By: AJ McClellan
It sure is great to be back in town! For my birthday week I went down to Belize for a fly fishing trip and while it was incredibly relaxing and unbelievably beautiful there was one major thing that was lacking… WINE!
It was great to get back into the flow of great wine and what better way than a 2005 Staglin… This great wine has David Abreu’s stamp all over it with dark raspberry and black cherry corsing through the glass. The wine was just starting to get a touch of packed earth minerality and the violets were blooming on the nose. In the mouth this wine was still a monster with huge tannins and a long delicious finish. While it was a little bigger than what I normally taste it sure was a stunning bottle!
Next to cleanse the palate we had a duo of Champagne magnums starting with the 1998 Dom Ruinart and ending with the 1999 Bollinger Grande Annee… The Dom Ruinart was especially approachable with bold yeasty notes and freshly picked apricot and pineapple. While in stark contrast the Bollinger was heavy on the palate and full of quince, honey suckle, and broche. The pair were fantastic together representing a yin and yang of Champagne.
To finish off the night we popped a pair of 1995 wines from opposite ends of the earth… a 1995 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill from the Napa valley with beautiful ripe fruit and a lovely minerality that bordered on earthy funk. The palate was in a perfect place with medium tannins that have been smoothing out for the past 19 years and were drinking like velvet. In comparison we had the 1995 Vieux Chateaux Certan from the right bank of Bordeaux. This wine was in a delicious drinking window as well but in a completely different way. The Tannins were still smooth and silky but where there was a massive fruit note on the Diamond Creek this wine was primarily earth and foliage backed by dark blueberries and crushed red cherries. The mothfeel was much the same but with a touch more rustiness to the VCC….
All wines were stunning and the night was a complete success. It feels good to be home!