Wines of July 2011

I haven’t posted any wine notes in a while, despite having consumed quite a few wines. The primary reason for this was I didn’t really like my wine notes. Wine is so subjective, and recent conversations about some of the wines I’ve had with the people I’ve had them with prove that everyone gets something different out each taste, bottle, and experience. So, as I am no expert, I was unsure what relevance my tastes provide to others. Thus, how could I change my notes to be more relevant? My current line of thinking is to focus on what the wine was, what the overall impression from the group drinking it seemed to be (from my perspective and interpretation, of course), where it was bought, how much it cost, and whether I would buy it again given the opportunity. So, here goes…

The following wines were drank at my house with Jenn, Steve & Mary Bellai, and Jeff & Dana McIntire.

NV Marc Hebrart Brut Rose Champagne – I really like the Hebrart wines and this wine was well received. I bought this from Premier Cru for around $30. Well worth the value and I would definitely buy this again.

2004 August West Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir – This was the controversial wine of the day, but not because it wasn’t uniformly liked. It was because we couldn’t decide what the flavors were as everyone had their own opinion. Still a good wine and for around $40 originally from Wine Library, worth purchasing. Not likely to find this wine around now, however, and if you do, be careful of the storage conditions. Alternate retail purchases of this wine showed significant heat damage, and a shadow of the wine it should be.

NV Lallement Brut Rose Champagne – I originally bought a case of this wine from the Pluckemin Inn after having it at a trade tasting. Retail price is around $50 and I believe it’s worth it. Really good wine that has been well liked, except for one corked bottle that wasn’t brought to my attention until half was gone. Would definitely buy this wine again.

NV Larmandier-Bernier Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – This is another wine that I bought after a trade tasting at the Pluckemin Inn. Retail price is around $45 and this wine has never been anything less than very good. Well liked, it would deserve a repurchase.

2004 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon – I have been on the Rivers-Marie mailing list since the beginning, although I dropped off at one point for no good reason. This cabernet is always terrific, and I always wish I had more of it. Price was $55, but I’ve never seen it at Retail. Beautiful wine that I wish there was more of, both available, and in my cellar.

2005 Schramsberg Querencia Brut Rose champagne – I bought this wine directly from the winery after having it at the harvest party in 2008. I had tried the Querencia bottlings before, and was never that impressed. This vintage was difference. A “spicy” rose, as opposed to overly fruity, I’ll look to re-buy this in the vintage I worked the harvest (2008). Price from the winery was around $41 prior to shipping.

The following couple of wines were shared with Susan and Rich Lahey at our house…

2005 Nicholas Rossignol Volnay – When the 2005 Burgundy vintage came out, it had such fan-fare that I thought I should try some out. I purchased this wine from Woodland Hills Wine Company for around $50. I don’t know if this was a great value purchase, but the wine was excellent, and well like by all of us. I like these elegant burgundies, so I’ll keep my eye out for more of this type.

2005 Roblet-Monnot Volnay Cuvee St. Francois – This was also purchased from Woodland Hills for around $60. Another good wine that we all liked and again, another wine, or type of wine, that I would look to buy more of. I do need to understand that value relationship better, but I got enough pleasure out of the wine to be happy for now.

1999 Pol Roger Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – I really like Pol Roger’s wines. Over the last couple of years, it seems like they have gotten more expensive. This wine was bought at Premier Cru for $75, which was a good price at the time. The wine was a bit of a disappointment the first time around as it was already a bit oxidized. I’ll wait to try my other purchased bottles prior to buying more.

2008 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – Kutch is another wine producer that I have been on the mailing list since the start. Always a small allocation, and a once a year order, so there aren’t many of these bottles to go around. I’ve seen Jamie’s wines in restaurants, especially the better NYC ones along with the Pluckemin Inn, but never at retail. This wine was $42 and worth every penny. I’ll be taking my full allocation again this year.


Sarah (Jenn’s Mom), Hank (Sarah’s husband), Caitlyn, and Keira (Jenn’s nieces) came to the house for a quick stop. With dinner we had a couple of wines…

1996 Bollinger Grande Annee Brut Champagne – Bollinger is one of my favorite producers, so I like to keep a look at for places that sell it. Imagine my surprise when our local Sam’s Club started selling this…exciting. It originally started at around $85 per bottle, and I bought a few. It must not have sold, however, as it went down to around $65, then to around $45, and then finished at a whopping $36. I bought around three cases overall. Unfortunately, not all the bottles have been up to snuff…the chance you take. This bottle was good, but not great. Still worth $36, and I’m sure some of the other bottles will be both bad, and terrific.

2008 Aldin Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – This is the second label from Karl Lawrence, and this is a great value wine. You can only get this direct from the winery, and it’s seemingly harder to get than the regular label. For $32, it’s an awesome wine and never disappoints.


The next couple of wines were just consumed with Jenn at home after long days of work…

2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee Chateauneuf-du-Pape – I bought a six pack of this wine from a friend for $55 a bottle. The cork was totally shot, and just crumpled when I tried to pull it out. I expected the wine to be awful, but it was actually pretty good. Not as good as the last bottle that I had, which was awesome and drinking really well. Four more to go and I’m optimistic about the possibilities despite the lower performance of this bottle.

1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs – Taittinger’s top of the line Champagne can be sheer awesomeness in a bottle when you hit it right. I bought a 6 pack of this wine for $110 at Hi-Time wines. The first bottle I had could have been 4 years old instead of 12. This is drinking so young right now, but has a lot of potential. My guess is that I’ll be happy with this purchase later on, but the price right now is a bit high relative to the current pleasure.

2008 Rivers-Marie Theiriot Vineyard Chardonnay – I got on the Rivers-Marie mailing list to buy reds…Pinot and Cabs. However, when Thomas Rivers Brown started making chardonnay, I decided to give it a try. I don’t really like many still whites, as I guess I’m the stereotypical cab drinker. However, this wine was awesome. I basically drank the whole bottle myself, and enjoyed every drop. For $50 off the mailing list, I think I could serve this wine to anyone and everyone and it would impress them.


Brian & Molly Kennedy, along with Scilla and Adam Albanese, came over to the house for the weekend to hang by the pool and fight off some of the heat. The next couple of wines were shared with them including the sparkling wines being sabered by Scilla and Molly.

2000 Schramsberg Brut Reserve champagne – this wine showed extremely well and was well liked. For $60 direct from the winery, it’s a bargain. I think it’s a bit more expensive now from the winery and at retail, however, the Reserve is well worth a try. If you like Pinot Noir based sparkling wines, you have to give it a try.

NV Diebolt Vallois Brut Rose Champagne – This wine was good, but as about a third of the bottle was not finished, not a crowd pleaser. Jenn and I had this together on a previous occasion and really liked it. For around $40 from Premier Cru, I think it’s a reasonable value. Overall I like this producer, and plan on buying this and other bottlings from them in the future.

1998 Duval Leroy Brut Blanc de Chardonnay Champagne – We started the day with this wine, and I have yet to have a Duval Leroy Champagne that I don’t like. It seemed to provide pleasure to all, so I’ll continue to seek out these wines, especially for around $43. Other things of note, the 1996 version of this wine was absolutely terrific, and the 1998 vintage (same as this bottle) that Jenn and I shared at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was memorable (along with the food!).

NV Jose Dhondt Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – Jose Dhondt wines tend to be a bit pricey as this wine was around $55 from High Time Wines, with the vintage wines starting at around $75. The wines seem to benefit, in my opinion, with some bottle age. This was well liked, and I’ll continue to buy these wines, but I’ll keep a look out for retail discount sales.

2009 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – this wine was $42 from the mailing list, and boy was it good. Afterwards Brian asked if I ever don’t take my full allocation, to please let him know as he would like to buy some. Sure thing…but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Sorry!

NV L. Aubry Brut Rose Champagne – the first time I had the Aubry wines was at Bar Boulud with Paul and Sarah Alvarez. It was good then, and while not a producer you see at a lot of retailers, the wines are good and worth buying. This wine was around $46 from Hi-Time wines, so not cheap. However, worth a try to see how it matches with your palate, as it was well liked by the group.

2004 Pax Kobler Family Vineyard Syrah – I bought a bunch of Pax syrahs direct from the winery over a couple of vintages (2002/3/4). Generally they are big wines, and they range from $45 to $75. This specific wine was about $60. Overall, I was disappointed with this wine. The bouquet was nice and flavorful, but the taste seemed thin and green. Not near as big or full as I expected. It was an end of the night wine, consumed with cigars. Others liked it more than me, but I dropped off the list years ago as I just don’t match with these wines.


Restaurant purchases…
2008 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Aloxe-Corton – this was bought at Elements with Steve and Mary Bellai. Sometimes I really dislike picking out wines at a restaurant. It can be hard to match food, along with other’s tastes and expectations. This wine was only about $85, which is a good restaurant price. I first encountered Chandon Briailles wines with Brian Hider at the Pluckemin. He told me that they are generally good values, and correct. This bottle, however, was a miss. Probably heat damaged, in retrospect, I should have brought over the Sommelier for a second opinion. I didn’t, so we all suffered through the bottle and then moved on to other wines by the glass.

2008 Maysara Winery Jamsheed Pinot Noir Oregon – This wine was bought at ABC Kitchen in NYC with Jenn, Patty Troung, and Gianne Doherty. I picked it because I wanted a pinot to go with the diverse set of entrees, it was below $100, and it was a good year for Oregon wines. This wine delivered. I would consider picking this up at retail, if I saw it. All in all, picking this blind (I had never heard of it prior), I was happy with the purchase.

NV Domaine Carneros Damask Brut Rose – This was also bought at ABC Kitchen with Jenn, Patty, and Gianne. For just under $70, it was well like by all of us and provided a nice match for the starters. Not sure of the retail price, or availability at retail, but if you found it at a sub-$30 price, give it a try.