In terms of wine tasting, this year has been an excellent one for your host. One tasting in particular, the Old Wines with Francois Audouze, provided the opportunity to try some legendary wines. A Happy New Year to all and may you find wines like these to drink in 2007!
- 1974 Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (5/1/2006)
Old California Wines with Francois Audouze (Jack Falstaff Restaurant - San Francisco, California): I got a small taste of this and was very impressed. It had a gigantic nose of mint and eucalyptus plus cigar box. The color was a deep and dark red, still solid out to the edge. The palate showed silky tannins, plus enough ripe fruit and acidity to allow this 30+ year old to masquarade as a youngster. Had I tried this blind, I would have guessed it was from 1990 or 1991. It is a tremendous wine which I feel honored to have tasted. I did a bit of research later and found that this is a legendary wine and that my small (less than an ounce) taste was worth about $30. I don't know who brought this to the tasting, but whoever you were, may the angels smile upon you! (98 pts.) - 2001 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (1/28/2006)
The wine shows a color of sparkling medium-gold. The nose is intense and leaps out of the glass. Several folks at the table declared that they didn't need to taste it, just smelling the lush apricots, tropical fruits and minerals was a luxurious pleasure. The palate is other worldly, a nectar if there ever was one. It is thick, rich and mouth coating like apricots, hazelnuts honey and citrus fruit carefully reduced into a magic potion. I thought it could be improved by a bit more acidity, but I don’t have that many points left! Really, really, good stuff. (97 pts.) - 1970 Joseph Swan Gamay Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County (5/1/2006)
Old California Wines with Francois Audouze (Jack Falstaff Restaurant - San Francisco, California): Deep, purple/black color and so dense it looks like printer's ink. It has a vibrant nose of black fruit and meats. Sitting in the glass, it looks like primal wine. The palate is amazing, mouth-coating isn't exactly right.. more like exposed tissue coating! It tastes like raspberry jam, except that it is not sweet. It has depth and intensity like a Shiraz, but it doesn't taste stewed or overripe. The finish goes on forever. The label reports 13.6% alcohol, and sure enough it proclaims "GAMAY" in big black letters. This is a legendary wine and now I know why. A 1975 review suggested decanting for three hours before drinking. The secret to this wine appears to be that "Napa Gamay" of circa 1970 is actually, Valdiguié and it was picked fairly ripe. Swan only made one other "Gamay"—in 1971 and it was a pale imitation of the 1970, reportedly because the grapes were picked too soon. Most "Napa Gamay" has been pulled up, and the odds of anyone ever seeing a wine like this again is quite slim. I saved the empty bottle as a trophy. Wow. (97 pts.) - 2001 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (12/15/2006) 95 pts.
- 2004 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (4/14/2006)
This is a stunning bottle of wine. It is amazingly ripe, opulent, rich and concentrated but is somehow miraculously balanced at the same time. Cloudy in appearance and ripe and clean on the nose, the mid palate is voluptuous, viscous and mouth filling --no doubt somewhat due to the high alcohol-- but it is well integrated and not a bit hot. There is moderate, acidity to balance the fruit, and very long sweet finish. There is oak, but it is very subtle, this is not an over-oaked California chardonnay bomb. Those used to Chablis and White Burgundies might think this is sweet, but I'm sure there is no residual sugar here, just incredible fruit. (95 pts.) - 1834 Barbeito Madeira Malvazia - Portugal, Madeira (2/9/2006)
Available by the glass at Bacar in San Francisco. Good nose of caramel, molasses, and toffee but not as full and enveloping as the 1863 Boal. The nose carries right on to the palate where there are intense flavors of brown sugar, molasses, and toffee balanced with a bracing sour acidity that makes the wine seem much less sweet than it really is. The most remarkable characteristic about this wine is how it coats the inside of your mouth. You find yourself wiping off your gums with your tounge and and still tasting the wine a minute or two after your sip! Now, THAT is a finish. (94 pts.) - 1974 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/1/2006)
Old California Wines with Francois Audouze (Jack Falstaff Restaurant - San Francisco, California): More proof that 1974 was a magical year for California Cabernet. When the cork on this 32-year old wine was pulled, ripe and vibrant aromas spilled forth. This nose didn't require swirling and coaxing, you only had to be within 3 feet of the open bottle to know something special was happening. The color was deep red, looking remarkably youthful. The palate was chewy with the still vibrant fruit perfectly balanced by juicy acidity. The tannins may have faded some over all of this time, but you wouldn't know it by the long and lingering finish. This lacked, perhaps, some complexity of bouquet and palate, but WOW, what a wine. Of all the wines from the 1970s opened during this dinner, this was the youngest. I've added an extra point to my score to celebrate the Don Juan Ponce de Leon effect. (94 pts.) - 1988 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (12/15/2006) 93 pts.
- 2001 Argiano Solengo Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (2/10/2006)
I took this to my local Italian place, but this is very un-Italian wine. It is a deep dark red with a shy nose of dark fruits. Very much an international/modern style, It is full-bodied with a smooth texture and is stuffed full of flavor, showing coffee and dark chocolate. It is low-acid, and the tannins, while there, are mild for these varietals. This could easily be mistaken for a California bordeaux-blend. It is delicious. After sipping it, I ordered a gigantic steak. I don't need more wine, but I think I'll stop by Wine Club today and see if they have any left. (93 pts.)
- 1970 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/1/2006)
Old California Wines with Francois Audouze (Jack Falstaff Restaurant - San Francisco, California): Deep red color starting to show some age. Showing a super nose of tobacco and cedar, it smells exactly like aged Bordeaux. Tannins have melted into velvet and have merged with the fruit and acid in perfect balance. This doesn't quite have the complexity of the greatest Bordeauxs, but it is still going strong and it a really nice wine. After tasting it, I immediately poured a sample for a visting French wine collector, and the look on his face from the shock of recognition, and the shock of how good it was, was really fun. Mondavi's 1969 was regarded as a benchmark, and the '70 was the first "Unfiltered" which became the "Reserve" in 1971. (93 pts.)
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