WTN: de Venoge Sauzet Heitz Beringer PR Penfolds 707

Canyon August 10 2018

Blind tasting notes from the last lunch.Lots of whites given the warm weather for this one.

2002 de Venoge Champagne Brut Sélect Cordon Bleu – sweet apple and fresh toast nose, clean on palate with a nice round sweetness in the finish. Hitting peak now (early for this vintage?) and excellent.

2012 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet – what a shame! This wine, which should have shown very well indeed, showed nothing in the nose but freshly struck safety match and this (very oddly, I thought) carried over on palate. Don’t know what was going on here – over compensation by a producer previously subject to premox? Who knows. Flawed wine.

2014 Franck Peillot Roussette du Bugey Altesse de Montagnieu – and now for something completely different! This white from the Jura showed a slightly oxidative nose, but in an interesting way, some colour and excellent terminal acidity. Good wine. The Roussette is thought to be related to Furmint and there might be a bit of chard in this.

2015 Weingut Josef Jamek Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Achleiten – another odd but interesting wine, this one a Gruner Veltliner, which is a grape we rarely get to taste. Fascinating white pepper and pea shoot nose, with good fruit elements, soft in the mouth but finishing with balanced acidity.

2001 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard – this had me thinking of a well made Aussie from the minty nose, sweet and smoky, and not the usual eucalyptus found in this wine, although that element showed with air. Ripe dark cherry and long sweet finish. Drinks nicely now but early days yet as indicated by the significant tannin.

1992 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve – I only have a few bottles left of this wine and hadn’t tasted in a few years so decided to pull it out this time. It still shows excellent colour and a good berry and currant nose, with some nice spice notes and a slight mintiness. Good flavour concentration and length, absolutely ready to drink, but should hold a few years. Sbragia sure did a nice job in this period.

1997 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 – this wine has always pleased me by showing more restraint and balance than many/most Aussie higher end Cabs and this proved to be consistent. Dark with ample mint in the nose, plus dark fruit, pipe tobacco and a bit of spice. Excellent flavour intensity and length and my idea of the best Australian cabernets.

My only qualm, having tasted several verticals of these wines going quite far back, is that unlike Bordeaux, although they get mellow, old and smooth, they just never seem to pick up the secondary and tertiary characteristics that make old clarets so interesting, but I guess you can’t have everything. I have a 1991 through 1994 vertical in the cellar and can’t decide when the best age to drink it will be….

1996 Tokaji Oremus Late Harvest Furmint. - medium amber with a nose of sweet dried apricot and nuts, in the mouth medium body and a fairly dry finish, slightly astringent.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice set of Cabernets at the end there. I have not had the 2001 Martha's yet. Will likely hold off based on your note.

[Jenise]

2002 de Venoge Champagne Brut Sélect Cordon Bleu – what you said: sweet apple and fresh toast nose, clean on palate with a nice round sweetness in the finish.

2012 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet – Yes, odd. The last bottle we had of this (purchased from a different source) didn't show like this. It was in fact so wonderful that I hunted this and it's twin brother down. Btw, I took the remainders home just to see if it would change at all--it did. Sulfur was gone, but nothing replaced it. It was just a glass of minerality. Very disappointing, especially since my other bottle is likely to be identical.

2014 Franck Peillot Roussette du Bugey Altesse de Montagnieu – Even two years ago the wine had this nose, which I've come to think of more like flor than mere oxidation. It's very attractive, with notes of pear, honey and almond. Btw, you mention Jura which I turned down in the guessing, holding out for Savoie where I should have held out for Bugey. Both get lumped in with the better-known Jura but don't neccessarily consider themselves part of it.

2015 Weingut Josef Jamek Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Achleiten – I didn't find this one to have much gruner typicity, none of that earthy green pea. In fact I thought, at first, it might be riesling. Refreshing, but simpler than what I love about GV's. Good try, though.

2001 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard – I picked up the eucalyptus right away--might be sensitized to it, our hillside was covered with the trees so it's one of those beloved early childhood aromas. Also black cherry and bay leaf. Sturdy tannins; a baby that needs about ten more years.

1992 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve – You characterized it well. It's very good, you're lucky to have bought and held onto them this long.

1997 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 – I have nothing to add to what you said--my fave among the reds.

You forgot Jim's sticky:

1996 Tokaji Oremus Late Harvest Furmint. Orange marmalade and apricot pie, with touches of salt and caramel. Delicious and impressively youthful.