Recently, a few of us enjoyed some fine wines along with catered food from one of our fav restaurants in one of our members home:
NV CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER PN VZ15- this is a relatively new product for Bollinger, the first new cuvee since the 2008 Rose. It is made with 100% Pinot Noir with 50% coming from Verzenay in 2015- see photo; thus, the PN VZ15. It also includes 20% reserve wines that were aged in magnums that go back to 2009 with fruit sourced from Boozy and Tauxieres. Our bottle was disgorged in November of 2019 and dosed at 7 gpl; this is the 3rd bottle I’ve had with consistent notes; it gives generous amounts of nice red cherry/ berry fruit with underlying notes of stone fruit and brioche; it was super rich and full bodied with an amazing creamy mouthfeel; within 20-30 minutes, it was full blown and happy to be out of the bottle and enjoyed which for this wine was so easy to do.
2012 LOUIS ROEDERER BRUT- 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay; over a year ago, a friend brought this to a dinner and I just had to get some after having already fallen in love with the 12 Rose; as with previous bottles, its very generous, giving nice spicy and toasty, mineral infused apple and citrus fruit, especially lemon zest; its round and seamless and has bright acidity, its in perfect balance and exudes class and elegance as it glides across the palate all the way to the back end.
2013 LES HAUTS de SMITH BLANC PESSAC-LEOGNAN- 100% Sauvignon Blanc; the off-putting nose aromas sent us all into the search engine of our brain to determine how to describe the character it was expressing; first, it was very weird and 2nd, it was more of a Marsanne/ Rousanne/ Viognier blend than anything Sauvignon Blanc as it had pear, lemon and quince fruit that first reminded me of Squirt soda from childhood days; and then to top it off, it had a spritziness that suggested it was not finished when bottled; also, there was no grassy or herbal notes nor any semblance to Sauv Blanc and it was not food frinedly; I moved on.
2014 DOMAINE FONTAINE- GAGNARD LES CAILLERETS CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- after the wretched white Bordeaux, we deserved something special and got that and more in this beauty; it had nice and inviting aromas of tropical and orchard fruit which were more distinctly expressed as apple, pear, lemon and lime on the palate with a streak of minerality providing a perfect accent; it was medium to full bodied with enough weight and texture to add tactile pleasure to the already placated olfactory and taste senses.
2004 FOXEN SEA SMOKE VINEYARD STA RITA HILLS PINOT NOIR- my last of 3 bottles and all have been off; one in our group mentioned that CA 04` Pinots had a big issue with VA and that was certainly true for this bottle plus it was corked; the taste was much less off putting than the nose, but the wet cardboard dominated enough to result in just moving on and forget applying some aluminum foil or other such gimmick to make this drinkable.
2009 ALEX GAMBAL CLOS VOUGEOT GRAND CRU- with Alex`s recent project partnered with Peter Work of Ampellos Cellars, Gambal-Work, and 2 other Santa Barbara County locals, this almost felt like another local wine, but it was far from that once tasted; it had lots of richness and nice balance with spicy raspberry and red cherry fruit and a bit of smoke and nutmeg; layered depth gives it more body and the finish was gentle, pleasant and rewarding.
2018 BIBI GRAETZ TESTAMATTA- this was superb Sangiovese with fresh and ripe blackberry and sweetened blueberry running all the way through; it was easy on the palate with a super soft and smooth texture and exuded finesse and charm while offering such a pleasant taste profile.
1995 COS d`ESTROUNEL SAINT-ESTEPHE- unfortunately, this had a dominance of Brettanomyces that prevailed especially in the nose where it was overwhelming; it was the 4-ethylphenol type that gives the bandaid, barnyard character and it just did not go away, in fact, it got more pronounced with time; there seemed to be some barely perceptible redeeming qualities lying underneath, but not enough to merit a second venture through.
All in all, a good night with a few flawed wines to balance out all of the stellar bottles we’ve been blessed with over time.
Cheers,
Blake