By: Ryan Tedder
Another great day with some new wine friends at the old Graileys. The conversation was lively and bottles were-a’poppin!
Simon opened an old bottle of 1990 Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva to get things started off right. The tart red Sangiovese fruit was still prevalent in the wine as were the strawberry, sweet balsamic, cigar wrapper, dried fennel and gravelly minerality. Dried roses, dry leather and a bracing acidity framed the wine. I would dare to say this Brunello needed more time in the bottle as it was far from done but not overly expressive.
Next we had a little treat from Bob Lindquest from Qupe. He tasted with us a few weeks back and mailed us a bottle of 1996 Qupe Syrah Bien Nacido Reserve. It was really beautiful wine-it tasted of crushed red plums, black pepper, animal, dried savory herbs, stems, dried cherries, tar and smokey bacon fat. A great new world expression of this lovely grape that was mature, soft and round.
Then we drank a bottle of one of our favorite aged Napa Cabs – 1987 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet. These Dunn wines need 10-15 years to be anywhere close to showing their full potential and this bottle of 1987 showed both the pedigree of Dunns vineyard and how fantastic the vintage was. The ripeness of the fruit was still evident in the brambly blackberry, black cherry and black raspberry flavors that were still round and inviting. The classic “old school” napa herbaceous qualities of eucalyptus, mint and dried herbs helped balance the fruit and the gravelly, volcanic ash mountain tannnin of the wine made for quite a flavor combination.
My wine of the night (WOTN) was the 2000 Monbousquet St. Emilion Grand Cru. The Chateau has been known for a while but the quality in the latter half of the 90s took a giant leap forward. I remember the 1998 being one of the best Right Bank Bordeaux I had ever had in 2005. This was my first time to try the 2000 and now I find myself missing it lustfully. The 2000 has plump black, purple and blue fruits, tobacco, pipe tobacco, clay, potting soil, dried violets and roses, ferns, bitter chocolate and a nice subdued herby quality. The wine was rich yet balanced and the finish just didn’t quit. A wine to find and stock up on!