WTN: Love in the Afternoon

[Jenise]

Met with a few friends yesterday at 2 p.m. to share wines from anywhere. In the reverse order of tasting:

2014 Domaine de Bellene Savigny-lès-Beaune Vieilles Vignes Pinot Noir
Balanced and even with lovely light fruit, no sign of age. Very good.

2010 Château Dassault St. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend
In latter stages of decay. Not good.

2005 Château Saint-André Corbin St. Georges-St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend
Not just necrotic, DEAD. (What's with the St. Georges?)

2008 Force Majeure Vintners Collaboration Series I Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Mountain Bordeaux Blend
Bourbon nose with heavy, monster fruit--a travesty. Surprised, as this isn't typical of the vintage or the winemaking of Ben Smith on other FM bottlings I've enjoyed. Terrible.

2019 WeatherEye Vineyards Syrah Estate Red Mountain
This bottle froze during shipping and the cork, slightly protruded, force the capsule off but on the palate there's no sign of damage. Decanted an hour before service, it seemed simplistic though pleasant and lacked the complexity and energy encountered on Days Two and Three of bottle I opened one year ago. This is a wine to wait for, it's not ready now.

2012 Fall Line Winery Red Willow Vineyard Yakima Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
The last CT reviewer didn't find this had a lot of depth, but those who tasted this yesterday would not agree. In a really good place right now, this Bordeaux Blend (36 CF, 18 PV, 35 Mer, 11 CS) was bright, herbal/spicy and layered without the heavy baggage of many WA '12s. Very very good, but sadly this is one of the wineries that didn't survive the recent downturn.

2023 Constant Crush Wine Limited Addition Red Crush Willamette Valley Red Blend
This vintage consists of around 40% each Trousseau and Pinot Noir and the rest is Gamay. Served it blind but impressively one in the group correctly identified it as a Jura blend--the only surprise being that it's Oregon. Will settle down with further cellaring but fresh and vibrant red fruits with complex layering made serious fun for now.

2022 Echolands Winery Groundswell Taggart Estate Vineyard Walla Walla Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
A right bank wannabe from one of Washington's more interesting new wineries. 64% Cab Franc with the rest about half and half merlot and CS. Oddly the CF doesn't show at all and the merlot's out in front, but it's bright and lithe on the palate in good ways, and the 14% alcohol doesn't show. Good.

2017 Remy Nodin Cornas Les Eygas Syrah
Black currant, red-flesh plum, herbs, roses, subtle spice. Smooth tannins nicely integrate for a great palate presence. Fantastic.

2019 Domaine Faury Syrah L'ArtZélé Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes
Roasted meat, beef boullion and canned tomato but on the light side for a Rhone syrah. Needs time--and protein.

2016 Annona Aglianico Paestum IGT
Earthy, leathery, little to no fruit, gritty tannins. Eh.

2025 Georges Dubœuf Beaujolais Nouveau Gamay
A not-so-serious contribution by Vic. This was surprisingly tolerable, especially considering that it followed the wonderful Deiss pinot.

2023 Marcel Deiss Rouge Alsace Pinot Noir
Tim's, opened two days previous. Rapturously spicy nose with rustic yet slippery tannins on the complex fruit mid-palate, which sounds contradictory, but we all agreed on it. Loved this.

2024 Kuentz-Bas Pinot Gris Alsace
Pear fruit and low acid with a sweetish finish. To be fair it had been opened and partially consumed the night before and this might be a sophomore problem, but as it was there was no substance evident on Day 2. Especially after the Spatlese:

2016 Markus Molitor Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese (White Capsule) Mosel Saar Ruwer
Apricot, lime, tangy, 11%, on the dry side of spatleses with a very light pine needle note on the finish, though you have to look for it. Very good.

2021 Domaine Lafage Cuvée Centenaire Côtes du Roussillon Grenache Blend
Grenache blanc. Rich, full bodied, stone fruit, and ripe sweetness on the finish. Good.

2014 Matteo Correggia Roero Arneis La Val Dei Preti
Bart's bottle. Never had an aged Arneis before, but this one makes the case for hanging on. Pretty nose with seashell minerality and herbs. Great depth. Lucky Bart has two more. Good.

2020 Gaja Langhe Alteni di Brassica Langhe DOC Sauvignon Blanc
Opened and tasted this over two months ago, and it was fizzy. I put a stopper in it and stuck it in the refrigerator where it's been for over two months. Had no idea what it would be like after that long pause, but it was exquisite. No fizz, and if anything all that waiting allowed it to develop more depth and resonance. Not worth the price but OFS nonetheless.

2022 Mildiani Rkatsiteli Kakheti
A pale, lean dry white with floral and citrus notes. Not bad for six bucks.


And from over the weekend:

2024 Domaine des Pothiers la colline en flamme Côte Roannaise Gamay
Restaurant BTG pour. I have yet to have a Loire Gamay that moved me in the way its cousins from nearby Beaujolais can, and this didn't change that. Too primary, and texturally it lacked finesse. Not good enough.

2024 Stirm Calcite Cienega Valley White Blend
Restaurant BTG pour. Med + body and dry with structure and impressive minerality from perhaps the most unusual wine origin in California--Palm Springs is only an hour away. Very good.

2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah The Contender Walla Walla Valley
Decanted two hours. Showed red fruit overshadowed by green olives and fennel and barely medium bodied. Didn't hate, but disappointing compared to the many other Reynvaans I've enjoyed. Just good.

[David M. Bueker]

The white capsule (as well as the 11% abv) indicate drier from Molitor.

that's a lot of wine for an afternoon!
Bellene is Nicolas Potel, have had very good ones, wonder what will happen now he has passed away.
St. Georges St Emilion is a satellite appellation like Lussac and Montagne.

[Jenise]

that's a lot of wine for an afternoon!
Bellene is Nicolas Potel, have had very good ones, wonder what will happen now he has passed away.
St. Georges St Emilion is a satellite appellation like Lussac and Montagne.

Thanks for the additional information. I know of Lussac, but had never seen the other on a label before.

Yes, lots of wine but it's a little diffferent focus than a usual wine tasting. Two of the guys were each managers of the wine department at our local Food Co-Ops. They'd get all these samples and often invited three other guys, all customers with whom they became close friends, over to wade through the booty when a sufficient number had accumulated. In the meantime everybody retired but they still do the occasional afternoon gathering, and now I've been invited. Mondays are preferred to dispense with open bottles left over the weekend. This isn't neccessarily the place for cellar treasures, though they would be welcome, it's for the other things we all have. Like modestly priced good wines, questionable cellar holdings, stuff picked up from supermarket close-out shelves like the Rkatsitelli ($6) or generally hated things like that Nouveau. It was the perfect setting in which to find out whether that Gaja Sauv Blanc survived.

Sounds fun.
Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion is the other SE satellite, and one I'm most likely to forget.
I've never heard of the Remy Nodin Cornas, sounds great but not available in US.

[Jenise]

Re the Remy Nodin, it's owner is a traveller, probably brought it back. Reviews on CT were pretty positive.

Sounds fun.
Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion is the other SE satellite, and one I'm most likely to forget.
I've never heard of the Remy Nodin Cornas, sounds great but not available in US.

I believe that Lyle Fass was importing him for a while. The name is certainly familiar to me.
Yup, Here you go

Thanks. I guess due to email blast model doesn't show up on WS Pro. I actually get Lyle's emails, but haven't bought in years

[Jenise]

I believe that Lyle Fass was importing him for a while.

Everything he says about the '16 applies to the '17 we had on Monday. Only $31??? What a bargain.