TN: A Week's Wines (3xWA, Côte-Rôtie, Champ

[jrufusj]

RECENT WINES - Around Tokyo (3/10/2006-3/19/2006)

Tough week of work, so there was little time to sit down as a family for dinner. But there were a few wines tasted and a good family dinner to end the week...

Wine? Vodka? Shochu? Ice bars?

A couple of glasses with friends at their place before heading out to visit the "Ice Bar" for vodka concoctions and then out for sushi (accompanied by great sudachi sours). The Ice Bar -- what a concept!!! $35 cover charge to go into a place that is so damn cold no one stays for more than one drink. Brought to you by a local impressario in combination with the producers of the Swedish Ice Hotel and Absolut. Brilliant marketing. Not a brilliant experience but you gotta do it once.

• 2002 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Artemis - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/10/2006)
  Velvety darkish red appearance. Nose yields a little bit of oakish vanilla sweet and spice, but is more driven by a single-note cassis fruit. Nose is not quite lush with fruit, but definitely rich. Palate is smaller and tighter than expected from nose, with a bit of oak and a more restrained dark berry fruit. It is never hollow or empty but seems to lack a bit of expected concentration. Good acid is a nice surprise and gives a bit of tautness and structure that replaces the smaller than expected fruit. Finish is of average length and non-remarkable. The structure and size on this are actually very much to my taste. This just lacks a bit of complexity to me worth its price tag. A wine I am happy to encounter at other peoples’ houses, it certainly beats the average in that respect. But it’s not a wine I’ll be buying.
  

An old favorite finds its way to Tokyo

Over several nights with cobbled together bits of food.

• 2004 Marcel Lapierre Morgon - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (3/12/2006)
  I’ve been looking forward to cracking this one, which recently showed up at a small shop near my house. Light and translucent red color. Shows as bright and clean, but not dense – hinting at quenching freshness. Initially closed on the nose, but a minute or two of vigorous aeration brings out hints of crunchy red fruit – as well as an extreme sweaty-bretty kind of funkiness with a hint of rubber as well. The off notes are strong enough that it is hard to taste anything through them. Nonetheless, I soldier on to find a wine lacking a bit in concentration, but having that (pleasantly) thin and easy flowing fruity acidity that can make these wines as refreshing as good tart fruit juice. On the finish, the off notes dominate again. Coming back to this the next day, the off notes are gone and have left behind a nicely typical Morgon that simply lacks scale and a bit of ripeness. There are slight stemmy/green notes that have also faded by the third day, to leave small-scaled but smooth and refreshing mineral, earth and nicely tart red fruit. Lessons here: First, this needs time and I might worry a little about whether every bottle will shed its off notes. Second, what this really lacks is concentration and flavor impact. It is a “mini-me” of the normal Lapierre Morgon. Fair enough, but now I’m looking forward to the 2005 hitting the shelves.
  

Pep me up

After a very long week, a pep-up drink before heading out for the night.

• N.V. Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Brut 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne, Vertus, Champagne (3/17/2006)
  Bright light yellow-gold with restrained and very pretty mousse that moves vigorously up the very center of the glass. Nose starts out with spritzy lemon and the very first rudiments of developing toast. It moves on into a bit of mineral and some deeper white fruit notes. On the palate, nicely cutting acidity and bright apple/citrus fruit combined with a surprisingly deep white plum note. This finishes with more lemon, a tad of yeasty toast, and just a hint of honey. The white plum note is a bit incongruous, but otherwise this is stylistically reminiscent of Salon. Doesn’t have the depth or complexity to compete directly, but a good value under $40. I love good Blanc de Blancs. This also stayed very fresh and kept its mousse over the course of three days. I've had it for about six months, but don't know how long it had been with the merchant. This would certainly hold up to and benefit from a little bottle age.
  

All for a good cause

The three wines on offer at the annual St. Marys school silent auction and fundraising banquet. At least the company was great!

• N.V. Domaine Ste. Michelle Extra Dry - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (3/17/2006)
  Extremely aggressive mousse within light gold wine. Sweetish nose of apple and fermentation. On taking a sip, an absolute wall of foam that surges then subsides to leave a slightly cloying but not entirely unbalanced palate. I’d never seek this out, but it did have the virtue of being better than the next two wines. A subsequent lookup also indicates that it is dirt cheap. Not so bad a pour for a budget-conscious fundraiser.
  
• 2004 Snoqualmie Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (3/17/2006)
  Light, almost whitish color. Nose of tropical fruit and grass, plus an unidentifiable note that was (unpleasantly) haunting. A little thin on the palate, but fairly well balanced. Simple ripe fruit, herbal, and pepper notes with just enough acidity. That damn unidentifiable note comes back to mar the finish. About 3am, I wake up and need to have a pee. Standing groggily at the john, I realize two things: first, I had asparagus as part of the dinner; second, I just figured out what the haunting note in the wine was.
  
• 2002 Snoqualmie Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rosebud - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (3/17/2006)
  Clean purplish color. Nose shows some cassis/berry fruit that is quickly overwhelmed by a green note on the nose and a huge charge of oak. On the palate, the green stemminess is palpable, as are the rough grained wood tannins. Trying vainly to peer past the oak, the wine seemed to have a reasonable dose of red fruit and good balancing acidity. One glass of this and back to the cheap bubbles.
  

All's well that ends well

A nice wine with which to finish. My son wanted to make dinner for the family and proceeded to describe for me the slow-simmered red wine and "meat" stew he wanted to make. For a seven-year old, he concocted a pretty good recipe. With slight alterations (included the addition of some belly pork as the first ingredient to be browned off), this made a great accompaniment to a young Côte-Rôtie.

• 2001 Mouton Pere & Fils Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (3/19/2006)
  Deep rich reddish purple. Nose immediately shows a smoky bacon that matches very well with the stew, but also shows light green olive notes and a pretty floral element. Fruit is pretty closed in, but a bit of aeration and time bring out dark and ripe red berry fruits. Palate is a little brighter, showing cherry fruit notes, along a bit of coffee, some stony earth and good acidity. Fairly quickly, the cherry changes into a nicely concentrated raspberry purée. Tannins are there, but very gentle and subtle. I love the aromatics of older Côte-Rôtie, but I’m inclined to drink this one young for its current richness. A bit of oak shows as roasted coffee and a suave polished edge, but this seems pretty pure. My first bottle; glad I’ve got two more. Good value under $40.
  

My first time with the Mouton Côte-Rôtie and this particular Veueve Fourny bottling. Both impressed. Lapierre was fine but a little disappointing because I approach it with high expectations. Artemis was better than what I normally encounter in such situations. The banquet wines were forgettable, but that's okay. The purpose was to raise money. Still, there are much better cheap wines out there.

Posted from CellarTracker