Guigal, Gaja, Harlan, Mordoree, Pavie, Buccella, Evangile, etc...

Short notes from my dinners this past weekend:

1996 Pascal-Douquet Blanc de Blanc - My first encounter with this growers champagne, and it was an excellent, creamy, and bright perfect starter.

2001 Mordoree Reines du Bois - At first there was some panic. It seemed pruney and porty, overripe or possibly cooked. But this totally blew off in about 5 minutes. The wine became a gorgeous, sexy beast. A pure, ripe, screaming Grenache and just a young, beautiful powerhouse. Thrilling to drink, like an SQN. No hard edges.

1997 Gaja Costa Russi - My WOTN by a hair. God, I love these 97 Gajas. The nose is so REGAL; so intense, yet so elegant. Licorice, integrated wood, coffee, black fruits, and taking on a little leather and tobacco. Wonderfully sexy mouthfeel. Awesome.

1995 Guigal La Landonne - This is massive. Still a baby. Overall, it seemed a bit monolithic and closed. Plenty of acid and tannin, with the fruit a little buried. Good, but not great tonight.

1999 Dom Perignon - Nice quaff. Fine mousse, tasty, and balanced.

2006 Lewis Barcaglia Chardonnay - This is a full throttle, big, oaky, rich, buttery Chard. Very Kistler-ish at the price, although not as complex.

2005 Buccella Merlot - Nice surprise! Fat, rich, very low acid, choclate, dense, plush, mocha. Sort of like Foley Merlot on steroids.

2005 Pavie Macquin - Delish. Decanted vigorously for 7 hours. Killer acid and structure. It is closed even though it is full of flavor. This will be incredible when it gets into early adulthood. Loaded with mineral, blackberry and cassis, fennel and espresso. Killer presence in the mouth and a huge minerally finish.

2005 Bond Pluribus - You might think it was a 2005 Pavie, actually. Generous and riper than the P-M, but ultra-plush and rich, this was very forward and packed with flavor, but still a baby. Wow! Great stuff!

2001 Peter Michael Sauvignon Blanc - Boring.

1996 Laurent Grands-Echezaux - Cloudy. Nice nose of tart cherry, ash, and framboise. A little muddled.

2000 Les Cailloux Cuvee Centenaire - Kill Grenache nose. Framboise, strawberry pie, sweet oak, rich texture, fresh acid. Totally yummy.

2000 L'Evangile - Decanted 6 hours. Big, smoky, carbon, burnt wood nose. Then comes licorice, tar, massive amounts of blackberry and mineral. Great stuff.

2004 Harlan Estate - Never dissapoints. Classy, rich, intense, wide, deep, packed with flavor and very fine tannin. Great wine.

- Stefan