Check out what the Terroirists drank this week, including notes from Matt’s most recent visit to Lotus of Siam, Robby’s impressions of (yet another) Robert Keenan selection, and Jeff’s notes on a recent Bedrock Wine Co. release! Plus, Sarah partied like it’s 1999!

Matt Latuchie
I spent some time out in Las Vegas last week and had a great dinner with some wine friends at Lotus of Siam. One of my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas, it’s also one of the epic “must-visit” restaurants in the country if you’re serious about wine.

We didn’t have a theme for the dinner, but it ended up being Loire focused. The usually epic 04 Bregeon Gorges was a bit tamer than my other experiences with it – the fruit seemed a touch duller with less minerality than before. Our second wine was the table’s wine of the night – a 2010 Puzelat Pinot Noir. Most people don’t think of the Loire when thinking about Pinot Noir, but the combination of crunchy red fruit, underbrush and crushed rock was just wonderful – this must be one of the best sub $20 pinot noirs out there.

Shifting gears we moved into some older wines starting with a 1996 Druet Grand Mont. I had some great experiences with the 1995 and 1997 of this cuvee, so was eager to see to this could compete with those vintages. Sadly, this seemed tired. The flavors were plummy and flabby and lacked the regal aged Cabernet Franc tones that I found on the 1995 and 1997. My buddy Joe Hauck brought a great 1987 Ridge Geyersville that was hard to peg as a zinfandel. Nonetheless, it had great complexity and tertiary tones of floral notes and smoked meat…wonder if any syrah was blended into this???

We ended dinner with a late harvest riesling from the Niagara Peninsula. Loved its freshness, vivid fruit, and botrytis-influenced tones of pineapple and vanilla. Great stuff. The dinner was a lot of fun and we had a nice selection of food to dine on as well –  Tom Yum Kai, Nua Dad Deaw, Kang Hung La, and Nam Kao To. Bank did a great job as always with our bottles! For complete notes on the dinner, follow this LINK.

Robby Schrum
First, a report for two wines paired with Spanish paella. A 2009 Cass Rousanne “Rockin’ One” from Paso Robles in California led off. Light gold in color. Really buttery and creamy on the nose, with strong citrus scents, too. Despite all the commonalities, it didn’t smell like chardonnay. Buttery lemon flavors on the palate; clearly this had some contact with the lees. Spice, too, but that seemed to be a function of the high alcohol content (15.8% ABV!). Relatively balanced, though, for something so alcoholic. Smooth mouthfeel, and some savory characteristics before the spicy alcohol kicks in. A fun wine — but too hot, too alcoholic.

Next up was a winner — a 2004 Bodegas Ondarre Rioja Mayor de Ondarre Reserva from Spain — among the first bottles I ever purchased from CinderellaWine.com, nearly two years ago. This wine was well made and drinking beautifully. Deep, mature fruit flavors on the nose, with black fruits, meat, blood, spice, and potpourri. Rich. Savory ripe cherries, with more meat, blood, pepper, and chocolate on the palate. A well-developed, mature wine. Drinking nicely right now. Balanced and quite good.

Later on, I opened a 2010 Achaval Ferrer Malbec, which I popped, poured, and drank over three days. Extremely dark, inky purple. Tart, overpowering blue fruits on the nose. The scent of the tart fruits filled my living room before a glass was even poured; pungent. Petrol notes apparent on day one but faded over the weekend. Tart blue and black fruits on the palate, too, with a touch of salinity. Short finish, with no tannins to speak of. Not much in the way of secondary characteristics. A disappointment. Most pleasant on day 3, so perhaps worth waiting on.

Finally, my fellow Terroirists and those who regularly follow my notes can rest easy — I also made sure to open a bottle from Robert Keenan. This time, a 2007 Napa Valley Merlot that I paired with stuffed chicken breasts. I popped and poured through an aerator. Tight at first, but loosened up nicely. Probably could stand for a long decant or even some more time in the bottle. A high-quality wine — all kinds of red, blue, and black fruits, more berries than cherries, with dark chocolate coating them all. Noteworthy tannins, with a smooth, medium-length finish.

Jeff Vogel
We had a great week of wine and good weather here in Saint Louis–some reds, some whites, and great expectations for the season’s release of rosé. The two that stood out the most, both red and white, earned merit on their marriage of drinkability and complexity. The first, Bedrock Wine Company’s 2010 Compagni Portis Vineyard Heirloom White, is a noteworthy melange of California’s heritage and long neglected grapes: Gewuerztraminer, Riesling, Trousseau Gris and who knows how many others. Needless to say, it’s as wild and feral as it is cerebral and deep. Gewuerz is a very forward-leaning, typically flamboyant varietal; in a blend, it seems to dominate the nose with characteristic lychee and passion fruit, and the palate, especially in this Bedrock example, exudes an almost oily viscosity. Like in the field blends of Alsace, however, Gewuerz seems to reach its zenith when married to more acid-heavy varietals, like Riesling (as is the case in this wine), Pinot Blanc or Auxerrois. These supply balance and quaffability, and to my preference, add an almost essential complexity that avoids supermarket staleness. Morgan Twain-Peterson has succeeded brilliantly in rescuing a true heirloom vineyard, from which the real bedrock of California viticulture was formed and nurtured. The wine is essentially mid-century California, with only the added incentive of more intelligent, sanitary winemaking as an adjunct. I’ll drink to this any day!

The red, Guidobono’s 2009 Langhe Nebbiolo, is so fantastic I can’t keep myself from buying more and more and more. It’s budget Barbaresco, a wine with such forward cherry acidity, truffly earth and leathery structure, that I can’t help but think I’m practically sinning by paying so little for it. It’s pure and feminine–Barbaresco in so many ways–a crunchy, spicy peek into the Piedmonte at harvest: the trailing edge of autumn’s decay, warm bramble and rhubarb pie, clove and hazelnut, and a bittersweet leather and dark cocoa finish that floors me. I keep coming back and back to this wine for its food affinity and low price tag, and admittedly, I’m drawing closer and closer to a new favorite varietal, Nebbiolo. The reality of Barolo and Barbaresco at $15/bottle is just attractively criminal. Consider me on the hunt for more of these Baby Barolos in the near and distant future; my wallet couldn’t be happier, nor could my plate and palate!

Sarah Hexter
This week I tasted some great wine.  Tuesday night I brought home some cheese, bread and salad, and opened a bottle of Eric Morgat Savennieres l’Enclos 2009 that I had been sitting on for a few months.  The first time I tasted this wine was in December, and it was fresh off the boat and was not showing very well (bottle shock?).  I’m so glad I gave it another chance, because now I understand the hype around this young up-and-comer in Savenierres.  The wine had an incredibly rich nose, with slate, lees, honeysuckle and stone fruits as the most prominent characteristics.  It showed a classic waxiness that will undoubtedly integrate with the fruit and mineral notes as the wine ages.  Although the wine was not sweet, there appeared to be a little residual sugar, and it was nicely counterbalanced by the acidity.  This wine is still young, and will likely continue to improve for the next 5-10 years.

On Wednesday I tagged along with some friends to a 1999-themed wine dinner at Medium Rare.  We didn’t listen to Prince, but we did taste some extraordinary wines. The first was a Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Emile Alsace Riesling.  I’m pretty sure it was a ’99 but it might have been ’00.  It showed a deep golden yellow in the glass and had a nose of petrol, yellow flowers, stone, and apricots.  It was slightly oxidized and had a really nice nuttiness to it.  Typical of Alsace Rieslings, there was little sugar, and the wine had a bigger body and less acidity than you’d find in Germany.  Next we drank three red Burgundies, a2000 Domaine Ponsot Clos St. Denis Vieilles Vignes, a 1999 Hubert Lignier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes and a 1999 Domaine Y. Clerget Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets.  All were delicious, and showed an interesting range of weight and maturity.  The Saint Denis and Chambolle Musigny were just starting to show their age, and had hints of developing tertiary aromas. The Volnay was still young, but powerful, and likely has the longest ageing potential of the three.  I’m a relative Burgundy novice, but this tasting was a great example of why my beloved Piedmont Nebbiolos are often compared to red Burgundies.  Our last wine of the night was a late addition, and about a decade younger than the rest: a 2009 Marc Plouzeau Touraine Ante Phylloxera Clos de Maulevrier.  This wine is from “franc de pied” or ungrafted pre-Phylloxera Cabernet Franc vines.  It is a special wine that would have been very enjoyable in other company, but its bright fruit and grippy tannins didn’t show well after the middle-aged Burgundies. I’ll have to taste it again in a few months.