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WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

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Bill Spohn

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WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Bill Spohn » Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:45 am

Monthly blind tasting lunch notes:

2002 William Fevre Chablis 1er Cru ‘Les Lys’ – clean mineral nose with hint of spice, smooth with good body, quite a bit of acidity and decent length. The acidity indicates it will go on for some time yet. Bit of mustiness in nose blew off quickly.

2001 Ch. de Beaucastel Chateuneuf du Pape blanc – this was the regular blend, not the old vines Roussanne. Cold at first but as it warmed some peaches and roses came out in the nose, and it was full bodied with some distinct spiciness in the finish.

Served with squash blossoms stuffed with scallops.

1995 Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde – I brought the 1994 last month so it was natural to compare the experiences. Smoke and floral nose, with some black pepper, some tannin present, good fruit and nicely balanced acidity. A definite step above the 94 in amount of fruit, colour and concentration.

1997 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino – a big nose with sweet fruit, but the wine is quite elegant on palate and has lower acidity than I’d have expected and soft tannin. Ready to drink now.

We had duck breast and truffle consommé with these wines.

1979 St. Clement Napa Cabernet – still good colour but bricking edges indicated an older wine and a nose that went from initial mustiness to mintiness indicated perhaps Australian or American but we dallied with Italy, Franc….. The balance and weight sent us toward the States and I was thinking maybe a 1987, but wasn’t surprised to find it older. Still abundant tannins, but the wine became more acidic with time in the glass and the acids seemed more prominent indicating it may be getting a bit long in the tooth. Interesting.

1998 Ch. d’Armailhac – bit of a readjustment here from old to quite young (but ready). Young and dark with a plumy nose, a bit on the soft side in terms of acidity and no tannins to speak of, it was ready to drink and a good match with the rare roast Saltspring lamb main course.

2004 Casa Santos Lima Sousao – a Portuguese wine from Estramadura that was purple with thick legs, huge fruit and tons of extract. I’d love to see how this one ages!

1998 Ch. de Beaucastel – from a warm cellar, so don’t take this note as a reason to rush out and start popping corks. Great nose of big, warm fruit, nice weight and a long mocha finish. I shall patiently hold mine for a few years but this bottle was excellent now. I wonder if the high percentage of Grenache this vintage makes it a bit more forward?

2000 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah – this cape wine is expensive, hard to find, and worth the hunt. Blood and earth mixed with vanilla and cocoa in the nose and smooooth on palate with good length. Will improve. I’d like to see this put up blind in a Syrah tasting as it would be very difficult to place and might be mistaken for a Northern Rhone.

1978 Quinta do Noval – this was a tough one. The colour has paled and faded to the point that I was looking to the 1961 era, which was consistent with the browning edges, but the hot finish and sweetness didn’t match any that I could think of. Dirty pool to pull an oddball vintage like this and respond to questions that it was indeed a vintage year. I guessed a Graham’s Malvedos (which I haven’t tasted in some time).

1968 Quinta do Noval Colheita Tawny Port – again, a hot nose and pale colour, sweet but also really penetrating flavours with overtones of roasted cashews. Nice finish to the meal.
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Mark Lipton » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:36 am

Bill Spohn wrote:Monthly blind tasting lunch notes:

2002 William Fevre Chablis 1er Cru ‘Les Lys’ – clean mineral nose with hint of spice, smooth with good body, quite a bit of acidity and decent length. The acidity indicates it will go on for some time yet. Bit of mustiness in nose blew off quickly.


Bill, apropos of Dale's recent comments re Fevre and oak: how would you characterize the oakiness of this bottle vs. other '02 Chablis from Dauvissat, Brocard, etc.?

1998 Ch. de Beaucastel – from a warm cellar, so don’t take this note as a reason to rush out and start popping corks. Great nose of big, warm fruit, nice weight and a long mocha finish. I shall patiently hold mine for a few years but this bottle was excellent now. I wonder if the high percentage of Grenache this vintage makes it a bit more forward?


I've heard speculation that changing winemaking practices in CdP have changed the traditional "dumb period," so perhaps this is a related phenomenon? I haven't touched any of my '98s, but once I've polished off my remaining '89s and '94s, perhaps I'll open one or two...

Thanks for the interesting notes!
Mark Lipton
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Covert » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:36 am

Bill Spohn wrote: 1998 Ch. de Beaucastel – from a warm cellar, so don’t take this note as a reason to rush out and start popping corks.


Bill,

I'm sitting on a single bottle of 1989 Beaucastel. Have you opened one lately? Any thoughts on when to pop that cork?

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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Bill Spohn » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:44 am

Mark, I didn't find the modest oak levels in the 'Les Lys' objectionable at all and I am in the camp of those who think that Chablis needs no oak.

The 'dumb' period with Beaucastel was really (the way I saw it) a decade to allow the funkiness of the nose that resulted from a predominance of Mourvedre in the blend to tone down and allow secondary notes to appear.

I would agree that if they continue to reduce the amount of Mourvedre, that probably means that the wines will be drinkable earlier, or at least that you can determine your best drinking window based on flavour development without reference to the nose issue.

Covert, I still have maybe a case of the 1989 and I haven't been into it recently, but can tell you that it will either drink now or continue to improve, depending on how you like them. I was thinking about pulling a bottle of 1989 and 1990 together one of these days.
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Saina » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:36 pm

Am I the only one to find the '98 Rhones, both N and S, rather forward already? I've just put it down to a warm vintage. Is it not so?
I don't drink wine because of religious reasons ... only for other reasons.
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by OW Holmes » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:52 pm

Otto, I've really only followed one '98 thru the dumb period, VT, though I have had an occasional Bois de Boursan, Pegau, and a couple of cheapies. The '98 VT shut down hard a couple of months after purchase, and while I have been told it has found its fruit again and has opened up, my last experience with it (March) sure didn't show it. Starting to come out of it maybe, but not yet. That is one that you could certainly not call fruit forward, at least at this point.
On the other hand, someone at MoCOOL told me they thought the '98 VT was a flawed wine. I have put a sticker on my remaining bottles not to open until 2010. Then, I guess I will see if they are flawed.
-OW
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Covert » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:46 pm

Bill Spohn wrote: Covert, I still have maybe a case of the 1989 and I haven't been into it recently, but can tell you that it will either drink now or continue to improve, depending on how you like them. I was thinking about pulling a bottle of 1989 and 1990 together one of these days.


Thanks, Bill. If you think it will continue to improve I will wait until the flat top of the plateau. And I'll be on the lookout for your notes if you get into one. I talk about Bordeaux a lot, but I really like both Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas, with Beaucastel on top, of course. The best Gigondas I ever drank was a 1989 Burle, if I spelled the property name correctly.
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Jenise » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:12 am

Had to dig back in time to find out what I missed. Neat and useful notes, since I have a few of the wines mentioned here. Let me guess--Brucie brought the 98 Beau....
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Bill Spohn

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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Bill Spohn » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:32 am

Jenise wrote:Had to dig back in time to find out what I missed. Neat and useful notes, since I have a few of the wines mentioned here. Let me guess--Brucie brought the 98 Beau....


Yup - which means that with his 'cellar' it was years ahead of where it would be in yours or my cellar - no rush.
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Re: WTN: Beaucastel, Guigal, Armailhac, Noval

by Jenise » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:51 am

What cellar? I think he keeps them under Sky Dog's bed....
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

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