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From The Cellar
1998 Chateau Pavie-Macquin Magnum
"Nearly exaggerated levels of intensity, extract, and richness are
apparent in this opaque blue/purple-colored wine. Sumptuous aromas of
blueberries, blackberries, and cherries combine with smoke, licorice,
vanillin, and truffles to create a compelling aromatic explosion. The
wine is fabulously dense, full-bodied, and layered, with multiple
dimensions, gorgeous purity, and superbly integrated acidity as well as
tannin. One of the most concentrated wines of the vintage, it possesses
immense potential, but patience is required. Anticipated maturity:
2006-2030. "
WA95
$399.99
2003 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Magnum
"The 2003 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape turned out as well as I could
have hoped and is certainly an outstanding wine, deep ruby/purple with
a tight but promising nose of black fruits, loamy, earthy notes
intermixed with pepper, smoke, licorice, and dried herbs. The wine is
somewhat closed in the mouth (but it had been bottled 30 days prior to
my visit), has full bodied, moderately high, slightly rustic tannins,
but big-impact flavors with plenty of texture, density, and purity.
Give this wine 3-5 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following
20 years."
WA92+
$161.49
2003 Ducru-Beacaillou
"One of the most compelling Ducru Beaucaillou’s made in the last
quarter century is the 2003 (which is also the first vintage to be
packaged in an impressive heavy glass bottle with a special long cork).
A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, it is a powerful,
tannic, blockbuster effort revealing a liqueur of mineral-like
component intermixed with creme de cassis, raspberry, and flower
characteristics, and an atypically high 13.5% alcohol. Having firmed up
considerably since bottling, it exhibits tremendous definition, weight,
and concentration. It is a wine for patient connoisseurs. Anticipated
maturity: 2010-2025+. A brilliant tour de force!"
WA96
$479.00
2006 Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage rouge
"Superior to the 2007, the 2006 Hermitage reminds me of Chave’s
brilliant 1991. An incredibly subtle perfume of black raspberries,
creme de cassis, camphor, and acacia flowers is followed by an elegant,
concentrated wine with beautifully integrated acidity, tannin, wood,
and alcohol. This seamless, gorgeously-proportioned, large-framed wine
represents the definition of finesse, elegance, and terroir. It will be
drinkable in several years, and should last for 20-25 years.
One of my favorite true and authentic vignerons to visit is the Chave
family, located in the tiny, one-horse village of Mauves, just south of
Tournon. The son, Jean-Louis, is taking over the reins more and more,
but his father, Gerard, is still involved even though he is officially
retired. As always, these wines performed brilliantly. Readers should
keep in mind that the reviews of the 2007 white Hermitage and 2007 red
Hermitage are a matter of extrapolating from tasting all the separate
vineyards that go into these wines. That said, the Chaves appear to be
ratcheting up their quality level because of a Draconian selection
process in the vineyard as well as in the winery. The Chave estate
wines’ finest value is St.-Joseph (5,000 bottles produced in each
vintage), which comes from hillside vines planted in pure schist just
outside their home village of Mauves."
WA96
$210.49
2004 Harlen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
"The 2004 Harlan Estate is probably the most precocious and accessible
Harlan Estate that this perfectionist team has made. Already
compelling, the wine has notes of roasted coffee, charcoal, blackberry,
spring flowers, and some background sweet, toasty notes. Dense, fleshy,
exuberant, even flamboyant by the standards of Bill Harlan, this wine
exhibits no jaggedness or rough edges, has relatively high tannins, but
they melt away on the palate. The wine is sensationally well-endowed,
long, and rich – a tour de force in winemaking. They can do no wrong at
Harlan, and it is obvious, even in the most challenging vintages such
as 1998, that this estate is a true grand cru/first growth, making
wines of irrefutable world-class quality. Of course, none of this comes
cheap, as the price is now moving up into the league with Screaming
Eagle, but there are no shortage of takers.
So what’s new? Harlan Estate continues to produce only a meager 1,500
or so cases from over 40 acres of beautifully manicured hillside
vineyards overlooking the Oakville corridor (to be precise, the western
slopes looking down on Martha’s Vineyard and parts of the To-Kalon
Vineyard). Proprietor Bill Harlan and his winemaking team of Bob Levy
and global oenologist Michel Rolland push the envelope in all ways, but
the results continue to be magnificent as well as increasingly
expensive and rare. The second wine, which is usually around 1,000+
cases, is The Maiden, which is also a super wine in its own right."
WA98
$549.99
2005 Rieussec Sauternes
"A white dessert Bordeaux. Shows enticing aromas of toffee,
cream, dried apricot and caramel. Full-bodied, very sweet and
thick with honey and caramel flavors. Long and rich, oozing with
sweet, ripe fruit, this is like liquid candy. Best after 2016."
WS96
$91.99
2005 Smith-Haut Lafite, Pessac-Leognan
"One can’t say enough about the accomplishments the Cathiards have
achieved at this property since 1990. Prior to their purchase of the
property, appallingly diluted, vegetal, fruitless, charmless wines were
produced, but they have turned Smith-Haut-Lafitte into a showcase
Pessac-Leognan. The inky/blue/purple-tinged 2005's extraordinary nose
reeks of charcoal, incense, scorched earth, abundant blackberry,
blueberry, and cherry fruit, toast, and spice. Good acidity, huge but
sweet tannin, and fabulous precision as well as definition characterize
this full-bodied, super-concentrated effort. It should prove to be
among the longest-lived wines yet made by the Cathiards. Anticipated
maturity: 2015-2030+."
WA95
$92.99
2005 Clos L'Eglise, Pomerol - Very Limited!
"A huge sweet nose of creme brulee with black cherry liqueur,
blackberries, tar, caramel and mocha/coffee soars from the glass of
this blend. Opulence, superb intensity, abundant quantities of
sweet toasty oak, a full-bodied richness and excellent purity as well
as depth suggest it will age effortlessly for over two decades.
Drink in 2018 or wait until 2028." 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet.
WA96
$149.99
2005 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
"Inky black colored with a classic Pauillac perfume of licorice, black
currant liqueur, grapite, cedar and spice box it is full-bodied with
magnificent concentration, formidable tannins and an Arnold
Schwarzenegger-like structure (when he was 25 years younger).
THis backward, formidably endowed `05 will require patience.
Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025."
WA96+
Also, WS96
$114.99
2005 Dugat-Py - Extremely Limited!
Gevrey-Chambertin 'Vieilles Vignes'
"From largely 50-year-old (but some ancient) vines in parcels north of
town, below Mazis, and along the route nationale, the 2005
Gevrey-Chambertin Coeur du Roi offers striking bitter black fruit
concentration and marrow-like meatiness. Low-toned cassis, blackberry,
black chocolate, marrow and wet stone inform a finish of striking
purity and persistence, albeit in a rather somber key and wearing its
extract, abundant if fine tannins, and new wood in rather obvious
fashion. The rather monolithic impression on this occasion might
ultimately prove deceptive. Certainly this wine’s sheer raw intensity
suggests a decade or more of cellaring is warranted."
WA91
$160.00
2005 Dugat-Py
Gevrey-Chambertin 'Coeur du Roi'
"From largely 50-year-old (but some ancient) vines in parcels north of
town, below Mazis, and along the route nationale, the 2005
Gevrey-Chambertin Coeur du Roi offers striking bitter black fruit
concentration and marrow-like meatiness. Low-toned cassis, blackberry,
black chocolate, marrow and wet stone inform a finish of striking
purity and persistence, albeit in a rather somber key and wearing its
extract, abundant if fine tannins, and new wood in rather obvious
fashion. The rather monolithic impression on this occasion might
ultimately prove deceptive. Certainly this wine’s sheer raw intensity
suggests a decade or more of cellaring is warranted."
WA91-92
$180.00
2006 Sine Qua Non 'Raven Series' Syrah (Magnum)
"The 2006 Syrah Raven Series (93% Syrah, 5% Grenache, and 2% Viognier)
is primarily from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard with small quantities
from the Bien Nacido and White Hawk vineyards. It will be bottled after
spending 22 months in oak casks. Aromas of sweet black and blue fruits,
forest floor, lead pencil shavings, and spring flowers emerge from this
remarkably elegant Syrah. With great fruit intensity, a stunning
texture, and an opulent mouthfeel, this is a gentle, gracious,
large-scaled wine displaying extraordinary finesse and elegance for its
size. It will drink beautifully for 12-15+ years.
I don’t know whether it’s catching on or not, but there is a school of
nonsense going around that somehow low yields are overrated. Of course,
farmers who treat their vineyards like industrial plants, and wineries
who do not control vineyards, or have accountants running the bottom
line, are the usual suspects making this specious argument. From my
perspective, thirty years of experience have always suggested that
vineyards with the lowest yields tend to produce the most interesting
wines. Sine Qua Non has emerged as one of the world’s greatest wineries
over the last decade, and low yields are part of the reason. Yields for
their white wine varietals have gone from .91 tons per acre in 2003, to
their most generous yield of 1.86 tons per acre in 2005. Their red
varietal yields have increased from a scary, financially disastrous .32
tons per acre for the 2003 Grenache, to a whopping 2.11 tons per acre
in 2005. In 2007, yields averaged 1.28 tons per acre for the white
varietals, 1.31 tons per acre for Grenache, and 1.52 tons per acre for
Syrah. (I did not taste the 2007 SQN wines, but other Central Coast
2007s I did taste suggest this will be a great vintage for this
region.) When tasting wines such as Sine Qua Non, these statistics mean
something because the Grenache is the finest in the New World, the
Syrah begs to be compared with the greatest of France, California, and
Australia, and the white wine blends assembled by Manfred Krankl are as
sumptuous and complex as the world’s finest Chardonnays, even though
there is little Chardonnay included in recent vintages, and there will
be none in future releases. The ultimate “garage” winery, this
operation’s back alley warehouse looks like a set scene from the movie
Mad Max, but inside are the elixirs of dreams. Despite Krankl’s already
lofty reputation, he continues to fine tune and build more nuances and
complexity into his wines without sacrificing their intrinsic
exuberance, purity, intensity, and individuality. I am increasingly
convinced that no one in Australia, America, South America, or anywhere
else in the New World makes a finer, more complex and compelling
Grenache than Manfred Krankl."
WA96-99
$569.99/Magnum
2004 Redigaffi 'Tua Rita'
"The inky-colored 2004 Redigaffi, 100% Merlot aged for 16 months in new
oak, offers expressive, nuanced aromatics along with sensations of
richly-textured blue and black jammy fruit, minerals, mint, chocolate,
spices and sweet toasted oak on big, powerful frame with notable
underlying structure and a warm, resonating finish. Although it has
enough structure and acidity to drink well for another decade or so, I
enjoy Redigaffi most in its youth. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2016."
WA93
$234.99
Special Features For June
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