By: Ryan Tedder
Only at Graileys…what an amazing night of wine drinking with a small but great group of members. We started a normal Monday out with a random call that legendary winemaker Yves Cuilleron was in town for the day with his Les Vins de Vienne line of wines. What a great opportunity to meet one of the finest wine minds in the Northern Rhone or all of France.
We are always honored to host luminaries and legends in our craft and Simon pulled out 2 amazing bottles of juice to be the good host that he is. They certainly did not disappoint! 1992 Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot was simply marvelous. It was seamless, luxurious, sweetly fruited and satin-like on the palate. It was drinking in its perfect window-like several 92s right now. Morello cherries, dried mushrooms, leather and leaves, roses, sweet tobacco and dried herbs made this majestic wine imminently complex. It led the conversation to great wines in general.
One of our favorite wines made exclusively from Rhone varietals in the new world is Sine Qua Non from Mannfred Krankl. We are drinking through all of our stock but we drank another bottle of 2010 SQN Five Shooter Grenache. Majestic as always it feels as if the wine is shutting down a little bit. It was less flamboyant that the previous 4 bottles but impressive none-the-less with macerated red and black fruits, violets, spice, chocolate, expresso and cotton candy. I think Yves liked it as well.
Next we moved into Cali Cab territory with a bottle of 2009 Caymus Special Selection Cab. This was a drink now fleshy, juicy modern styled Caymus SS that I am sure will age beautifully. Once again chocolately oak, plump and ripe purple, blue and black fruits, and a creamy, lush palate with some sweetness and round tannins. What’s not to love right?
Next a great member pulled out a Magnum of 1998 Shafer Hillside Select Cab to enjoy after. Shafer Hillside is simply badass-hands down. It took on power and weight as it opened up. The nose was distinctly Bordeaux with dried herbs, gravel, oak spice, tobacco, cassis and liquorice. The tannin and texture were all Napa though. These wines are worthy of all the praise. It never disappoints!
We finished the night tasting the 1981 Chateau Ausone blind. The wine was a knock out. The haughting aromatics and undeniable complexity of this wine were mesmerizing. Simon called it his wine of the month and maybe the year…The nose was dried clay, pressed violets, a humidore full of nice cigars, dried red cherries, red currant, red plum, mocha, espresso, beef, camphor, and fern…the nose was even more complex with a velvety tannic tug that only completed this amazing wine. Bravo!