Chateau de Launay Bordeaux Superieur

Chateau de Launay
Bordeaux Superieur
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
St.-Emilion, Gironde, France
2003
14.5%
$20.29 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Deep clear garnet
Nose: Cherry, black olives, black currant
Body: Medium to full
Front: Cassis, licorice
Middle: Black cherry, espresso, charred vegetables
Back: Leathery tannins, mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Alright. One mystery has been solved: my Bordeaux-disappointment problem. I like St.-Emilion, and not so much the other areas that I have tried. This may require a systematic approach to figuring out if this is true of all the areas.

There's a lot going on in this wine. It's good. I'm going to go back and get more. Tonight I'm having it with a little sauteed spinach, butternut squash soup, and lemon-herb marinated pork tenderloin, which I'm sure will be a good pairing, but it's pleasant with a simple chunk of Centenol cheese, too.

Rutherford Hill Cabernet

Rutherford Hill Winery (Terlato Wines)
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Rutherford, California, USA
2004
14.2%
$19.00 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dark garnet
Nose: Black cherry, Dr. Pepper, coffee, violet CrayolaTM crayon
Body: Full
Front: Plum, chocolate
Middle: Raspberry, orange, black tea
Back: Soft tannins, cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm a big fan of Rutherford Hill wines, not so much because they're the tastiest things ever -- though they're pretty good -- as because they are solid, characteristic Napa wines at reasonable prices.

I'm having a bit of a strange struggle with myself as I drink this, respecting whether I prefer the Cabernet or the Merlot, especially given that in general the 2004 Merlot is a couple of bucks cheaper. They share many features: they're both generously oaked, and they're both from fruit grown in the same vineyards (probably all over the Valley), which gives them a strong personality. This one is probably a little more complex, but not as charming as the Merlot: so there, I finesse the question!

Note (3-8-2010): Had the 2003. 13.5% abv. Cherry, cedar, asphalt, and a hint of mint and NyQuil on the nose; plenty of oak, with a bit of cherry and cassis on the palate. I think I preferred the slightly more diverse palate of the 2004. On day 2, though, the mint and chocolate and wood leapt from the glass: fascinating!

François Gaunoux Meursault Les Clos de Tavaux

François Gaunoux

Meursault
Le Clos de Tavaux Monopole
Chardonnay
Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France
2003
13.5%
$44.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Medium golden, beautiful color
Nose: Salty butter, bacon, cod, thyme

Body: Medium

Front: Salty roasted pear

Middle: Buttered apple, hazelnut

Back: Oatmeal cookie

Burns clean?: Yes

Cap: Cork

The first four times I put my nose in this one, I smelled different things. I put three of them in the description above, before I gave up. Suffice it to say, it's a fascinating experience before you taste it--beautiful in color and intriguing on the nostril.

There's plenty of oak in this, but it's elegantly balanced. As the wine opens and warms up, the butteryness moves earlier in the palate. I would drink this wine anytime--assuming I can ever find it again. I'm not entirely sure where I got it, to tell the whole truth.

I'm drinking it tonight while watching a beautiful Texas sunset, to the lulling sounds of commuters arriving home from work, which they shouldn't have had, as it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, an important holiday if ever there was one.

Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz

Penfolds Wines
Shiraz
Magill, South Australia
2003
14.5%
$39.98 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Inky red
Nose: Blackberry jam, smoke, eucalyptus
Body: Full and creamy
Front: Cassis
Middle: Raspberry, mint
Back: Chocolate, dusty tannins, clove
Burns clean?: 
Cap: Cork

This is a beautifully structured, rich, but subtle wine.  It needs a bit of time open, to be sure, and will cellar for a goodly while longer.  It feels a little closed, to me, compared to the last time I had it, so the 2003 may have gone a bit dormant.  Then again, I paired it with chili, the spice of which might have prejudiced the vino.  In the grand scheme of things, this is a much more elegant, French-style Syrah than one often gets (at least if one drinks the Syrahs that Caveat Emptyer has reviewed!) from Australia.  Dave Brubeck was on the stereo tonight--a good match for the wine.

Berthoud Syrah

Berthoud Vineyards & Winery
Syrah
Sonoma ValleyCalifornia, USA2003
13.8%
$28.00 -- Mayo Family, Glen Ellen, CA

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Plum and mash
Body: Full
Front: Sour cherries
Middle: Dark roasted coffee, caramel
Back: Thyme, tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It was a damn noisy late afternoon in the Mayo tasting room (they stay open until 6:30, well past most wineries) when I tried this wine, but I think I heard that it's the private label of that company's winemaker. This is some seriously French stuff; dark, earthy, and brooding.

This is not a wine for everyone. It was delicious with the roasted chicken and avocado of tonight's meal, but really, it's got a strong character. At about an hour of decanting it was at its most subtle and multilayered. There's not much more of it, honestly--they only made three barrels, to my math about 900 bottles--but it's a delight.

Domaine La Roquete Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Frederic et Daniel Brunier
Domaine La Roquete
Chateauneuf-du-PapeGrenache, Syrah, MourvedreChateauneuf-du-Pape, France2003
14.5%
$38.00 -- Vino100, Lakeway, Texas

Color: Medium brick red
Nose: Blackberries
Body: Medium
Front: Raspberry, tar
Middle: Seat leather, strawberry
Back: Basil, cedar
Burns clean?: Yes, delightfully
Cap: Cork

There's a lot going on in this wine. If you like your fruit grilled, or your tobacco run through the berry patch, or your peanut butter in your chocolate, even, this will probably make you happy. It was pretty much ready to drink after 15 minutes and just kept getting better over hours and hours. It's not overly tannic, but paired fabulously with Italian sausage (with cheese, caramelized onions, and yellow peppers) and with Shivaree on the stereo.

Tudal Napa Valley Cabernet

Tudal Family Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2003
13.8%
$24.84 -- Spec’s, Austin, TX

Color: Deep strawberry jam
Nose: Cherry, earth-after-rain, wet leather car door panels in the nose. The nose is really one of the best things about the wine
Body: Medium to full
Front: Tart cherries
Middle: Caramelly cedar
Back: Spice, coffee
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

At this price, this is a sensational wine. It’s a blend of four different sources, including Oak Knoll grapes, and it’s got all the great stuff Napa is known for, but more old-world character than is common there. The fruit is noticeable up front, but then it gets Bordeauxy in the later stages of the palate. I’m having it with thin slices of cold mesquite-grilled sirloin left over from Austin Land and Cattle restaurant (which carries BV’s Tapestry by the glass, fantastically) while listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and it’s making for a great evening.

Mount Veeder Napa Cabernet

Mount Veeder Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Rutherford, California
2003
14.5%
$38.00 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Blackberry, eucalyptus
Body: Full
Front: Plums
Middle: Tannins, graphite, blackberries
Back: Mocha, cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is an extraordinary cabernet. It's complex, well structured, evolutionary, and balanced. I had a bottle of this as a guest on the Thompson Publishing expense account back in December 2007 and thought, this is a ludicrously good bargain they're getting--so I had no regrets about not ordering the Opus One. It still is a great deal, and it'll age plenty, I reckon. It benefited from decanting, this time, as compared to the last time I drank it.

Crane Brothers Brodatious

Crane Brothers
Brodatious
Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah
Crane Ranch Vineyard
Oak Knoll, Napa Valley, California
2003
14.5%
$39.00 -- 58 Degrees, Tucson, AZ

Color: Dark red
Nose: Eucalyptus, raspberry
Body: Full
Front: Cherry mint
Middle: Leather, spice
Back: Oaky, peaty
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a huge, beautiful, Bordeaux-style blend. Crane Brothers doesn't make a lot of wine, but what they make is sick-and-wrong-good. They graciously make available a hefty amount of information about this wine. But you don't need it. It evolves as it's open, going from a dense mint-fest to a chocolatey brooding lurker, to something more laid-back and yet sophisticated for which I lack a simile that isn't laughable. I admit I was going to say "like James Bond."

J. Vidal-Fleury Côtes du Rhône

J. Vidal-Fleury
Domaine le PigeonnierCôtes du Rhône
Ampuis, Rhône, France
2003
13%
$13.99 -- Durham, NC

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Violets, smoke
Body: Medium
Front: Cedary raspberries
Middle: Lavender, a little mint
Back: Leather and spice
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Hybrid plastic and cork

This is one of my favorite Côtes-du-Rhônes and a colossal bargain. Every vintage of it I've had has featured this floral nose and this lavender or even rose taste, along with the usual leatheriness and occasional spice of the grenache-syrah-mourvèdre blend. It has beautiful structure and goes with all kinds of food except fruit and vindaloo. One of the coolest things about it is that it has synergy with food; the tastes in the wine change depending on what you eat, but it stays distinctive and balanced. Alchemy.

Sattui Duarte Vineyard Zinfandel

V. Sattui Winery
Zinfandel
Duarte Vineyard (Old Vine)
Contra Costa Co., California
2003
15%
$28.00 -- Sattui Vineyards, Napa, CA

Color: Medium to dark red
Nose: Cinnamony strawberry
Body: Medium to heavy
Front: Cassis and blackberry
Middle: Coffee cake, huckleberry, and Ford Mustang exhaust
Back: Coffee and soggy oak twigs
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a dense, layered Halloween treat of a wine. Much to everyone's chagrin, they're not making it any more. But it's good with everything (sensational with manchego bien curado, Chee-tos, and Flarp). They say, to sing a worried song, you got to have a worried mind. If they're right, don't plan on singing any worried songs when you're drinking from the Duarte vineyards...

Abbona Bricco Barone Nebbiolo

Azienda Agr. Abbona
Bricco BaroneNebbiolo d'Alba
Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy
2003
14%
$15 -- Parker & Otis, Durham, NC

Color: Medium red, almost peachy at the edges
Nose: Like violets growing next to a car-painting facility
Body: Medium to heavy
Front: Cherry, tannic almost immediately; after it's been open awhile, a hint of spice at the front, and the fruit part moves to the middle
Middle: Leather, but no spice
Back: Fruity cardboard, but in a good way. When you were a child, chewing on cardboard, you wished it tasted like fruit, yes?
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a lovely wine. The structure is clear and elegant. It's fantastic with food (roasted chicken with lemon and garlic; sauteed spinach); the tannins are less dusty with the meal. It's also great with Aimee Mann or Dan Cohen playing in the background. Would you have thought these would go well with Italian? Perhaps not. But there it is. This sets a standard for wines at this price from Europe, as far as I'm concerned.

St. Francis Cabernet

St. Francis
Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma, California, USA
2003
14.4%
$16.99 -- Total Wine, Durham, NC

Color: Dark red
Nose: Spicy, woodsy, minty
Body: Dense
Front: Blackberry, musty
Middle: Tannic, meaty
Back: Leather
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork (plastic)

When you smell it, it could be roasted something or preserved fruit, but it could be a car repair shop on a slow, rainy day. The taste at first is like licking the inside of the old moldy Chevy with the holes in the floor that we used to own. The finish is a little more conventionally fruity, so you're like, "O.K., I'll try another sip, despite having just been forced into the back seat for a slightly frightening trip down Mildew Memory Lane." Pretty good for under 20 bucks; and it's on the by-the-glass list all over town (or at least, at J. Alexander's).

2004
Still good. I'd say the 2004 is better--more interesting, more smoky and spicy--than the 2003. The price increase is a little disturbing, but only a little; they're making tons of this stuff. I would drink it any day.

2008 (tasted 2014)
Also good, but I think a little unbalanced, by year six. I think perhaps the 2010 may be in the zone right now?

Chateau Fontalem L'Auriolle Bordeaux

Chateau Fontalem L'Auriolle (Renaud)
Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc
Bordeaux Supérieur
Bordeaux, France
2003
13.5%
$10.99 -- Parker & Otis, Durham, NC

Color: Deep red-brown
Nose: Raspberries, maybe even a little orangey
Body: Medium
Front: Minerals, then a little tannic
Middle: Dark fruits
Back: Nice leather and wood
Burns clean?: No
Cap: Short cork

This is a stately, reserved, bargain of a wine. It's like fall, bottled. Nothing is too big; all the flavors lurk low like you're feeling them through a fog. But it's a tasty fog.

Bonus tasting tip: If you drink it with raclette cheese, it tastes like marshmallows.

Possums Vineyard Shiraz

Possums McLaren Vineyards
ShirazMcLaren Vale, Australia
2003
15%
$25 – Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep red, a slight tinge of purple
Nose: Creamy, vanilla, coffee
Body: Dense
Front: Creamy caramel
Middle: Pepper, coffee, cedar
Back: Maybe a little plum
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The cork on this wine smelled so good when I pulled it that I almost ate it for dinner. There's only the remotest hint that this substance was derived from fruit. It's an astounding synesthesia. At this percentage, it ought to be hot, but there's none of that. This is what cigars ought to taste like. This is what dessert ought to taste like. This is what everything ought to taste like.

Note (Dec. 2, 2007): A friend shared the 2002 vintage of this wine with me last night and it was fabulastic; even better than the '03.

Seigneur de Lauris Côtes du Rhône

Arnoux et Fils
Seigneur de LaurisCôtes du Rhône, Vacqueyras, France
2003
13.5%
$8 – Parker & Otis, Durham, NC

Color: Medium red, a tinge of brown at the edges
Nose: Musty, tart fruit
Body: Medium, a little thin in the middle
Front: Cassis
Middle: Gravelly and aromatic, orange
Back: A hint of green fig
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is an interesting, but none too intense Cotes du Rhone. Heavy on the grenache. It's notably tart, but since it's not heavy, it's all cool. It wouldn't stand up to intense foods, though. Bread and cheese, one glass all around, and something bigger with dinner.... See the interesting review at the blog 750mL. After it was open about an hour, it became much more structured and way tastier.

Henry's Drive Shiraz

Henry's Drive Vignerons
Shiraz
Padthaway, Australia
2003
16%
$36 – Somewhere in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Thick ruby red, a very slight tinge of purple
Nose: Almost amarettoey, cedar, surprisingly unhot given the %
Body: Full
Front: Creamy cassis
Middle: Spicy--outright peppery, then just a peek of something flowery like honeysuckle, even
Back: A trifle hot; but like a sipping whiskey--wood, leathery like a football. That's right, I said football. An American football.
Burns clean?: Yes; in fact, might be a bit binding!
Cap: Cork

The transitions between the structural stages of this wine are very, very smooth. The hotness in the end of the taste fades after it's been open awhile, and that's when you can get in trouble, because it stays smooth and gets even more complex. There's something slightly overripe (maybe meaty?) in the nose that makes the bouquet really interesting; I'm as happy to sniff it as to drink it. This is made by the Australian half of the Aussie-CA combo who make Marquis-Phillips wines, and like the Sarah's Blend (named for Sarah Marquis) it's a whopper. I like this one better, though.