Category Archives: Syrah

2004 M. Chapoutier La Sizzerane Hermitage

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2004 M Chapoutier La Sizeranne Hermitage

Last week we made our biannual piligrimage to Capital Grille. Their wine list is expansive however you really need to pay attention to avoid over paying. Many of the wines are from good producers however often times they are young (Cabs from 07 or yonger) and marked up 2-3x per bottle. When going to a restaurant with similar wine lists it’s a good idea to take a look online and make smart choices. Capital Grille’s wine list isn’t available on their website but it’s findable with a little effort. With that being said we got a good deal on this 2004 Chapoutier Hermitage. This bottle retails for around $75 per bottle and we got it for $120 at the restaurant which is only a 60% mark up. We took a risk as 2004 Hermitage was not a perfect vintage and has already been declared to be past it’s prime depending on the producer.

cap grille food

We started out with Bluepoint Oysters (my favorite along with Naked Cowboys) and Wagyu Beef Carpacio and a Stoli Doli (pineapple infused vodka). Our main courses were bone in ribeyes medium rare with lobster mac and cheese and sauteed spinach. The oysters were the perfect combination of meat and brine while the Wagyu had fantastic earth flavors. The mac and cheese was uncharacteristcally dry which was a disappointment however the spinach was good with strong garlic flavor and good texture. The steak stole the show as usual with excellent marbling, seasoning, and the flavor concentration you only get with proper dry aging…worth every penny. For desert we had chocolate cake and my favorite: creme brulee which was torched perfectly.

colonelgrape: 83. One of my favorite movies of all time is City Slickers and I’d compare this wine to Curly….a great cowboy out for one last ride. Our gamble paid off and this was a tasty bottle at a decent restaurant price. Tough to tell color with the lighting but it had the nice aged purple/brick red hues. The nose was of extremely ripe black fruit, leather, earth, and definitely a little brett. On the palate is where the bottle fell a little flat for me. It was a little over ripe and had a port/raisin taste and the fruit was definitely past it’s prime but it all still worked. The tannins were gone and the finish was short. If given this bottle blind I would have said old Syrah but it was not as deep or bold as I’d expect from a Hermitage. I would have loved to try it in it’s prime but in the end it was a respectable final showing from the wily cowboy and now it’s time to move on.

MobyGrape: 89. This wine was ready to be put to pasture but it had one last wild ride left in it. It was a great purple color and just looked deliciously thick, probably due to the 8 years it had to build up sediment. It was earthy and had a port-y raisin flavor to it. Had a little tart kick left in it too.  I wouldn’t have wanted to drink this any later than we did, but it was an excellent surprise addition to an excellent meal! Paired wonderfully with steak and chocolate cake, but then again what doesn’t?

2010 Emmanuel Darnaud Crozes-Hermitage

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lamb wine

It’s been a slow wine week here due to various plans and sports but we managed to squeeze in this great little bottle of Crozes-Hermitage with some excellent lamb chops. We’ve yet to review a wine from this AOC but there’s good value to be found here. Most of the wine made is red and is 100% Syrah with a small amount of white also being made. Crozes-Hermitage is the biggest region in Northern Rhone however the wines are generally not regarded as highly as it’s neighbors: Cote-Rotie and Hermitage. The reds from Crozes-Hermitage are often thought of as good wines to drink while the bigger reds of the neighboring regions mature and drink well young.

colonelgrape: 87: Nice complexity for a young Syrah but not overpowering. Black fruit, graphite, licorice on the palate with some tartness and tannins but they had settled down and structured the fruit nicely. A really nice medium-bodied, young wine that is drinking well after only 3 years. The alcohol content wasn’t through the roof either like some of the California Syrahs which made this bottle much more drinkable with dinner for two. It also was only $30 and a great value for French Syrah. Drink it with a nice cut of red meat and you won’t be disappointed.

MobyGrape: 83. I’m digging on Syrah these days, I’m going to have to get the Colonel to pick up some Syrahs from around the world to see what else this little guy can do.  Had some definite tannins to even out the spicy fruit, so it worked well after decanting for a bit and with salami and cheese before dinner.

2008 Chatom Vineyards Syrah

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2008 Syrah

We decided to take a ride to the new Vin Bin last night for their Thursday night tasting and found a few treats. This 2008 Syrah is from the Sierra Foothills AVA which is located directly east of Napa at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It’s young and only cost $25 but it tasted well so we picked up a bottle.

colonelgrape: 85. We had a cork disaster opening this bottle but were able to recover and not need to filter. At first taste it was harsh and overwhelming, unlike at the tasting. It was at room temperature which wasn’t helping and so we threw it in the decanter and in the fridge for 20 minutes. A little air and being at the proper temperature did the trick and the wine opened up nicely. Classic Rhone Syrah nose of dark fruit, spices, black licorice, and earth. On the palate similar flavors came through. Long finish with notes of pepper and black cherry. Plenty of fruit but not too fruity. I may have liked it better with a slightly lower alcohol content…at 15% we noticed it at the end of the night and it can kind of sneak up on you. I think this drinks well now but would be better with 2-3 more years in the bottle but I like old Syrah. Overall a fun wine for a decent price.

MobyGrape: 87.  This was a strong showing from a syrah we picked up on a whim after a rando Thursday night tasting.  At one point I thought it smelled like caramel and butter, and at one point I decided it tasted buttery too.  I’m not sure if either of those statements are entirely accurate, but it was really quite smooth once it opened up.  We decanted it for a bit (not sure if you have to) because the cork split when we were opening it, and maybe that helped since the first few sips (with half of the cork expertly rammed into the bottle) were ok, but a little tight.  But after it sat for a bit it was much more mellow.  I can’t really identify what it tastes like, if it’s fruity I can’t tell what fruit this is, but it’s good.  Like I want to try it with chocolate or a dessert for some reason.  Or maybe I just want dessert.  Either way, use this as an excuse to have syrah and something sweet.

Dinner Grape Style Part II

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The gang was back together again at Aunt and UncleGrape’s house on Saturday night for another spectacular dinner. We were joined by CousinGrapette, BoyfriendGrape, as well as SisterGrape who took a trip from school to join us. Fresh off our trips to Union Square, Eataly, and of course the Wine Library we got to work on dinner. Here was our menu:

Appetizers: Smoked duck breast, wild boar salami, goat cheese with rosemary olive sourdough bread, daikon radish with hummus or spicy brown mustard and Hawaiin volcano sea salt.

Main Course: Roasted boneless leg of lamb infused with garlic and rubbed with spicy brown mustard.

Dessert: Italian cookies with pistachio cream spread and assorted chocolates.

NV Guy Larmandier Champagne2011 Gilbert Picq Chablis

With the appetizers we decided to go with French whites. We started with the NV Guy Larmandier 1er Cru Champagne which was crisp, light, refreshing and had just the right amount of bubbles. That was followed by the 2011 Gilbert Picq Chablis which was similar to the Champagne w/o the carbonation. I probably favored the Champagne over the Chablis and Moby did for sure. I learned that Vielles Vignes means old vines after I butchered trying to say it in front of UncleGrape who speaks fluent French. While the duck  and boar probably could have stood up to a light red the whites went well with everything. The duck was tender with just the right amount of smoke and the boar had an interesting sweetness to go along with good texture. The goat cheese paired well with the bread for a creamy mouthful of food. The daikon was very interesting…to me it tasted like a crunch wafer made of mushrooms and onion but it worked well with the smooth hummus and red volcano salt. All the appetizers were promptly destroyed and it was time to move onto the main course.

April 2013 NJ CdP

Since I got my hands on some 1995 Chateau de Beaucastel recently I brought a bottle and we decided to go a horizontal tasting of 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape.

1. 1995 Domaine de Beaurenard Boisrenard

2. 1995 Chateau de Beaucastel

3. 1995 Domaine de la Janasse

We started the meal a little bit later than anticipated because we didn’t realize the lamb was still partially frozen in the center. Not a problem for the Grape family as we had plenty of wine to keep us busy. We started with the Boisrenard which was surprisingly still tight. UncleGrape explained that 1995’s were historically tight but while it still had solid fruit coming through a bunch of us thought this was a bit too tight still. I’d love to try it again in 5-10 years.

We then moved on to the Beaucastel which had a very distinct old bandaid smell to it. Sounds appetizing right? It was delicious! UncleGrape filled us in on the smell…it’s called “brett”. Brett is a type of yeast called Brettanomyces that can be found on the skin of fruit and therefore in wine. Small amounts of brett are generally regarded as good for the flavor of the wine however large amounts can cause problems. That being said the Beaucastel was very bretty. AuntGrape is notorious for loving bretty wines so it’s no surprise she loved it the most. We enjoyed it too and it was an educational experience.

Lastly we had the Janasse. Our last trip we had the 2000 which was good but not the best of the night however I’d argue for the 95 taking the show this time. I thought it had the most balance but not everyone agreed with me.

We couldn’t come to a consensus on the Chateauneuf like we did last time with the 2000 Charvin stealing the show. Here’s how we ranked them:

colonelgrape: 3-2-1

MobyGrape: 3-1-2

UncleGrape: 1-2-3

AuntGrape (brett lover): 2-3-1

Since Moby and I write the blog we’re going to declare the Janasse the winner but it was a split decision for sure. The one thing we all agreed on though is that the 1989 Parusso Bussia Barolo was the wine of the weekend. The Chateauneuf was great but the Barolo outclassed them all.

Cocchi Barolo Chinato

Last but not least AuntGrape treated us all to a very rare (and previously illegal in the United States) Italian digestif…Cocchi Barolo Chinato. Having never heard of it Moby and I were all in. We learned that Barolo Chinato is a standard barolo infused with spices and most importantly quinine which why it was illegal in the United States as that’s a drug found in prescription medications! The spices and quinine give it a gin like, piney taste to go along with some sweetness. On it’s own we weren’t huge fans but when paired with dark chocolate it was spectacular. Something about the combination worked wonders. We  also had the Italian cookies and pistachio cream spread which was crazy good. The spread was a honey like consistency but had a sweetness to go along with the strong pistachio taste. We liked the wine much better with the chocolate than the cookies and spread but we both would have eaten the spread right out of the jar it was that good.

We concluded our trip next morning by making breakfast with the duck, turkey, and pheasant eggs which was great. The duck was probably the most different having a huge yolk and slightly different texture, the others tasted similar to a chicken egg just different sizes. We learned about brett and Barolo Chinato, had great food, great wine, and spent time with family so all in all it was a great trip. Keep an eye out for that 1989 Parusso!!!

2010 Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape

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2010 bosquet des papes cdp

colonelgrape: 93. This bottle didn’t wow me like the 2007 but this is a quality bottle. 2010 was a very strong year and this bottle is findable at $35-45. With top producers selling for $100+ this is a crazy good value. Tight and young, full bodied, black raspberry/cherry/and currant. Classic Rhone spices and earth. This is more in line with a typical CdP wheras the 2007 was more unique. It was approachable now but I think this will drink better in 5-10 years. For the price I’d recommend a case and cellaring it.

MobyGrape: 90. What a difference a few years make!  If you’re anything like me, you scoff at the snots that talk about “how much better the 2007 was than the 2008, and Buffy, can you gas up the jet?  I think I’ll weekend at the estate in Monaco!”.  Most of the time I think they’re full of it.  Sadly, I have to admit that it’s true.  The 2007 is night and day compared to this 2010.  They had some similar notes of #2 pencil but this one wasn’t as earthy and deliciously grungy.  Still a great drink though.  Now somebody find Buffy, the jet needs gas!