By: Ryan Tedder
Another day another stellar session of wine drinking at Graileys! I read loads of wine reviews and notes everyday and I have to say you have to trust your palate and the relationship you have with your wine person. Countless times I have cracked a 95 Point Cab and been underwhelmed or popped an 88 Point “Bad Year” or “Dead” Bottle of wine to have my mind thoroughly blown! The latter occurrence occurred this last week when we had three specific bottles that were really eye-opening.
First we had a wonderful bottle of 2000 Frederic Magnien Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru. The 2000 vintage is drinking amazingly well and is worth buying if you can find any. Although it did not get the media accolades of 1996, 1999 or 2002, this wine was drinking better than most of those years we have tried recently. Clos de Beze is within the mack daddy GC of Chambertin and the wines have a richness and purity of red fruit that is hard to describe. Raspberry coulis, saturated bing cherry, truffle, sweet baking spices, round, supple caressing tannins and pleasing bright acidity on the finish. Roses, pomegranites, cranberry, crushed rocks and dried herbs (marjoram?) also showed up on the classy red that was a pure pleasure to drink. The finish was long and the wine was solid-Bravo Freddy Magnien! His newer labels are easier to read and the capsules are purple in case you see it on the market.
Next we popped a bottle of 2008 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge that is from a “bad year”. I know that 2008 was a wet year and the fruit that was much less ripe than in 2007, 2009 or 2010. For me those conditions created a great wine of terroir at the legendary piece of land that Chateau Rayas owns. I have long thought that great land makes great wines every year all other things being equal. Each year might taste a little different in terms of ripeness or earthiness but that what makes wine so enjoyable right? The 2008 Rayas was almost like a Russian River Pinot Noir when we opened it because of its overly floral nose. A myriad of ripe and underripe red fruits exploded from the glass with dried roses and even mandarin orange zest or powdered sugar? On the palate the wine was lush and generous but maintained a nice tension due to the cooler vintage acidity. After 30 minutes of being opened, some of the Southern Rhone character of the wine started to emerge-dried herb garrigue, black pepper, raw beef and blood. The sweet citrus character remained and the fruit flavors integrated nicely with these new flavors. Quite a spectacular wine I would highly recommend that does not carry the “good year” price premium. A Rayas to drink in the first 15 years.
Lastly we enjoyed a superlative bottle of 1990 Opus One that tasted like one of the best Bordeaux in the room! The 1990 vintage was rated 90 Pts by Parker and he said the wine quit drinking god in 2012 and was now OLD. Well if Old always taste this good sign me up for more Old wine! The wine was drinking perfectly with a ripe cassis and currant core with a certain dried herb Cab family tobacco/anise thing with gravel, spices and leather on the nose. The tannins were mature and had a fine-grained, caressing character. The finish was endless with a mysterious depth of camphor, gravel, red plum and cassis. Probably my favorite wine of the night from a producer that you either love or hate. I loved this one!
As often happens at Graileys, some other wonderful wines were consumed. The wines of the night:
The Best 5 Wines were:
2012 Hoopes Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 Hoopla “The Mutt” Red
2008 Chateau Clinet Pomerol
2010 Littorai Les Larmes Pinot Noir
1999 Jadot Clos de la Roche Grand Cru