PINOT MEUNIER DOMAINE CHANDON

I had this @ a fondue restaurant in nyc. I'm not very knowledgeable about my wines but I really loved this bottle. I guess Pinot Meunier grapes are used for champagne? Anyhow, even an amateur could tell there was a lot of depth to this grape. Just really tasty

Pinot Meunier is one of the 3 main grapes used for champagne. I have never tried an ordinary red on this grape.

I know its used in Champagne mostly to make the wine more drinkable early on, but its also the easiest grape of the three to grow so it gives the NV wines some stability which they wouldnt have if they were solely made on say Pinot Noir which is heavily dependent on good weather.

In the prestige Cuveés such as Dom P, Cristal, Belle Epoque, Le Grande Annee, Comtes De Champagne, Salon etc etc, Pinot Meunier is not used as its mostly about 70/30 or 65/35 Pinot Noir/Chardonnay or 100% of either one of those. The Krug vintage is to my knowledge the only prestige cuveé which uses Pinot Meunier - which is one of the reasons you get honey in Krug I believe.

Any thoughts on the Mencia grape of Bierzo. I've tried some value options and haven't been overly thrilled with them. Recommendations? Anybody taste anything a little more premium?

Bought my first "library wine" the other day. A 65 dollar bottle of Pinot from Savannah-Chanelle winery in the Saratoga foothills, which is about an hour-1.5 hours south of Napa Valley. They specialize in Pinot's and I have been a member for about a year. The membership is pretty sweet, it's $44 dollars a quarter and you get two bottles, usually both are valued around 30-35 and are pretty incredible. The one I bought was from their "Tina Marie" Vineyard, which is supposedly their best, we tried it at tasting and I was blown away.

My roommate then joined another winery up in the foothills, Picchetti Winery and I wasn;t as into their wines, but they have this white port called "Angelica Port" which is far and away the best port I have ever had in my life. Just absolutely amazing stuff. Very fruity and smooth.

Honestly you're not missing much. I think Malbec's/most South American wines are quite overrated. However, I am also kind of biased since I think California/Oregon red's are basically the best wines on the planet.

As a novice/beginner (which I still am) wine enthusiast, Catena Malbec (Argentina) was actually the wine that made me dig deeper into the whole "wine thing" as it was the first wine that went beyond 'good wine' or 'bad wine', which was my previous classification, into 'really good wine'.

I'd definitely recommend trying it before writing off the South American Malbecs.

Catena is grossly overrated by RP. 98+ for the 2004 and 2005 Zapata is just ridiculous. That said its cheap and Catena in general makes the type of wine that pleases a lot of people. If you dont like Zapata and Catena in general you should consider if red wine is for you

FYP, he's the dolt who's given them the stratospheric scores. I had the 05 Zapata and thought it was basically as good as the alta, which is normally 1/2 to 60% of the price

Just had this with some Mahi-Mahi that I made. For those that haven't had more riesling, they really need to check more out. It goes great with a lot of food, can age, and can be drunk at a young age too. Even more, one can always find quality bottles of riesling for under $30 and the profound and long lived ones don't normally cost more then $90 a bottle:

• 2007 Markus Molitor Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (10/29/2009)
  nose: very nice and distinct nose of tropical fruits, white fruits, bits of pears and apples, and some real nice underlying tones of minerals and flint
  
  taste: young and exuberant lighter feel with excellent medium+ acidity. The tones are very delicious with well balanced notes of pears, white fruits, tart apples, and some real nice underlying mineral notes. The finish really makes you take note as it just seems to nicely linger
  
  overall: this took a good 1/2 hour to get going, and when it did, it opened into a real nice young riesling. Certainly drinkable now, and doesn't come off as a long distance runner, but this should be able to develop well over the next 15-18 years and be delicious in each different facet of its aging (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I have a bottle of the 2001. Love Markus Molitor.

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=503426

This is the wine I bought fwiw.

This site rules super hard.

Turley, "The White Coat" 2005:

From iconic Zin producer Turley. Blend of Viognier, Roussanne, and Grenache Blanc.

I decanted this for a good hour before trying.

Tropical ripe fruit (apricots, dates?), golden apples, lots of vanilla, and a whole lot of buttery richness. The vanilla/butter/oak is actually a little over powering on the nose BUT the wine isn't as full bodied as I expected (fwiw, I was expecting HUGE). It does have enough acidity to not let it all fall apart. But, in the end, it's a very decadent wine. If big, high alcohol (14.5%), thick white wines are your thing, this wine is for you.

Personally, not one of my favourites, especially for the price tag. I had with ridiculously rich crab crepes, and it paired well. But, probably wouldn't go for it again. I prefer the traditional more acidic, less alcohol version that you see out of Rhone.

Happy Halloween.

I needed something good to chill with after work so this is what I opened tonight:

• 2004 Paolo Scavino Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (10/31/2009)
  nose: a bit tight as would be expected from such a young barolo, but extremely pretty with bits of tar, roses, herbs, dark red cherries, perfumes and some bits of herbal spices. Excellent depth and fairly open with a 2 hour decant
  
  taste: firm tannins and medium/high acidity show off the youth of the wine, but its fairly accessible with plush tones of dark red cherries, herbal spices, roses and some tar. Great balance to this with a real nice plump medium feel right now
  
  overall: great acidity and tannins give this a great spine. Its rather shocking how accessible some of the 04s that I've come across have been so far, but that's not to say that they aren't long distance runners, because they do seem to be. There is a plump aspect to the wine that is extremely enjoyable and sexy. This should really develop and could use a couple of years to get fully going (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Can someone give me some advice on decanting? I bought a balloon decanter the other day and gave it its first use on a young Montmartre last night and I did notice some improvement. Is there some sort of age/decanting time ratio? Also, how long can I leave it decanting? I finished about half the bottle last night but the rest was in the decanter overnight. Is it going to be spoiled now? Will it be spoiled tomorrow? Any advice would be appreciated.

harold, its a hard question to answer as how much decanting depends on how one likes their wine. I would say, with some of the young 07 cali pinots, they will need a good amount of air as they are extremely young


the wine will probably be fine if you revisit it today. What I would reccomend you getting is a vacu-vin. They are easy to get at any decent wine store, and what it is, is a vaccum pump and it comes with a couple of rubber stoppers. You just pump it till you hear a few clicks and then the wine is then sealed and will be good for a few days

mmmm, bubbles. Really, popping open a bottle of champagne is always fun. I really think that one of the more fun things in life is just drinking champagne for no good reason other then its fun to drink. People drink it too often as purely a celebration drink. I had this after work today:

• 2000 G. Fluteau Champagne Blanc de Blancs Cuvee Reservee - France, Champagne, Côte des Bars (Aube), Champagne (11/5/2009)
  nose: delicious and round nose of lemon peels, bits of almonds, white fruits, apples, and bits of baking spices. Excellent depth and very well balanced that just seems to jump out of the glass
  
  taste: great medium+ acidity that gives a refreshing twist to the wine with a good amount of green apples hitting right off the bat along with tasty tones of baking spices, almonds, and some bits of white fruits
  
  overall: Just flat out tasty. Excellent balance and depth on both the nose and palate that really works well. Perfect on its own and would also work great with a lot of food (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker




the best thing about this, is that it only costs $33ish. So much quality grower champagne for great prices, its ridiculously under rated

I am gonna try and find that here in Denmark. I know few things better than finding cheap but good champagne

KDawg

Do you have any experience with Charlemagne?

corton-charlemagne, yes, a fair amount

kdawg, ive been buying vieux telegraphe since you recommended it to me, got a case from 04/05/06 chilling now, but ive been told 07 is going to be the most ridiculous year ever for the region? do you know when the 07 la craus come out? have you tasted it? thoughts?

Mention of Jay Miller ITT a few days ago. Just thought I would say that I would completely ignore any score given by him. He rates Australian wine for the Wine Advocate these days so I have quite a bit of experience with wines he has rated. I'm no fan of Robert Parker or his ratings, but I at least respect him as having a decent palate. Some of Miller's ratings have been ludicrous though, the most egregious being 100 points for the 2006 Glaetzer Amon Ra Shiraz. I've tasted this wine on three occasions and if you like the style (I don't) it might find its way into the 95 point range. 100 points is inexplicable.

chris, does james halliday have a site that is free to the public to read his reviews(too lazy to google right now)? Basically all of the aussie reviewers in the states are crap IMO and are heavily focused on barossa wines as opposed all of the other regions of australia

I don't really rate Halliday either to be honest, although I'd certainly take his reviews over Advocate, Spectator et al (Harvey Steinman and Jay Miller are both considered a bit of a laughing stock among wine nerds here). A friend of mine who is a boutique winemaker and in training to be a Master of Wine recently opined that Halliday is losing his palate, he is after all over 70 now. What is definitely true is that he tastes far too many wines. In an effort to be comprehensive for his annual wine book, he tastes anything up to 150 wines a day for days on end. imo you simply can't do justice to wines doing that.

As far as I know there's nowhere reviews are offered for free, but I have a subscription to The Wine Front, run by a couple of guys called Gary Walsh and Campbell Mattinson. Subscription is only ~$US 35 a year. They make no effort to be comprehensive, but probably average 3-4 reviews a day. They taste all the wines over a period of a few days and usually only post reviews of wines they thought were decent buys. Generally they cover wines just released or about to be released, but sometimes they'll report on vertical tastings they've attended, etc. Walsh in particular I like, he has a great writing style, an excellent palate, and an interest in the cooler climate areas of Australia - in particular a fetish for the Hunter Valley. The pair of them also release an annual called the Big Red Wine Book, which has wines not covered on The Wine Front and as the name suggests covers only red wine.

The only problem for you would be getting hold of some of the wines they mention - even I can find it tricky to track down some of the more obscure stuff. Unless you have the capacity to ship wine to the US yourself, I would guess that the majority of the wines they mention will be unavailable.

Oh and while most of the wines they cover are Australian, they do also cover some New Zealand and other imported wines.

Oh and while I live in South Australia, the Barossa is one of my least favourite regions. Even when I want a big, bold, rich shiraz, which is rarely, I generally prefer McLaren Vale.

gonna continue the riesling love, especially since thanksgiving is coming up in the US. Riesling is great with a lot of foods, and is great for turkey too. I paired this with some jerk chicken on some jambalaya and red beans:

• 2002 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe (11/12/2009)
  nose: delicious nose of some petrol tones, all sorts of green and red apples, pears, and white fruits with a touch of minerality lying beneath
  
  taste: sleek and smooth feel with excellent medium/high acidity and juicy tones of green apples, pears, bits of petrol and mineral notes
  
  overall: this is really good right now. Its right at the begining of what should be a long window and is nice and round on the palate and leaves a real nice and long finish . The color is a lighter gold right now and the aromatics are a little bit tight on pop n pour (93 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

this was from this past saturday. Good variety of wines for just three of us:

KICKING BACK ON THE ROOFTOP - Shane's, chicago IL (11/7/2009)

With the weather being as nice as it was this late in the year, shane, ward, and I kicked back on the rooftop of shane's building
CdPs
A nice range of younger CdPs. THe Telegraphe and the La Nerthe are starting to drink, but they seem like they can go a ways. The Papet needs a good amount of time and should be a real attractive wine in a few years

• 2000 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  nose: great nose with lots of garrigue, black cherries, black fruits, roast beef, saddle leather and cracked pepper tones. Great depth and extremely well balanced with a real classic nose right now
  
  taste: Excellent medium feel with good tannins and well balanced tones of garrigue, black cherries, roast beef, along with a whole lot of incense and perfume tones that seem to explode on the mid palate. Real good depth along with the feeling being fairly suave makes this fairly drinkable right now
  
  overall: still a young CdP, this was very drinkable with a good decant. This comes off as entering what should be a long window and it should offer even more in another 5 years (92 pts.)
• 1998 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Cadettes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  nose: really good and deep nose of black cherries, liqueur tones, dark red fruits, hoison sauce, various spice tones and bits of pepper. Very well balanced and very aromatic right off the bat, and it gained with air
  
  taste: great medium feel with rich tones of mesquitte, leather, hoison sauce, black cherries, liqueur tones, and some spice tones. Good tannins still show themselves and the wine is very balanced, but seems a bit reserved at this moment
  
  overall: This needs to be decanted for an hour or so. This was showing best after about two hours of air, but the palate still seemed holding back a bit. Comes off as having a long life ahead of it, and it will most likely show even better in another 3-5 years (93 pts.)
• 2005 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  nose: good and rich nose filled with garrigue, creamed red fruits, red cherries, spices, bits of meaty tones, and some leather. Great depth and balance on the nose and has a more red fruited base to it right now
  
  taste: good tannins and a delicious medium feel with well balanced tones of garrigue, creamed red fruits, red cherries, spices and some leather. Great depth with a real polished feel to it underneath the tannins
  
  overall: this should develop real nicely over the next 5-8 years and seems to have a great spine to have it last a good while. There is a real tasty red fruit style to this and there is a real good purity and depth to the wine already (92 pts.)

Dueling Oregon 00s
This was single blind. Both shane and I knew the wines we were both bringing for this, and ward served them to us blind. Both shane and I used an oregon pinot glass and a grand cru burgundy glass. This was my first experience with a Oregon pinot glass, and the DDO Laurene came off as very expressive right now in it. I would've liked to have tried the BF in the oregon glass, but it wasn't to happen

• 2000 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge
  nose: has a real good richness to it with balanced and plush tones of dark red cherries, mushrooms, whisps of smoke tones, plums, violets and a hint of perfumes. Great depth and expression, but also comes off as not giving everything it wants to give right now
  
  taste: rich and smooth medium/full feel with cherries, plums, fresh picked berries, violets and a hint of smoke tones. Good tannins still give this some backbone
  
  overall: This still comes off as fairly young. Its just starting to evolve but seems like it needs another 3 years to really start to hit its stride. Its accessible with a good decant right now (92 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
  nose: nose: captivating and effusive nose filled with delicious tones of red fruits, mineral rich earth, red florals, plums, red cherries, and some bits of smoke tones. Extremely well balanced on the nose and is really sucks you in
  
  taste: very classy and silky with a lot of polish on the palate and plush tones of red cherries, minerals, earth tones, red fruits, and a touch of red florals. Drinking beautiful right now as this just flowed across the palate
  
  overall: a real beautiful wine. Captivating and elegant, this was extremely balanced and pretty. It just oozed class all around and really seems to be in a great spot and should hold like this for a while as the acidity was still very good too (93 pts.)

A lone barolo
This was drank over the night and was the meal wine. This was paired up with some thin crust pizzas

obviously its very young, but this would be a real nice one to have in the cellar as it ages

• 2004 Ceretto Barolo Zonchera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: lovely and perfumed nose of roses, tar, red cherries, herbs, bits of juniper spices, and some pretty tones of fresh strawberries. Very well balanced and it took awhile to get going, but had a real class and femininity to it that was very beguiling on the nose
  
  taste: high acidity and big tannins show off the youth of the wine with a real pretty medium feel and tones of strawberries, red cherries, roses, and bits of herbs
  
  overall: a very young barolo as would be expected, but shows off a lot to like for some time down the road. A real attractive and feminine style forms the base for the wine with fresh tones on both the nose and palate. Good depth right now, this should really blossom with another 8 years to let the nuances come out of the wine (90 pts.)

A real fun and laid back night. It's not often that its in the 60s this late in the year in Chicago, so you always have to take advantage of those chances. Real nice night, with good friends and good wine
Posted from CellarTracker

Turley Juvenile 2007:

Decanted for a couple hours beforehand.

I'm not much of a Zin drinker, as it's just not my style whatsoever. But, this offering from Turley (their cheapest offering) was on sale, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Loads of spice, pepper, berry fruit (blackberry/blueberry), and heat (alcohol is 15.8) fill the nose. Palate is surprisingly balanced considering the alcohol, with a lot of juicy fruit without being jammy. Tannins are present but balanced. Palate isn't as complex as nose, but tasty nonetheless. Solid wine.