by Fredric Koeppel
The Commercial Appeal We always read that the fragile nature of fine wine dictates meticulous treatment. Storage at 50 to 55 degrees with as little temperature variation as possible is regarded as the ideal, with the absence of vibration or intermittent heat (as from washing machines, water heaters or dishwashers), proper humidity and darkness and laying the bottles on their sides considered necessary adjuncts.
These traditional methods will certainly contribute to the long life of ageable wines, but believe me, wine is made of sterner stuff.
In an automobile accident in January, we lost a number of fine wines, including - if you have tears, etc. - bottles of Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1990, Chateau Lynch-Bages 1990, Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses Premier Cru 1992 and Musigny Grand Cru 1992, the last two from the great Burgundy producer, Comte Georges de Vogue. The wines that were not smashed were retrieved from the wreck by my daughter, who kept them in her apartment until I arrived home. I left them standing on the floor in a hallway at home for a couple of months. Proper storage was the last thing on our minds.
When my companion was released from the hospital, we decided to go ahead and drink the wines that made it home. Our feeling is that life is too short not to celebrate endurance of whatever kind.
The first one we opened was the Au Bon Climat La Bauge Au-dessus Pinot Noir 1994, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Barbara County, from the year that remains the best vintage of the 1990s for West Coast pinot noir. Though tightly closed when originally released, this wine blossomed with all the luxurious smoky, spicy black cherry fruit, exotic fresh earthy character and sumptuous satiny texture we could have asked for. It tasted bright and newly minted yet profoundly mature.
Another survivor from that year was the Cristom Marjorie Vineyard Pinot Noir 1994, from Oregon's Willamette Valley. Amazing depth and firmness characterize this complex wine, a wonderfully deep though still youthful-seeming amalgam of smoke and black cherry fruit, creamy oak, serious spice and incredible, satiny, voluptuous persistence. Had I more of this wine, I wouldn't touch it until its 10th birthday.
Two pinots we didn't care for on stylistic grounds were the Chehalem Ridgecrest Vineyard Rion Reserve 1996, Oregon, and the Chehalem 3 Vineyards 1996, Willamette Valley, each of which emphasized a coffee-spice-caramel edge at the expense of fruit purity, though each offered a lovely texture. The caramel quality in the 3 Vineyard Pinot Noir was particularly strident. Disappointing.
We consumed some of the Musigny Grand Cru 1992 one afternoon with a plateful of Gruyere cheese and crusty bread. Callow moi, at first I thought, Ah, yes, a typical autumnal Burgundy, moderately rich and spicy, sweetly ripe, beginning to fade. Nice. Quite enjoyable.
With the second glass, however, I revised that hasty assumption. Finely knit of power, elegance and remarkably vibrant black cherry and brandied plum flavors, this svelte and weighty Musigny shed its initial autumnal quality to define clearly what Grand Cru vineyards are all about. What pleasure this wine would provide for the next five or six years!
More typically mature, the Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Forets St. Georges Premier Cru 1989, Domaine l'Arlot, was ineffably smooth and mellow, exuding tantalizing aromas of macerated raspberries and cherries, plums and baking spice, pure pinot from start to finish.
Far away in terms of geography and grape variety, the Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 1990, South Australia, rated a "wow!" from the first sniffs and sips.
Immense elements of smoke and ash, huge plummy-jammy fruit, incredibly ripe, roasted and fleshy and finishing with authority and austerity and the slightly bitter edge of orange marmalade, this wine personifies the best that Australia can do with this highly successful grape. It has long life ahead.
Notes on other recently tasted wines:
At least Murphy-Goode is consistent. Every vintage brings three sauvignon blanc wines from the Sonoma County winery, a habitually delightful "regular" bottling and two "reserve" style wines that are manipulated in the winery out of all recognition . The latest vintage, 1998, is no different.
The Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc 1998, Sonoma County, is fresh and a bit more spicy than herbal, bursting with floral notes and a touch of anise, moderately lush in the mouth and delicious with crisp, leafy citrus-currant flavors. It's a Great Bargain at about $12.
The Murphy-Goode Reserve Fume Blanc 1998, Alexander Valley, about $16.50, is fermented and aged for eight months in oak barrels, 39 percent of which are new, and then given partial malolactic fermentation. The Murphy-Goode "The Deuce" Fume II 1998, Alexander Valley, about $24, sees all new French oak for fermentation and aging and goes through 100 percent malolactic. The grape simply cannot take all this wood or the attempt to elevate it into a chardonnay-type powerhouse. Sauvignon blanc does not show well at all, in fact gives scant pleasure, as a rich, buttery, candied, stridently spicy wine whose density and intensity of oak mask the fruit. So cut it out.
I thought Chateau Souverain's Chardonnay 1998, Sonoma County, was too toasty and too buttery to be palatable, about $15, but if they serve sauvignon blanc by the glass in heaven's cocktail lounges, I hope it's Chateau Souverain's Sauvignon Blanc 1999, Alexander Valley. What a pure, fresh, clean mouthful of integrity and enticement this wine is; its sprightly touches of grass and hay, its notes of anise and tarragon, its attractive, moderate creaminess and balancing crispness and tasty citrus-fig-currant flavors are irresistible. I'd be nuts not to make it a Pick of the Week and urge you to acquire it by the case for spring and summer quaffing. About $12.
Another great little wine is the Chateau Souverain Zinfandel 1997, Dry Creek Valley. This is an incredibly ripe, fleshy and meaty zin, blossoming with smoky black currant, black raspberry and boysenberry scents bountifully bolstered by black pepper and exotic spice; it's round and ripe in the mouth, packed with black fruit flavors, smoke, ash and plenty of underbrush and polished tannin for backbone. A bit of stiffness on the finish dictates a year or two aging, but this is definitely a zinfandel with personality. About $15.
(E-mail koeppel@gomemphis.com or write The Commercial Appeal, PO Box 134, Memphis, TN 38101.)
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