By: Ryan Tedder
We had another busy week at Graileys with fantastic wine and great people. These were some fun and surprising wines that I personally enjoyed.
Gonet-Medeville, Brut Rose, Extra Brut, NV is one of my favorite grower Rose Champagnes. The wine is bone dry and filled with chalky minerality, wild strawberries, crushed raspberries and roses. Long and precise on the palate, this Rose makes you want to drink it until the bottle is empty.
Lilbert-Fils, Blanc de Blancs, Cramant Grand Cru, 2005 was a heady delight! I literally thought this is an impatient man’s Salon with a more round palate. This is 100% Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs that we were lucky enough to get all 6 cases that were in the USA. What a treat: lemons, quince, sourdough bread, honeysuckle and white roses lept from the glass and the wine just got better as it was open. If you like a richer style of Blanc de Blancs it is hard to beat this one. Great farmer fizz!
Mommessin, La Forge, Morey-St.-Denis 1er Cru, 1996 was showing class and spice. This bottling is actually declassified Clos de Tart Grand Cru and 1996 is a great Burg year. The fruit profile was bing cherries, dreid raspberries, red apple skin, and orange peel. As the wine opened a dried leaf and forest floor component showed itself as did a cinnamon, pepper and star anise. The spiciness, earthiness and tart red fruit synergy was very enjoyable.
Joseph Roty, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, 2004 was definitely more endowed than the MSD. This wine was all red power-pomegranite, red raspberries and black cherries that were wonderfully lush and a silky tannin profile made this wine hard to put down. Roses and red licorice were on the nose and a framboise quality showed up with a little aeration. 2004 is not the best year to lay down for 20+ years but this wine is drinking in a great window currently.
Black Sears, Red Zinfandel, Howell Mountain Napa, 2009 is one of the most balanced Zins I have had in a long time. This is a Thomas Rivers Brown wine that had a nice balance between dried herbs and dust and brambly dark red fruits-loganberries, raspberry pie, strawberries, and brown sugar. This wine had deft power and an airy frame. I had expected a much more extracted wine with less balance and this Black Sears Zin was wonderfully balanced and possessed a refreshingly jazzy acid structure. Kudos TRB!