Category Archives: VINTAGES Classics

Rat Pack Picks, List of Icons, VINTAGES Classics, February 2012

 

PAUL AUTARD CUVÉE LA CÔTE RONDE CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2007 (221911, $59) arrives en retard and my elation is ushered in by a bard’s prose. Cassis in all its gratifying forms is the critical buzz code. Noticeable oak for CdP, black beauty, decadent filly. The coast is clear for the Côte to cellar for a decade or more. Côte Ronde is a cuvée fellow Rhône winemakers line up to purchase, the wine equivalent to restos local chefs go for grub on days off. JM-WS (95), RP (95), RJ (93), JR-ST (92+), CT’s (93) and RR (94) noting “…not a hard edge to be found. The wine has stunning balance.”

Autard Cote Ronde 2007

BODEGAS SAN ROMÁN 2006 (250985, $49) is the toast of Toro, Mr. T. to me. A $60+ US release that is so freaking CVR** I pity the fool that takes a pass. Displays black, inky and masculine like a Gombe Chimpanzee, tannins thrashing madly. A dictator with a stern warning that no challenge to power will occur for a minimum five to ten. Touted by TM-WS (93) and MS-WE (94) who claims “San Román is once again one of the two or three best wines from Toro.” Iberian conociendo Quentin Sadler of now defunct Catavino calls it “a great wine.” RP (93) and JR-IWC (92) round out the reviews.

San Roman 2006

Another Wine Tasted:

CASTELLO DI AMA, CHIANTI CLASSICO, VIGNETO BELLAVISTA 2007 (163337, $159). Now this is something other. One foot not just in the new world inhabited by the likes of Kosta Browne, but in the future of what Chianti Classico will be. The other sends me back to an August 1995 afternoon in Lecchi, beckoned down a narrow flight of stairs by una signora vecchia and offered a taste of the ’90 Bellavista in Ama’s cluttered enoteca. Lorenza Selasti-Pallanti tells me the woman still pours in that shop and is now 80 years-old. Guess she wasn’t so old in ’95…this ’07 shares an affinity with that ’90, of burgundy plum, earth, spice and smoke. Would like to read its tea leaves in 2025.  mjg 93

Other icons of note:

CHÂTEAU D’YQUEM 2007 (99382, $895)

E. GUIGAL EX-VOTO ERMITAGE 2007 (54130, $325)

DOMAINE ZIND HUMBRECHT VIEILLES VIGNES BRAND RIESLING 2007 (271866, $89)

HENRIOT CUVÉE DES ENCHANTELEURS BRUT CHAMPAGNE 1996 (83774, $225)

IL CABERLOT 2007 (167296, 1500 mL, $354)

ROMANO DAL FORNO AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA 2004 (711440, $399)

QUINTARELLI AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2000 (224485, $399) 

PENFOLDS GRANGE 2005 (336388, $499)

ACHAVAL FERRER FINCA BELLA VISTA MALBEC 2008 (178103, $95) 

CATENA ZAPATA NICOLÁS CATENA ZAPATA 2007 (662702, $99)

JONATA LA SANGRE DE JONATA 2007 (220517, $145)

JOSEPH PHELPS INSIGNIA 2007 (737346, 1500 mL, $575)

STAGLIN 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007 (716258, $229)

SHAFER HILLSIDE SELECT CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007 (735712, $279)

Disappointed by the Price Increase:
CIACCI PICCOLOMINI D’ARAGONA PIANROSSO BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2006 (162958, $95)

IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio

CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio

Good to Go!

More Picks from VINTAGES CLASSICS, FEBRUARY 2012

Here a first. An endorsement of not only two wines by the same producer, but two Mâconnais. Get past the sexual innuendo of the appellation and give papa JJ Vincent some sugar. These are Chards of explosive character; wood prominent but not dominant, richly textured, party on the buds. Secret stashers consider Pouilly-Fuissé a hidden gem. According to Steven Spurrier, Château Fuissé’s Les Combettes, Les Brulés and Le Clos “are likely to be the first vineyards in the appellation to be classified Premier Cru.” Vincent’s wines do not vacillate, speak the truth and receive attention without ever asking for it. Some non-fiction for your reading pleasure:

http://simplywines.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/chateau-fuisse/

CHÂTEAU-FUISSÉ LES BRULÉS POUILLY-FUISSÉ 2009 (259820, $49) from the south facing ‘burnt’ slope is crème de la crème, fraîche et caramel. Consensus converges on 2013 but contemporary oak attack to me suggests cellaring for longer than what you might read. WS (92), WE (92), BH (91), CT’s (91), RJ (90) and Decanter (****, 16.5) are in the know.

Fuisee Brules 2009

CHÂTEAU-FUISSÉ VIEILLES VIGNES POUILLY-FUISSÉ 2009 (947721, $54) is the showier of the two. Extroverted, flirty, ready to dance. My note: The meritorious Mâconnais, stupid good with mounds of melon, pear and honey. A huge step up from the already impressive ’09 taxi squad teammates. Chards of diamond acidity cut through the nectarous textures and flavours. Streaks of genius.  mjg 92

Fuisse Viellies 2009

IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio

CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio

Good to Go!

VINTAGES CLASSICS FEBRUARY 2012

A link to the release:

http://www.vintages.com/classics/cc_main.shtml

Flip Book:

http://www.vintages.com/classics/111025/index.shtml

PDF:

http://www.vintages.com/classics/cc_111025pdf_en.shtml

From penal colony to world wine power, Australia has crossed many a bridge in its compendious 250 years. Now something is amiss. VINTAGES flitted “First Families” back on April 30th, “Aussie Somewhereness” on January 21st but now the gesture resembles a flipped bird towards the LDU. Four wines represented. Four? Two years ago there were 36. So why has VINTAGES abandoned the cobbers? Are the arbiters disgusted by rows of reductive tinctures languishing on shelves like tin soldiers in a hobby shop? Consider this. Speculative investment into an already strong Aussie dollar has soared since the beginning of the year, with the downside heaving a negative impact on sectors such as manufacturing, tourism and yes, wine exports. VINTAGES stopped buying Oz because consumers are transparent in their quest for value and IVR* from Chile, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand and South Africa. Fault not the winemakers from the hot continent. The economic lot handed to them beats down their competitive spirit. Looking back 10 years that is almost hard to believe. OK, a fair crack of the whip for a true blue battler charitably down $12 from ’07.

MITOLO REIVER SHIRAZ 2008 (41145, $43) is a Barossan dinki-di with all the bramble, savoury earth and pho spice one can imagine. Sure, the compressed berries and sharp twang will go to town like a sour, hard candy and render one full as a goog. Fair suck of the sav, mate. Cry me a reiver and re-acquaint your mind with flavour. HS-WS (94), LPB-RP (93), JO (93) and JH (95) are followers. Will drink beautifully in five to seven.

IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio

CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio

Good to Go!