[wine] TN Rhone Grapes at Oddfellows 2-2-06

Rhone Grapes at Oddfellow's - 2-2-2006 W1 - bashful nose (wine very cold), SO2; lacks fruit in the mouth; finishes appealing citric, surprising length, is this just closed? 2002 Elemental Cellars Viognier, Deux Vert Vyd, Willamette Valley. (Popular at the table, but just never opened up for me.) W2 - full gold; powerful floral nose, minerals, touch of honey, floral quality suggests viognier; midpalate minerals, smoke, considerable oak, this sure isn't all about the fruit, slightly odd mouthfeel; smooth transition to aromatically reticent finish, again I'd like to be finding more fruit, quite long though, interesting wine. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. W3 - light gold; attractive honeyed nose; midpalate soft, richly honeyed fruit, delicious in a very southern Rhone style; finesse transition to a minerally finish, excellent length, very nice wine overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. (My analysis is that W2 was corked, not enough for any of us - not even Betsy - to actually smell the TCA, but enough to kill the fruit a little and upset the wine's balance. Note that these two identical wines were not even the same color. The wood was quite obvious in W2, but much better balanced with W3's higher fruit level. W2 was shipped directly from the winery and went right into my cellar; so, the difference between the wines is likely to have been the corks.) 1.1 - light purple; sour note on nose, just a bit odd, gunpowder and bacon; tastes as it smells, mouthfilling flavor despite light body; finish lacks fruit (getting old?) but reasonable minerality and length. 2000 Cotes du Rhone, Perrin, Reserve. 1.2 - medium red; attractive smoky, bacony nose; very oaky and tannic in the mouth though, and excessive smoked meat flavor, body medium minus; dominant smoked meat on the finish, quite long. 1996 Lirac, Domaine de la Mordoree. 1.3 - medium purple; light fruit on nose; in the mouth, some richness and structure, finishes very light though; attractive small wine. 2002 les Baux de Provence (AC), Mas de Gourgonnier. 1.4 - medium-dark purple; oaky candied nose; sour flavor, light body, little finish. 1999 Cotes du Rhone Villages. (I failed to note the producer, who may wish to remain anonymous in any case.) 2.1 - medium purple; attractive primary fruit nose; lovely balance in the mouth, young fruit and smoke; finishes as it tastes, could wish for more length but this is quite young, very attractive overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Mourvedre, Paso Robles. 2.2 - inky; black fruits and menthol on nose, considerable depth; rich Aussie midpalate, big fruit, high deliciousness factor; smooth transition to a building finish, excellent wine. 2001 Penfolds RWT Shiraz, Barossa Valley. (This stood up well to a bite of the extremely spicy blackened salmon.) 2.3 - inky, but just a touch of age showing at the rim; bacony northern Rhone nose with some real breed; light to medium body, tastes like Cote Rotie, could be more concentrated, very good though; finish is best feature, fruit coming out, classy. 1993 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, La Mordoree. (An off vintage, which Parker rates "appalling." Good example of fact that with sufficiently strict selection, fine wine can be made in almost any vintage.) 2.4 - medium purple; very clear cotton candy note on nose, with smoky fruit and bacon; medium body, this one tastes like Cote Rotie too, plenty of fruit; excellent aromatic finish although this seems to lack the power and concentration of a really big vintage. 1998 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, Les Becasses. (Not quite the massively ripe year in the north that it was in the south, but it's hard to complain about getting served two Chapoutier Cote Roties back to back! Thursday night wine tasting is a tough job, but someone has to do it..)