WTN: Bastille Day stuff, etc.

[Jenise]

2014 Domaine Pierre Matrot Meursault Chardonnay
On the fat side with loads of toasted hazelnut. Better with a deep chill than closer to room temp. Not bad for $17 at Costco but wouldn't be good value for more.

2000 Château Brown Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend
Less interesting than a modestly decent bottle opened only two weeks ago--less structure, less acidity, less everything. Tired. Last place of four Bordeauxs opened for Bastille Day.

2001 Le Pin Beausoleil Bordeaux Supérieur Red Bordeaux Blend
One of those Little Engine That Could stories--this is a tasty, interesting wine. Every bottle has been great at every stage of it's life, and right now it's aging better than many of it's more-famous cellar mates.

2001 Hauts de Pontet-Canet Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend
I boo booed long ago and bought these at auction thinking I was getting the big boys (and I'm not sure the seller didn't list them that way--I would not have knowingly bid on seconds. A few years passed before I figured out what I had--or didn't have. This was on the original Winebid auction site.) Interesting--though some thought this near death awhile back, including me in 2015--this bottle was actually very good. Classic Paulliac black cherry, tobacco and graphite--good tannins and heft. Could have used a long decant or more time in the cellar. Will update the drink-by date to 2021.

2001 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend
PnP'd. Though I'd peg this at past peak (tannins pretty gone and it was easily bested by the Pontet Canet 2nd and Le Pin Beausoleil above), still decent flavors of aged Bordeaux with interesting citrus notes on the nose.

2015 Bodegas Muga Rioja Blanco Viura
So why would you pay $18 for a fat Meursault when you can buy this for under $15? Fab QPR. Big bodied and exuberant with assertive flavors of lemon, vanilla, and lemon grass. Oodles of minerality.

2012 Reuling Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
A friend and neighbor received a thank-you gift from a recent houseguest of fresh quail airshipped to her from France--without warning, and they were leaving town. Rather than freeze them she parcelled them out to friends and I got two. I did a quick salt-sugar cure with Chinese Five Spice added, roasted them, and served them on fried rice. And that called for pinot noir. I opened this, a wine I've not had before. Complex blend of classic red fruits with black raspberry, clove, cinnamon bark and hints of orange peel on the finish. Speaks to everything I love about California pinot noirs. Drinks well immediately upon opening and hard to resist now, but this wine clearly has the stuffing for longer-term aging.

2012 Maison Sichel Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
Brought over by a friend. Shows more red fruit and perfume now than six months ago. Medium body, silky texture. Not much in the way of tannins--a drink-now style Bordeaux.

2013 Avennia Syrah Arnaut Boushey Vineyard Yakima Valley
Dense black fruit, anise, vanilla. Looked for the smoked meat but didn't really find it. Velvet texture, mouthfilling.

2015 Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc
Good weight with classic just-cut grass and grapefruit augmented with lemon grass and some Napa Valley dust. Splendid acidity and structure. Am going back for more.

Appreciate the note on the Chalk Hill SB, just bought some last week, haven't opened as yet..Looking at my cellar notes, I seem to buy this every other year.

I saw your note on the Reuling Pinot Noir on CellarTracker before I viewed it on WLDG. I had this at a tasting at a wine store in Raleigh and was enchanted with it. Only purchased one bottle because it was quite pricy but it is in my cellar--maybe at Thanksgiving.

[Jenise]

Appreciate the note on the Chalk Hill SB, just bought some last week, haven't opened as yet..Looking at my cellar notes, I seem to buy this every other year.

Jon, although I appreciate diversity, I would be happy if every SB I drank tasted like this. '15 was a lousy year for many domestic SBs (Duckhorn, for instance, IMO) but the Chalk Hill is splendid.


JC: This is my first Reuling. I bought four from Last Bottle about two years ago and waited--I knew their reputation. Sure didn't disappoint.

[Jenise]

Oh, and this is for JC:

Decanter Magazine in London is the host of the annual World Wine Awards. This is arguably one of, if not the biggest of the 'world' wine competitions. Wines are entered from all over the planet, with an incredible judging team made up of multiple Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers. After thorough vetting, the best of the best from each category are pitted against one another to determine the ultimate wines in the world in several categories. One of the most spirited of the judgings is for the 'Best Chardonnay'. When you have the cream of the crop from all over the world tasted blind, side by side, it is an incredible honor...'Platinum, Best in Show, Best Chardonnay' at the World Wine Competition, [went to] Paul Cluver. His 2016 Seven Flags Chardonnay took the honor

That's going to cost $70/bottle, btw.

Hadn't heard of Reuling so just visited their webpage. You might know this already but it seems they've decided to stop making wine and focus on farming the vineyard (I see they sell or have sold fruit to Aubert, at least), so looks like the 2014 PN vintage is the last.

And thanks for the notes, including on the Chalk Hill... Haven't had that wine for ages! A good reminder.

[Jenise]

Patchen, I didn't know that! Probably explains why I got the good price on Last Bottle: they must have sold off their remaining stock to be done with the whole thing. The timing works. Thanks for the update.

Too bad re the Matrot, haven't had much recently, but for years one of my go-to producers (along with Pernot) for well priced white Bourgogne and village wines.

I don't think I've ever had an inspriring Brown

Thanks for notes

[David M. Bueker]

Brown remains a serious underperformer. Duhart-Milton as well, though it sells for a premium due to the Lafite connection.

[Jenise]

Brown remains a serious underperformer. Duhart-Milton as well, though it sells for a premium due to the Lafite connection.

I bought the Brown a gazillion years ago when I was a junior Bordeaux enthusiast attending a tasting of 'under the rader' 2000's at the Wine Exchange in Tustin with Jim Dietz, who many of you may know. I knew nothing about the property at the time, but as it has turned out none of the wines I bought that day were above-average performers, either in fact or by reputation.

Westgate Wine had the 2013 vintage of Reuling Pinot Noir on sale this week so I ordered three bottles to pick up next time I'm in Raleigh. The grades on CellarTracker are not as high as for the 2012 vintage but I hope I will like it anyway.