by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
Dr. Bob can be benignly mischievous: On occasion he seems to enjoy torturing us with palate challenging and mind twisting wine tasting exercises.
Example: He had announced that the Worcester Wine Taster's November meeting would showcase 12 Bordeaux 2001 wines. Many of us had done research in preparation for the monthly meeting.
Behold! Arriving at Assumption College for the tasting, Hubert Meunier, PhD, professor of fickle winds and tides and undiscovered celestial constellations, among his more practical scientific disciplines, filling in for Dr. Bob, informed us that Dr. Bob had changed his mind: We would be tasting California Cabernets Old And New -- a curve ball we gleefully hit out of the park!
Studying the menu, I noted that six cabs were of the '70s and '80s vintages, six in the '90s. Worry time for me: I am comfortable with red wines eight years from vintage date, stretching to 10 from exceptional vintages.
I became concerned how I would be able to differentiate among the wines to present a coherent column. So, dear reader, should you be confused by what you read here blame Dr. Bob Ouellette, not me. I can visualize him now fiendishly chortling with glee at my discomfort.
Old friend Peedy Dink understood my consternation: "I'm going to swirl my wines in the glasses quickly and furiously to blow off any bottle stink and to raise pleasant aromas immediately, then cover them with plastic wrap to preserve the aromas, and therefore flavors." (We pour and taste four blind-bagged wines in flights of three.)
"Well," I said dubiously, "Hubie has had the corks pulled for over two hours already. The wines have done plenty of breathing by now, should be no bottle stink; no need to fatigue your arm by swirling furiously. Better save precious arm for bringing wine from table to mouth with grace and alacrity."
"Baloney!" And who the hell are 'grace' and 'alacrity'? I don't see them here!" Peedy uncharacteristically exploded in disagreement. "The goddamn bottle has an aperture of about the size of a quarter. How much air does that allow getting in? Worse yet, how much penetration down through the wine can the air make?
"No, old friend Julian, this wine swirling and twirling in my wide mouth glasses are like a - let's see - like a lithe, shapely ballet dancer titillating in tutu. My furious albeit graceful and rapid swirling and twirling will allow air to soften the wine."
"Well, what about the age of these wines Peedy? Won't your furious, albeit graceful and rapid, swirling and twirling, allow inimical air -hostile to old wines -- to degrade their aromas and flavors?
"And look over there, Peedy, where Jasper Jenning is not swirling at all and is instantly covering his wineglasses with plastic wrap. What's your read on that?"
"That guy is cockamamie crazy!" Peedy was incensed. "Wine that breathes, with air inside the glass, prevents it from suffocating for want of oxygen. That is my read. Goddamn it, I am going to confront him! Who the hell is he, anyway? Does he know anything about wine, or is he some kind of jerk who asks for attention and craves tasters'comments? Come on, let's go over."
I said the guy was a PHD professor of sensory psychology and was into wine for many years, that he even wrote a treatise on wine aromas: Moses Noses Roses.
Peedy: "I thought you said his name is Jasper. So who the hell is Moses? I thought he was Charlton Heston, the guy who walked across the Red Sea at low tide. I am getting more confused by the minute."
"Hey, Jasper!" I called out, "my friend here doesn't understand your covering the wines with even not once swirling and twirling furiously to blow off bottle stink and to permiting them to breathe."
"Ya, Moses, how come?!" Peedy was confrontational and waved his wine glass so furiously that the wine spilled over his glass onto his shirt.
Jasper: "My name is Jasper, not Moses. My academic research has disclosed that by swirling the wine as you are doing dissipates its aromas into the indifferent ozone. Therefore, the flavor, which is some 90 percent aroma, is lost - lost to the perplexed palate, rendering it bereft of its pleasurable properties."
Another taster, Benny Buttinsky, overhearing the discussion, intruded and said that some years ago an International Wine & Food Society's Food and Wine book had an interesting and enlightening article about wine breathing. He related it to smiling Jasper and morose Peedy:
"It has been shown that the amount of air capable of being absorbed by the wine via the very small atmospheric interface at the neck is tiny indeed and is unlikely to have any effect unless, presumably, the bottle is left open for an extended time ----"
Peedy interrupted: "That's why I swirl and twist the wines around furiously! To get some air into them quickly before I cover them."
Benny continued: "My experience has been that the effect of air seems to make wine taste more youthful, not mature, as most people think. With barely mature vintages breathing reduced its true age, making the wine less ready and less attractive to drink.
"When a wine is completely closed, breathing may not change the perceptible level of maturation. The wine's closed stage is often extended, especially with bottles of high quality..."
Peedy threw his arms up in exasperation: "Excuse me, but I don't know what the hell you're saying. Moreover, I really don't give a rat's ass! Are you suggesting that by permitting the wine to breathe it stays closed longer instead of opening sooner?"
Jasper: "You got it, pal. That's what he is saying."
Peedy: "That's pure and adulterated bull (expletive deleted, should any five year old youngsters into wine be reading this). He resumed swirling and twirling his wineglass furiously, glaring at Benny and Jasper, sniffing intermittently.
Hey, Julian, the wines, the wines, and the scores already! Never mind the epic; you're not Homer.
First Flight
Wine #1 Phelps Napa 1974 Consensus Score 87 My Score 90
Wine #2 Kathryn Kennedy 1984 :: :: 90 :: :: 94
Wine #3 Rutz 1995 :: :: 88 :: :: 87
Wine #4 Victor Hugo 1998 :: :: 88 :: :: 89
Second Flight
Wine #1 Rutherford BV 1986 :: :: 87 82
Wine #2 Inglenook Cask Res. 1982 :: :: 87 86
Wine #3 Simi 1995 :: :: 84 96 ***
Wine #4 Michel-Schlumberger 1997 :: :: 89 90
Third Flight
Wine #1 Stag's Leap 1981 :: :: 90 90
Wine #2 Dehlinger 1998 :: :: 93 94
Wine #3 Burgess Vintage Select 1999 :: :: 92 92
Wine #4 Conn Creek 1980 :: :: 88 86
*** Big time disagreement with Simi. My 96 raised the consensus score to 84. Most tasters: "I hated it!" "Celery juice and sauerkraut in garlic barrel!" "Perfectly panther pissed!" Other comments were less kind. Only Dr. Fred Busch endorsed it...lukewarm; but even lukewarm when I was besieged was gratefully welcomed.
***My Simi notes: "Big woodlands nose of layered wisteria, wildflowers, gushing springtime waterfalls, July's fresh roses, autumn's smoky leaves, winter's diamond glints on sunny snow; palate: whispers of raspberries, licorice and tar; perfect balance, resounding velvet swallow, forever farewell. A stalwart man's wine, not for the psychological diffident or the pusillanimous of palate, liver and heart. Exceptional!"
***My rating rationale: I am a country boy (approaching 90) who lives amid 15 miles of Appalachian Mt. Club trails in Holden and Paxton that are redolent with nature's exhilarating perfumes. I'm not a city person who finds comfort in aromas of gasoline exhausts and factory chimney smoke smells - hey! What the hell. I needn't defend my Simi. After 51 years tasting wines I am content to defer to the individuality of own my nose and palate.
If good Dr. Bob, from whose cellar these wines came -- and he doesn't buy bad wines -- wants to dispose of his Simi I'll have an eager checkbook in trembling hands.
I was particularly interested in the drinkability of the older vintages because among my eccentricities is the habit of saving best wines for last. Fine! Provided the "best" wines last. Too frequently, however, I find time - a gypsy man - steals away the lives of once coveted wines.
I usually put down classic wines for aging, permitting their youthful uncontrolled components to merge and mellow, only to discover that the fleeting years have slipped them by. I find some wines went over the hill, and I was left to ponder what they might have been had I not played "best for last."
We can only guess when a wine will reach its plateau of optimum drinkability. The safest approach is to taste bottles periodically and note any improvement, no improvement, or unpleasant deterioration. When you enjoy ultimate flavor satisfaction, you should drink away.
My notes on what some of the oldies were like in this tasting:
Phelps Napa 1974: "Big fruit nose; assertive tastes of complex fruits; excellent fruit/acid balance; some browning around edges; wouldn't know it was 30 years old. Rated 90 on my sentiment and Phelps' persistence to continue living."
Conn Creek 1980: "Stinky nose - blows off after swirling; nice berries, light spices; eminently drinkable, but not great. Rated 86."
Stag's Leap 1981: "Assertive pleasing berries, minty nose; big weighty fruit on palate, black pepper, fine balance; smooth finish, moderately long aftertaste. Rated 90."
Kathryn Kennedy 1984: "Mature; slightly musty nose disappears; great flavor complexity, mellow maturity, perfect balance; smooth finish, forever farewell. Rated 94."
Hello! Days are approaching Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and New Years. There are some excellent-to-superior West Coast wines available that are reasonably priced, such as those of Victor Hugo, Carmody-McKnight, Stephen Ross, Midnight Cellars, Montevina'a Trinchero, Terra d' Oro, Folie a Deux, Dry Creek, R.H. Phillips, Hogue Cellars, Hogue Genesis, Ménage a Trois.
Yes, I'm a "homer," but 25 years hence the world will revere American-made wines. So...make someone happy when you say with wine, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
Neckties and nighties, skirts and shirts, bras and boots - naah, these gifts won't make someone romantically happy; not as romantically happy as with wine.
Not only will you make happy someone you love by giving friendly wine, glorious wine that elevates the psyche with exultation, seductive wine that caresses the sense, joyous wine that releases sunlight from the bottle, reverential wine that is God's blessing unto mankind - but you, the beneficent giver, may even be invited to participate in its consumption. A consumption devoutly to be wished!
Throughout the year, at wine tastings, wine dinners, and at home, I may taste over 1000 wines. Space constraints to my prose have precluded my listing many of them. Therefore, I mention the names of some of my favorite West Coast A-minus and A rated wineries.
I make no apologies for being a "homer," extolling homegrown wines. With the exception of some Burgundies, Bordeaux, Barolos, Barbarescos, Tuscany Sangeovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, some Australians, Spanish, Chilean, and South African wines, I find nirvana in American made wines.
So, to repeat, 25 years from now wine lovers internationally will be comparing their nationally made wines with ours, ours being the benchmark for quality and value. We've got the soil and climate, and our wine growing and winemaking technology is unparalleled throughout the world:
Unfortunately, I won't be around to witness this unless I am transformed into some sort of bibulous ethereal spirit that floats around the atmosphere - over Worcester Wine Tastings, Castle Restaurant's tastings, Webster House's wine dinners -- trying to absorb sips here and there from wines' evaporation. Aaah, it should only be so!
Wine Pick: Dry Creek Fumé Blanc 2003, around $14. Nose: lemon-lime, grapefruit, melon, lemon grass; palate: aromas transfer with added taste of gooseberry and mineral; crisp acidity balances assertive fruit flavors. Delightful with last evening's broiled salmon.
Wine Pick: Montevina Terra d'Oro Zinfandel 2002, around $19. Fifteen months in French and American oak, a biggie at 15.5 percent alcohol, aromas of plum and blackberry transfer to the palate with added flavors of clove and anise. A zin that is superb considering price/quality value.
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com