By: Ryan Tedder
The best part about Graileys in my opinion are the special nights like we had last week when we pick some “lights-out” wines and Simon cooks steaks with Malleck’s potatoes. Simon can cook a hell of a steak and Dave’s taters rock. The wines took care of themselves as SImon hand picked 6 of his current favorites from the cellar. The diversity of the wines were great but the quality was impressive across the line. The tasting was called Only the Strong and we certainly had a strong night!
We started with a bottle of 2010 Domaine d’Ardhuy Corton Charlemagne le Vigne Dieu. This wine literally blew us away when we tried it a few weeks back and we immediately grabbed everything we could get our hands on. These vines are from an extremely small plot of old vines dating back 80 to 100 years. These old vines were generous with their multitude of flavors and the powerful minerality of this plot of land was hard not to ignore. Perfectly ripe and crunchy apple, green pear and quince flavors, loads of heady yellow and white flowers, toasted nuts, vanilla, sweet spices, buttered popcorn and supreme limestone and wet stones inflections on the finish. This wine had white truffle and yogurt qualities as well. I can honestly say this has been my favorite white over the last month. Grab some while we have it-only 20 cases came to the USA.
Next we had a bloody lovely bottle of 2004 Domaine Leroy Chambolle Musigny that was majestic in every way. There is quite a back story to this wine that can be seen on the Burgundy Geeks facebook group from the famous Matt Johnson of graileys fame. The long and short of it: Madame Leroy’s husband died in 2004 and she became very depressed. She declassified all of her Domaine Grand Crus and Premier Crus from 2004 and made village wines from VR, GC and Chambolle Musigny. This wine is actually Musigny, Fremieres and Charmes. The nose was beautiful and pure-roses, bing cherries, cherry compote, wild raspberries, truffles, sweet baking spices, exotic fragrances, and some of the most caressing, supple beautiful tannins my mouth has had the pleasure of enjoying in some time. Leroy is the best without a doubt!
Next we went to Bordeaux land with a stellar bottle of 2001 Mouton Rothschild. We love drinking “off” vintage 1st Growth Bordeaux. The wines show almost uniform brilliance that shows the style of the vintage as seen through the prism of a great Chateau. Mouton is a personal favorite of mine and it represents a relative steal compared to the ticket price of fellow Pauillac First Growths’s Lafite and Latour. The signature heady claret nose of cedar, sweet tobacco, cassis, gravel, dried roses and cigar box. This was classic Mouton and the wine drank great in a medium bodied, very aromatic, extremely nuanced complex wine. It was not as “loud” as some of the other wines on the table, but definitely a wine a refinement.
The next red was a splendid bottle of 1999 Colgin Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon. If Pichon is the house Bordeaux of Graileys, then Colgin is the house Napa Cab of Graileys! The sweet red fruit, cocoa powder, roses, raspberry coulis and smooth, supple, caressing tannins make this wine so damn enjoyable to drink. A nice meaty quality to the mid-palate was complimented by a dill, dry marjoram herb component-but the wines was in no way “green”. Such a wonderful producer bottle after bottle.
The next pair of wines were from Rhone grapes. We don;t drink enough of these wines but when we do we remember the quality of the good ones. We started with a bottle of 2007 Henri Bonneau Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve des Celestins that we let breath for 3 yours. It was another rocker. I was looking up some information about it and read the Parker note about it: “exotic profile that shows the vintage perfume and freshness, as well as the slightly feral quality of this estate. Kirsch liqueur, roasted herbs, blackberry, cured meats, lavender, incense and ground pepper are just some of the nuances here. This full-bodied, concentrated effort hits the palate with authoritative richness and depth, yet stays incredibly light, fresh and even elegant. Already approachable, with a drop-dead gorgeous texture” I could not agree more! A wine to find and age if you love great CDP!
We finished the night with an over the top good bottle of 2010 Squinny Stinker-at least that was my nickname for it. The 2010 SQN Five Shooter Grenache out of Magnum was all that and a bag of chips. Manfred’s wines are so hedonistic, rich and packed full of amazing flavors! Sometimes they taste so good I feel like I need a bath after drinking them. The 2010 was no different: Seamless and elegant, with the house richness and texture, it gives up thrilling, floral-tinged aromas and flavors of super rich red berry fruit, wild flowers, exotic spices, white pepper and licorice to go with a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel that keeps you coming back to the glass. Another stunner. probably my #2 of the night,
All in all another fantastic member tasting event at Graileys! And then we continued to consume…Copious amounts…Definitely a night Only for the Strong!
The wines for the night included:
2010 Torbreck Les Amis Grenache
1997 Joseph Drouhin Musigny
1997 Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
1978 Michel Noellat Echezeaux
1989 Pichon Baron
2009 SQN On The Lam
1976 Leroy Beaune-Aigrots
2012 Cobb Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir
2005 Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon Cab
2010 Barbour Cabernet
1995 Clinet
1989 Cos d’Estournel
1976 Lynch Bages