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Notes from my monthly business lunch at Gavroche in Vancouver.
1990 Pol Roger Brut Rose - a nice salmon pink/amber, still in excellent shape, this wine uses completely unoaked Pinot Noir from Bouzy (which also described the group at the end of the meal) giving a ripe slightly nutty flavour, seemingly a tad off-dry. Quite nice. Bubbles a little small and sparse.
1998 Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc - a ringer for a French wine, from South Africa. A somewhat gooseberry nose, good balance, clean finish without the aggressive acidity of some NZ SBs, and a reasonable price!
1997 Domaine Remizieres Crozes Hermitage Blanc, Cuvee Christophe - I figured that I had a sure winner here, guaranteed to stump the crew, but one couple had opened the identical bottle for dinner the night before. Foiled again! A 90%Marsanne, 10% Roussanne blend, this wine opened nicely in the glass to show a whack of oak, full smooth feel, and a well rounded finish. Good wine.
1996 Chopin Nuits St. Georges - we had this wine from the same source 2 months ago, and it showed quite differently this time. Aside from a flawed but not fatal nose, it had considerably more concentration and weight than the previous bottle, and a nice bright finish. I have the 95 premier cru 'Murgers' from this producer and must try and open one the next time the fellow that brings this hauls another one out.
1999 Domaine des Brus Merlot - a Languedoc wine with modest price and more than modest virtue. Medium dark with a nice young fruit nose, albeit with a heavy oak component, and soft tannins with slightly high terminal acidity. Better with food.
1997 Burrowing Owl Merlot - one of the best BC wineries, in a good but not great vintage, and a wine even heavier on the oak! Has some green hints. The 1998 is considerably better.
1974 Sterling Cabernet - a cellar discovery (i.e. the owner forgot that he had it) Parker dumped on this wine, based on a dried out poor bottle, but while this bottle had a very mature colour and nose, it was definitely not dried out, and was in fact very serviceable. A pleasure to drink a mature Cal-Cab.
1992 Fonseca Garrafeira 'RA' - not sure what the letters stand for, but these wines are a great value. This one was slightly lean but well flavoured, and had a cedar and tobacco nose. Keep an eye out for them.
1989 Errazuriz Don Maximiano Reserve - unusual to have a chance to taste such a venerable Chilean wine. Chocolate nose, rich fruit on palate, and clean finish - no rush to drink this one. Very good.
1995 Clos Pegase Cabernet - dark berry nose, good feel, and a pleasant sweetness in the mouth, with soft tannins, but it strikes one as being further along than expected.
1997 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah - fooled us all - obviously Syrah, but a dead ringer for a Northern Rhone, with elegance and a great spicy nose. Great value, and the best shiraz I have tasted from the Cape.
1997 Masi Osar - a blend of Oselata (80%), and Corvina (20%) in an expensive IGT from Verona. The Oselata is the grape used in their lower priced wine, Toar. A rich, sweet nose, without any complexity yet in the mouth, but the tannins are moderate and the length is good - it would be interesting to watch this one develop.
And tonight with dinner:
1994 Ridge ATP Oat Valley Carignan - fully mature now and needing to be drunk up, this wine still shows a good nose of oaky toast and mint, and a smooth mature wine. I brought this to a lunch a few months ago and stumped them, but figured it should be drunk up, and so it accompanied the Friday evening roast
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