By:Ryan Tedder
Oh me oh my how high quality white wines are right in my sweet spot! We drank some epic reds last Friday getting ready for the holiday weekend. What really resonated with me when I walked in the door today were these 4 bottles of white wine.
OK OK I know that there is a bottle of Rose in this mix but damn it is so good I don’t want it to get lost on me waiting to write a rose blog. We started the love with a stellar bottle of 2013 Entre Nous Rose from Oakville. This is a tiny 1 acre plot in the heart of Oakville that is planted 100% to Cabernet Sauvignon that never gets ripe enough to go into the final wine so they started grooming it to make fantastic rose wines. The production is tiny at around 120 cases and it has been a favorite of mine every year when I get lucky enough to get some. Celia Welch crafts a Rose with impressive body and structure with nice verve between plump rose fruit (Pomegranite, cherry, raspberry, roses, sweet citrus) and nice minerailty and crisp acid. I got three bottles left of this for someone that need a kick ass Rose for summer-but only 3 bottles on one:)
Next I had a wine I have not had a few years, the 2006 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape was showing wonderfully if not a bit flabby (which I find in a lot of high quality Rhone whites). This wine showed loads of yellow and white flowers, light almond, lemon oil, quince, honey, peach and a light salinity. There was an exotic, tart tropical note that played well with the opulent extract and oak on the wines. A creamy mouthfull of full-throttle wine that still maintained a nice minerality despite its lower acid profile.
Next a really stunning white from the forgotten 1992 vintage was drinking like a champ. The 1992 Carillon Puligny Montrachet Les Perriers 1er Cru was everything properly aged, non pre-moxed white burg should be. Layer after layer of honey, opulent yellow apple pie, grilled pear, marzipan, honeysuckle, tulips, even some apricot, peach, mandarin orange. Wow wow wow. When these are on they are hard to beat.
Lastly we finished with some excellent 2010 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne. I have written about this wine a few times now but might I just say that this is a wine to stockpile if you love White Burgundy. It tastes great now but will likely evolve into the richness and complexity that the Carillon above showed. For the price it is a relative steal compared to some of the Burgundy inflation I am witnessing in the market.
Another great day of whites at Graileys. Word to the wise-drink more whites!!!