WTN: Groth Reserve and Apalta

[Jenise]

2004 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta
My next door neighbor brought a bottle of this over. Very open and giving after an hour in a decanter, with plums and a tangy cassis streak, vanilla and minerals. Velvetty texture that just purred in my mouth and soft/juicy tannins make it a very easy wine to drink. No secondary development as yet and I didn't get that "can't wait to see how this tastes in five or ten years" kind of excitement, but it's well balanced and sexy enough right now as long as you don't think about the price tag (around $75, I believe). After we finished the Apalta, I opened this wine from my cellar:

1994 Groth Reserve, Napa Valley
I'm a big fan of Groth wines, and though not a steady sampler of same and never before acquainted with this exact bottling, I've had a number of Groths and '94 vintage wines from other Napa producers over the years and certain expectations therefore have been set for both producer and vintage, none of which this otherwise pleasant wine lived up to. Medium bodied, and in need of food to perk up the faint and fading fruit and bring forth a bit of pencil lead and tobacco, it's not the wine I hoped for.

2004 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta
My next door neighbor brought a bottle of this over. Very open and giving after an hour in a decanter, with plums and a tangy cassis streak, vanilla and minerals. Velvetty texture that just purred in my mouth and soft/juicy tannins make it a very easy wine to drink. No secondary development as yet and I didn't get that "can't wait to see how this tastes in five or ten years" kind of excitement, but it's well balanced and sexy enough right now as long as you don't think about the price tag (around $75, I believe).

These guys usually don't have enough acidity, so I'd be surprised if they aged gracefully...

[Jenise]

These guys usually don't have enough acidity, so I'd be surprised if they aged gracefully...

That was kind of what I presumed, too. Pretty expensive for a drink-now sort of wine, isn't it? Btw, since posting my note I read notes from others on Cellar Tracker. One guy suggested that Apalta might be Chile's Ornellaia.

[David M. Bueker]

Seems unlikely. I had the '95 Ornellaia the other week & it had aged beautifully.

2004 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta
My next door neighbor brought a bottle of this over. Very open and giving after an hour in a decanter, with plums and a tangy cassis streak, vanilla and minerals. Velvetty texture that just purred in my mouth and soft/juicy tannins make it a very easy wine to drink. No secondary development as yet and I didn't get that "can't wait to see how this tastes in five or ten years" kind of excitement, but it's well balanced and sexy enough right now as long as you don't think about the price tag (around $75, I believe).

I had the '05 Apalta a few months ago (someone opened it at a brown bag dinner) and I found it really delicious - lots of really bright fruit with a refreshing herbal/minty edge underneath. What really stood out for me though was the structure - I found it to have good acidity and some fairly solid tannins underneath (although still really drinkable with the concentration of fruit and balance). Don't know if those wines have any track record for aging or how much they'll improve - but given how incredibly delicious that '05 was I don't think there's anything wrong in drinking them young.

[Jenise]

but given how incredibly delicious that '05 was I don't think there's anything wrong in drinking them young.

No there isn't. It's just whether or not you spend that kind of money for a drink-young wine (I don't). I'd buy three of the Altair Siderals at $25 each first.