Dan Fredman PR

In the immortal words of Don Rice...

One picture is worth a thousand words...

 
The Beaujolais fest at Jan & John Reitman's place was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 

 

1994 Chateau Reynella Basket Pressed Shiraz

There's a lot to be said for opening the right wine at the right time. The 1994 Chateau Reynella Basket Pressed Shiraz is rocking my world tonight (bottle #127310, to be precise).

Earthy, herbal, peppery, meaty and a little plummy, it deftly illustrates the term "savory" (or "savoury" in Oz) and limns the metaphysical differences between Syrah and Shiraz. This wine is in an ideal state of balance tonight, equal parts fruit, acid, and whatever passes for structure these days. The aromatics have that funky/dusty thing I usually get in old Brunello but on the palate it's pure McLaren Vale, comfortable in its own frame and bringing back memories of old school Aussie Shiraz. It's not as monumental as the 1986 Rockford Basket Pressed Shiraz I had earlier this year; that was consumed at Jose Andres' Bazaar with friends and amazing food while this one was enjoyed on a Wednesday night watching Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" by myself. While I believe that context has a tremendous impact on how we approach a wine, the Rockford 1986 was a great wine and this Reynella is merely the right wine at the right time, and it's tough to find fault with that, right?

I added this bottle ($20) to my collection back around 1998 when I was working for Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, CA.  I would have to believe that, given its balance and adherence to a sense-of-place mentality, that it could have found a home for itself at that shop if Kermit was inclined to import wine from Australia. That's going to happen about the same time as he picks up Harlan Estate or Screaming Eagle for national distribution, but I'd like to think that this wine would meet his standards.

This is the sort of wine that keeps wine interesting to me. We often have a good idea as to how a given wine will evolve over the years, but we never really know what it's going to be like. In all honesty, I didn't have many expectations for this bottle, but my curiosity got the best of me. I've liked all of the wines I've had from the 1994 vintage thus far and this one has held up quite well. I don't know that it would improve much with more time, but neither does it feel as if it's going to be falling off the edge of the earth any time soon.

Cantina Roccafiore Luncheon at Terroni

How better to celebrate the first day of summer than at a Cantina Roccafiore luncheon at Terroni in Los Angeles? The Roccafiore organic wines are produced at a winery/hotel/spa located in Todi, Umbria, about 25 miles outside of Perugia. Luca Baccarelli (the winery's Direttore Commerciale) was in town with sales manager Valentina Davide and Terravino's Guiseppe Cossu was a most gracious host for the afternoon. I was honored to join a group of some of the finest sommeliers and wine directors in Southern California to taste the current Cantina Roccafiore lineup and enjoy the remarkable Southern Italian cuisine of Terroni. 

We began with the 2010 Roccafiore Bianco Fiordaliso, an unoaked blend of Grechetto di Todi and Trebbiano Spoletino. The winery's focus is on indigenous grape varieties made in a style intended to be crisp and refreshing, with or without food. This wine showed a bit more Trebbiano influence in it, but had a very succulent sapiness to it yet remained light on the palate. This was followed by the 2009 Fiorfiore Bianco Vigna d'Autore, a wine made from 100% Grechetto di Todi dei Colli Martani. The grapes are harvested and fermented in stainless steel before being aged in large Slovenian oak vessels. This adds some breadth to the wine without adding any untoward wood flavors. It was silky in the mouth but had good acidity, and really seemed as if it would improve with a little time in the cellar. Both wines worked well with Terroni's Zuppa di Cicerchie. Cicerchie are beans that have been found in Umbrian dishes for centuries. The broth was complex and the dish was topped off with a crouton and what appeared to be a piece of lardo. It was a beautiful accompaniment to both wines. 
We moved on to the reds in the next flight, beginning with the 2009 Rosso Melograno, a Sangiovese, Merlot, and Montepulciano combo. This wine was supple, with aromatics  refreshing acidity and a long, dry finish. Each variety is produced separately in stainless steel before blending and bottling. The 2007 Rosso Roccafiore is a step up from this in complexity and texture. It's made of 100% Sangiovese that's been fermented in stainless and then aged for a year in two year-old French barriques. This gives some aeration without overt woodiness to the wine. Finally, there was the 2007 Prova d'Autore, a blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Montepulciano. These varieties are fermented separately in stainless steel (stop me if you've heard this one before) but the wines are then aged for two years in new French barriques (thus the source of the oak used for the Roccofiore. Both wines receive additional time to evolve in the bottle before release. I think this added bottle time gives these wines a great advantage for restaurant use - although they would benefit from another couple of years in the cellar (particularly the Prova d'Autore), they have an inherent complexity and refinement that makes them good choices for "gonna drink it tonight" situations. 

We first drank the red wines with the Tonnarelli all Norcina con Tartufo nero Estivo. Tonnarelli are sort of a squarish spagetti that's popular in Rome and points further south. There was a sweetness to the sausage that nicely balanced out the acidity of the wines, and of course, what dish doesn't taste better when it's been enhanced with shaved truffles? There was a consistency shown throughout the red wines that struck me as being fresher and maybe a little more alive than most of the Tuscan wines I've tasted lately; they were refreshing and went well with the food.

 

The Tonnarelli was followed by a grilled lamb t-bone with a bit of rosemary, roasted potatoes and a small bit of olive oil. The dish was extraordinarily simple, and was intriguing because it worked as well with the wines as did the much more complex pasta served as a middle course. The food went perfectly with the wine (or maybe it was the other way around) and it made for a great afternoon. Afterwards, we got onto our Vespas to head home (well, Scott from Pace got on his, the rest of us drove home in cars). The service was as exceptional as the food and it was quite a memorable lunch.

The Loisium in Langenlois (or: Bacchus goes to the Bellagio?)

After the schnitzel lessons and luncheon at Schloss Mühlbach, we departed to the town of Langenlois in the Kamptal DAC.Our accommodations were at the justly-famous Hotel Loisium, a combination hotel/restaurant/spa and wine museum designed by US architect Steven Holl.

Set among vineyards on the outskirts of town, our room had a great view of the vineyards that surround Langenlois. Some of the rooms are named after local wineries (we were in one of the Schloss Gobelsburg rooms). After getting checked in and dropping off our stuff, the group headed past the pool and through the vineyard to the adjacent Loisium Museum. The entrance is tough to miss, with heiroglyphics telling the story of wine, food and the way they come together in life (or at least that's how I interpreted them).
Upon entering the museum, we descended via elevator to a room containing a huge vat of bubbling liquid (wine? water?) whereupon a show worthy of the Bellagio Hotel burbled to life.
Fountains spewed liquid in all directions, lights flashed and changed colors and there was enough misty spray to please anyone who's ever enjoyed the splashy water rides in amusement parks.
The show concluded with a glowing amber bust of Bacchus rising from the depths of the tank like something out of a Conan the Barberian novel and spitting a stream of wine at the open mouth of the ghostly, mysterious figure undulating on the wall above our heads.
It was a little bit Wagnerian, a little bit Las Vegas, and overall as entertaining as it was mystifying. We left this wine-creation pageant through a side door and entered some ancient wine aging caves that led us to a slightly (well, entirely) more normal museum experience. I enjoyed seeing the recreated kitchen with its bread rising trough, along with the cooperage display, the cobbler's room, and the general sense of what it was like to be living in Langenlois 100+ years ago.
After wandering around through the last century, we found our way up to taste through some 50+ Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings from the Kamptal DAC. We were welcomed by Fred Loimer, one of the highest-profile winemakers in the region.

In addition to Fred's 2009 Steinmassl Reserve Riesling, I was also impressed with the Jurtschitsch Dechant Alte Reben GV, Hiedler Kittmannsberg November Reserve GV, the 2009 Hirsch Gaisberg Reserve Riesling and the 2010 Schloss Gobelsburg Kammerner Gaisberg Riesling. In general, all of the wines showed beautifully, and palate fatigue hadn't yet reared its ugly head. But we'd only tasted about 80 wines thus far (including the morning's Weinviertel DAC bottles) thus far and the day was yet young...

Existential Ruminations on Cauliflower, Wine, and Fear

I’ve been pondering a cauliflower for the past week. I’m not a veggie-perv and I am not considering a move toward becoming a vegetarian, it’s just something I bought instead of broccoli, something that’s supposed to be “good for me”. Whether it is or not "good for me" is immaterial; what matters is that it makes me feel good for having bought a cauliflower, thereby raising me up from the ignominious doldrums of my usual diet of chicken fingers, instant soup, frozen pizza, and salami-and-cheese-on-crackers. With the purchase of this cauliflower I feel as if I’ve attained a mantel of moral superiority to my fellow man, nay, even a rosy-cheeked blush of healthitude simply by possessing this cauliflower. The difficulty lies in deciding what to do with it, and when to do it.

For all intents and purposes, I could easily enjoy this cauliflower just sitting here gazing at it, but then nobody would know that I did the right thing (ie: bought a vegetable). But what if I invited some people over and cooked the cauliflower (however one prepares such things) and it turned out that they don’t particularly fancy cauliflower, but if I’d only served them broccoli, we could have been BFFs? And what if the cauliflower I bought isn’t totally mature? Would my friends hold look at me with shame and derision in their eyes, castigating me for NOT KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE? So many opportunities to go astray, when before I thought it was “only” a vegetable. Wouldn’t my life be much better off if I just chucked the cauliflower in the trash bin and bought a bag of potato pom-poms instead? Probably, but that would do nothing to assuage my existential curiosity and search for answers.

It’s been said that a man’s character can be defined by how he reacts to such crises of confidence. If this is true, maybe my character might just turn out to be okay. Rather than get mired down in a morass of cauliflower angst, I began thinking of this brain-shaped vegetable as I might think of a bottle of wine. I went through a phase of vinous uncertainty a number of years ago, back when every wine decision was fraught with indecision, worry, and doubt. Fortunately, a wise and wizened winegeek noticed my dilemma and advised that, when in doubt about anything having to do with wine, JUST OPEN THE GODDAMN BOTTLE! He was right – there’s nothing better to instill confidence and wisdom in oneself than to experience things firsthand. And besides, it's not like I was charging my guests to drink with me - it's free education, and we're all learning together, right?

Reading about a wine (or a cauliflower)(or angst) is all well and good but nothing beats first-person familiarity with the topic at hand. Nine times out of ten, the people you’re afraid about doing the wrong thing in front of are just as fearful as you are when it comes to wine, cauliflower, rocket science, neurosurgery, or anything else not easily learned about while watching a TV reality show. There's a lot to be said for perspective - the longterm ramifications of screwing up by selecting the wrong wine with the wrong cauliflower recipe are not as dire as the ramifications of botching rocket science or neurosurgury, so take a chance. Open that Torbreck RunRig Shiraz with your fish 'n' chips, and let your imagination run wild and discover how and why (or why not) an Alsace Gewurztraminer works with a grilled ribeye. Hell, you might even find a wine that works with cauliflower.....

A Pork pie is not just a hat....

"Awe-inspiring in its awesomeness" is an apt description for this ninth entry in the pêche's Month of Pie series. The Pork Confit Pie with Creme Fraiche Potatoes and Puff Pastry recipe comes from the fantastic "Pork & Sons" cookbook by French swinemaster Stéphane Reynaud.  

 

The pêche blog post goes into extensive detail (with beautiful photos) as to how to prepare and then assemble the components of this incredible dish. Requiring three days to complete, this is anything but fast food. I'm now inspired to attempt this cardiologist's nightmare some time when I've got three days to spend.

This would be an interesting dish to pair with wine. My mind automatically goes toward a Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris from Alsace. The oiliness in the wine's texture would go along with the richness of the dish. So too would an Austrian Grüner Veltliner Smaragd with a little age on it. If my guests demanded a red wine, I'd maybe go with something on the fruity side, say a young Cru Beaujolais (2009 would work well) from Brouilly, Côte-de-Brouilly, or Morgon so there would be an undercurrent of dirt beneath the strawberry fruit aromas. A Sancerre Rouge would also be an interesting choice, as its flavor profile wouldn't mesh with the pork pie as much as it would surround (and enhance) the elements of the dish. I'm looking forward to experimenting with these combos sometime in the near future. 

Anyhow, go to the pêche blog, read their report, drool a little bit and if you don't already own the Pork & Sons cookbook, order it on Amazon.com via their website (maybe they make some money off of it and will be able to create more great pies).

Fred Brander's Wine Spectator Top 100 Tasting

For the last couple of years I've had the honor of being invited to Fred Brander's party in Santa Barbara where he pours as many of the Wine Spectator's Top-100 Wines as he can locate. This usually occurs a couple of weeks after the list is released; this year's early publication of the list gave him a little more time to round up some wines. Fred had about 60 wines on hand this year, enough to give a pretty good overview of what's capturing the interest of American consumers (or WS critics) these days.

The wines were laid out in numerical order, as as the table holding the upper end of the spectrum was rather crowded with attendees (probably about 100 people this year), I began at the bottom of the list and worked my way upward through the hierarchy.

I'm not sure whether it's just that I'm pretty jaded and that it takes a lot more to picque my interest these days, but there were a lot of wines I felt were well made and worthy of notice but there's no way in hell that I'd spend my hard-earned money to obtain them for my cellar. "Bigger is better" might work in the porn industry but I don't believe that it's got any place in the wine world. There were wines with lots of fruit and no acidity and wines that had a lot of upfront fruit and dropped off the edge of the earth on the back end. So it goes in the world of picking "greatest hits" for a wine magazine that serves as the one-stop "something for everything" journal of the wine firmament.

There were wines that I'd be proud to add to the cellar. The 2009 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé was sleek and beautiful, as appropriate on this rainy day as it would be on a summer afternoon in Provence. Strawberry and dry cherry fruit predominated but the wine is beautifully balanced and has a structure that will enable it to be really interesting to drink in another decade (or tomorrow if you're short of patience).

The 2009 Chateau des Jacques Moulin-à-Vent from Louis Jadot was definitely tops in the Miss Congeniality category. Soft and approachable, this poster child for the 2009 Beaujolais vintage was immediately approachable yet has the requisite balance to allow it to evolve for awhile. You either like Beaujolais or you don't, and I happen to love the stuff, so the Spectator is preaching to the choir when they add a wine such as this to the Top 100 list.

Pichot's 2008 Vouvray Domaine Le Peu de la Moriette was subtle (as Vouvrays are wont to be) yet persistent on the finish, with a lovely texture and a flavor that hinted at off-dry yet never ventured over onto the sweet side of the occasion. This wine is not the bargain it used to be ($15 now vs. the $7 I paid for the 2002) but in the real world, the wine is a steal for a bottle that will work well with a lot of different cuisines and that will continue to evolve in the cellar for a number of years. This begs the question of whether it's worth the cost to store an inexpensive bottle for long periods of time, but I think it's worthwhile in a case such as this. And case might be the operative word, as this is the sort of wine where it's nice to have plenty of it around.

 

   

If the Moulin-à`Vent was Miss Congeniality, then the 2008 Loibner Grüner Veltliner Federspiel by Weingut Emmerich Knoll won the talent competition. Such masterful winemaking here, yet the technique didn't get in the way of the wine as it did in so many of the other bottles at this tasting. This is a seamless wine that was a pleasure to drink, offering as much intellectual stimulation and complexity as you'd care to draw out of it yet just being fun to drink if you wanted nothing more than to whet your whistle and wash the white asparagus or schnitzel down the ol' pie-hole. It was broad on the palate, with requisite Wachau minerality and hints of white pepper and a bit of smoke.

They selected the 2005 Bodegas Beronia Rioja Reserva at position #52 and it was quite enjoyable, very much on the "traditional" side of the Rioja equation. Balanced and amiable, it's the sort of wine I'd like to have in the cellar for those times I don't want to be blown away by a wine but still want something good to drink. The 2006 Bodegas LAN Rioja Crianza fits the same slot (albeit at #42), although I preferred the Beronia to the LAN, all things considered (I'd like a crianza to taste a little fresher to make up for the lack of complexity in a Reserva). But for under $20 per bottle, it's not a big deal. Non-blockbuster winemaking seems to have a place on the Wine Spectator list, and that's a good thing.

The most intriguing red wine of the day for me was the 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel. Early-on at the tasting the wine was good but lacked complexity. About an hour after opening the wine had turned into a roaring homage to the Southern Rhône, with flavor and aromatic sensations pinging back and forth in an organized yet chaotic manner as if the wine were a symphony composed by Charles Ives. Brett was part of this glorious cacaphony as were Provençal herbs and even a few Asian spices. Paso Robles lies in the new world so obeisance need not be paid to Chateauneuf-du-Pape with the level of attention thought proper in the past and this wine is all the better for it. I've been around Tablas Creeks wines since the first vintages (1987, IIRC) and this is by far my favorite wine they've made. Jason Haas and Neil Collins are on their game with this wine; I hope that vintage conditions in the future enable them to continue in this vein for a long time. I would also recommend that you check out the Tablas Creek blog. It is among the best-written, most often-updated, and just generally worthwhile-to-read wine blogs on the net.

Sticking to the Southern Rhône meme, the 2009 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc was an ideal choice to reside in the Top-10 of this list. Stone fruit sensory stimuli were in abundance, with a broad, silky texture and persistance on the finish. Although leaning toward the zaftig nature of this producer's red wines (at least since the 2003 vintage), this wine kept its over-the-top proclivities in check, resulting in a transplendent example of the heights that whites from the Southern Rhône can achieve.

I probably tasted 40 of the wines on the table and enjoyed most of them. When I began looking these wines up when I returned home, it became apparent that my sweet spot in the Wine Spectator rating world is right around 90 points. Not that I'm not happy to drink wines at the top, but most of those suffered from too much intrusive winemaking. Been there, done that, and I'm happy to know that if I'm not exactly a cheap drunk, at least I'm a more discerning one after a lot of years tasting a lot of wines and figuring out what makes me happy. Kudos for Fred Brander and his crew for putting on one of the year's most anticipated (yet low-key) tastings.

 

Tom Colicchio's South Australia Dinner 1 Nov, w/Torbreck, d'Arenberg & St Hallett

Chef Tom Colicchio visited South Australia earlier this year and returned to the USA quite inspired by the food and wine of the region. He'll be behind the stove on Monday, 1 November at Craft Los Angeles when he prepares a 6+ course dinner featuring the wines of Torbreck and d'Arenberg. One would have to believe that having spent some time with Dave Powell and Chester Osborne made quite the impression on Mr. Colicchio...

The South Oz evening will begin with a reception featuring the wines of St Hallett from the Barossa Valley. Once seated, diners will begin with a dry white from d'Arenberg (of McLaren Vale) and move on into a formidable lineup from Torbreck, beginning with their Woodcutter's Semillon, Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne, and then on to the Steading (GSM) and The Struie, a Shiraz blended from fruit grown in the Barossa Valley and the Eden Valley. Dessert will be accompanied by one of the d'Arenberg "Noble" stickies.

The dinner also celebrates the launch of the Unlimited Flights To Australia sweepstakes, sponsored by SA and Qantas; the winner will receive just that: unlimited flights to Australia for a year. There will also be some extraordinary travel packages (including tours of the Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide) available at the dinner, so come prepared to work out an itinerary for your visit!

For reservations, email Anna Morini at AMorini@CraftLosAngeles.com or call 424.279.4180.

Click on the image below for more Information about this fantastic event!

 

Martian Ranch & Vineyard Debuts @ Santa Ynez Celebration of Harvest

The first releases from Martian Ranch & Vineyard debuted over the weekend at the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association Celebration of Harvest event. We poured Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Rosé of Grenache, and Syrah; the wines were very well recieved all around.

Martian Ranch & Vineyard is a property on Alisos Canyon Road in Los Alamos. The estate vineyard is farmed biodynamically, with consultant Philippe Amenier assisting with the overall growing regimen. The first wines from the property will be from the 2011 vintage, but until then the Martian Ranch wines are are being crafted by Brett Escalera of fruit sourced from vineyards in the Santa Ynez area.

Diane and Nan have their gamefaces on (and donned sunglasses) for the trip to the site of the tasting....

Due to the nature of alphabetization, the Martian Ranch table was right next to Rick Longoria's table. The near-legendary Santa Ynez winemaker and blues aficcionado has been a great source of advice to Nan and Martian Ranch over the past few years so it was great to be able to pour our wines alongside his.
Kathy and Nan behind the table

One topic that arose a couple of times was that people seem to expect ultra-ripe, full-bodied wines, regardless of the grape variety. Below, Nan explains that the Martian Ranch Viognier ideal is not to concoct a goopy-gloppy overoaked, highly-extracted syrupy fruitbomb milkshake-consistency wine, but that she's striving to make a Viognier that bears a lot of resemblance to say, Condrieu from the Northern Rhône. Elevated alcohol levels are okay if there's enough acidity and fruit to make it work. People got it after tasting the wines. Well, most of them did...

Nan expounds on the concept of terroir and how it pertains even to purchased fruit...

The Martian Ranch Rosé of Grenache was extremely popular. The result of a saignée of juice after four days of cold soaking, this rosé is rather dark for what might otherwise be a "pink wine" but it showed beautifully, particularly in the heat. Over the course of the day we heard several times from people "I only like red wine but it's kinda hot and that rosé looks kinda dark and looks real cold so I guess it'd be alright if I tasted it. But don't tell my friends, okay?" Needless to say, they loved the wine and no reputations were besmirched in the process.

Diane explains the Martian Ranch rosé approach to Rick Longoria.

The Martian Ranch table was quite popular throughout the day. We almost poured everything we brought with us (fortunately it was only a three hour long tasting). The Grenache Blanc showed well (particularly with the short ribs that Chef Budi Kazali of the Ballard Inn was serving). The Syrah was served with just a little chill on it, ideal for such warm weather conditions. It was a remarkable showing for a first-time winery and bodes well for the future.

Birthday Dinner Wines - Savory/Malibu September 28th 2010

Something about the words "birthday week" bodes well for the overall quality of wine consumption. The Puck-Lazaroff/Meals on Wheels/AWFF event got things off to a good start on Saturday night, but that event was more about working rather than partying.

The real celebration began Tuesday night at Savory, the newest (and already the best) restaurant in Malibu. Joyce arranged a bit of a surprise party, where what I thought was going to be a nice romantic dinner for two turned into a group of six, with the Four Fun Drunks joining us. Ms. Stein had also brought along a couple of bottles of wine from her collection, bottles that she thought would be interesting to me (go figure, depending on the prevailing mood I've acquired a reputation of being either a wine snob or a wine geek - and I'm not so sure either is preferable, and y'know, sometimes both come to the fore).

We began with a magnum of 2001 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay, a wine that was showing at its peak of evolution, reminding me more of white Burgundy than California Chardonnay. There was enough (but not too much!) oak and the wine's acidity seemed perfectly in balance with the fruit, resulting in a wine that might be described as being a tad on the lean side, but fortunately, that's how I like 'em! All the flavors were perfectly integrated and a slight nuttiness was beginning to assert itself, adding flavor to the wine's texture that went well with the crab cakes. A brilliant wine (and very ueseful in the 1.5 size) and the perfect choice to accompany not only the cuisine but the company.

As we moved onto the main courses, the 2004 Mount Eden Vineyard Pinot Noir and the 1993 Domaine Tempier Cuvée Speciale Cabassaou were poured:
The Mount Eden had been chillling in the cooler for an hour or two and when first poured was extremely unexpressive. I was expecting (and hoping for) more, given the track record this winery has and also on the basis of how the Chardonnay showed. It took about twenty minutes to begin blossoming and when it did, it was worth the wait (despite the mains being served before the wine was even brought out). Great aromatics, a little on the fruity/woody side, but that's unsurprising given the forward nature of the 2004 vintage. The texture was quite soft and velvety and led to a long finish; although one usually thinks of Mount Eden PN being in more of a Burgundian style, this one had one foot in France and the other in California. It was a lot of fun to drink and went well with the food.

While the Pinot Noir came from more of a fruit influence, the 1993 Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Speciale Cabassao was more on the savory side (appropriate given the name of the restaurant). 1993 is one of those weird vintages that was fantastic in Bandol but wasn't received well by the critics in other parts of France. Since there's rarely any mention of Provence on any vintage chart, people tend to overgeneralize about the vintage and wash over such fine points as geographic location, climatic impact, etc. Factor in the Bordeaux-shaped bottle that's used in Bandol and everything falls into place to enable the watchful to pick up great wine at a fraction of what a similar bottle would sell for had it been from a more-lauded vintage. That's what happened here. Cabassaou is a small section of the lower section of Tempier's La Tourtine vineyard. Where their Cuvée Speciales La Tourtine and La Miguoa are pretty special, Cabassaou is sort of a reserve bottling in the winery's vineryard hierarchy. Made from a blend of 95% Mourvèdre and small bits of Cinsault and Syrah, Cabassaou tends to be tannic and dense in its youth. Its production numbers are just the other side of minuscule, making it all the more difficult to track down, much less afford nowadays). More's the pity, as it's one of the world's great wines. This specific bottle was particularly good, showing lots of provençal herbiness (thyme, lavender) and a bit of sweaty wild animal funk way in the background. Plummy fruit flavors led the way on the palate, and while Tempier isn't really about evolving into secondary sensory elements as is the case with Burgundy or northern Rhône wines, there was no lack of compelling complexity in the glass. It was pretty brilliant stuff, although maybe not for the squeamish or risk-averse, as it's been my experience that older bottles of Domaine Tempier from the pre-Daniel Ravier era can very much be a bottle-to-bottle experience. I'm willing to play in that arena, but others might prefer a more squeaky-clean approach to their winemaking.

It was a great night, and as Joyce waved goodbye to the our fellow diners (after closing down the joint) we began preparing for dinners scheduled the rest of the week (to be posted anon)
Joyce waves goodbye