By: AJ McClellan
Last night was the beginning of a new year from Graileys and the few members that stopped by waited no time in pulling some goodies from the back. While there were some disappointing wines I was very pleased with the Laurent and the Paloma…
1998 Dominique Laurent Lavaux st Jacques – I am a huge fan of Dominique Laurent. He has a more modern style of winemaking but with 10-15 years in the bottle the wood tannins tend to mellow out and the lush fruit always comes forward. The Lavaux st Jacques was drinking as well as I have come to expect with bright Bing cherry on the nose and a pleasant spice note of clove and cinnamon on the back end of the palate. While I liked this wine now I am not sure if I would hold on to it for any more than 2-5 more years…
2002 Paloma Merlot – This wine continues to blow my mind! For the price point ($70) this bottle gives outstanding quality. I have tasted this wine a hand full of times and I personally like it more than the 2001 that was awarded wine of the year back in 2003. The nose is full of dark berries with black currants, plums, and dark raspberry. After getting through the gobs of fruit you run into an entire spice cabinet of peppercorn, rosemary, nutmeg, and paprika. The palate has powerful tannins for a Merlot but is very smooth on the palate.
1999 Rossignol Trapet Chambertin – I was not as impressed with this wine as I was with the Laurent. The nose was slightly oxidized giving the fruit a dried out prune note. There was some minerality that added to the complexity but the palate fell short on the finish. I expected a lot more from one of my favorite Grand Crus of Burgundy…
1993 Louis Latour Batard Montrachet – Totally prematurely oxidized… disappointing….