Sometimes I get asked if things die in the summer with the mass exodus of people from DFW with the summer heat. While the club does get slightly less frequented over the summer months, the quality of the wines could actually increase! Small groups of good friends and members drinking the good stuff because their aren’t too many people around to share with. This last few days have held to this. We have had a bevy of spectacular wines recently. The 1985 Pichon Lalande was ravishing in every way. That classic slightly green Pichon Lalande nose is drinking at its apex. Fully mature with a sweet nose of herb-tinged cherries and black currants intermixed with dusty notes and new oak. The wine is medium-bodied, elegant, very flattering, and perfumed. The 1995 Leoville Las Cases was a great follow up and it was drinking head and shoulders above the 96 LLC we had the week previously. Meaty, powerful, and layered in every way, the 95 was full of power and polish. Aromas of black fruits, minerals, vanillin, and spice. On the attack, it is extremely rich, yet displays noticeable tannin. Very ripe cassis fruit with toasty new oak and a thrilling mineral character make this a compelling effort. This was one of the best LLCs I have drank to date.
A few days later we had three more ridiculous reds that were each excellent in their own right. The 1990 Chateau Figeac is a really tremendous Claret that went underrated and underscored for a number of years. Two of my better looking clients turned me onto this stunner and this was the best bottle of it yet. Completely resolved tannins, wonderfully smooth, super evolved palate and a never ending finish really made this wine sing. Figeac has a higher percentage of Cab Sauv compared to most Right Bank wines and the gravelly cassis and tobacco really showed in this great wine. Cool aromas of cherry, blackberry, minerals, iron and menthol showed up with sweet, supple, spicy and layered flavors. The 2010 Tusk Cabernet Sauvignon was magnificent in every way and a perfect follow up to the Figeac. This was quite a contrast of styles and the immediacy of this great Cab is apparent. Uber loaded with dark and mysterious black and purple fruits, loads of glycerin and extract and a seamless, never-ending finish. Tusk is one of the finest Cabernets made today in Napa and this was my favorite to date. WOW! As far a “finest wines in California” go, you would be hard pressed to find a better bottle of the wine in Napa for the money than 2012 Futo OVSL from Tom Futo. his is a blend of fruit from Oakville and Stags Leap and the resulting wine literally tastes like young Mouton! Dark, voluptuous and beautifully textured in the glass. Mocha, espresso, dark red cherries, plums, menthol and cedar are some of the notes that take shape as this radiant, inviting wine shows off its considerable personality. Better and better with each sip, this 2012 OVSL is my favorite 2012 Napa Red to drink now. I am sure it will only get better but who can wait!
We finished up these great Summer days of drinking with these three great wines around the table. The 1969 Faiveley Charmes Chambertin was truly spectacular. This is the third one of this exemplary bottles and all three have been majestic! 1969 is a great vintage for Burgundy for shore and these wine needed almost an hours worth of air to show its full colors. Spectacular crushed raspberries, ripe red cherries, pomegranate, truffle, exotic spices, sois bois, pine needles, chambord and and and…The complexity and enjoyment level of this wine is literally off the charts! I would not hesitate to give this wine 105 Tedder Points! Next up we had arguable the best Rose being made today, the 2003 Dom Perignon Brut Rose. Heady red berry and citrus fruit aromas with complex, smoky minerals, potpourri and tarragon. Broad and weighty on the palate, offering intense raspberry and blood orange flavors and a bright mineral overlay. I love this wine so much but it is quite young. I hope to revisit in 5 years. Hopefully the wine will take on more mid-palate richness then but it is still excellent in every way. Lastly a half bottle of 2003 Chateau d’Yquem made an appearance and it was pure heaven. Heady red berry and citrus fruit aromas are complicated by smoky minerals, potpourri and tarragon. Broad and weighty on the palate, offering intense raspberry and blood orange flavors and a bright mineral overlay. Yellow peaches, apricots, creamcycle and saffron completed this stunner. A wine of the contemplation that was riveting for the 2 hours it lasted. A spectacular couple of days of great drinking in the middle of July. Ah Graileys:)