Notes from a monthly blind tatsing:
2000 Au Bon Climat Sant Ynez Chardonnay Mt. Carmel Vineyard - light straw colour, a fair bit of oak evident in the nose, smooth, supple and elegant in the mouth.
1996 Casa Lapostolle Merlot Cuvee Alexandre - I wanted to see what a few years had wrought with this one. Medium colour, rather nice nose with some green pepper, sweet in the mouth with good length and black pepper on palate, the fruit ripe. The nose added a bit of complexity as it opened up. Do not hold.
1983 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle - the colour on this wine is definitely showing age, and the mushroom nose may be evidence of the same. Good body, a little astringent in the finish, and drying. Drink up!
1997 Dom. de Trevallon - located between Arles and Avignon, this Provençal producer has made what are arguably some of the most interesting wines from the region. Made from 50% cabernet and 50% Syrah (only in Australia, you thought?), it was dark, with both vinyl and mint in the nose, a bit hot in the mouth (but not in the nose), and offered ripe flavours, with some grip. Interesting wine that drinks well now, but I'd like to see what a couple more years do to it.
1995 Les Cailloux Chateauneuf du Pape - a waxy unusual nose featuring capsicum followed by a sweet impression on palate, on the lean side of the spectrum, but with lots of stuffing. Oddly, the berry fruit comes in late, right at the end of the long finish - maybe it is just echoing an earlier appearance that was masked by other impressions? Time to find one of my cases and start sampling this.
1991 Dominus - again, a dark wine, with a sweet nose of fruit and earth. Lots of concentration, sweet very long finish. I was fooled into thinking this a French wine. Very good.
1997 Gallo Frei Ranch Cabernet - mixed rubber and black currant fruit in the nose, sweet entry with lots of tannin. Big concentrated wine with lots of stuffing, but the nose didn't agree with everyone.
1997 Hedges Red Mountain Reserve - this entry from Washington State reprised the rubber we found in the nose of the Gallo, had a blast of fruit, but then chopped off with a short, tannic finish - most of it was poured out by the tasters. Don't know what was going on here!
2001 Osoyoos Larose - this one was interesting - a joint venture between Vincor International Inc., a large operator in Canada (they bought R.H. Phillips and Hogue Cellars), and Gruaud Larose (Group Taillan). Not yet officially released, this wine is from a so-so vintage and is made from a blend of 66% Merlot, 25% Cab Sauv and 9% Cab Franc. Olive and sweet cherry in the nose, fair bit of fruit and lots and lots of tannin, I found this wine to be unbalanced and wonder if they were trying to reprise a 1975 Bordeaux. Will it ever come into balance? Will there still be fruit when the tannins have abated? Do we care? Hopefully they will do better with subsequent vintages.
2001 Quails Gate Old Vines Foch - undoubtedly the best example of this wine I've tasted. Dark with good fruit based nose, good weight in the mouth, ending with both tannin and a final sweet note.
1983 Ch. d'Arche - dark amber in colour, not much Botrytis (unusual in this vintage), sweet and pretty well balanced. The structure was a bit off for me to have guessed it was an 83. Decent but not as rich as many 83s.