TN Olympics Opening Weekend Tasting Notes

Villa Russiz Sauvignon De La Tour Collio 2014 - Perfect rendition of Sauvignon Blanc for my tastes. Lovely acidity and very aromatic, and a nice balance between herbaceousness and some minerality (not a dominant feature). Seemed refreshing to drink too (shows 13.5% on the label). No idea if it might have improved further and had only one bottle so will never know.


Tolaini Chianti Classico Montebello Sette Gran Selezione 2013 - I have a few Tolaini wines, purely as a (former) in-law had some familial linkages to the estate rather than their wines being a style of wine I generally enjoy. Not as over-the-top as I had expected, which was a nice surprise. Still fuller-bodied, more oaked and possibly a bit sweeter than I would like (but within an overall savoury range of flavours, if that makes sense). I think this might be nice with more time and have two more left. Not refreshing though (14.5%)!
 
Slight deviation from the tasting notes but anyone else disappointed by the behaviour of the French fans in some of the events?. I was really saddened that Tom Pidcock was booed in the back straight of the MTB race seemingly for having the temerity to overtake the French contestant. It was very poor form.....
 
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1996 Leoville Poyferre. Blindfolded this could only be claret, all of the textbook ingredients, but a slightly disjointed and hollow mid palate let this down.
That sounds a little disappointing. I’m only a single bottle in to mine, and that was a decade ago with the mid-palate being fine and indeed putting on weight with air. Have you had other bottles over the past few years — wondering if it’s the wine or the bottle?
 
That sounds a little disappointing. I’m only a single bottle in to mine, and that was a decade ago with the mid-palate being fine and indeed putting on weight with air. Have you had other bottles over the past few years — wondering if it’s the wine or the bottle?
I’ve had a full dozen of these over the last eighteen years or so and this has been a common element. Quite ripe on entry, but giving way to some greenness and a little hollowness.
 
This probably belongs in a newer thread, but a lovely lunch down on the south coast yesterday. We managed to get there despite the rail disruption although it took a lot longer than normal.

All wines served blind by our gracious host, Aziz:

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The Domaine Vacheron Les Romains Sancerre 2022 was difficult initially to pick as a sauvignon blanc but it was so classy, refined and restrained, and I struggled to identify it - I thought it might have been one of those restrained NW chardonnays like Ceritas. It had a hint of melon with stone fruits and a nice minerality...beautiful wine and worth seeking out....93 pts

The second wine was easy to pick as a riesling with the petrol note but I wrongly guessed Germany until our host noted that it contained 12.3% abv which took us further west into Alsace. I had never tried this either and the Hugel Riesling Grossi Laue 2012 was equally good as the Vacheron, with alluring citrus and floral notes...just glorious...93

Then on to the red flights. The first pair we were told was either same producer, different vintage, or same vintage, different producer. The tobacco and plummy notes immediately took me into Pomerol. The first wine seemed to be a lesser version of the second one, with less fruit, but was nevertheless pretty tasty with a nice lick of salinity. With a process of elimination - it wasn't Conseillante, it wasn't VCC, it wasn't Petrus, Trotanoy, Lafleur Petrus or Certan De May (because our host revealed it was not a Moueix wine), nor was it Lafleur or Le Pin - so I guessed Chateau L'Eglise Clinet, with the second one being 2012. It turned out the first one was a surprisringly tasty 2013 L'Eglise Clinet....91 points...while the second one was 2014, which was young but very pleasurable, intense and racy at the same time...94 pts.

The next flight of wines were young, powerful and alcoholic. I thought we were in NAPA. But no we were in Tuscany. The first wine was Ceparello 2018, 100% sangiovese, and15% abv. While one could admire the purity and quality of the fruit, the wine had the power and punch of a Mike Tyson left hook in his heyday. The Sammarco 2016 was cut from similar cloth but 'only' 14.5% abv. Predominantly cabernet sauvignon, but with some merlot and sangiovese in the blend, I didn't really care for that much either, another modern powerful wine, which is a struggle when your palate is tiring, and you are metaphorically trying to lift yourself up off the canvas ... only four of us around the table … difficult to score these but both around the 90 mark. No notes on the rather lithe and lovely Joh Jos Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 2013.
 
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Chateau Meyney 2014

I sourced a bottle of this wine last week from Will. I was fascinated to try it because I had read polarised - but overwhelmingly favourable -reviews notably from Jim Howe, Jean-Nicolas Maltais and the BWE crowd and esteemed critics like Jeff Leve, Neal Martin and Jane Anson.

Initial impressions are not favourable. It is horribly over-extracted. It has bitter acerbic tannins and a drying finish. Ooff.

I opened a half bottle of Haut-Bailly 04 as a back ground comparison, a wine I have found difficult and struggled with over the years because of its glacial evolution. But it is chalk and cheese. The 2004 Haut Bailly is beautifully harmonious and balanced in comparison to the discombobulated 2014 Meyney.

Btw the Meyney was not faulty in the technical sense - although the label was tatty because it had been in a damp cellar - it was not corked, oxidised, heat damaged or in any other technical way faulty.

I struggled through two glasses on the first night before throwing in the towel . Day two, it had softened a bit around the edges but was still unpleasant. It still suffered from the same shortcomings as it did on day one: over extraction and over oaking, which leave a nasty bitter aftertaste on the palate. I only managed one more glass.

It is unnaturally forced and contrived, fighting the character of the vintage. In my opinion it is a meh wine. If you drink this wine I would recommend 1/ opening it well in advance (at least a day but that didn’t really improve things for me), or 2/ leave it for another decade and hope it resolves and softens (probably your best bet), or 3/ drink it with a rare 400g porterhouse steak or 4/ all of the above.

It is 14% abv according to Lay & Wheeler - that bit of the label was torn off - how can a wine be 14% abv in a cool, non-solar vintage? If this bottle is typical, which I am pretty sure it is, how come the critics can’t spot this and call it out?

Maybe I am too much a Bordeaux purist and maybe I am wrong, but I have solid conviction based on this experience. In my opinion the hallmark of great Bordeaux is balance, equilibrium and harmony. This wine has none of those qualities.
I enjoyed reading this, Ian, perhaps more so than you did the Meyney!

I hadn't opened one of these for years as my most recent report indicated a state of bolshy unreadiness, so it seemed only right to pluck out another bottle to compare notes. I wrote:

"This has settled down to some extent, but is still big, rich and alcoholic. Very intense, almost confrontational with concentrated blackberry fruits, some note of coffee and eucalyptus. More like McLaren Vale than St. Estephe."

Whilst I am probably not as down on the wine as you are, I don't think you are at all wrong in your characterisation.

The good news is that the rest of my case will probably be on sale somewhere soon- I'm sure there are plenty of willing customers on whom its international charms will not be wasted, after all it is very highly regarded by the critics.

P.S. The Barolo was delicious - thanks!
 
I enjoyed reading this, Ian, perhaps more so than you did the Meyney!

I hadn't opened one of these for years as my most recent report indicated a state of bolshy unreadiness, so it seemed only right to pluck out another bottle to compare notes. I wrote:

"This has settled down to some extent, but is still big, rich and alcoholic. Very intense, almost confrontational with concentrated blackberry fruits, some note of coffee and eucalyptus. More like McLaren Vale than St. Estephe."

Whilst I am probably not as down on the wine as you are, I don't think you are at all wrong in your characterisation.

The good news is that the rest of my case will probably be on sale somewhere soon- I'm sure there are plenty of willing customers on whom its international charms will not be wasted, after all it is very highly regarded by the critics.

P.S. The Barolo was delicious - thanks!
Interesting and thanks Will for relating your impressions of the 2014 Meyney. Good to learn that I am not completely losing it. I was trying to remember which Barolo it was so I had to refer back to our PMs and see it was the 2018 FogliatI Bussia…a winning combination of producer/consultant (yes GLC), precocious vintage and vfm.

But the Meyney was an educational experience which confirmed my instincts, even if as some might argue the bar is never high to validate confirmation bias.

So this week I opened a half bottle of 2016 Meyney, in a swap with Jason. The good news is that it is a significant improvement on the 2014. The bad news is that it suffers from the same shortcomings: it is overoaked and over extracted. At least it is for my tastes.

Initial impressions are positive. It does have a classy, luxurious, ripe fruity entry. You could easily be fooled into thinking that this is something very grand. But soon you notice the acerbic oak and over extraction on the mid palate. You do get the impression that you are chewing on a plank of wood. Which is fine if you are a beaver.

But the 2016 is clearly better suited to this kind of oak treatment and manipulation because it is a bigger, riper, warmer vintage than 2014, so there is a better chance of the fruit surviving long enough for the oak and tannin to integrate over time making the wine a more palatable drinking proposition down the line.

Another estate that has gone down this route and received rave reviews is another cru bourgeois Ch Labegorce in Margaux, rated 94/96 for the 2016 by Neal M. So for those of you who are fans of the new-fangled Meyney this maybe a wine to seek out.
 
I enjoyed reading this, Ian, perhaps more so than you did the Meyney!

I hadn't opened one of these for years as my most recent report indicated a state of bolshy unreadiness, so it seemed only right to pluck out another bottle to compare notes. I wrote:

"This has settled down to some extent, but is still big, rich and alcoholic. Very intense, almost confrontational with concentrated blackberry fruits, some note of coffee and eucalyptus. More like McLaren Vale than St. Estephe."

Whilst I am probably not as down on the wine as you are, I don't think you are at all wrong in your characterisation.

The good news is that the rest of my case will probably be on sale somewhere soon- I'm sure there are plenty of willing customers on whom its international charms will not be wasted, after all it is very highly regarded by the critics.

P.S. The Barolo was delicious - thanks!

I've been buying Meyney for the last few vintages and will be trying a bottle for the first time tonight, the 2019. I suspect based on my wine preferences and these comments I might not be buying any more
 
I've been buying Meyney for the last few vintages and will be trying a bottle for the first time tonight, the 2019. I suspect based on my wine preferences and these comments I might not be buying any more
Hubert de Bouard still at the helm for this vintage so you could well be in for a feisty encounter, although 2019's superior fruit might be a better foil as Ian alludes to ref the 2016.

Do report back!
 
Yes please report back Alec with an open mind.

I am revisiting the 2016 now. Two days in the fridge - vacu-stoppered - has done it no favours whatsoever. It is now unpleasantly astringent.
 
Another estate that has gone down this route and received rave reviews is another cru bourgeois Ch Labegorce in Margaux, rated 94/96 for the 2016 by Neal M. So for those of you who are fans of the new-fangled Meyney this maybe a wine to seek out.

I fear your impression is accurate Ian. I am half a case through the Labegorce 2019 I see strong parallels with your impression of the Meyney - not exactly quintessential Margaux!
 
What was striking tonight/last night was the difference in the oak treat of the Meyney 2016 and the 2018 Kershaw Elgin Pinot Noir, opened after it, and while the oak on the latter is noticeable, it is deft and sophisticated and delightfully creamy, so much better judged than the heavy-handed oak treatment on the Meyney. The Elgin is a superb wine in an absolute sense, not just relative to the Meyney, which I did not care to finish despite being a half bottle.

IMG_4341.jpeg
 
Hubert de Bouard still at the helm for this vintage so you could well be in for a feisty encounter, although 2019's superior fruit might be a better foil as Ian alludes to ref the 2016.

Do report back!

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Meyney 2019

Is it damning to say there is little to write. It was tight and closed but perhaps as much due to it's youth than anything else. Nose very muted, some generic brambly fruit and powerful structure. I liked the tannin on it though I must say and didn't find it overly oaky. Think I'll put away my bottles for the medium term at least. Not convinced on buying more that's for sure but I do think I'll enjoy the bottles I have with further ages more than Ian
 
Sounds eminently more palatable. I remember the 2014 being very boisterous in its youth and certainly not very brambly.

I'm tempted to offer a swap with the 2014 but couldn't do so in any kind of good faith!

BTW - what's the alc. on the 2019?
 
Sounds eminently more palatable. I remember the 2014 being very boisterous in its youth and certainly not very brambly.

I'm tempted to offer a swap with the 2014 but couldn't do so in any kind of good faith!

BTW - what's the alc. on the 2019?

Funnily enough one of our tasting group afterwards messaged me asking where I got it from as he liked it so much!

Alch: 13.5%
 
Interesting and thanks Will for relating your impressions of the 2014 Meyney. Good to learn that I am not completely losing it. I was trying to remember which Barolo it was so I had to refer back to our PMs and see it was the 2018 FogliatI Bussia…a winning combination of producer/consultant (yes GLC), precocious vintage and vfm.

But the Meyney was an educational experience which confirmed my instincts, even if as some might argue the bar is never high to validate confirmation bias.

So this week I opened a half bottle of 2016 Meyney, in a swap with Jason. The good news is that it is a significant improvement on the 2014. The bad news is that it suffers from the same shortcomings: it is overoaked and over extracted. At least it is for my tastes.

Initial impressions are positive. It does have a classy, luxurious, ripe fruity entry. You could easily be fooled into thinking that this is something very grand. But soon you notice the acerbic oak and over extraction on the mid palate. You do get the impression that you are chewing on a plank of wood. Which is fine if you are a beaver.

But the 2016 is clearly better suited to this kind of oak treatment and manipulation because it is a bigger, riper, warmer vintage than 2014, so there is a better chance of the fruit surviving long enough for the oak and tannin to integrate over time making the wine a more palatable drinking proposition down the line.

Another estate that has gone down this route and received rave reviews is another cru bourgeois Ch Labegorce in Margaux, rated 94/96 for the 2016 by Neal M. So for those of you who are fans of the new-fangled Meyney this maybe a wine to seek out.
Glad I’m not the only one who thought the Meyney 16 was awful…albeit the contrarian in me took a degree of pleasure in seemingly being an outlier on here.
 
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