TN: Qbas and Cabs, more (long)

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Dale Williams 22 years ago

With some fresh grilled chicken sausage and assorted leftovers, Thursday's dinner wine was the 2001 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Qba (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer). Floral nose, citrusy-grapefruit acidity, well-balanced sweetness, nice wine for $9. B/B+

Friday with some lamb chops, the 1998 Ch. de Lamarque (Haut-Médoc). Light cedar aromas, raspberry and red plum fruit. Decent acidity. Tannins were mostly gone, a modest wine - good enough for $10-12 , but like most inexpensive

1998 Left Banks I've had nothing to search for. B

When I was buying the Urbans-Hof, salesman said I should try the 2001 Staatsweingut Bad Kreuznach Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling (Nahe) ("same price, better quality"). After we strolled thru our little town's street fair on a gorgeous day, we opened on Saturday night with a tarragon chicken salad. Bracing acidity, but the sweetness seems to lay on top of the wine, not really integrating with the acid (that doesn't really make sense, but what I thought). Flavors of canned fruits. C+/B-

Sunday we walked to friends for dinner. Host started with an offer of the 1997 La Crema Cold Coast Vineyards (Sonoma) Pinot Noir. Fairly light, with clear cherry fruit and a little earth. Not bad, but drink up. B

Another guest had brought the 2000 Black Swan Cabernet Sauvignon (Southeastern Australia). Simple dark berry fruit, lots of oak flavors, soft, innocuous, pointless. C+

Host then brought out the 1999 Harbinger Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Nose of dark fruits with some violets, flavors of blackcherry cola on the palate. Host declared he didn't care much for it (not chocolately enough), but I found the restrained oak and the moderate acidity ok for an inexpensive CS. B

By the time dinner was served (vaguely Chinese meal, with tofu with shittakes, sesame noodles, and stir-fried veggies) I left the reds for the white I'd brought. 2001 Dr. Thanisch (Erben Thanisch) Riesling Qba (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer). Great crisp acidity blending with the light sweetness. Pear and mineral, another nice Qba. B+

Then as others have dessert, host brought out the 1997 Napa Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. Very ripe fruit, lots of vanilla-sweet-oak, very soft. B-

Also on Saturday Zachy's hosted a tasting of Winebow's wines. Short notes:

Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut NV ($23.99) Light and elegant, toast and yeast and white fruit. B+/A-

2000 Guy Roulot Bourgogne Blanc ($15.99) Very light note of oak, clear Chardonnay fruit. Nice. B+

2002 Coopers Creek Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) ($7.99) What happened? I liked this wine a few months ago. Acidity seems subdued, flavors seem more rounded than precise. Price is better than the wine. B- /C+

2002 Goldwater Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) ($14.99) Slightly grassy, citrus fruit. Nice and bright. Better than the Coopers Creek (everyone around me thought opposite). But there are other NZ SBs for $10-12 I like as much. B

2001 Neyers Chardonnay (Carneros) (22.99) Tropical and melon fruit, some oak, not flabby. B

2000 Truchard Chardonnay (Carneros) (23.99 Butterscotch and pear, fairly oaky,ok. B

2001 Rombauer Chardonnay (Carneros) ($25.99) Thick buttery oaky chardonnay. A little too lush for me B-

2001 Zind-Humbrecht Turkheim Riesling ($29.99) Very light for Z-H, delicate, light hint of sugar with some lively acidity. White fruits and mineral. B+

2001 Zind Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Pinot Gris ($55.00) VT-level richness, floral nose, pit fruits in the mouth. More typically ZH. Not sure I'd want with a meal, but could be nice sipping by itself. B+

2000 Archery Summit "Premier Cuvee" Pinot Noir ($35.99) Lots of folks describe Oregon PNs as Burgundian, this one is more Russian-Riverian. Lots of super-ripe red fruit, even more oak. Tannic for OR PN, it's possible that if oak integrates it might be interesting in a few years, but doesn't float my boat right now. B-

1996 Hacienda Monasterio (Ribera Del Duero) (24.99) Tastes fully mature (prematurely old?), dark fruit, some earth and leather, light tannins and low acidity. B

2002 Morgante Nero D'Avola (11.99) Soft, plush, a little oak. B-

2002 Bruno Giacosa Dolcetto D´Alba Falleto (16.99) Good acidity, red fruit and spices. B/B+

1998 Le Macchiole Paleo Blackcurrant, smooth oak. Nice example of a SuperTuscan. B+/A-

1998 Bruno Giacosa "Asili" Barbaresco A fairly big Barbaresco, nice structure of fruit, tannin, and acidity. Raspberry fruit, hints of spice, tar, and oregano. Should be very nice for mid-term cellaring. A-

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre at best. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Dale

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Mark Lipton 22 years ago

Now Dale, let's talk about this "easy grader" business. Looking at this most recent set of notes, I find the following distribution: A A- B+ B B- C+ C

0 2 6 8 5 2 0

This is almost a perfect bell curve centered on a B, with no A's. As someone who assigns grades for a living, I can tell you that this distribution would not be considered "easy" by any group of students that I'm familiar with. It actually looks quite typical, barring the D's and F's that inevitably turn up in any undergraduate class. In fact, the lack of any A's would get you run out on a rail, Dale! ;-)

Mark Lipton

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Dale Williams 22 years ago

Well, I offer the following explanations: a) I've noticed I've gotten a little tougher over last couple years b) I'd still claim I'm an easy grader, because most plonk that is not actually horribly flawed can get a B- or C+. c)this wasn't neccessarily a random sampling of wines. The Sunday party was a guy who buys a lot of inexpensive Cal Cabs, the Zachy's tasting had lots of CalChards, the Rieslings were all Qbas. While there are wines I like in each category, it's not exactly my main areas of interest/purchases/passion. The bell curve is more likely to be centered around an A- or so if it's a tasting of mature Bordeaux, top Mosel Spätlesen, Lafarge Volnays, etc. d) I have no claims to consistency. My grades are basically pulled out of my head ( I almost said pulled out of somewhere else, but this is a family newsgroup), with no real historical basis (today's A- is not neccesarily better than yesterday's B+), no claim of objectivity (Betsy's cooking, or just the presence of Betsy herself, can give a wine a boost in my memory), and no real claim to defensibility. They just help me order wines in my own head (so I know the Giacosa Barbaresco was the best wine of that set, etc.).

I admire (but doubt) those critics (ok, I'm talking re one critic, we all know who) who feel that they can give pinpoint accuracy of some objective grade over time and across regions. Me, I'm just happy I can tell that I liked the Giacosa Barbaresco better than the Black Swan. :)

Dale

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Dale Williams 22 years ago

I'd add the St. Innocent wines, especially Seven Springs. Although the owner (Mark V -can't spell last name) doesn't like the term Burgundian, he wants his wines to be Oregonian.

thanks

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dick 22 years ago

Some of the Oregon wines in a good vintage 98,99 and 2000 have been exceptional.

However the pricing has gotten way to high in the past 3 years.

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Dale Williams 22 years ago

I had the Ken Wright FH -I think '99. Big and tannic, but with good underlying fruit. I also had St Innocent's FH at a 9/02 tasting with Mark Vlossak:

"2000 St. Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Noir - He referred to this as the Big Boy, and its easy to see why. Quite tannic for PN. The tannins are balanced by plenty of fruit (black cherry and blackberry) and moderate acidity. Very nice in a few years, I bet. B+"

Dale

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TN: Qbas and Cabs, more (long)

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