WTN: Quaffing in the Quad Cities

[Brad Ballinger]

Okay, perhaps the tag line of the post title is a bit harsh. My employer has taken me to Holland, Miami, and Singapore in the past month or so. I can tough out Davenport, Iowa, for one week. It helps knowing a fellow wine geek who can round up some drinking buddies. He assured me that I'd be welcome since I would be an excuse to get together and drink good wine. The group assembled at someone's home and we grilled ribeyes.

The only theme we has was "wines that don't suck."

1996 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon, Sycamore Vineyard, Napa Valley. We started with the "mystery" wine. It was obviously a California Cab from the get go. The nose, however, did show some off aromas of band-aids. But there were other friendly notes of smoke, herbs, some earth. Medium-bodied, and hollow in the midpalate. Tannins on the dusty side. Not a blockbuster wine, but that's no big deal. It was a pleasant enough lighter Cab, but not one I'd get overly excited about.

1996 J. Moreau & Fils Chablis Valmur Grand Cru. This may come across as disingenuous since I brought it, but this wine kicked some serious ass. And it still has a long life ahead of it. Nose of lemon oil and polished steel. Plenty of earth. Loads of acid. Lemony with a small amount of melted butter. Showed more mineral the longer it was opened. Where are the scallops when you need them?

2002 Wind River Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. The juice is from Sonoma Coast, the wine is vinified in Waterloo, Iowa. Nose of hair permanent solution and cola. VA burn on the finish as well. Nothing to hold interest in between. Violates the theme of the night.

1998 Chateau de Chamiery (A. Rodet) Mercurey. Earthy, funky, smoky, leathery. Not fruity, but who gives a shit? On the light-bodied side of Burgundy. Developed complexity as it was opened. A lighter vintage, but a wine with a bit of personality.

1999 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Aloxe Corton. Quite a bit of candied fruit on the nose that is also present in the mouth. Bigger and tighter in structure than the Mercurey. Fruit-driven. Started to develop some complexity with air, and may benefit yet from aging.

2001 Siduri Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands. I don't know what it is with me and Siduri wines, but this nose was strong in the alcohol department. There's a faint element of cherries and herbs and then the alcohol burns the membranes of my nose. Some non-integrated oak on the palate. And more alcohol.

2002 Loring Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands. This is my first experience with Loring. The alcohol is higher than the Siduri, but it's not as out of balance. Perfumed nose that battles the oak. Very soft and not showing a lot of acidity, showcasing a mouthful of red fruits that are on the sweet side. It's a pleasant wine, but I might expect more for $45.

1999 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Oakville. Nose that shows of rich blackcurrants, spice, and vanilla oak. Tight, but exquisitely balanced. Has a way to go to open up, and I'm not going to be around long enough on this evening to experience it. I'm sure this would be a treasure on day 2, but I don't think it will see day 2.

Next came a mini Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino vertical (1994-96). Had I known that this was planned, I would've packed the 1997 in my car.

1994 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino. Nice bricking color. Of the three, this one was the most austere, but not in a thin and diluted way. Nicely balanced, and a great companion to the ribeyes. Nice mineral component.

1995 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino. The consensus best of the three. If you were to round out the austerity of the 94, you would have this wine. There's more of everything here, particularly spice. It also comes across as more "mature" (whereas the 94 may be on the decline). Enough tannin to still allow one to sit on this. Wonderfully complex.

1996 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino. This wine is tight and tannic. Also shows more wood, but that may be because the fruit is being beat into submission at the moment by the tannins. My guess is this wine was a stunner upon release, and maybe it will return once the tannins lose their grip. Maybe.

1995 Hugel Riesling VT, Alsace. A pleasant diesel aroma on the nose. Caramelized tropical fruit, but on the light and acidic side, not the syrupy sweet side. Needs a good stinky cheese, which (along with the scallops) is absent tonight. But Dennis wasn't going to leave without opening it. It's a wine that I think will improve yet with age.

This is report one. The same group is getting together on Wednesday night at a restaurant to drink even more. I must be one hell of an excuse. This is a good thing because I brought two other wines that didn't get opened. Now I'm the one with the excuse.