A diverse bunch of wine geeks from the Boston area converged on Chinatown in late December to welcome Aline Baly of Chateau Coutet to town. Trung arranged for two big tables in one of the area’s fine restaurants and he made sure that a steady stream of delicious dishes kept coming out of the kitchen for us. The only instruction we received from Angelo was to bring wines that we liked to drink but that Aline would be unlikely to encounter very often in Barsac. For her part, Aline was funny and charming, clearly passionate about her wines, and very generous in bringing with her a number of bottles from her family’s estate. There was a rollicking and festive feel to the evening and I believe a good time was had by all.
At our table, we tasted through a fun set of wines and we also had a chance from time to time to sample bottles from the other table. But I know there were still a lot of wines I never got a chance to drink. Even so, there was plenty, believe me!
2001 Westport Rivers Imperial Sparkling Wine Southeastern New England. While I had no idea at the time of the tasting, this is apparently a sparkling wine made from Riesling. I like that it smells fresh and lively, with abundant notes of yeasty bread, lemon slice, mineral, wet chalk, apple and grapefruit. In the mouth, it feels bright and tangy in a lightweight frame that makes it feel a bit ethereal and airy. Yet, it leaves a nice lasting impression of lemon-lime, chalk, apple and melon flavors on the palate. It is a pretty and feminine wine and a surprisingly fine way to start an evening.
N.V. Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Reserve. A very different sparkler, this one smells strongly of flint, struck match, smoke and mineral notes before one begins to also sense the aromas of bread dough and lemon peel. On the palate, it is forceful and direct, with cool flavors of flint, smoke, pear and green apple. It feels big, pushy and fleshed out in a decidedly masculine counter-point to the Westport Rivers. I like the smooth creamy texture and fine structure, but it feels a bit four-square and by the numbers at times to me.
1996 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough. Albert shared a bottle of this with me and a few others about 5 years ago, but it would appear that he has some more of it up his sleeve. Well, at this point of its evolution, it almost smells more like a blend of riesling and gewurztraminer than a NZ Sauvignon Blanc, with all kinds of grapefruit, lychee, star fruit, white peach and orange blossom aromas on the nose. In the mouth, it is round and fairly lush in texture and features flavors of lime and peach to go along with a bit of orange blossom inner mouth perfume that is kind of nice. A sneaky-sharp streak of acidity runs beneath everything and actually after a while in the glass it starts to dominate a bit too much. It is surprisingly alive and interesting, but certainly the fruit is fading and in need of being drunk up.
2001 Emrich-Schonleber Riesling Monzinger Halenberg Spatlese Nahe. The bouquet of this wine is extremely attractive and just pulls one in with its petrol and diesel-driven core and its lovely supporting aromas of blue slate, apricots, peach pit and limestone that are just singing in perfect harmony right now. In the mouth, it is wonderfully fleshy and delivers just tons and tons of beautiful flavors of apricot, peach, orange marmalade and yellow citrus. It has a perfect ratio of sweetness to acidity ratio for my tastes and is surprisingly light on its feet for a wine of such solid density, fleshy texture and fruit concentration. It finishes long, pure and giving. It has a lot left to give, but is drinking delightfully right now, especially with this cuisine.
2004 Chateau Coutet Barsac. At this point, it made sense with the rich lobster dish that was being served to start passing around the Chateau Coutet. The bouquet here is bright and lifted, with a core of apricot, quince paste and crème brulee aromas. It is full of caramel, clove and thick, pasty yellow fruit flavors that are a bit lacking in acidity but have nice youthful concentration. It could stand to find more complexity and styling, but would seem to have good potential.
1998 Chateau Coutet Barsac. The nose on the ’98 shows more refinement and class in its very pretty notes of apricot, fruit cup, toasted orange peel and botrytis cream. And it is quite delicious in the mouth, with more obvious sweetness and unctuosity, but also more complexity and more verve underlying it all. The brown sugar, crème brulee topping, apricot and baking spice flavors are weighty, viscous and creamy and just give a lot of pleasure.
2002 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny. This is a real treat, offering up an immediate olfactory delight in its very traditional Old World aromas of sweaty horse saddle, tobacco leaf, tilled earth, grilled jalapeno, foresty undergrowth and toasted persimmon. It is complex, layered and and savory, but one can also sense that it is just a youngster, with the primordial fruit just beginning to show through. In the mouth, it is mid-weighted and youthfully taut, with a fresh acidic structure but also plenty of complex and funky flavors like tobacco, leather, dark cherry and earth. It is a fascinating wine to sip and contemplate and I know it is going to be even better in another 3-5 years.
1991 Ridge Zinfandel Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley. This is 80% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 5% Grenache and 3% Carignan. The outstanding nose of this wine features aromas of tar, scorched earth, old leather, dirt, mint leaves, rhubarb and green pepper in a complex, layered and captivating melange. It is full of complex and layered flavors of plum, black cherry and exotic fruitcake. Despite its resolved character, it still shows a lot of push and a fine juicy core, drinking right in the zone where everything seems to be in perfect harmony.
1994 De Loach Zinfandel Estate Bottled Russian River Valley. This seems lighter-styled on the nose, where it smells of smoky ashes, tart cherries and pomegranate. The tart and tangy elements are again in evidence on the palate, along with a bit more bitter tone to the smoke notes. It is chewy at times, and other times it feels like it is becoming a bit attenuated. My instincts would be to drink up now.
1986 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain. Although this bottle was not quite the equal of the one Zach and I drank with our tasting group back in June, it was still a true pleasure to taste. First off, it sports a delightfully old-fashioned nose of tobacco, dried cherries, rhubarb, persimmon and dry dirt that I like a lot. In the mouth, it is still showing sticky tannins and a firm backbone to go with its mountain fruit, earth tones and acidic structure. It feels harmonious, long and lasting, yet based on that previous bottle I know that it can be even better than this.
1991 Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve Napa Valley. This wine really turned my head with its gorgeous aromas of cracked leather, tilled earth, tobacco leaf, dried cherries and fine chocolate–all accented by a faint whiff of jalapeno pepper. In the mouth, it is classy, elegant and cool, showing great balance and poise to go with delicious flavors of black cherry and sappy red fruits riding atop fine earth tones. This is an effortless and resolved wine displaying a soothing mouthfeel and nary a hair out of place—drinking at peak right now I would have to say.
1996 Fisher Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Coach Insignia Napa Valley. In the battle of “Insignias”, I had this wine as the winner, in large part because it is drinking so well right now. In fact, it has been drinking well for a while in my experience. The nose is complex and inviting with its lovely aromas of black currants, dried cherries, leather, ash, green pepper, tobacco and chalk. It is classic on the palate, with flavors of red currant and cassis, tobacco leaf, dusty dry earth, tobacco and smoke in a somewhat more medium-weighted framing. It is a wine of beauty and class, with elegant balance in all of its dimensions. I think it has a good deal of life left, too, but is seemingly at peak right now. By the way, the blend is 69% Cabernet Sauvingon, 20% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc.
1996 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley. The Phelps Insignia shows a more youthful exuberance, starting off with a big bouquet of sweet kirsch, melted licorice, creosote and milk chocolate notes being most prominent. It is generous and fleshy on the palate, with rich flavors of chocolate and mocha paste to go with black cherry and black currant fruit and bits of licorice and dark chocolate. It feels more extracted and the tannins are certainly quite present. Over time, it actually seems to me to tighten up as the tannins turn fudgy and sticky and the structure starts to clamp down a bit. There is certainly a lot of stuffing here and a lot going on, but it still seems rather young to me.
2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate Napa Valley. Four years ago, this wine was shut down tight. A year ago, it was opening up but still black and brooding in nature. This night, it seems to be coming out of its shell. First off, it is sporting some nice aromas of cassis, black licorice, black cherries, dark soil, cake frosting and peppermint dust that are really interesting and becoming more provocative. In the mouth, it is intense and absolutely mouth-filling in a big-bodied, exuberant package that shows off flavors of fudge brownie, cassis, black currant, leather and fine dusty earth. Chewy tannins really make their presence felt on the dry finish, leading me to believe that I’d still wait on this like another 10+ years or so. It is starting to come along nicely, though.
2005 Chappellet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Napa Valley. This very young-seeming wine smells to me of inner tube, black licorice, brambly berries, melted chocolate and fennel. It is totally primordial, dark and stand-offish. In the mouth, it is again black and rich and thick—with tire rubber, chocolate fudge and anise notes combining with very aggressive tannins, cutting acidity and huge structure. It is nowhere near ready to be drunk and just seems inelegant and over-wrought at this point of the night after so many lovely older bottlings. I’d like to try it again in about 10 years.
2006 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas. Although it is really interesting to get a glimpse of this young wine at this time, it is simply not ready for primetime. It opens with a taut but engaging nose of black fruits, leafy forest notes, green peppercorns and peppermint dust. But on the palate, it is so very young and hard. Still, one can sense the fleshy fruit extact, the depth of flavor and the serious structure beneath the surface black olive and dry dark fruit profile. This is going to be one for the deep recesses of the cellar, in my opinion.
2005 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Auslese Mosel Saar Ruwer. At the end of the night, this wine started making the rounds, and I’m sure glad I had a chance to take a healthy-sized pour of it. It is just wonderful, beginning with the very attractive nose of rosewater, peaches, pears, melon, orange blossoms, light honey and kerosene. It is luscious, giving and engagingly sweet on the palate, with great purity of flavor and probably still sporting some baby fat. Right now, one can just focus on the peach, blue slate, honey, acacia and and limestone flavors that reach out to all corners of the mouth. It was a great topper to a wonderful holiday meal.
Looking around at the carnage at the end of the night, I saw that there were also bottles of 2007 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley, 1994 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain, a Pax Syrah, a Willi Schaefer Riesling and I am sure several others that I never got a chance to taste. Perhaps that was for the best, though!
My top five wines of the night in no particular order were the ’91 Anderson’s Conn Valley, the ’91 Ridge Lytton Springs, the ’02 Clos Rougeard, the ’01 Emrich-Schonleber Spatlese and the ’96 Fisher Coach Insignia. Most importantly, it was a fun holiday get-together and I think everybody really enjoyed the food and the company just as much as the excellent wines.
-Michael
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I saw it for the first time when I went to transcribe my notes and almost fell on the floor…
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