The weekly tasting note thread.

bob parsons

bob parsons

Location
edmonton alberta
TN: 2012 Weingut Joh. Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett, M-S-R.

Last year, I picked up a couple of Spatlese from Haart but found this discounted for $17.00 Cdn only the other day. Good natural cork, 8% alc, AP finishes 07-13. I noted the number 113 on the cork??
I was told by the store owner who was just back from Germany that Joh. Haart had retired and that no family was interested in running the weingut.
Light yellow color, no gasolein on the nose but tropical fruits, pineapple, peach. Clean, crisp refreshing, nothing too complicated, easy drinking, some might say "too sweet" but with some stir fry, spot on.
 
Pretty dreary week to be honest.

A Morgon from Lapierre that was gruesome, I'm not sure what went wrong but it's was resoundingly undribkable.

A Fontodi CC 2010 was corked to buggerey.

Disappointing and hollow Vosne-Romanee 2005 from Michel Gros, closed I suspect.

I'm hoping tonight's Franz Haas Pinot Nero will finish the week on a high.
 
1998 Roda I Reserva Rioja
(bought 2 years ago in Torino of all places)
Still quite a youthful garnet colour and not overly dense.

Cherry (with a hint of cherry menthol), pencil shavings and green pepper on the nose. Apart from the cherry, this would be very Bordeaux-like.

Very approachable palate with supportive acidity and the cherry coming to the fore. Decent length to the finish, but not especially complex. There is balance though, making this charming and easy to drink.

 
Tonight Pepiere Clos Des Briords 2014, rather a yeasty and appley disappointment given the excitement I've had from other wines from there, though it may well be much too young, and an absolutely wonderful Jadot Gevrey Cazetiers 99, resolved and ready to drink with great joy but with decades to go, I am guessing. Definitely on the black fruited and stolid side of the spectrum but extraordinarily proper, rather like a great first growth claret in that regard. I have quite a lot of the choicest Jadot 1er 99s put away and this gives me great hope for them particularly as the price will never go so high that I shall feel obliged to sell.
 
With a porcini and chanterelle risotto last night, Vietti 2001 Barbera d'Asti La Crena. At maturity but not past it at all, with dark cherry and leather as well as cinnamon and meaty notes. It was a touch warm and came across a touch more modern than I'd expected. After around 90 minutes the wine became materially more mellow from much bolder at the outset - couldn't decide which part I had enjoyed more.

These high end Barberas can mature really nicely and only reveal their lack of true complexity when compared to a Nebbiolo from a similar quality producer. This wine would certainly have stacked up well vs a Barolo from some of the lesser Piedmont wineries.
 
Thom Blach said:
Tonight Pepiere Clos Des Briords 2014, rather a yeasty and appley disappointment given the excitement I've had from other wines from there, though it may well be much too young
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I would guess that your caveat may well be spot on Tom. Briords does tend to need time in my experience. For 'drink soon after purchase' whites from Pepiere I find the Clisson and Ch Thebaud are better bets. But with their extended time on the lees they give a different experience.
 
Very, very nice Riesling Halbtrocken 2014 from Kloster Ebernach in the Mosel tonight, ultra tangy and invigorating, with some juicy nectarine sweetness in the middle, but scintillating citrus and apple finish.
 
Thom Blach said:
Tonight Pepiere Clos Des Briords 2014, rather a yeasty and appley disappointment given the excitement I've had from other wines from there, though it may well be much too young, and an absolutely wonderful Jadot Gevrey Cazetiers 99, resolved and ready to drink with great joy but with decades to go, I am guessing. Definitely on the black fruited and stolid side of the spectrum but extraordinarily proper, rather like a great first growth claret in that regard. I have quite a lot of the choicest Jadot 1er 99s put away and this gives me great hope for them particularly as the price will never go so high that I shall feel obliged to sell.
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I'm a mega fan of Jadot Cazetiers Tom - a bottle of '09 recently was an exquisite blend of red and black fruits, so crystalline and with impeccable poise and balance for a very long life.

I'd love to try the '99 sometime!
 
Remin Rollin Savigny Grand Liards last eve. What a delight. Starts with a typical Beaunois cherry / strawberry nose and after an hour darkens up revealing the structure. Quite delicious and intriguing at this stage in development, though I dare say the last 3 bottles may not last the summer... :) Rollin really rocking the scene at the mo- his Pernand V "Les clous" 13 being another current gem.
 
Uillaim Tait said:
Pretty dreary week to be honest.

A Morgon from Lapierre that was gruesome, I'm not sure what went wrong but it's was resoundingly undribkable.

A Fontodi CC 2010 was corked to buggerey.

Disappointing and hollow Vosne-Romanee 2005 from Michel Gros, closed I suspect.

I'm hoping tonight's Franz Haas Pinot Nero will finish the week on a high.
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When in doubt, get the fizz out.
 
Tonight what is regrettably my last bottle of Beaune Champimonts 1983, Drouhin. Cheerfully red-nosed and bumptiously opulent rather than focused and precise but an absolute joy nevertheless. Ave atque vale.
 
A forgotten tin of cassoulet in the back of the cupboard paired majestically with a Reserve de la Comtesse 04, which was polished, finely woven and in a good drinking spot.
 
Tinned cassoulet can be wonderful(except the sausage). Interesting to hear about the Reserve De La Comtesse, the 00 and 01 were the two most spoofulated wines I have ever drunk.
 
I think it is a well-endowed style, though the 03 was OTT. Still enough classic Pauillac pencil shaving and lift in there for me to not be too disturbed. The cassoulet could have done with something a bit sharper probably in wine terms (Loire CF?), but I wasn't overtly bothered by a precise matching - the sun was shining, and I was midway through a good book.
 
Drouhin Cotes de Beaune villages 2013 tonight. It's not particularly made as an early drinker and is a bit inverted but it is also seductive, elegant and somehow very high class.A violent shake or two sorted it out.Can there be any other house that lavishes such care on their little bottles? this was very inexpensive which is sadly not something one can often say of Drouhin these days. The rest really must be left.
 
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Lots of good Croatian malvazija this week, about the only wine we want to drink in the heat here in northern Istria. We've had a rather grand one from Marijan Arman (2013) made from 120 year-old vines, a lovely, smooth, classy old-wood reserva from Silvio Visintin (2012), a direct, fresh, lively rendition from Fakin (2015), and a another direct, vibrant version from Benvenuti, also 2015. The alcohol in all of these never exceeded 13.5% and most are around the 13.0% mark. These are excellent with seafood and pasta and have more stuffing than you might expect. The local renditions of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc are correct, but have none of the local character of the malvazijas.
 
Drunk the remains of 2008 Philippe Milan & Fils Santenay 1er Cru La Comme (white) last night and thought, "Mushroom with vanilla on nose, good length and apricot fruit. There a lot of secondary, veggie notes. I think it's not for the long haul, but very enjoyable now. Brought as a. Bin end from Peter watts" .
Then later a glass of Martin Wassmer Spatburgunder 2011, a pinot noir from Baden's Markgräflerland, I brought this from TWS at Christmas then I wrote: "This is an amazing Pinot Noir (for that is what it is) at this price. Not light as the Decanter review says, but mid weight, rich colour. Touch of undergrowth but mainly red fruit and long. . You can't get this quality/price in burgundy." Last night it was the sweetness which came through, although there enough acidity to counter this and lovely ripe fruit.
 
Monday night with Macaroni Cheese
1999 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese
Very elegant with a wonderful balance of fruit and acidity, a true spatlese with just a hint of petrol letting you know its got a bit of age.
1995 Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape (half)
The opposite of the Zilliken, all dried rasiny fruit with a lack of acidity and freshness. Not a good showing.

Bonhams Restaurant
2007 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux
Amazing minerality and purity of fruit, only hints of fruit though, feels like there is a lick of oak to give it a touch of richness which balances with the minerality wonderfully and at 9 yrs old still a baby.
 
A lot of beer this week, perhaps too much - at the pub on Monday after the run, at the clubhouse after touch rugby with the old boys on Tuesday, with tom yum soup last night, and likely more at the beer tent tonight with friends at the Taste of Edmonton food festival in downtown Edmonton.

Wednesday was the exception. I opened a bottle of wine that a friend gave me a few months ago, an '03 Calvet Reserve that he found for all of £3. The wine had changed colour and I thought it was a rose. Anyway, Wednesday was a warm evening and I was cooking chicken thighs with onions, mushrooms and Turkish pepper paste. I thought that the old rose might be appropriate as both an aperitif and for a splash in the cooking. Well, it worked well in the cooking mainly because it was more like sherry than anything else. My sister, having been told I was opening a rose, tasted it and said "is this a rose or a sherry?" while my better half, given a glass when she came home and walked through the door, said "is it fino?" So with the dinner I quickly opened a 2010 'Citto' by Volpaia, a Toscana IGT of mostly Sangiovese with a splash of Cabernet. It is a tasty everyday drinker that stood up to the slightly peppery nature of the dish and, I think, could use more time in the cellar.

Cheers..............Mahmoud.
 
Catching up with a few friends after the summer last night, some good wines were shared amongst the 5 of us:

Lilbert BdB 2002 Champagne (good but not outstanding, in a good place for drinking, yellow fruits)
Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs 1996 (fully mature, pretty amazing champagne)
Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Boudriottes 2005 (not preoxed and outstanding, developing for hours in the glass, getting tighter all the time)
Zind Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2007 (tight and steely/rocky - quite a surprice for a Z-H though it had a sweetness indice of 1 - laser sharp, developing in the glass)
Bruno Sorg Riesling Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg 2010 (hint of exotic fruits, drinking fine)
Chateau Montrose 1986 (more rustic and tannic than other recent bottles of this I've had - twice in the last year - textbook St Estephe)
Jadot Corton Pougets 2001 (dark and brooding, black fruits, pretty amazing for a 2001, entering a fine drinking window now)
Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Vendange Tardive Clos Jebsal 1992 (sweet and luscious)
 
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Dom des Accoles 2012 Chapelle from the Ardeche served cool provided lovely crunchy and quite complex fruit in an elegant package. 01 Ponsot MSD Cuvée des Grives lovely with that sweetness to the fruit that evolves with maturing Ponsot, mixed with gentle sous bois and good acidity.
 
Just landed in Tuscany.

2008 Benoit Lahaye Champagne is a classic 2008: energetic, with a long life ahead, intensely conenctrated, perfectly balanced. Too bad I can't get enough of it and it is not imported in the UK or at least it has never been offered to me.
2011 Selvapiana Bucerchiale is a travesty of a wine. At 15% alcohol it is heavier than a sherry, with overripe notes AND some other nuances in the dried fruit space, clearly not out of ageing but oxidation. With a hint of VA and some new wood in the background, it is by a long shot the worst wine of the year. Bear in mind that in the WSET Diploma we taste several wines below GBP 7. To me this is a fundamentally flawed wine that should not have been released. It is the worst wine of this glorious estate along with the 2009 (another dreadful version).

A long list of Mosel Riesling is lined up for the next 10 days.
 
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