TNs from potentially over the hill wines discovered during quarantine inventory

So, I used some of my quarantine time in the last few weeks to conduct a full cellar inventory, something I hadn’t done in probably a decade. Which, of course, is a terrible mistake, but anyway, what’s done is done.

In the course of the inventory, I discovered some wines I had failed to log out of inventory over the years, though fewer of those than I expected, but quite a lot which I somehow had failed to input into my CT inventory, which was rather unexpected.

Both from the wines I discovered that should have been in inventory, as well as just some others where seeing them said to me “I probably should put these in the drink-soon pile,” I created a small stash of assorted wines to open. Some I thought were probably over the hill, some that were in the question mark range, some that I was optimistic but still were better to open than to hold longer.

So this thread can be my notes from opening these bottles. Please chime in with any thoughts. These aren’t in chronological order, but they’re all from the last couple of weeks.

I’ll start with the one in my glass right now. 2009 Domaine Calot Morgon VV. The story behind this wine is that, back in 2010, Paul Galli posted a rave note on the 2009 Domaine Calot Morgon Cuvee Unique, which got me to buy a few and order a few more in the mail.

The Cuvee Unique was really good, maybe in a less-typical way for Beaujolais, in its youth, but kind of went to a bad place after 6-8 years, as both Paul and I separately observed. It become heavy, flat, clumsy.

Anyway, when I ordered the additional bottles in the mail, I was sent the VV, not the Cuvee Unique. I pondered at the time whether to hassle with returning them, but eventually decided it wasn’t worth the effort (i.e. was too lazy) and kept the VVs.

Yesterday, I opened my last bottle of the VV, and you know, it’s really damn good. Bright, fresh, purple berries and pomegranates, which have freshness but are not very sweet anymore, a little dried herb, a hint of black olive, some plum skin tannins left, medium acid. Really a very nice wine, and holding up great on night #2.

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From a few nights ago, I had discovered a 2007 Paloma Merlot Napa Valley. It was a one-off impulse purchase in the store, probably vaguely influenced at the time by some (I think different) vintage of that wine having been WS WOTY.

On night one after a post-dinner pop and pour, I was disappointed in the wine, thinking I’d opened it too late. My first impression was that the wine was partly hidden under a sugary layer that I found unpleasant. I don’t mean very ripe or overripe fruit, but kind of sugary. I found it on the border of barely drinkable and not worth drinking on night one.

I expected to take one more visit on night two and toss it, but lo and behold, it was much better on night two. The sugary dimension seemed to have evaporated, and what was left was a solid, modern style Napa red. Ripe blackberries and blueberries, some purple violet/graphite dimension, nicely integrated oak. 14.8% and not showing any heat. It wasn’t exceptional or possessed of great individual character, but it was a good wine, and I enjoyed it fine.

I made the mistake…er discovery of some lone soldiers like these one day in my boredom. Should probably do why you’re doing and rip corks out.

2007 Copain Kiser En Haut Pinot Noir.
I drank this while on a Zoom chat with Frank Murray and Sean Kennedy (shameless name dropper that I am). Frank had opened 10+ bottles of this wine over the years with happy results, and he was quite interested for my impression.

On pop and pour in the afternoon, the fruit seem a little faded and tired, and I was not so encouraged, but about 30 minutes after opening, the wine hit a very good place, and it stayed that way for 4-5 hours before fading mildly in the later evening.

As I’ve personally thought over many bottles of Copain pinot, these Kisers have not generally developed the complexity I would expect from flagship wines from a good winemaker, and this was no exception. It was a simpler wine, one that might make you think of a $40 AVA blend from a producer of Copain’s caliber, but at least a good one of those.

The wine has a dominant note of red apple, with black cherry and cranberry. It has a nice balanced weight and acids, and it avoids any excesses or flaws. But that’s pretty much the whole book on the wine.

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1997 Saint Cosme Cote Rotie Montsalier.

This was the biggest “uh-oh” of the bottles I discovered. I had several of these in their middle aged years, and I recall they were well-made if not highly distinctive syrahs in a bit of a cleaner style.

This bottle couldn’t have looked nicer, or had a more perfect cork, which looked like the cork of a new release bottle (see photo below). But sadly, the wine, while not obviously flawed or oxidized or anything, was just way over the hill. Tired, not much fruit left, probably hasn’t been good for the last 5+ years. A shame, though only a small one.

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I turned these two 2009 chardonnays - 2009 Louis Carillon Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles and the 2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - into a micro blind tasting for me and my wife. A tremendous relief that neither was at all oxidized, and the two made for great drinking and comparison. The tasting is described in this thread:

Might as well drink them sans slacks [cheers.gif]

Quarantine Chic has taken over our house, too.

That really is a perfect pic to capture the current situation.

Fun thread, Chris, even despite the black calf socks with shorts!

‘Shorts’ is a big assumption there. I was just hoping for boxers-

While I appreciate the note, it is kind of a downer for me. I still have a few of these and the “en Bas” laying around. It appears I saved them longer than I should have. They are about to become casualties of the global health emergency.

Regarding pandemic fashion, the last month of working from home has changed my paradigm for getting dressed in the morning. I now wear shorts or sweats (depending on the weather) every day and hardly ever bother with socks except during exercise sessions. I barely remember going through the morning ritual of preparing for a day at the office.

Fun project! I periodically put together a list of orphan bottles - singles that really should be consumed or should already have been consumed - and we concentrate on drinking those down. Our racks are double deep, so any singles take up a slot that could hold two bottles (we never put different bottles in the same slot). Thus drinking the singles gives us an open slot, which is very exciting. I’ve never thought to put the notes together in one place, though. Great idea.

Good thing this wasn’t a work call! People might get ideas.
I’ve been trying to go through wines that probably should have been consumed earlier and finding mixed results like you. I’m guessing wines don’t live forever, despite what Francoise says!

Counselor, if that bottle of 07 En Bas fell apart, then I blame Sean Kennedy for its performance. There is always someone else to blame for our misfortunes. [whistle.gif]

I still have one bottle left of the wine, which I decided to hang onto following a good showing by another bottle this past August. I’ll add my TN below for context.

  • 2007 Copain Pinot Noir “En Bas” Kiser - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (8/4/2019)
    Well, yesterday’s bottle of this was spot on good. As opposed to the April 2018 bottle where I thought it was time to drink up, the bottle we shared over lunch yesterday was not lacking for energy at all. Some darker fruit, like a blackberry, aided by a tarter red fruit that freshens the wine and gives it both balance and also the energy to really impress me. We did drink it with some chill and where I land now is that if you can drink the vintage of En Bas at this stage a bit cooler, it allows the wine to be sharper and better delineated. I did make a comment a few times across the table to a couple guys drinking with me how wonderful the bottle was drinking now more than a decade since vintage and if this bottle can be replicated in other bottles still to be opened, it can continue to age. A cool mix of some decadence with structure and medium weight.

Posted from CellarTracker

  • 2002 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series - USA, Washington (4/11/2020)
    This is absolutely killer (thanks, Marco!). Sweet cherry, tobacco, with a strong herbal note weaving through. Slight tannic tickle on the finish. Maybe a year or two past peak, but still outstanding. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

While not quite the same as “discovered in inventory,” this was a wine that I would have assumed was over-the-hill, and was consumed in a quarantine-ish manner. My wine group did a fun tasting event where we all grabbed a bottle at home that 1.) we thought the others in our group might enjoy and 2.) needed to be drunk soon. We all agreed to wrap them in foil, then one group member drove around with a box in the back of his truck, collected all the wines, then went back around and our job was to reach in and grab out a random bottle. We then later had a Zoom tasting in which we attempted to peg the wines blind before revealing 1-on-1. This was the one I was fortunate enough to grab. To my credit, I guessed a 2005-2009 Washington State Cab NOT from Red Mountain. Close enough.

Thanks for joining in the theme. All others are welcome, too!