Several wines from the past week:
2000 Karly "Buck's Ten Point" Zinfandel n: pepper, cedar, slight tarry note, loads of berry fruit m: rich and fruity on entry, just enough acid to keep things clean, pepper, loads of cedar and just a hint of tar [Sealed under a fake cork and not dead after 2 years' cellaring!] This was a wine that we bought at the winery a few years back. Since then, it's taken on a bit more heft and rounded out nicely. The cedar was too much for Jean, who found it overwhelming. I, OTOH, found the wine to be a good, straight-ahead Zin.1997 Clerc-Milon c: dark garnet with slight brick at the edges n: initially a bit reticent, opening up to show plummy fruit, minerals and a lovely herbaceousness that I associate with Bordeaux m: medium-full body, plenty of fruit, good structure, minerals, herbaceous finish
A portion of this wine was poured into a carafe to aerate, but the aeration seemed to diminish the secondary aromas to us, so the majority was poured straight from the bottle. A beautiful wine, but our penultimate bottle of '97 (another closeout special, I think). Even though this was from a light year, the wine had depth and character. It went fabulously with a roast chicken.
1999 Clos de Caillou Cotes du Rhone Vielles Vignes n: CORKED!!!!For Christmas, I received a gift of a French TCA-removal device. The device works by placing a plastic "filter" in a carafe that one pours one's corked wine into. Needless to say, I fave it a try with the corked CdR. After an hour in the device, there was indeed a notable reduction in TCA mustiness. Jean and our friend couldn't detect any; I, a TCA sensitive could get only the merest hint of it.
n: cherries, smoke, minerals m: medium body, great acid, a slightly gamey tang, rich fruit
Compared to a glass of the untreated wine, this was a vast improvement. More details to follow about the device.
Mark Lipton