by | June 21, 2013

Regal Whites and Kingly Reds

We started the day with a slew of noteworthy German wines when we checked out Terry Theise’ portfolio tasting earlier in the day. This was a great preview of the quality of the region’s 2012 vintage which based on the wines we tasted showed remarkable freshness and vivid acidity even with the noticeable ripeness, palate density and a ‘fruity’ style of acidity. Johannes Selbach recommended that we pick up what we can of the wines we fell in love with as 2012 was a small vintage. Well, based on the numerous highlighted items on the tasting book, look out for a German wine offer from the Graileys crew in the next few weeks!

A few of the highlights of the tasting were the 2012 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Feinherb ‘Ur Alte Reben’ that comes from 100 year old vines whose berries, according to Johannes Selbach, are ‘the size of lentils’. The wine showed remarkable intensity and concentration. On the nose, it displayed slate as well as ripe peach and pineapple notes and a dense palate with juicy acidity. Extremely long finish.  The 2012 Speitzer Lenchen ‘Rosengarten’ Riesling Grosses Gewachs  was well-structured, dry, and mineral-driven with a specific chalky-flinty note reminiscent to a premier cru Chablis while the 2012 Spreitzer Winkeler Jesuitgarten Riesling Spatlese was more aromatic, rounder with a denser texture and next to the Rosengarten, showed that touch of residual sugar balanced by a zesty acidity.

And to properly finish the day, we ended with a duo of phenomenal Bordeaux reds from the 1990 vintage.

First in the glass was the 1990 Leoville Las Cases with attractive notes of Asian spice, cigar box, tobacco, smoke, spice and damp earth. The palate took another hour to catch up with the nose; it appeared more compact and firmer in texture initially but became more generous and expansive with air. Notes of minerality and gravel along with blackcurrant and a sweeter spice started to emerge from the glass.

This was followed by a bottle of the 1990 Chateau Angelus. Wow- this was a charmer straight out of the bottle! This wine displayed a mouthful of cassis, plums, black raspberries, dark chocolate and licorice along with hints of wet forest floor and potting soil. The intense aromatics were echoed on the palate. In the mouth this was rich and opulent with sweet, silky tannins and intense flavors that hit every corner of your palate. Persistently long finish marked by ripe black fruit flavors. This is in a remarkable drinking window right now.

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by | June 17, 2013

Diversified Wine Delights

By: Ryan Tedder

What a fun day of wine drinking to kick off the weekend! We ran the gambit of flavor choices on another hot day in June. The whites were superb as were the reds. Here were some of my favorites.

The Miraval Rose Cotes de Provence 2012 is Brangelina’s dry rose from their estate in the south of France. I had low expectations thinking the wine would be more hype than substance. I was delightfully surprised! It is really good with lots of complexity and a rich mouthfeel. Wild strawberry, fresh bing cherry, frozen raspberries, tangerine and orange zest lead but there is also loads of floral and stony mineral notes. Great wine. Now if they could just make Mr. and Mrs. Smith 2-that rocked!

Fritz Hirtzberger’s Hochrain Samaragd Riesling 2010 from Wachau in Austria was showing beautifully. The botrytis on this wine was muted as a linear, green apple, lemon/lime laser beam focus carried the wine in a precise manner from attack to long, persistent minerally finish. A very classy wine that had some dried herbal components, honeysuckle, fresh cut green pear and light white pepper. Smaragd is the ripest level of Wachau wines but this was quite balanced and had nerve.

Kesner Alder Springs Chardonnay 2009 was every bit Kesner. The wine was balanced and generous-both aromatically and texturally. Green stone fruits, citrus blossoms, lemongrass and flint show through is this Californian white Burgundy from Mendocino. Jason Kesner is a Chardonnay guru and I could drink his wines every day without getting bored with the nuance and class he graces a sometimes boring varietal with.

A couple of red Burgundies caught my attention: Antonin Rodet Estournelles St. Jacques 1er Cru Gevrey Chambertin 1998 had been a curiosity of mine since I started at Graileys. It was OWC and pristine. Estournelles St. Jacques lies adjacent too the “baby Grand Cru” of Clos St. Jacques and the vintage is drinking great right now. The wine was generously aromatic upon opening with loads of dried roses, tobacco, red current and dark cherry jam.  It was a bit tart on the palate but opening up after 20 minutes. The palate had dried strawberry and black cherry, cigar wrapper, roses, a stony minerality, hard spices and dried herbs.

The Hudelot-Noellat Richebourg Grand Cru 1992 was on an entirely different level. The wine was showing great and full of vigor.  The tell-tale black cherry preserve, lush granite mineral power, dried roses, and velvety texture were stunning. These are consistently GREAT bottles on every vintage I have been blessed to try.  Wow

The Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis Cote Rotie 1996 was my WOTN! This wine just unfolded and unfolded with air. The initali aromatics included dried spices, brambly red and black fruits, violets and some meat components. With air distinct tar, black pepper, anise, dried beef and bacon came across and the wine simply exploded on the palate with each successive sip. One of the best bottlings of this I have ever experienced-any boy what an experience that was!

If you are only going to have 1 Cali Cab in a night it would be hard to beat the majestic Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon 2009!  The wine was huge and glycerally fat but still balanced and relatively light on its feet.  Violets and roses with plump blueberries, blackberry jam, black cherry jam, cassis, wet tobacco, and chocolate covered cherries. Juicy rich and delicious. A Dolly Parton wine that leaves you wanting another.

After 3 hours we were able to enjoy the Michel Rolland Winemaker’s Cuvee No. 1 2005 made from the terroir of Chateau d’Arsac in Haut Medoc.  This is the first in this series of great wine makers from the same terroir.  2005 is a great vintage and the wine was loaded with cassis, black currant, blueberries, blackberries, dried fennel, cigar wrapper, dried tobacco, and melted gravel and fudge. Really great Bordeaux especially considering the price.  I was impressed!

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by | June 13, 2013

Chevy and Lalande

When it rains, it really does pour.

After a day of sending an offer on an epic collection of 2009 Bordeaux as well as the 200-point wine, 2008 Penfolds Grange, our day was capped by two phenomenal wines taking our day to a whole new level.

 

First poured was the 2002 Bouchard Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte defined by purity and a razor-like focus. Full-bodied yet seemingly elegant and finessed displaying lovely aromas of citrus, flowers, stony minerality, white peach and unripe pear. Extremely long finish marked by citrus and minerality. I’m salivating just thinking about this wine. Wow!

Next on the table was a 1982 Pichon Lalande. We tasted this blind and although the forest floor, cigar and tobacco as well as the high acidity initially suggested Old World, the flamboyant sweet red fruits talked me into New World. I’ve had this wine a few times and this bottle showed more pronounced and sweeter fruit; the green, herbaceousness that I typically get from Pichon Lalande was likewise subtle. This might be the best bottle of 1982 Lalande I’ve had the pleasure of tasting.

 

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by | June 11, 2013

Champagne on a Saturday!

By AJ McClellan

This weekend Graileys was a great stop for Champagne! We opened some great bottles to share around the table, covering all the bases from Rose, to Blanc de Blanc. At first the Krug was my favorite but after leaving the wines open for an hour or two the Dom Ruinart really started to strut its stuff making it a photo finish for the wine of the night.

1998 Dom Ruinart – The Dom Ruinart was great out of the bottle with a basket of brioche followed by lemon peel and a pleasant limestone minerality. After leaving the wine open for a few hours the minerality exploded leaving shards of limestone all over the palate. The fruit swelled as well taking over the nose and pushing the yeasty notes back to the finish. This was a fun bottle to watch open up.

NV Krug Rose – Right off the back the wine was fresh strawberries and searing minerality. Light and fresh on the palate, it was a little aggressive with the effervescence but nothing a few swirls of the glass couldn’t fix. All in all this was a very good bottle of wine.

2005 Lilbert – I have been very impressed with this bottle each time it has been opened. Very unique minerality that reminds me of a great Chablis. The fruit is up front and bold in the glass showing lime zest, white peach rind, and freshly sliced Asian pear.

NV Bruno Paillard Blanc de Blanc – An old favorite. It was great to taste this next to all of the other fantastic Champagnes we had open. Similar qualities to the Dom Ruinart with great yeasty notes followed by fresh citrus and a mineral backbone.

2011 Merriman Pinot Noir – A great Pinot out of Oregon made by Mike Merriman. The pinot was fresh on the palate with ripe red cherry and a pleasant acidity that balanced out the moderate tannins.

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by | June 7, 2013

Generous Wines From Around the World

By: Ryan Tedder

The dog days of summer are quickly approaching here at Graileys. How do we beat the heat? We sit inside our wine cave in frigid AC drinking rich wines from all around. It was quite a line-up of great juice and a number of members decided to stop by and share some great wines with each other.

One of our favorite vendors stopped by and started it off right with a bottle of Joseph Drouhin, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, 1998 that was singing. Corton Charlies are normally prime candidates for Premox but this wine was as clean, powerful version of this majestic wine!  Layer after layer of golden power, hazelnut, marzipan, baked golden delicious apples, honeysuckle and limestone power. I wine of character, a sense of place and plenty of age left in it.

Next we did a duo of 2011 Willamette Valley Pinots.  2011 was a wetter colder vintage for Oregon and grapes struggled to fully ripen. There is a swath of mediocre wine out there. True to Graileys form we found two of the absolute best expressions of the vintage. Both are from Yamhill-Carlton but tasted very different.  The 2011 Ken Wright Nysa Vineyard was all reds flowers and wild red fruits with round, sweet tannins. The fruits were strawberries, red raspberries, wild red berries and roses.  The 2011 Merriman Estate  was a completely different animal. It was darker, plumper, and richer. Black raspberries, black cherries, rhubarb, macerated strawberries, wet leaves, turned soil and dried roses complimented the lush mid-palate and somewhat spicy finish. A real rock start of a 2011 Oregon Pinot Noir!

We followed these with a great, albeit young red Burg. The 2010 Bouchard Volnay 1er Cru, Caillerets, Ancienne Cuvee Carnot was initially closed and needed a good decant or three for it to come to life. This is a single plot of 70 to 80 year old vines in one of the best premier crus in Volnay. They put new French oak on this wine because it has the stuffing to take it and will last for 20+ years. The nose led with toasty oak spice notes and coffee bean. The macerated black cherries, pomegranite, dried roses, truffle and gravelly minerality came with coaxing.  This is such a youngster but wow-the finish went for a full minute once it had enough air and time to breath.

Syrah followed and you could not get two different expressions of this noble grape.  The 1990 Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon is a 100-pointer is was loaded with loads of funky Rhone character. Black licorice and dried fennel, creme de cassis, grilled toast, blackberry compote, roast beef, fresh cracked pepper and road tar oozed from this wine with a little aeration. The power and finish in the wine was unbelievable.  The 2008 Sine Qua Non B-20 Syrah is a black beast of a wine. Saturated black, purple and blue fruits bordering on jam and preserves were framed by lifted acidity, lovely violets and black roses, fudge, and bitter chocolate with a full throttled mouth-filling finish that lasted for the rest of the night.

The last dichotomy of the evening was the 1993 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon which tasted like a somewhat sweeter version of a classic St. Estephe-brambly black fruit, cassis, turned potting soil, dried black cherries and stoic power.  The 2006 Colgin Cariad in contrast was like a young riper version of Lafite. The wines of Colgin possess an opulence and rich balance attained by few wines in Napa-let alone the world. It tasted like a jack-hammer on granite-brooding big black fruits-quite a mouth experience! The tannins were well developed and the wine was drinking in an exceptional window. It definitely tastes like a Cali Grand Cru – it is a blend of Abreu’s Madrona Ranch and Thorevilos vineyards.

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by | June 5, 2013

Gallica at Graileys

Our members had a great time visiting with Rosemary Cakebread, winemaker and proprietor of Gallica, an artisanal wine endeavor based on the best vineyards and fruit that the Valley has to offer. The grapes are sourced from vineyards that Rosemary believes are prime sites for her favored grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.

 

It was interesting to taste the 2010 and 2011 Suzuri next to each other. We tasted the 2010 Gallica Suzuri Red Wine Shake Ridge Ranch, Amador County (a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah) a few months back and what a difference a few months in bottle makes– this time around, the wine showed a more savory component reminiscent of dried herbs along with aromatic cooking spices with a core of plum and cherry fruit. The wine showed flesh and a supple texture in the mouth with a beautiful fruit in the mid-palate and a pronounced spiciness on the lengthy finish.

The 2011 Gallica Suzuri Red Wine Shake Ridge Ranch, Amador County showed a violet component along with its red currant, raspberries, and cherries.  On the palate, this seemed chewier initially with some noticeable grip on the finish. With air, it showed more dramatic aromatics and a smoother and rounder texture. This vintage had roughly 2% Viognier added to the blend which was co-fermented with Syrah.

The 2009 Gallica Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley was about elegance and finesse. Great fruit depth in the palate and great complexity boasting layered floral notes, cassis, black cherry, licorice, and loamy undertones. Well-structured with integrated and ripe tannins. The wine’s balance and flavor depth suggest this is a great candidate for another decade of further cellaring.

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by | May 30, 2013

California Love Sans Dr. Dre

By: Ryan Tedder

The monsoon Spring continues in Dallas so we beat the humidity with great company and fine wine.  Everyone enjoyed the long holiday weekend and we started back in earnest with a nuclear selection of older wines that were all drinking quite well.

The Pierre Morey Les Terres Blanches 2007 was showing wonderfully for the vintage.  Pierre Morey was the winemaker at the legendary Domaine Leflaive for a number of years and his skill in less than amazing vintages really shows through here.  The wine sang with distinct chalky minerality, high toned yellow and white flowers, quince, lemon, green pear and green plum. The wine possessed beautiful acidity, a slightly creamy mid-palate and a long finish. The only drawback to the wine was that it was the last one we had :(

 Next up we popped a bottle of S. Anderson Stags Leap District Cabernet 1989. This unsung producer and his vineyards were purchased by Cliff Lede in 2002 and the wines are a more “international style” now with Abreu and Rolland putting their hands all over it.  This 1989 Cab was a loving blast to the past. It reminder me of a ripe older vintage of good Left Bank Bordeaux. Alcohol clocked in at around 13% and the nose and palate spoke of red currant, bing cherry, kirsch, red licorice, cedar, tobacco, gravelly minerality and a distinct dried herb aromatic.  Old school California love! The wine was holding up well and drank great for the 45 minutes it took to kill. They don’t make Napa Cabs like this anymore… (cue nostalgic music)

Lastly we drank a delicious bottle of Fisher Coach Insignia Meritage 1997 that was singing. The fruit profile of this full-bodied wine was more black cherry, cassis, fudge, mocha, coffee roast, dried roses, and anise. There was a turned wet earth character, dried pyrazine and spice box tertiary note to compliment the fruit.  The wine had considerably more tannins and oak than the 1989 and it unfolded over the course of  2 hours. I think this wine has a lot of life left in it.

All in all a great little line up of juice!

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by | May 29, 2013

Getting Ready for Summer! White Wine Tasting.

By: AJ McClellan

It is starting to move into summer time and that means it’s time to bust out the Whites and get ready for some pool side drinkers. We tasted a great lineup of easy drinking whites last week, a few old favorites and a few new and interesting wines. The star of the show for me was the 2012 Teutonic White Wine that was made from an interesting blend of one part Gewurztraminer, one part Muscat, and one part Pinot Noir (What?!?) as it turns out that blend is one tasty beverage…. Fun.

2010 Egelhoff Riesling – Speaking of pool side wines, what better bottle to start the tasting with other than the famed “pool side lemonade”. Bob Egelhoff is one of my favorite winemakers out of Napa and his Riesling is always a great wine to enjoy when looking for a lighter style of Riesling that is not too overwhelming with sweetness.

2011 Antica Napa Valley Chardonnay – A massive Chardonnay with plenty of oak to go around for anyone who is looking for that sort of thing. The nose was pretty with loads of spice and crisp citrus fruit. After opening the wine for a while the bottle really opened up showing some subtle complexities and long oaky finish.

2009 Ferret Pouilly Fuissé – I really enjoyed this wine. Light notes of white peach and lemon zest with some crushed limestone minerality and a pleasant lengthy finish.

2009 Guigal Condrieu – I am a big fan of this wine. The nose was very expressive with stone fruits and subtle notes of fruit loops and rocky minerality. The palate was creamy and rich with a weighty texture.

2012 Teutonic White Wine – This was my favorite bottle of the lineup with a crazy blend of Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Noir. After tasting it I thought it was very aromatically expressive with a lovely palate. All in all, a very nice bottle of wine.

2009 Hill Family Carly’s Cuvee Chardonnay – The Hill Family wines are always listed among my favorites with exceptional balance and great liveliness on the palate this wine never fails to disappoint.

2009 Foley Blanc – I am still trying to wrap my head around this bottle. The wine is sound and has everything you want out of a Pinot Blanc but for my palate it is just a little too fat a flabby…

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by | May 23, 2013

Tornadic Tuesday

Tornado watch in effect notwithstanding, a handful of members started trickling in around 3:30pm for some afternoon of wine libations. First in was member MM who has been MIA for the past two months as he went about his travel adventures. As he parked himself in our work table, he opened a 2007 Las Moras ‘Mora Negra’, a blend of Malbec and Bonarda from Argentina, which was packed with ripe plums, black raspberries and black licorice. The palate was full with smooth, refined tannins. Supple and rounded mouthfeel with a medium finish.

James was in next who was in the mood for tornado-appropriate wines. He started with the beautifully aromatic and very focused 1998 D’Auvenay Chevalier Montrachet. The wine showed a dramatic nose of toast, hazelnuts, minerals and pear balanced by an expansive and broad palate, full body and a gorgeous thread of acidity. Persistent finish marked by a well-defined stony minerality. I can’t get enough of this wine… it’s crack for oenophiles – if I did crack, that is….

Next on the table was the plush, velvety-textured 1994 Joseph Phelps Insignia. This wine showed some maturity with richer and sweeter blackcurrant fruit along with cedar, eucalyptus, cigar box and damp earth. The wine had resolved tannins resulting in a smooth-textured, elegance in bottle; beautifully balanced and impressive length. Fully mature wine that will likely drink in this window for another five years.

MM next shared a 1997 Remoissenet Muersault Genevrieres around the table which displayed oxidative characteristics of deep nuttiness, brioche, and lemon custard notes with a lush, creamy mid-palate and a medium finish. Fully mature.

This was followed by a 2000 Bond Vecina with a nose of loam, black cherries, licorice, cedar and a subtle touch of smoke; palate was full bodied, firmly structured with noticeable acidity. It seemed ‘closed’ in the midpalate and with the noticeable acidity, seemed unbalanced and lacking.  Perhaps a longer decant would have helped.

Ryan and I blind-tasted some red wine next, courtesy of Bill N. This was beautifully aromatic with cedar, tobacco, roasted herbs and a core of sweeter blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. Full-bodied and generous with a velvety, filled-out mid-palate showing more layered flavors: black fruits, herbs, leather and cedary spice flavors.  Persistent length. Just an extraordinary bottle. This turned out to be a 1983 Pichon Lalande. I guessed this to be a 1985 Pichon… pure luck.

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by | May 22, 2013

You Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine – Rhone

By: AJ McClellan

Last week we had one of our epic “You Show me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine” tasting with Rhone varietals. As usual it was a great tasting with a wonderful lineup of hard to find wines. The most interesting point was tasting the younger wines verses the older wines, seeing as typically these tastings are full of much older bottles.

 2005 Guigal La Landonne – A great bottle of wine and the winner of the tasting. This 100% syrah from the Cote Rotie was rather muted when we first opened the bottle but after almost three hours of opening up the wine exploded showing wonderful black and red fruits backed by smoke and leather with a long finish of black spice and fresh flowers.

2005 Guigal La Mouline – While this is typically my favorite of the lala’s this La Mouline was not showing quite as well as the La Landonne. Just as the La Landonne was muted to start the La Mouline was not showing great until it had a few hours in the decanter. The nose was very floral and had reminisces of the great fruit and earthy characteristics of the La Landonne but it never achieved the same quality…

1988 Jean Lionnet Cornas Cuvee Rochepertuis – This bottle was showing stewed fruits with a hot brandy nose right from the start. After contemplating on the wine for a while I came to the conclusion that it definitely reminded me of the makings of fine compost that had been left on top of a old leather tomb to bake in the sun for a few weeks… I finally worked up my courage to taste the wine and while it was much better than it smelled, it was not my favorite wine I had ever had.

2006 Sine Qua Non Shot in the Dark – A stunning bottle, and close contender for the wine of the night! When I first opened this bottle I was greeted with an overwhelming bouquet of wild flowers with huge black fruit notes and wave after wave of pepper and Asian spice. This hast to be one of the best SQN wines I have tasted and while it was still young the tannins were velvety and seductive, just a wow wine.

2007 Rayas – Around the table some of the tasters thought this wine was flawed but while the alcohol was a little high and out of balance I did not find any actual flaws in the wine. I have tasted this wine a few times and have loved it in the past. This wine was showing the classic bright Bing Cherry and subtle earthy notes but it never came around to display the standard complexities that this great wine can display.

1991 Rene Rothstang Cote Blond – This was a very good bottle but I think we got to it a little late, I would have loved to taste this wine two or three years ago. The wine had dried fruits with rustic earthy notes and soft tannins but I thought it was a little light for a Cote Rotie.

1986 Marcel Juge Cornas – This was a very pretty bottle with pleasant floral notes and classic Rhone earthy aromas. I thought this bottle was showing great and while it was lighter in style it could still use a few more years in the bottle.

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