in earthier notes of gently-turned earth and toasted brown spices. It is medium-bodied in the mouth, with a sharp shot of tangy berry fruit and some gentle spiciness. It has a soft easy texture, but also some fairly austere and tart acidity toward the back of the palate and on the finish. It feels like a young Burgundy that needs a year or two to further unwind. OK, but probably my least favorite of the line-up.
1999 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands. This has a rather sweet nose, with aromas of purple pixie stick dust, creosote, soft spice cake, dillweed and cedar. It is very sappy in the mouth, with loads of raspberry and tart cranberry fruit and pomegranate flavors that pump through to the finish. It is fairly full-bodied but does not feel over-sized. It is a lower-acid wine that feels fleshy, long and manages to be both sweet and tart. My guess was an ’03 Russian River Pinot. I was surprised to see the label when it was unveiled--in age and producer, if not necessarily vineyard site.
2000 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots. This was my favorite of the first set of five wines, all of which were fairly clearly Pinot Noir. This is showing very nice complexity on the nose, with sous bois foresty notes, creamy red berries, campfire smoke and mixed spicebox aromatics. It is cool and spicy in the mouth, with fine structure and ample body. There are some sticky tannins to contend with, but overall it has juicy fresh berry fruit and more balanced tang to it. It finishes dry and pretty classy, though a bit young. I would re-visit in 2-4 years.
2005 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Proprietor's Reserve Schultze Family Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains. This is showing a bit cloudy in appearance. Dusty red fruits dominate the pretty nose, accented by a sort of rawhide leather note. Flavors of cocoa powder and some earthier stem and soy notes are packaged in a creamy, luscious profile that is soft and lower-acid. It flows very nicely from entry to finish, and turns a bit spicier on the fanned out finish.
2006 Morlet Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles Sonoma Coast. This Pinot is a bit fuller on the nose than its predecessors, with very thick scents of sappy sarsaparilla, cola nut, spicy earth and creamy mixed berries. It is made in a velvety-textured style but on a medium-weight frame and features decent freshness and tons of spicy notes to go with warm berries galore and a slightly powdered candy sensibility. Right now, there is a very soft hint of alcoholic warmth on the otherwise plush finish. That will hopefully integrate over the next year or so.
1999 Petaluma Cabernet Sauvignon Bridgewater Mill South Australia. OK, we are not in Pinot-land anymore! What a shifting of gears we have here. First off, this is black in color. It offers up scents of deep incense, spice cake, black licorice, star anise, white pepper, tomato leaf and later on dark roasted coffee. It feels inky and jammy upon entry, but fans out quickly in the mid-palate with a more balanced personality, featuring very intense blackberry and black currant fruit. The tannins here are extremely fine, yet totally coat the teeth. There is a fine spine of tingly acidity running through this that makes it very vibrant and juicy, carrying along the fruit over a medium to full-bodied frame. It has a very lasting finish, with some chalky overtones and those tannins that give a sense that this can go some time longer. This was knocking on the door of my top 3 for the day—a real QPR at $9.99!
2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja Torre Muga (Reserva). This is much more savory on the nose than anything else in the line-up so far, with prickly forest notes, smoke, bridle leather, fresh tobacco leaf, coffee and black cherry aromas. In the mouth, it is inky and extremely tannic. Whatever this is, it is nowhere near ready to drink. It is very young and extremely drying on the palate. Yes, it has some bold, rich fruit flavor and huge body, but it is a bit painful to drink right now. Try again in like 5-8 years.
1986 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This has a really interesting nose of blue fruits, mushrooms, tobacco leaf, green pepper, soft chocolate and cool fireplace ashes. Cool blue fruits, dark chocolate and soft herbal flavors dominate the palate, where there are some teeth-staining tannins to contend with, but also a nice shot of bright acidity. It has sneaky length through the solid mid-palate, but comes up just a bit short on the finish, where it begins to dry out a bit. I was definitely thinking 90’s left bank Bordeaux.
1992 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. There is a very effusive bouquet associated with this fine bottle—just exploding with black currant fruit, leafy tobacco, black leather jacket and chocolate aromatics. It is medium-bodied and lively in the mouth, with a fine acidity level. There are some soft, chalky tannins and a bit of an austere edge, but a ton of classiness. This is a very fine wine and a pleasure to sip. My #2 WOTN.
1999 Cardinale Red Wine Napa Valley. This wine just takes everything up a notch. It has a strong but very classy bouquet of black currants, green tobacco and volcanic rock. It is glossy and sexy in the mouth, with pure black fruits and pin-point balance. Tannins are very soft and nicely integrated and everything feels totally in its place. It has very good length and power, yet a restrained elegance. It has a clean finish and just feels pure and effortless. WOTN.
2000 Château Léoville Poyferré St. Julien. Blueberry and blackberry fruit, cool aloe, peppermint and soft cedar notes can be found on the pretty nose of this obviously young wine. In the mouth, it is cool-fruited and very rigidly structured, and features a lot of very drying tannin. Still, it has big fruit flavors that pump through and suggest that this has a long future ahead of it. Right now, though, I find it to be too rough and tumbled to fully enjoy, especially after the seamless character of the previous wine. I was thinking that somebody had snuck in a 2005 Pauillac right off the boat or something.
2002 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Napa Valley. Not served blind and added to the line-up toward the end of the afternoon, this wine features notes of classy red currant and raspberry fruits, along with hints of leafy tobacco. It is quite nice in the mouth, with an almost sappy texture, fine tannins and plenty of juicy red fruits. It is fairly big but sufficiently restrained for solid balance. It finishes with good length and a promise of keeping well for the future.
-Michael