Wine Lovers

Lost Treasures

2009-01-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

Do you have a lost treasure in your wine cellar? ABNN Dining In was treated to an outstanding "I didn't think we had any of that left" wine courtesy of David and Christine MacDonald. David was pretty coy about keeping the bottle of 1986 Monticello Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon to the side of the table. David later admitted that he expected it to be over the hill. When we first opened it, there were no tell tale signs of the brick color at the leading edge of the wine in the glass. How good was it? Here is what Robert Parker writes about it.

"I would have expected a greater difference between the 1986 Jefferson Cuvee and the 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon Corley Reserve. There were perceptible variations - but on the same theme. The Corley Reserve exhibits an earthy, herbaceous, gingery, coffee-scented nose, a denser, more opaque color, sweet, full-bodied, grapy, jammy black fruit flavors, noticeable alcohol, and a soft, luscious texture. The wine is well-focused, with noticeable tannin in the finish. Big, rich, and potentially outstanding, this 1986 Cabernet has another 10-12 years of life remaining.

The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore."

David can really pick the ones that are keepers -- just ask Christine.

Presidential Wines

2009-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

The wine lovers held a salute to the President that was first in the taste buds of our countrymen -- Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson's eclectic tastes in wine were highlighted as we transported our guests back to 1804 to the wines that Mr. Jefferson was serving guests at the White House. Thomas Jefferson played an enormous role in starting viticulture in the US.

I tried to mimic what TJ might have served guests. We started with a Vermont hard apple cider, Woodchuck Draft Cider. At roughly $9 per six pack, many found this sweet and tangy quaff a delicious way to start the evening. Our friends the Brownlee's have family ties to the Charlottesville VA and were good enough to share some wines they had purchased at the Jefferson Vineyard adjacent to Monticello. None of the vines that Thomas Jefferson had planted survived to this day, but it was fun to try the Rose and Chardonnay.

There were two wines that were great values and two wines that were over the top wonderful.

Chateau Beaulieu Comtes deTaste 2005 Bordeaux Superior ($20 Marty's) This Bordeaux Superior wine has lots of tannin and body. It took a while to open in the glass, but once it did it demonstrated remarkable aromas of black cherries and cassis. I found that it had great texture with enough fruit to offset the astringency of the tannin. It is a blend of 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.
La Botte Dell Abate Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2003 ($13 Colonial) Jefferson not only loved Bordeaux and Burgundy, he also was quite partial to Montepulciano. This 2003 offering was an exceptional value delivering complex earthy tones with an exceptionally long finish. The wine was perfectly balanced.

We don't often serve sweet wines at wine tasting, but we finished our Presidential Wine tasting with two extraordinary dessert wines.

Haut Charmes Sauternes 2003 ($35 Marty's ) This is rumored to be the second label of Chateau Climens (Ok, it really is a Barsac. So sue me for .5 kilometers). This was an over the top Sauternes with dewy sweetness wrapped around grapefruit notes. It was an extraordinary melding of sweetness and acidity that made me a believer in Sauternes.
Cossart Gordon 5 year old Malmsey Madeira ($35 Acton Wine & Spirits). have some Madeira, my dear? Too bad Tom Lehrer wasn't offering up this late winter evening beauty. It had a rich texture of toasted raisins and smoke.

Wines of German & Austria

2009-01-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

Susan and Steve Muller were fantastic hosts for our tasting of German and Austrian wines. They provided just the right setting and mood for becoming reacquainted with the wines of Mosel and Rhine. The evening did provide some real surprises in terms of your preferences. Here are the results:

Wine most likely to cause an argument: Vier Jahresezeiten Gewürztraminer 2005 $15 Some people loved it, some hated it. Whatever opinion you held, this is true to the taste of a well made Gewürztraminer. The consensus was that this wine had enough character to stand up to Indian curry or spicy Chinese cuisine.

Surprise wine of the evening: Here we had a tie. The Huber Gruner Veltiner 2007 (Austria) and the Clos des Rochers Pinot Gris 2006 (Luxembourg) were equally appreciated. Both of these wines are great aperitif wines or served with lighter meals. One commented, "It is a great summer evening walk in the garden type of wine."

Some like it sweet: Spatlese wines are produced with a bit of residual sugar and hence yield only 8.5% alcohol vs. the more normal 12%. I was really nervous about serving my friends these wines because the perception is that off-dry wines don't have much character. The group preferred the Gunderloch Riesling 2003 over the better known JJ Prum Riesling 2003. Good thing because the Gunderloch costs about $35 a bottle and the JJ Prum checks in around $45. Each of these wines were exceptional examples of the complexity and nuance that is present in off-dry wines.

Bordeaux doesn't end with the Medoc

2009-01-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Hi Wine Lovers!

The "right bank" wines that we tasted were exceptional. I hadn't explored the wines of Fronsac and Cotes de Castillion prior to this evening and am looking for more of these bargains. Both the Richelieu Favorite $28 and the Chateau La Vielle Cure $32 from Fronsac were drinking very well today and will be capable of being cellared for many years to come. The 2005 Chateau d'Aiguilhe ($35) is a legitimate 92 point wine that will impress wine lovers for years to come. It is remarkable that this wine was drinking so well today. It probably has something to do with it being 80% merlot.

The Hospitalite Gazin was my favorite wine. This Pomerol wine took a very long time to"open up". Chris and I decanted the wine about noon on Saturday and this was tasted about 10 hours later. Once it did open up, it was magnificent. This is a wine that Robert Parker anticipates maturing between 2015 and 2028. It ain't cheap at $54 per bottle, but you aren't likely to get a wine that tastes this complex short of a premier Grand Cru wine. This is the second label of Gazin and was every bit as good as the Gazin. Sometimes the second label of a well known producer is a much better value than the first label. I tend to buy more "second labels" in great vintages (like 1982 and 2005) than their more prestigious first label. The Potensac is made by the producers of Leoville-Las Cases.

Bordeaux Wine Tasting

2009-01-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Wine Lovers:
Well, damn. No matter how hard I tried to turn our Bordeaux wine tasting into a stuffy formal affair, our group just had WAY TOO MUCH FUN. I owe this outcome to our hosts Chris O'Leary and Jeannine Stearns. They were exceptionally gracious and kept everyone in a festive mood. Peg and I are particularly thankful because they shared their home with us after the power went out in Boxborough and we were left as waifs on the street.

The vertical tasting of the Potensac revealed just how good the 2005 will be. Frankly, I was amazed that the 1982 Potensac was still drinking as well as it showed that evening. Normally, there is a telltale tint of brown on the edge of the wine in your glass. This is a sign of the level of oxidation that is normal in wines that are 25+ years old. The 2005 Potensac has a lot of tannin and should mature even more favorably than the 1982. The 2004 Potensac retails for around $25 per bottle, the 2005 at $45 and the 1982 at $7.25 (if you had bought in on futures in the spring of 1983).

Do you have a favorite 2005 Bordeaux? Please let me know what you have found that is exceptional value.
Cheers,
Erik Molander