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Simply put, Tuck’s counsel is, if a Napa cab is advertised or touted as “low acid / high pH,” then science alone dictates this can be a long-lived wine.  Worth pondering the next time some prominent reviewer yaks up a bottle which just garnered a high rating and then tacks on almost gratuitously, “can age effortlessly for 20 years.”

So if you enjoy lush, ripe, rich cabernets, zins, etc., don’t cellar them endlessly – drink ‘em people!

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To view the catalogue’s online go to www.skinnerinc.com

Highlights include:

Lot 128 – First Growth Horizontal from 2000. One case each of the five First Growths in the Medoc, this single lot represents the cornerstone of any serious wine collection. 2000 was an instant classic in Bordeaux, with all five First Growth chateaux – Haut Brion, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Mouton Rothschild – producing stellar wines that are sure to be forever compared to the 2005s and 2009s.

Lot 225 – single bottle of 1820 A. De Luze & Fils Grand Cognac Fine Champagne. Possibly the oldest existing example of the distinctive De Luze bottle, this is a negociant bottling of vintage Cognac, likely bottled in the 1840s.

Lots 234-236 – Solid cases of 2009 Bordeaux from Montrose, Duhart Milon and Pontet Canet. 2009 is expected to go down as one of the greatest vintages ever in Bordeaux and these cases will be our first offerings from this landmark year.

Lot 100 – 12 bottles 1982 Mouton Rothschild. From a true wine enthusiast, these bottles were bought on release and stored in a custom built home cellar maintained at 55 degrees. Quite simply, these are some of the finest examples I’ve ever seen of this legendary wine.

Also a strong presence of 2005 Burgundy (see lots 259-280 and 659-688, with a few scattered lots of other vintages mixed in there).

Lots 117-118: Banded OWCs of 2007 Domaine de la Romanee Conti (La Tache and Echezeaux, respectively).

Lots 150-155: Single-owner Petrus from the 1970s.

Lots 293-295: high-scoring 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape

Lot 627: 3 bottles each Chapelle Chambertin and Latricieres Chambertin from Trapet, both 2002.

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Bottom line, not a great vintage by any measure.  Which doesn’t mean there won’t be good wines popping up here and there.  By example a pair of dazzling whites left me gob-smacked – La Mission & d’Yquem.  The exercise serves to remind that even the prettiest chateaux with their immaculate gardens can’t escape the fact that Mother Nature retains the final say in all this.

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For a youngster, this number is an extremely suave, well assembled wine.   Here is precisely the sort of New World cabernet-blend that soooo many other wineries dream about producing.  Showing lovely ripe fruit without becoming “heavy.”  Given the strength of Bordeaux in the same vintage, it could be interesting to pour this in amongst a cluster of St-Julien’s sometime down the road….

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Ed and his grew have built some great cellars for some of our clients throughout the area. This is the only firm we recommend because we know it will be done right. Check out their website for some great photos of completed jobs.

A recent modern cellar:

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Friday: the Friday bottle is always open by 3:00.

Saturday: we taste from 1:30 to 4:30.

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Oh boy.  Sometimes “things” (vins) accumulate down in the cellar and one forgets (??) what lays buried beneath….  One wood six pack box can look just like another even to a so-called professional.

A bit of slumber in a cool space hasn’t impaired these tasty triumphs one bit.  Ancient – not merely “old” – vines is the key element here.  Comprised from forty-five percent each Grenache and Carignan, the remainder split equally between Syrah and Mourvedre.   Skipping past a lack-lustre ’04, these wines displayed a common signature;  Rustic flavors, an exotic sniff of earthy intrigue and g-r-e-a-t balance on the palate.  Those qualities plus, or maybe adding up, to an effort showing real soul.  On this night, the consensus picks were 2007 closely followed by the 2005 with disparate nods for third.  A measure of the Muntada’s majesty, was that every year appealed to some one.

I went through Calce years back and it was fun to relive the memory.  When you consider what is “standard” in the region, Muntada is truly off-the-charts!  They were well, almost Burgundian.

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The tastiest treat of all however was the Gaja ’95 Sori Tildon – so elegant, so poised, so memorable.  Maybe Bordeaux doesn’t have the lock on longevity….

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