Today brought a pleasant little tasting at The Chicago Wine Company in Wood Dale, IL, there weren't too many wines there, but there were several that piqued my interest as I had not tasted them before. The wines of interest that lured me all the way over there were: 2004 Clos Des Papes Chateauneuf Du Pape Blanc; 1999 Quinault L'Enclos St-Emilion Grand Cru; 2005 Isole e Olena Cepparello; 2005 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes; and finally the Pouilly-Fume Silex from the great Didier Dagueneau, 2006.Unfortunately, due to our (hopefully) impending house purchase, I felt compelled to avoid any rampant and impulsive purchases. I can't be angering Mrs. Fatboy now can I..?
2004 Clos Des Papes Blanc: sadly disappointing for me, it was a little dull, lacking depth and balance for me. The nose was very delicate - in fact so delicate it was almost non-existent - the pear, honey and floral flavour intensity, and the body didn't match the crisp acidity on the mid-palate and the finish, though there was a very pleasant hint of oxidation on both. It could very well be that it is in a strange stage in its evolution, but I'd be concerned that the oxidation would take over before many secondary flavours develop.
1999 Quinault L'Enclos: Developing very nicely, soft, ripe, plummy, curranty fruit, with secondary smoke and tobacco notes. Rich and full in the mouth, with ripe and silky tannins, and no hard edges at all. A very pleasant wine with a long finish, that is very good value too. A lovely mouthful of wine for $37.
2005 Cepparello, Isole e Olena: 100% Sangiovese, this is made in more of an international style; it has quite rich ripe fruit, with lots of new, French vanilla oak that needs some time to develop its full range of flavours. It is very well made, with no rough edges, but I have to say I'm not a big fan of this style, there just aren't enough distinguishing characteristics in it for my liking, I prefer wines from this area to be made in a more traditional style, and I certainly wouldn't give this wine the 95 score that the WA does.
2005 Suduiraut: undoubtedly one of the standouts of the afternoon for me; from the moment I shoved my conk deep into the glass I was struck by the purity of the fruit and by how focused the nose was, the aromas of honeyed pineapple, orange, tropical fruit and caramel just leapt out of the glass and up my nostrils... The palate confirmed everything I anticipated, and more, with a soaring mid-palate and a good dollop of botrytis to boot, and zesty acidity on the very long finish. Not cloying in any way, this has a very exciting future ahead of it. I allowed myself a couple of bottles of this beauty...
2006 Pouilly Fume Silex, Dagueneau: This was the other standout wine of the day, obviously; plenty of ripe fruit, reflecting the vintage - sweet pink grapefruit, and lemon, with a touch of butter and a hint of marzipan(!) with fine, flinty minerality, and a very long, evolving finish. Excellent body, structure and depth, but it is a little tight just now, even with the ripeness of the fruit, all the constituents are clearly defined, and the nose was a touch muted. No worry though, given a little time I am confident that this will turn into a very splendid wine indeed.
Overall an extremely pleasing way to spend an afternoon. I did allow myself a couple of small purchases, a little Suduiraut and Quinault L'Enclos, but nothing more. Believe me, an angry Mrs Fatboy is not something one should wish to encounter on a dark night.
One downer though, I had to return home after this and confront our stubborn freezer that decided to pack up last night, causing everything to defrost. I was forced to get the grill out and cook all of the meat that we had in there. I guess it wasn't all bad then...
