I went over to Stacy's condo yesterday to take measurements of the spare room into which I am considering moving. She has offered me an extremely low rent and I am quite tempted to accept, though, at this point, there is no suitable wine storage space. This is the major factor influencing my decision making process. I am currently doing some research on closet to wine cellar conversion. If anyone has any useful info on the subject, please comment below.
As I was leaving, she mentioned diner with a mutual friend of ours, Paul, the wine buyer at a well-established upscale grocery store in town. Paul is pretty much a recluse when not at work so the prospect of a social outting with him piqued my interest. The few times we have had a restaurant meal together, bottles with names such as Yquem or Grande Dame usually make an appearance and I am loathe to be excluded from any kind festivities such as this. Stacy said she would pay for my dinner if I brought the wine...of course, I eagerly accepted.
She decided on the X-Lounge for our meal. One of the partners, François is a good friend of hers and one of my clients as well. Paul doesn't go out much and he had never been. It seemed like an appropriate choice.
We were to meet at 8pm for drinks at the newly-opened Italian wine bar, enoteca. This recently renovated space looks and feels great and the thoughtfully and nearly meticulously assembled wine list includes offerings from all over the Italian Peninsula. I arrived late due to decanting time at home. I had a hard time deciding which wines to bring. A few too fragile to decant at home, put back into the bottle and transport to the restaurant. Most too young. Some much too esoteric. I settled on a vertical of the Moulis outfit run by the Rothschilds (of the Mouton clan), Chateau Malmaison, from the 1998, 1999, and 2000 vintages.
The Rothschilds purchased Chateau Malmaison in 1973. The 24 hectares of abandoned vineyards were renovated between 1974 and 1978. The vines now average about 22 years of age (still young for Bordeaux) and the vineyard is planted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, according to Parker or 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet according to the LFC Rothschild website. Whatever the proportion of the vines in the soil, the wine itself for all three vintages states a composition of 2/3 Merlot and 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine matures in 10-30% new oak barrels with the remainder in one year old barrels for 12-15 months.
Before tasting the Malmaison however, I should mention that after aperitifs at enoteca, Stacy ordered the 2003 Kluge Estate Sparkling wine at X-Lounge. This a product she now sells for National and once sold as a Kluge rep. Kluge Estate Winery aspires to grandeur, with an impressive (depending on perspective) list of consultants, including Michel Rolland. The sparkling wines are probably their best products made in the traditional method. The 2003 seemed a bit over oaked though, and starting to oxidize ever so slightly. The mousse was fine and overall it is a good wine, but not worth the money.
To the Malmaison (bad house?):
1998: A bit musty on the nose with notes of damp earth, red berries, and cocao powder. Soft and well-aged on the palate with leather and a touch of alcohol.
1999: Also musty and much less expressive, with some vanilla extract and most probably infected with TCA. Corked?
2000: Again, a mustiness noted. Muted nose but similar to the 1998, with a bit more freshness. Oak on the palate and not much fruit. This wine was not showing well and developed a quite moldy smell as it sat in the glass. Not TCA I don't think, but definitely flawed.
I would go so far as to say, based on this tasting (and according to Paul who had to pull these wines from his shelf due to customer complaints) that there is some sanitation problem at Malmaison. All three of these wines, either minutely or quite obviously, were flawed. The 1998 least so and clearly the stand-out among the three: the most expressive, showing the most fruit, but nonetheless, tainted.
I would be quite interested in tasting a newer vintage to see what is happening with this Chateau. I am curious to know of other people's experiences with this wine. Please comment below...
We finished with a bottle of the 2006 Mitolo "The Jester" Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia. This wine is a bit unusual in that it is made Amarone style with 20% of the grapes dried before pressing. This wine is much too primary to really enjoy and critique fairly at this point. Lots of residual fermentation gas. Nice strawberry and raspberry fruit trying to show through. But I'll need to retaste to get an accurate assessment of the wine.
No comments:
Post a Comment