Jenn and I were out in San Diego for a couple of days so she could attend a business conference (and I could tag along and golf). As is our customary habit, we brought out a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy during our downtimes. Additionally, we try to pick a couple of good restaurants to eat at and see what the local wine lists are like. Here are my notes from the week.
Ruinart NV Rose Champagne – While having dinner at Market in Del Mar, we bought this wine off the restaurant list. Relative to the quality, it was reasonably priced and one of the dozen or so champagnes that they had on their list. Every bottle of Ruinart I have has to fight the memory of the first two experiences Jenn and I had with their wines. Both of those were prior to 1999, and both were horrible. One was at home, and one was at the Bubble Lounge in NYC (with Susan and Rich). Those wines were completely devoid of fruit, and had a skunkiness to them that I can’t forget. I wrote the producer off completely…even so much that I wouldn’t even entertain the possibility of visiting them in Champagne when we visited. That’s a sad comment given that they have a fantastic reputation and are one of the older producing houses, and that some of their older vintage wines are supposedly terrific. After reading a lot of notes about how good their wines are, I have been making a conscious effort to retry their wines, and I’m glad I did.
This Rose was a great combination of the last two sparkling Roses I wrote about. It was mostly pink, with just a drop of orange in the coloring. The mousse was very fine, and the bouquet fragrant. It had both fruit, floral, and mineral notes on the palate, along with a fresh and bright acidity that made it a great food wine. It was much more balanced than either the Roederer Estate and the Argyle Roses previously written about, but also more expensive than both of those. However, the quality to price ratio was not out of line. We drank this bottle with our appetizers (poached egg & bacon and soft shell crab) as well as our entrees (duo of beef and scallops with Dungeness crab stuffed prawns). It was great with both. It had enough body and acid to handle the beef, but light and fresh enough to go with the seafood. Grade of B+.
Rivers-Marie 2006 Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir – This is one of my favorite California Pinot Noir producers, and matched with a Sonoma vineyard like Summa, they turn out great wines. This wine is a dark pinot, with the color being a reddish-purple, with just a bit of rust. Nose and palate are well matched showing aromas and flavors of sassafras cola, cherry, orange peel, and spice. The initial taste carries enough acid to be a food wine, and the finish shows a bit of tannin as well. I thought this wine was still a bit young and in a bit of an awkward phase (not fresh, but not mature either). This can sometimes work, but for this specific bottle, I was looking for a bit more of either direction. Still not bad and I’m glad I have more. Grade of B.
Hourglass 2006 Blueline Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – Jeff Smith and Bob Foley make some terrific wines at Hourglass. The Blueline vineyard, which is just north of Saint Helena on the east side of the Silverado trail, borders the Switchback vineyards (a vineyard Foley knows well as he makes their wine as well), and houses the new Hourglass winery. 2006 was the initial vintage for the Blueline wines and complements the regular Hourglass bottling (which comes from the Hourglass vineyard on Lodi Lane). While more subtle than the regular Hourglass wine, there is nothing overtly subtle about this wine. Fragrance of cherries, blackberries, and vanilla, influenced by the oak, jump from this glass and fills the room. The palate is more of the same, where a nice balance of currants, raspberry, cherry, spicebox, herbs, vanilla, and oak coat your tongue. This is a dark, full bodied California cabernet, that can be a meal by itself without being filling or too overpowering. It borders on ‘fruit-bomb’, but not in a negative connotation kind of way. Just delicious to drink now, yet should stay this way for a while. Grade of A-/A.
Cedric Bouchard NV Inflorescence Val Vilaine Champagne – Cedric Bouchard is one of the up and coming producers in Champagne and well worth trying if you come across his wines. Interestingly, all his wines are vintage wines, but for some reason are labeled as non-vintage. Just one wide generalization about them, they need time in the bottle, or decanting (yes, you can do that with Champagne as well). This bottle was from his first production vintages imported into the US, which I believe was 2006 for the Val Vilaine. It still shows very young with the key aspect being the acid attack on the tongue, followed by some citrus, butter and bread flavors. These wines are a fuller style, much like a Meursault white burgundy with bubbles. Jenn and I had this wine with some Boar’s Head Camembert cheese, and a fresh baguette, which worked reasonably well. Grade of B-, but shows potential to be higher.
Andre Clouet NV Cuvee 1911 Champagne – Jenn and I took this wine down to the outdoor firepit at the Grand Del Mar Hotel which overlooks the third hole of the golf course. The beautiful setting was only matched by the beauty of this Champagne. This bottle had everything one could want…or at least I would want. The wine was straw yellow colored with a fine mousse and tiny bubbles. The initial nose had a touch of lemon zest, bread dough, and honey. The palate was full of flavor, by not heavy. It had hazelnuts, lemon, orange rind, and toast. The acid was enough to make your mouth water, but not astringent or biting. The finish lasted 20 seconds or so, if you could wait that long for your next sip. To me, this is clearly past that initial phase of fresh and bright, but not yet into the phase of rich and honeyed. Thus, it’s really showing aspects of both. I recently bought a couple more bottles of this wine, and I’m thinking I should go back and get more. Grade of A.
Pahlmeyer 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon – They say that timing is everything, and timing came into play twice in regards to this wine. This wine was selected by our hosts at the vendor sponsored dinner wrapping up Jenn’s conference. Jenn and I had arrived just as they brought the decanted wine out to the group, and thus, were lucky enough to each get a reasonably sized glass…a lot of folks missed this wine completely (good timing #1). The wine had a dark garnet color with just some slight bricking on the edges. Regardless of the bricking, this wine is drinking great right now (good timing #2). I tend to like wines with a bit of age, and this wine hit home for me. The fruit, mostly blackberry, currant and cherry, was complemented by a touch of oak, some cinnamon, and a hint of leather. The wine was still well structured, showing grip from smooth tannins on the finish. Only had one glass of this wine, but boy, was it good. Grade of A.
Chateau Montelena 2007 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – This was the main wine of the evening for the vendor dinner. Still young and a bit closed yet, it showed some promise. The nose was muted, but did show some signs of dark berry and tobacco. The medium-bodied palate was a combination of earth, black currants, blueberry, blackberry, and spice, along with some oak and cigar box cedar. This was more of an elegant wine than a fruit-bomb. Despite the flavors, it didn’t come off as big, or overwhelming. A wine that’s very easy to drink several glasses with and without food. Grade of B.
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