[wine] Surdyk's Chapoutier Tasting Notes

More tasting notes from Russ. Add Russ and Bill S. to the list for tomorrow (total = 9) M. Chapoutier tasting . sponsored by Surdyk's - 5/18/2004 Wines tasted non-blind. 1997 Hermitage Blanc, Chante Alouette . medium gold, lightest color of the three whites. Sizeable sweet/sour honey nose; midpalate seems aromatically closed, and the wine seems rather soft in the sense of lacking acid structure; finish somewhat shy on fruit (closed?), a touch alcoholic, very long though. Later, after having tasted thru the first six wines, this was a terrific match with the Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese. 1996 Hermitage Blanc, Chante Alouette . gold color both deeper and brighter; much bigger nose than first wine, beeswax and maturing white grapes and apricots, wood smoke, high "wow" factor; rich and sweet midpalate with lots of fruit; finish powerful, complicated and long; very good indeed, one to buy. 1996 Ermitage Blanc, de l'Or�e . quite dark gold; massively concentrated nose, the preceding wine pitched more toward baritone with the volume turned up; midpalate smokier and more serious than preceding wine, not so much weightier as far more concentrated, alcohol more obvious, a touch aromatically closed? Very large, powerful finish. Outstanding quality, and by far the largest wine of the evening, much bigger than the reds. Later, with the cheese, a pronounced and delicious honey hard candy smell and taste. 1993 Ermitage (rouge) le Pavillon . ultra dark color with a trace of brick at the edges; distinguished, deep Syrah nose, lots of smoked meat character, not a lot of fruit; pepper and red fruits on mouth entry, midweight; finishes as it tastes, the fruit fading moderately fast to low volume but then lasting a very long time. Good example of how distinguished vineyards produce fine wine even in off vintages. 1998 C�te-R�tie les B�casses (Chapoutier's "regular" C�te-R�tie) . lighter than preceding wine but still quite dark, crystalline, faint touch of maturing quality to edge color; very primary nose, still reluctant, smoked meat; delicious and quite tannic midpalate with considerable acid structure, black pepper, minerals; smooth transition to a big finish, then closing again but long and true, then smoked meat coming on extra strong late in the finish, and then the fruit coming up again! Highly promising young wine, one to buy. 1998 C�te-R�tie la Mordor�e . very young purple, some sediment but falls bright; much more forthcoming nose than preceding wine, with obvious fancy oak, very primary; big bright red fruit and black pepper midpalate, the sweet oak flavors again obvious but well integrated, yummy wine, very tannic; smooth transition to near runaway truck power on finish, very pure, very primary, at this stage of its development uncomplicated in comparison to the "regular" but much bigger and sweeter. Later, with the cheese, a lot of floral quality on the nose, and the wine impressed with its finesse, very light on its feet in spite of its size. Also tasted, with the cheese: 2001 Ermitage (blanc) le M�al and 2001 Ermitage (blanc) de l'Or�e, and an unfortunately corked bottle of 2001 C�te-R�tie la Mordor�e. The '01 le M�al was almost shockingly dissimilar to the 1996 wines, all primary fruit and minerals, reminded me very strongly of young grand cru Chablis, granted that it's not made from chardonnay. The '01 l'Or�e was far more obviously concentrated and viscous, and had lots of the smoky quality of its 1996 older brother. These two 2001 whites were extremely different and both of superb quality. The Fourme d'Ambert, the extra aged Mimolette, and especially the St-Nectaire were all cheeses to try again in the future. -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *