1978 Chateau Latour... Un Grand Vin!

Had the pleasure to taste this 1978 Pauillac from Chateau Latour on my birthday.  Tasted both of these bottles and they were both very similar... something that doesn't happen so often in a wine having over 30 years on it.  The complexity was amazing.  Right away I tasted fireworks and gun smoke... which morphed into a spicy pepper, tobacco and pencil shavings.  Long in the mouth with some fruit present and just enough acidity but you can tell it is fading quickly.

A lot of Bordeaux wines have the same characteristics but depending on the quality the complexity and elegance will change dramatically.. as with this grand vin from Chateau Latour.  The 2002 Sassicaia (a rough year for Sangiovese, but much better for Cabernet from Sassicaia) went better with the food as it had a flawless acidity to it and the Latour was the wine of the night to meditate on.  Drink this 78 Latour now!

Notice the fill difference here with these 78's... giving them 33 years to slowly evaporate

1990 Chateau Haut-Marbuzet = earth + tobacco + Tapatio!

Chateau Haut-Marbuzet 1990, Saint-Estèphe
Vineyard:  50% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Merlot 10% Cabernet Franc

A not so traditional wine coming from Saint Estèphe with large amounts of Merlot and loads of new oak.  The wine was drinking complete despite many reviews I read that said the wine is far past it's peak.  Still very dark red/ruby in colour, and a wild spicy note that reminded me of Mexico.  I can't really say if I like or dislike this wine but It's definitely unique. 
To put it into an equation:  earth + tobacco + Tapatio = 1990 Haut-Marbuzet!

1982 Grand-Puy Lacoste

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 1982 (approximately 75% cab 20% merlot 5% cab franc) The 5th growth from Pauillac drinking nice earlier this week.  Dirty with lovely tobacco and black pepper, some tasty fruits but starting to fade.  Definitely lacking some of the complexity that you'll find in some of the 1st and 2nd growth Bordeaux's.... black pepper and earth lingering on the palate minutes after.

Memorable wines while ringing in the new year like a Tsar.

Magical night at the castle, working for the first time on a New Years Eve.  Was well worth it, tasting and serving some incredible french wines.  As I'm now taking time off to travel, work on a wine project and shred the epic snowfall on the west coast, I will miss the folks and extraordinary wines I had the chance to work with.

balloons, champagne, dancing...

Sommelier Luc Chevalier with the Imperial of Veuve Clicquot.

Opening this gigantic bottle was not so easy.  We resorted to the pliers, and then the corkscrew eventually striking wine.

Marcassin ''Blue-Slide Ridge'' Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2001- Was quite a sensation to drink, and everyone dug it being paired with the duck, fig and mache.  Very full bodied, sharp bright red fruits, nice acidity.  The best pinot noir I have had coming from the United States...

Domaine de la Romanèe-Conti La Tache 2000 -  Always a pleasure to be able to drink a DRC, whether you like them or not its a memorable experience.  This 2000 was aromatic and very clean, direct and clear in its delivery.  Those brilliant DRC red fruits coming out... Still holding back much complexity that will come in ten years.  For me it was no contest next to the

DRC Romanèe-Saint-Vivant 2001 I tasted the day before.  Romanee-Saint-Vivant has been described as ''a magical wine, rich, elegant, sophisticated and remarkably harmonious and complex''.  With age it is said to take on a nose of a wilted rose (une rose fanèe).

This Saint Vivant had aromas bursting out of the glass that were incredibly complex, irresistible and just plain delicious (it much helped having a proper burgundy glass).  Possibly the most enticing bouquet I have ever experienced in a wine.  Unfortunately I only tasted very little of the wine but it was extraordinary and very memorable.

the very large cork, coming out of the imperial (6 lt bottle)

Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac 1988 - Label art by Keith Haring, New York City artist.  This wine showing some terroir love.  Deep dark fruit, but most of all strong mushroom, forest, and herbs all over the place.  Complex, Smooth, and drank beautifully the next day as well, not showing any flaws after 24 hours.  Watch Christelle open this monster on vimeo below...

Opening an Imperial of Mouton Rothschild 1988 with Christelle Cotar from croosadabilia on Vimeo.

The chateau d'yquem 1988 was straight gorgeous.

Was great poppin' a magnum of 2002 Cristal Rosè at midnight, but I was a bit disappointed and expected much more out of this bottle.
At midnight Christelle brought us out side scurrying over to release three balloons representing three wishes for the new year in french tradition.
Happy new years brothers and sisters!
drink well

82 Pichon Lalande drinking like a beauty

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande last night was drinking like a true gem....My favorite community tasting note on this wine; ''Naso subito esplosivo di spezie (pepe), con bel tabacco scuro''.  It was all there the aromas of spices and pepper just exploding out of the glass..  If your one of the lucky ones who have this stored away,  drink her up!

Saturday tastings, Petrus & Screaming Eagle

Château Pétrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux 1990
Screaming Eagle, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 1993

Château Pétrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux 1990 (100 pts by Robert Parker)
Now producing 100% Merlot wines, this 1990 is a 95% Merlot 5% Cabernet Franc blend.  At one point before the 1960's they would use as much as 20% Cabernet Franc.  This was a great effort ...Pure Pomerol terroir on the nose, fruit closed at first but after an hour opened up nicely.  Showing great elegant Merlot fruit, cocoa, caramel, balanced acidity and lasting long in the mouth.

Screaming Eagle, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 1993
Screaming Eagle hit the market in 1992 with a Cabernet Sauvignon that Robert Parker scored a 99.  After that it was all ''cult'', with unusually high prices on the wines.  This wine was showing beautiful fruits, cherry, plum, dark berries, strong with a bit too much alcohol noticeable, the acidity was nice but not perfectly balanced.

Next weeks tasting:
Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, 2^ème Cru, Pauillac, Bordeaux 1982
Shafer Vineyards,” Hillside Select”, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley 1996

timeless mouton...

Baron Philippe de Rothschild in the Grand Chai about 1980, savoring the new wine in a glass held by the maitre de chai Raoul Blandin, photo pg. 123 mouton rothschild paintings for the labels.

above, the timeless photograph of the legendary Baron Philippe, who at the early age of 22 in 1924, came up with the outlandish idea to bottle the entire vintage at the chateau.  This led to the mise en bouteilles au chateau, which was soon adopted by the Premier Crus.  To draw attention to this new concept Baron commissioned poster designer Jean Carlu to create an original label for that year, 1924.
Baron Philippe, lived the life of a wealthy playboy at an early age, frequenting paris night clubs, and hitting it off with actresses.  Besides being one of the most successful wine growers in all of time, he also was a grand prix race-car driver (under the name of Georges Philippe), screen writer, playwright, theatrical producer, film producer, and poet.



''Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change.''
 "First, I am. Second, I used to be. But Mouton does not change."



Carlu's label for the 1924 label



some La Tache and Lafite

Tasted a wonderful DRC 2001 La Tache last night after pouring for a wine dinner.  Still way too young for me but nice fruit and a very stunning finish, lasting more than a couple of minutes in the mouth with beautiful rich red fruits. wowwww

Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1986

Opened this first growth, which happened to be finely corked... not extremely unapealing though for a not so fine vintage in bordeaux..

deep deep forest aromas, a little too musty on the palate...but not a total loss of fruits and acidity..

opened a second bottle which was much more explosive with fresher fruit, acidity and complexity, much more enjoyable!

afterall we are talking about a first growth here.. jesus....

right bank love...bond style

lots of tasting of incredible wines this week at the castle... some beautiful right bank action, a little meursault, cote-rotie, and right as i wanted to give up on california, a napa valley wine that gave me some hope... working at a Relais Chateau may be turning me into a french wine whore, but it is quite an exciting opportunity... here are five divine wines i discovered this week.

 

 

Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol 1985

Merlot dominant with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc
RP 95
WS 92
($250-$300)

Starting with the small pomerol area of only 1,846 acres (compared to medoc of 40,199 acres).
Everyone agrees there is lots of earth truffle and definitely smoke all over this wine.  When I drank it, it was giving off the most unique spicy hot pepper/peperoncino notes.  heaps of smoke, some leather, tobacco. The nose and palate being very similar.  Beautifully balanced, stimulating, intriguing....

 tonight i tasted two wines together...this 1992 napa, and a cheateau angelus....

Dalla Valle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1992

First produced in 1986
Blendid with a small amount of Cabernet Franc
Aged in 50% to 60% new french oak barrels
($130-$200)

I could sum this wine up in one word, rye.... I felt like i was standing outside of a rye bread factory tasting this wine.  in a good way. beautiful rye nose.. a little on the palate as well, nice fruits acidity... not too Napa'd out. Some good earth..
So many Napa wines I found have a lack of interesting or enjoyable components for my palate...
this wine gets all my respect....enjoying Calfornia on this one...

Chateau Angelus St-Emilion 1995

RP 95
WS 94
Merlot dominant with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc
($220-$280)

A deep wine, palate staining dark cherry, attractive manure notes for sure. very enjoyable and to put it simply do bianchi style, poop and fruit in a glass!

Sommelier Luc Chevalier reminded me of a Casino Royale scene with a 1982 Chateau Angèlus....

Vesper Lynd, and James Bond enjoying a Chateau Angelus, on the train to Montenegrò.

 Domaine Leflaive Meursault 1er Cru Sous Le Dos De Ane 2004
100% Chardonnay
($120-$150)

This beautiful wine reminded me of tasting the 2005 DRC Montrachet, in the sense of how much your getting from this bottle for a hundred dollars, compared to dropping bank on a DRC... but we wont get into that!

This nose full of that beautiful burnt hair complexity that I describe my burgundy white wines with. Some hazelnuts, long, flinty, mineraly... the fruit not coming out so much at the moment, but beautiful and elegant nonetheless.

E. Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune Et Blonde 2003

RP 93
WS 92
($70-$80)

This wine not nearly as complex as the reviews I have seen for it.  Boat load of Acidity which makes it not so enjoyable without food.  Some fruit is there, and a nice mushroom element coming out.

below i included a shot i took of the main room as you arrive into blantyre..

Main Room. Blantyre Castle, Lenox Massachusetts.

lascombes

A quick look at the second growth bordeaux I tasted tonight...

Chateau Lascombes Margaux 2005 Grand Cru Classè

52% cab 45% merlot, with some petit verdot
$120-$160
Nose showing wonderful floral notes at the moment...
heaps of blueberry and summer flowers, oak.. very full body and tanins that are not shy....

long in the mouth.. a few elements are closed still, but sure to be expressed in some years to come.
usually not into the modernness thing, but this wine pulls it off beautifully... 

93 WS

95 RP

in other news....
a foxy ass picture of Claudia Cardinale...
buona giornata!!!