Catching Up

Here are our notes on four wines from last week and the weekend.

Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Porto
February 16 and 18, 2005
Jen’s Notes

If you ever wondered what an Aunt Sally’s Praline would taste like in liquid form (with an alcohol content of about 20%), then this Port is for you. There were pronounced flavors of pecans (or maybe hazelnuts, though these wouldn’t be in the Aunt Sally version), brown sugar, butterscotch and burnt caramel, all wrapped in a creamy, nearly unctuous coating. Smooth, subtle tannins underscored the rich, sweet, nutty flavors. Spectacular nose, too, perfectly echoing the flavors of the wine. Nice, clean finish.

1999 Taylor Fladgate LBV
February 19 and 20, 2005
Shane’s Notes

On Saturday, I visited a friend who dislikes Port, so I decided to bring him a Late Bottled Vintage Port to change his mind. I went with the Taylor Fladgate 1999 L.B.V. Port which I had never tried but I trust (ed) Taylor Fladgate. I corked it and watched as my friend tasted it and exclaimed, "This is awful – it tastes like cough syrup." My first suspicion was that my friend’s uneducated palate misled him. However, one taste confirmed his pronouncement – the upfront flavor on this wine, a sickeningly, sweet cherry cough syrup flavor, mercifully disappears rather quickly in the midst of some harsh tannins. This wine is definitely disappointing and almost deserves to be poured down the sink. I took the rest of the bottle to Jen’s and after having a sip, she suggested that we chill it to kill the taste. Vintage Ports are only made in declared years; perhaps there are some years in which L.B.V’s should not be made either.

2004 Beaujolais Noveau, Domaine Manoir du Carra
February 19, 2004
Shane’s Notes

Is Beaujolais Nouveau a legitimate wine or is it just another White Zinfandel? I had never had one and was anxious to add my voice to the debate. Jen, having drank several Nouveaus in the past and completely disliking them, was uninterested so I sacrificed $8.50 to satisfy my curiosity and told her we could pour it down the sink if it were undrinkable. Jen chilled the Nouveau for about fifteen minutes prior to serving it, and I’m probably going to lose my standing as a serious oenophile but I really enjoyed it. It is not complex but I don’t expect complexity from an inexpensive wine. It has a spritzy feel to it as it slightly tingles the tongue. It has some citrus flavors and just enough tannins to provide structure. If I had been blindfolded, I might have mistaken it for a Sauvignon Blanc. It is a light red wine and would be great for a hot summer day, so it’s unfortunate for this particular wine that the Nouveaus come out in winter and do not last until summer. It is a fun wine to drink and I would definitely buy it again. Even Jen grudgingly admits that she likes this one.

2001 Provenance Cabernet Sauvignon
February 20, 2005
Jen’s Notes

This wine boasted big, round, berry fruit with well-integrated, slightly smoky tannins. Gorgeous, fruity-floral nose and a medium-length, clean, dry finish. Very well balanced and smooth. I thought the Provenance was unusually fruit-forward for a Cab, which is certainly not a flaw. Typically, however, with fruit of this magnitude (not quite a bomb), that’s all you get. Provenance definitely went the extra mile with those supple, supporting tannins. It is a fabulous deal at $27.99.