Pour Boys Wine Dinner features magnificent wines

Pour Boys Wine Group Dinner features magnificent top flight reds and whites 

Honorary ‘Pour Boy’ (our wine group) John O’B traveled back from Williamsburg so Lyle and Terry hosted a wine dinner at their west loop condo. John has been a ardent contributor of fine wines to our wine  dinners over the years 

We joined Dr Dan and Linda for a gala dinner of beef tenderloin, potatoes, haricot verts and squash served with ceasar salad. 

Lyle and Terry have been gracious hosts of a series of fabulous wine dinners over the years such as these featured in these pages  … 

Pour Boys ‘Winers & Diners’ Gala Wine Dinner  

Pour Boys - Winers and Diners Fall Cityscape Dinner 2024

Winers and Diners Cityscape Deck Wine Dinner '21
Pour Boys Cityscape Fall Classic Wine Dinner

Prior to dinner starters included delicious grilled salmon, deviled eggs and a selection artisan cheeses and nuts. 

John brought an incredible selection of ultra-premium wines - Champagnes (and sparkling California), a Chardonnay, and a flight of big reds - a duo of both Cos D’Estournel and Ridge Monte Bello - a mini-vertical and a mini-horizontal! 

Supplementing this incredible wine selection, Dan brought a select limited release Shoup Columbia Valley Red and Stags Leap SLV. I brought from our home cellar two Niagara Icewines from legendary Inniskillen and neighboring Stratus. 

The flight - 

We started with the Champagne/sparkling wine flight …

Dom Pérignon 2008 and Bollinger RD 2008 

This provided a mini horizontal tasting of two labels from the 2008 Champagne vintage Dom Pérignon 2008 and Bollinger RD 2008. 

Dom Pérignon is the quintessential classic standard bearer Champagne. It is named for founder Dom Pierre Pérignon, a French Benedictine monk, who set out his vision to "create the best wine in the world" when he became Cellar Master at the sacred Abbey of Hautvillers in 1668. 

Dom Pérignon dedicated over 40 years to this mission, and became known as the "father of champagne" for laying down the fundamental rules for the traditional Champagne production method (La Methode Champenoise or Traditionelle). It gained notoriety as a favored wine of the Sun King Louis XIV, Dom Pérignon himself compared his wine to "drinking stars".

While many premiere champagnes are blends from a series of vintages, declaring a single designated vintage release only in the best year. Dom Pérignon is also committed to vintage declarations, where each Dom Pérignon is made from only the best grapes grown in one single year. After no fewer than 8 years of elaboration, each vintage emerges complete, seamless and tactile. Dom Pérignon Champagne is made through an assemblage of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, created by using only the best grapes harvested from the 17 Grands Crus in Champagne and the Premier Cru of Hautvillers.

Interestingly, the 2008 Dom Pérignon Brut Champagne was uniquely released out of order after the 2009 vintage to allow for extended cellar aging. The 2008 Dom Pérignon is the first time the estate has released a wine out of order (the 2009 was released before the 2008) but the estate loved the wine so much they felt it warranted additional aging. 

It was stunning, notable, and may prove to be memorable - Dom Pérignon is widely celebrated as one of the greatest modern Champagne vintages serving as a benchmark standard bearer receiving highest acclaim. 

The 2008 Dom Pérignon was rated a perfect 100 points by Jane Anson, a near perfect consensus 98 points by Decanter, Jeb Dunnuck, James Halliday, Jasper Morris, Vinous and James Suckling, and an exemplary 96 points from Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and John Gilman. Wine Spectator awarded it “No. 5 on Top 100 Wines of 2018, Collectible.”

Jane Anson in her review wrote, “Easily the best Champagne I had all year, first tasted at a château lunch. I couldn't stop thinking about it.” 

Jeb Dunnuck wrote, “ This is a legendary Dom that surpasses all the great vintages of Dom I have experience with, including the 1990, 1996, and 2002.”

As is customary, it was crafted from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from 17 Grands Crus and the Hautvillers Premier Cru. 

Winemaker Notes - “2008 was dominated by grey, overcast skies – an exception in a decade characterized by bold, generous sunshine. Just when the harvest was getting underway, the weather conditions were finally perfect: blue skies and prolonged north-northeasterly winds. The grapes were riper than anyone dared hope, and had truly outstanding balance. The vines were in perfect health.’

“To the bracing acidity, concision and aromatic purity expected of the 2008 vintage, Dom Pérignon adds depth, density and complexity. The light is warmer and less harsh.’

“The opening bouquet is complex and luminous, a mingling of white flowers, citrus and stone fruit. The overall effect is enhanced by the freshness of aniseed and crushed mint. The final aromas offered by the wine are starting to show spicy, woody and roasted notes.’

After a long period of reluctance, the wine is finally opening up. There is complete balance between the nose and the palate. Its slender, minimalist, pure, toned, athletic character is now also expressed with warmth. The fruit is pronounced and clear. The vintage's characteristic acidity is remarkably well integrated. Its persistence is mainly aromatic, grey, smoky and highly promising.

Moving to the Bollinger, it too, was exquisite, but overshadowed by the extraordinary Dom Pérignon. The 2008 Bollinger blend was comprised of fruit from 18 villages, 71% Pinot Noir, mostly from Ay and Verzenay and 29% Chardonnay, mostly from Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant. 

The much heralded label was rated 96 points by Vinous who suggested a drinking window of 2025-2043 and wrote, “At times the R.D. is quite exotic, even if there is a good kick of energy from the bright, salivating acids and low dosage. The 2008 R.D. is very much a Champagne for the dinner table, a wine that benefits immensely from aeration.” 

Moving from the Champagnes to the label from California, hence a ‘sparkling wine’, even though it was crafted in the traditional ‘La Methode Champenoise‘, it’s not allowed to be called a Champagne since it is not from the French Champagne wine region.  

Roederer L’Ermitage Brut Rose 2019 

This 2019 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Brut Rosé is a rare, estate-grown sparkling wine from Anderson Valley, in Northern Sonoma County, California. 

It is a blend of nearly 50-50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, including a small fraction (about 4.5% to 4.9%) of reserve red Pinot Noir wine made via Burgundian maceration. It was aged five years on the yeast and was the first L’Ermitage Rosé vintage to undergo malolactic fermentation.

It was rated 98 points by Jeb Dunnuck and 97 points by Decanter and Wine Enthusiast as well as a Cellar Selection, 95 Wine Spectator, 94 John Gilman and 92 Vinous.

This is the first vintage of L’Ermitage Rosé to undergo malolactic fermentation. First introduced in 1999, the wine is not produced every year. A small portion of the blend (4.9%) was fermented in oak with gentle bâtonnage over eight weeks. The wine used for the dosage comes from the 2019 vintage and was aged in oak cask for four years. The outstanding 2019 Brut Rose L'Ermitage spent five years on the yeast. A nearly 50-50 split of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it includes 4.5% reserve red wine, which adds body and color.

 

All three were notable, perfectly balanced, and exquisite in their unique profiles. 

Niagara Peninsula Icewines

 

Planning for the evening, seeing what was selected for the wine flight, I scoured the cellar for something special to supplement and complement what was presented. I pulled and we opened two Niagara Peninsula Icewines from VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. 

VQA Icewine is a highly concentrated dessert wine made by harvesting grapes naturally frozen on the vine at -10 C in December-January. Genuine icewine must follow VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) regulations that prohibit any artificial freezing of grapes. The grapes are painstakingly picked by hand in their natural frozen state, ideally at temperatures of -10 to -13 degrees C - sometimes the picking must be done at night to take advantage of the temperature. Yields are very low, often as little as 5-10 percent of normal.

The frozen grapes are pressed in the extreme cold. The water in the juice remains frozen as ice crystals, and only a few drops of sweet concentrated juice is obtained. This juice is then fermented very slowly for several months, stopping naturally.

Ice Wines develop deep unctuous honeyed and complex secondary fruit, tea, nut and smoke characteristics as they age. Top vintages can mature and age for decades with extraordinary years lasting thirty or forty years or more.

Inniskillin VQA Icewine is internationally awarded and recognized as a standard bearer benchmark throughout the world for this class and style of wine. Located in Niagara-on-the-Lake escarpment, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, at the historic Brae Burn Estate. Inniskillin was founded in 1975 by Austrian-born and monastically educated, Karl J. Kaiser, and native Canadian Donald J.P. Ziraldo, a decendant of a family of winegrowers in Northern Italy. Inniskillin held the first winery license granted in the province of Ontario since 1929.

Kaiser and Ziraldo tested the new ground of Niagara, grafting old-world wisdom in the new-world terroir. Inniskillin rocketed to international notoriety when its pioneering 1989 Vidal Icewine was awarded the Grand Prix d'Honneur at Vinexpo 1991, and drew worldwide attention to Canada's emerging wine industry.

We met Ziraldo and tasted and acquired these wines during our visit to the estates, featured in this blogpost - Inniskillin Niagara on the Lake Wine Experience, in which I wrote about Inniskillin and this label. 

Winemaker Notes - “Icewine is nectar of the gods - some of the hardest to make, most intense wine in the world. Grapes are left on the vine well into the winter months. The resulting freezing and thawing of the grapes dehydrates the fruit, and concentrates the sugars, acids, and extracts in the berries, thereby intensifying the flavors and adding complexity to the wine made from it.’

“The finished icewine exhibits aromas of apple blossoms and apricot with a hint of cinnamon-raisin bread. On the palate, this beautifully rich dessert wine follows through nicely with a mix of apricot, mango and a strong honeyed component. The overall finish has good length with tantalizing flashes of exotic fruit and spice.’

“Food pairings: Fruit-based and spiced desserts, sweet/spicy sauces and chutneys, bitter/sweet chocolate, foie gras and spiced Asian cuisine. Also complements rich blue veined and selected cream based cheeses.”

Tonight, both were tea colored, having darkened from color of straw to butter to golden, then darker, from nearly twenty years of aging. Both were delicious throughout the evening, starting with the cheeses and the nuts, (especially the pistachios!), the salad course and finally the dessert course. 

Inniskillin 'Oak Aged' Vidal Ice Wine 2004

"The finest and highest brix Vidal grapes were selected for this vintage which displays ripe peaches and apricots on the nose with overtones of marmalade and candied brown sugar. with intense fruit flavors on the palate, the wines ample natural acidity is softened by a creamy vanilla note afforded with oak ageing." Sandor Mayar, Winemaker

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/400943

Stratus Vineyards Stratus Riesling Icewine 2008  

This is another dessert wine from the Niagara Peninsula (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Ontario, Canada, produced by Stratus Vineyards. We tasted and acquired this during that same visit to the region. This 2008 vintage release provides another opportunity to taste and compare wines from that same vintage. 

This release was rated 94/100 by Natalie MacLean, and 92 points by Wine Enthusiast whose Sean P. Sullivan described it this way, “This wine is the vinous equivalent of biting into a ripe, juicy mango that has been drizzled with honey. It's viscous and full in feel, loaded with tropical flavors that linger on the finish. Perhaps a bit one note but represents it well.”

Tea colored, full bodied, rich, viscous notes of apricot, peach preserves, ripe mango, honey, honeysuckle, marmalade, and lemon-candy, balanced by a sharp, clean backbone of acidity. 

RM 92 points

Another wine from the 2008 vintage, it is a well-aged dessert wine showcasing its mature profile and character. 

https://stratuswines.com/

Raen "Lady Marjorie Cuvée" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2024 

The Lady Marjorie is a blend of sites in the Sonoma Coast. It's such a pure, nuanced Chardonnay and was an ideal complement to the delicious grilled salmon course. 

This was rated 94 points by Vinous.

Published review - “The 2024 Chardonnay Lady Marjorie is elegant, delicate and wonderfully nuanced. Lemon oil, crushed rocks, mint, slate and sage are finely delineated in a transparent, crystalline Chardonnay that is so impressive.” 

Moving to the reds was tour de force of extraordinary, memorable wines and vintages - two vintages of two labels providing a mini horizontal (multiple wines of the same vintage) and a mini-vertical (multiple vintages of the same label). Enthusiasts, oenophiles enjoy such as they provide a basis for comparison tasting.

Ridge Monte Bello 2002 2009

Interesting comparison of a mini-vertical, two vintages from this iconic producer. 

I’ve written often in these pages about Ridge vineyards and their flagship Monte Bello, an in-depth overview in Ridge Monte Bello vineyards and estate in a tasting journal blogpost back in 2015, and more recently in this blogpost - Iconic legendary Monte Bello and birthyear vintage Diamond Creek for birthday celebration.  

Ridge Vineyards are mostly known for their broad selection of single vineyard select Zinfandels from a dozen vineyards across Northern California Napa and Sonoma Counties, but their flagship premier label is this Bordeaux blend from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (Agricultural Viticultural Area - aka appellation).

Monte Bello has been called an American 'first growth' and is known for bold, complex, long lived Bordeaux style wines. Monte Bello is the unique flagship label of this prolific producer known for a broad line of vineyard select Zinfandels from throughout Northern California  including Sonoma and Napa Counties. Monte Bello is unique not only that it is a Ridge produced Bordeaux blend, but also because it is sourced from fruit from the Monte Bello vineyard, high atop the Santa Cruz mountains that separate Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay to the east and north, from the Pacific Ocean and the Monterey Bay/Peninsula to the west and south. The Santa Cruz Mountains have their own AVA, little known but highly regarded for some legendary wines such as these. 

This site is especially notable to us since back in the early eighties, we lived in Silicon Valley in Saratoga, California. It is close to, yet high above the location of our home from when we lived, nestled up against the Santa Cruz mountain range down at the bottom of Silicon Valley, near the crease in the corner where the road leads up into the mountains and over 'the hill' down to Santa Cruz on the Pacific coast.

Our home sat on what at one time were vineyards, and moreso, apricot orchards, which eventually gave way to the sprawl of development in the bustling high tech region of suburban San Jose. 

The Ridge estate and Monte Bello vineyard is officially in Cupertino, albeit high above the valley up at the summit in the Santa Cruz AVA (Agricultural Viticultural Area) on the Bay side of the range.

The historic Monte Bello estate is the site of the legendary vineyard, and an old stone winery built by Dr. Osea Perrone back in 1892, the year of the first vintage release from the property. Today, it houses the production facility and includes a tasting room. The property was purchased in 1959 by four Stanford Research scientists who released their first Ridge Monte Bello label in 1962.  Paul Draper, winemaker to this day, joined Ridge in 1969, took over production of red wines the next year, and became winemaker in 1971.

There are 83.5 acres of vineyards on the property consisting of thirty-three different parcels sitting between 1400 and 2700 feet in elevation, which come as close as fifteen miles from the Pacific Coast, and is therefore one of the coolest Cabernet Sauvignon sites in California. The grapes here typically set, turn color, ripen and are harvested three weeks later than typical Cabernet sites in the hotter Napa, and to a slightly lesser degree, Sonoma counties.

Ridge Monte Bello 2002

We started with the older 2002 which was more subdued compared to the more expressive and vibrant 2009.

We tasted this wine and I wrote about it in this earlier blogpost - Merry Christmas - Frozen and gala family wine dinner, excerpted here … 

Ridge Monte Bello California Proprietary Red 2002

The 2002 Monte Bello Proprietary Red is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot.

This release was awarded 98 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 97 points by Vinous, 96 points by Wine Spectator, 94 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, and 18/20 from Jancis Robinson.   

Eric Baugher describes 2002 as a vintage with the lowest yields seen in the last 20 years because of bad weather during bloom. Macerations were shorter than normal because of the inherent richness of the fruit. 

As a result of the low yields, just 2,000 cases were produced. 

Vinous wrote in 2016, “The 2002 Monte Bello is just starting to enter the early plateau of its maturity. Bright red cherry, raspberry, wild flowers, mint and crushed flowers all lift from the glass. Sweet, perfumed and totally gracious, the 2002 is especially nuanced and feminine …There is plenty of depth and intensity, but it is all about understatement when it comes to the 2002, a compelling, racy Monte Bello that is in a great place today.” 

Going into its twentieth year, this is very likely at the apex of its tasting window, its hard to believe that it will improve much more with further aging. Robert Parker wrote in 2012 when it was ten years,  "It tastes as if it hasn’t changed since I first sampled it in late 2003 and then again in bottle two years later. ... Extremely young and full-bodied, with some wood char still present, it is unevolved and tastes like it could be a barrel sample, except that it has been in bottle for nearly ten years! This is a blockbuster Ridge Monte Bello that still needs a minimum of another 10 years of bottle-age and should keep for 50+ years."

Wine Spectator wrote in 2019: "Fully in its secondary phase now..."

We tasted from the winelist at our gala Christmas family dinner at Italian Village Chicago. 

Such highly acclaimed and rated wines are almost harder to describe because they are conspicuous in their lack of obvious or obtuse high notes, seemingly subdued, but not so, rather, they harmoniously polished and balanced, a symphony of complex flavors, and notably without flaws. Like a well orchestrated symphony the sum of the parts is greater than their individual totality, but no instrument or note stands out from the rest. Garnet colored, medium-full-bodied, expansive, deep and penetrating yet elegant, polished and superbly balanced and harmonious, Vinous wrote, 'it is all about understatement', layered, perfume, expressive flavors of raspberry, blackcurrants, notes of crème de cassis, bitter dark chocolate, spices and tobacco, framed by ripe, plush tannins, concluding with a lingering finish.

RM 95 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=9782

https://www.ridgewine.com/wines/2002-monte-bello/

Ridge Monte Bello 2009

The extraordinary 2009 Monte Bello release was rated 98 points by Wine Advocate and James Suckling 97 by Vinous and Int'l Wine Review, 96 by Wine Spectator, and 95 by Vinous and Wine Enthusiast.

International Wine Review wrote in 2016, “The 2009 Ridge Monte Bello is a world-class wine of epic proportions.  While still in its infancy, it is hard to find many flaws in the wine right now. It's not everyday you come across a wine of this caliber, and while you can get away with this approaching now, it should also continue to evolve for a quarter century for those willing to wait.”

Vinous wrote in 2023, “This is a decade at least from its drinking window, but the quality is evident, and the purity on the Margaux-like finish is exquisite. Gorgeous.”

Wine Advocate wrote in 2019,  “This is another utterly magnificent, towering masterpiece from Ridge. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2049.”

Wine Spectator ranked in amongst the Top 100 Wine of 2012.

The blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot, and it attained 13.3% alcohol. Unusually, fully 13% was matured in new French oak—with the balance, as usual, in new American oak.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex, concentrated and intense but elegantly balanced, vibrant expressive ripe blackberry and blackcurrants with highlights of balsamic, spice, crème de cassis, graphite, dried cherries, and tea with hints of tobacco, cedar and lavender perfume, with plush tannins, concluding with a very long, firm finish with intense, chalky minerality. 

RM 96 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?838245

http://www.ridgewine.com/Vineyards/Monte%20Bello

Cos d'Estournel Grand Cru Classe St Estephe Bordeaux 2009 and 2016

A collection of WOTN candidates - the Cos d’Estournel 2009 and 2016 are the best Cos in memory! 

One of the classic historic Left Bank Bordeaux producers, we hold a dozen plus vintages of this label dating back to the 1979 which we featured in a blogpost below, including this 1989, and large format birth-year vintage bottles that, like the Monte Bello above,  we have served at family special events and celebrations as featured in these blogposts:

Family Celebration Dinner Features Birthyear Vintage Wine, 

Birthyear vintage magnum Cos d'Estournel

Other posts featuring vintages of this label dating back to the 1979 vintage.. 

Pour Boys Impromptu Wine Dinner on the deck

OTBN 2019 - Open That Bottle Night

We visited the magnificent historic iconic Chateau Cos d' Estournel during our visit to the Medoc in the summer 0f 2018. Leaving the Pauillac town and appellation, driving past Chateau Lafite Rothschild, one crosses a miniscule creek leaving Pauillac and entering the St Estephe appellation. Rounding the bend and climbing the gentle hill, the iconic gate looms over the highway framing the historic Chateau, overlooking the estate vineyards across the road with the Lafite estate in the distance. 

Chateau Cos d’Estournel is a Second Growth Bordeaux from the Bordeaux classification of 1855. The estate is located on the border as one leaves Pauillac and enters St.-Estephe, adjacent to and looking across the vineyards at Chateau Lafite Rothschild. The historic iconic Chateau sits atop the hill and emerges in full view as one rounds the bend on the D4 route. According to the producer,  'Cos' means "the hill of pebbles".

Its oriental facade is adorned with three pagoda turrets, all cast in a soft golden sandstone. Chateau Cos d'Estournel today covers 170 acres separated from Chateau Lafite, along the southern edge, by the stream between St. Estephe and Pauillac. The chateau is surrounded by 160 acres of vineyards planted to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot.

The gravelly soil, over a flint, limestone and silicate subsoil low in nitrogen, has eroded over centuries to form steep ridges which perfectly drain the vineyards. The vineyards are planted 60 percent in Cabernet Sauvignon vines, 2 percent of Cabernet Franc, and 38 percent in Merlot. Naturally, the percentage of Cabernet or Merlot in the composition of each vintage depends on the climate for that vintage which favors one grape variety or the other.

Founded in the 18th century by Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, the chateau’s wines were in demand all over the world from the 19th century. The chateau was bought and sold many times during the late 19th and 20th centuries, and in 2000 it was acquired by Michel Reybier, who has managed it and maintained it's excellence.

Robert M. Parker Jr. has noted that Cos d’Estournel “has been particularly successful in difficult vintages” and “remains impeccably managed.” Some 200,000 bottles of the signature Cos d’Estournel are produced each year.  

Tonight we first opened the 2009 as part of the comparison tasting of other 2009 Monte Bello vintage label of the evening, and closed with the 2016 release.

Cos d'Estournel Grand Cru Classe St Estephe Bordeaux 2009

I've written in these pages as guidance for neophytes and collectors, there are 'every day' wines, 'once a week' wines, 'once a month' and 'once a year' wines, and then there are 'once in a lifetime', and/ore special occasion wines. Choose your frequency, based on your budget, in any event, these would be 'special occasion' wines! What a treat to taste side by side two such a wine with its multiple perfect 100 ratings. 

This magnificent 2009 release was rated a perfect 100 point score by Jeb Dunnuck, Robert Parker, then Lisa Perotti-Brown in Wine Advocate, 98 points from James Suckling and 97 points from Wine Spectator.

Robert Parker in his Wine Advocate wrote in 2011, “One of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted, the monumental 2009 Cos d’Estournel has lived up to its pre-bottling potential. A remarkable effort from winemaking guru Jean-Guillaume Prats and owner Michel Reybier. … An iconic wine as well as a remarkable achievement, it is the greatest Cos d’Estournel ever produced. It is approachable enough at present that one could appreciate it with several hours of decanting, but it will not hit its prime for a decade, and should age effortlessly for a half century.“

In 2020 Dunnuck wrote, “This tour de force is still 5-7 years away from maturity and is a legendary wine to follow over the coming 40-50 years.”

The 2009 blend was 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot (33%) and a touch of Cabernet Franc (2%).

Deep inky purple garnet colored, full-bodied, concentrated and intense dense by perfectly balanced blackberry, black currant and plum fruits with notes of charcoal, graphite, exotic spices, black tea, tobacco and hints of anise with smooth perfectly integrated polished tannins on a delightful lingering finish. 

RM 96 points. 

https://www.estournel.com/en/  

https://twitter.com/Cos_dEstournel 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?874488

Cos d'Estournel Grand Cru Classe St Estephe Bordeaux 2016

We then turned to the equally grand and stellar 2016 vintage release. 

The grand vin 2016 Cos d'Estournel was a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak.

This release was rated a perfect 100 points by James Suckling, The Wine Independent, and Vinous, 99 by Jeb Dunnuck, 98 by Jane Anson, 97 by Decanter and 96 by Wine Enthusiast (*Cellar Selection*) and Wine Spectator. 

As I have written before, about 100 point wines, they are notable not so much for their highs and bright sprites, and more for their lack of negatives or flaws, hence being polished, elegant and balanced. 

James Suckling in his 100 point review called it “Extravagant. Magical.“ The Wine Independent wrote in theirs, the 2016 Cos d'Estournel is quite closed to start, requiring a lot of coaxing to bring out profound notions”

Jeb Dunnuck wrote, “One of the more seamless, pure, elegant versions of this cuvée out there… One of those 'iron fists in a velvet glove' wines, with full-bodied richness and beautiful structure that’s covered by thrilling levels of fruit and texture, it stays tight, compact, and incredibly focused on the palate. It’s already brilliant given its purity of fruit and balance, but it deserves a decade of bottle age and will keep for 4-5 decades.“ 

Deep garnet purple in color, full bodied, dense and concentrated yet full round elegant, balanced and polished black berry and black currant fruits, notes of creme de cassis, cinnamon and clove spices, crushed rocks, and lavender, layers of tobacco leaf and lead pencil graphite, finishing with plush, silky texture, on long lengthy and deep finish. 

RM 96 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?2628120

Shoup Columbia Valley Red 2019

As dinner progressed, we then opened this very limited release ultra-premium Shoup label from Columbia Valley, Washington. Dan brought this label from his home cellar that he acquired as part of his wine club allocation. 

I written often in these pages about Long Shadows Cellars that feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit. Long Shadows was the creation of Allan Shoup, leader of Chateau St Michelle from 1983 to 2000. There he introduced Washington State grapes to winemakers from around the world in collaboration to produce quality wines. 

After retirement from Chateau St Michelle he founded Long Shadows to produce world class ultra-premium wines in Washington. He built a state of the art winery in Walla Walla and recruited a team of legendary producers to craft signature wines from the best vineyards' fruit from the Washington Columbia Valley. Three years into the new venture Long Shadows was awarded the Winery of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine. 

Shoup recruited a top winemaker with expertise and a track record producing best in class wine in each category or type of wine based on varietal grape. Marketed under the Vintners Collection, each of the Long Shadows labels in a testament to the legend of the winemaker for each label based on each varietal. 

Allen took inspiration for Long Shadows from his good friend and mentor Robert Mondavi, whose Opus One collaboration with Baron Philippe de Rothschild helped establish the prestige of Napa Valley. Inspired by the idea of international partnerships and fortunate to enjoy industry friendships around the globe, Allen envisioned a the collaborative alliances to highlight the quality and diversity of Washington vineyards that lead to recruiting the dream team of winemakers. 

Since the beginning, Long Shadows' Director of Winemaking and Viticulture Gilles Nicault, has overseen the operations of the winery and worked closely with the vintners to bring each winemaker’s vision to completion. Internationally renowned winemakers Randy Dunn (Feather Cabernet Sauvignon); John Duval (Sequel Syrah); Philippe Melka (Pirouette Red Wine); and Michel Rolland (Pedestal Merlot) are active partners in their respective wines. Gilles now crafts Poet’s Leap Riesling and Saggi, a Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, in styles that remain true to their original winemakers, Armin Diel and Giovanni Folonari respectively and this label, Chester-Kidder, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, independently.

Gilles works closely with the state’s top growers to execute a diverse winemaking protocol at Long Shadows’ state-of-the-art facility in Walla Walla to produce wines of exceptional quality, true to the Columbia Valley’s terroir. 

Allan Shoup passed last November. He is memorialized in a tribute on the Long Shadows website, “It is impossible to overstate the impact Allen had on Washington wine. If there were a Mount Rushmore of Washington wine, his face would be on it. His accomplishments will continue to impact this industry long after we are all gone." - Sean Sullivan, NW Wine Report. 

Shoup Columbia Valley Red 2019

The 2019 Shoup Red is a signature Bordeaux-style red blend from Washington's Columbia Valley, crafted in honor of the late Washington wine visionary Allen Shoup.

It is a classic Bordeaux grape varietal red blend crafted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Only thirty cases were produced. 

It was rated 93/100 by James Suckling, who noted it is compact, concentrated, and drinking well past its early release window.

Dark garnet colored, full-bodied, dense, concentrated and structured, yet polished with fine-grained, silky tannins. - black berry fruits with notes of walnut, sweet spices, tobacco leaf, wet stones, and a lingering chocolaty finish.

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4337080

https://longshadows.com/library/shoup/14922

We then moved to the delicious dessert course of Profiterole with ice cream, chocolate sauce and crushed raspberries. Dan and I raided Lyle’s cellar and pulled this Vintage Port for a wonderful, ideal pairing and closing wine to a spectacular food wine dinner/evening. 

Fonseca Vintage Port 2003 with dessert 

This was a classic pairing with the cheeses from earlier as well as the chocolate and berry profiterole. 

Iconic Fonseca is the only Port house to receive perfect 100-point scores for four different vintages. This is sourced from the three Fonseca estate vineyards in the Douro Valley, Quinta do Panascal, Quinta de Cruzeiro and Quinta de Santo António. They provide the backbone of the famous Fonseca Vintage Portos, produced only in vintages that are “declared” as being of the highest quality. 

This is a blend of 100% estate sourced Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca grape varietals. It was aged for two years in oak before being bottled unfiltered, then aged 20 years in bottle at the winery.

This is a classic vintage declared port that after nearly 25 years in the bottle is in its peak drinking window that will last decades more out to 2045 and likely longer beyond that. 

It was rated : 97/100 by James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast, 96/100 by Wine Spectator, and 95/100 by Robert Parker / Wine Advocate and Wine & Spirits.

Winemaker’s Notes - “Fine deep color with brick red edge. Good depth of nose, sweet, some spirit on the nose, rich, soft touches of dark chocolate and cherry (cherry tomato). Harmonious, elegant wine, some fine structure with exciting hints of spice and mint, very focused fruit, soft. A delightful Vintage Port now with good tannins to take it to old age. Appears softer than usual. Closing nose. Big fruit, blackcurrant and blackberry, real intense jams with cocoa notes and firm yet silky tannins. Powerful Vintage Port. Fine ripe fruit, good expression, cherry, a charming character.”

The 2003 Vintage was driven by an intense European heatwave that created a concentrated, dense, and deeply ripe fruit profile. Garnet colored, full bodied, this was rich and opulent with intense notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, cassis, black fig, dark chocolate, kirsch, cocoa, and spice with firm, velvety, and silky sweet tannins on the finish.

RM 94 points.

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