Cellar Report: 2004 Alain Boisson Cairanne "Cros de Romet"

Yeah, I know the label says 2008. That's what I have in store at VINO since there's a
chance I may have forgotten to take a pic of the '04.

When I first had the 2004 Cairanne from Alain Boisson I was sitting at a table at Le Pigeon here in Portland, probably sometime in 2007, with a bunch of my boys on a guys night out. Forget the strip clubs and meat market bars. We're all about eating and drinking as well as is humanly possible in PDX. We had probably just been delivered a plate of foie gras or some other so wrong/so right part of an animal that chef Gabe Rucker has a way with. This bottle ended up on the table because as the "wine guy" in the crowd I'm usually tasked with ordering and with my love of all things wine-ish and southern French, and also because the south of any wine Euro wine producing country is almost always where the deals are, there was a bottle of Boisson. Anyway, all around the table there was consensus that this as something pretty special. Back at VINO the next day I ordered some for the store, and a half dozen extra for my basement.

So here I was a couple nights ago at home pulling the last bottle out of the basement. 2004 wasn't considered an average year for Rhone reds, but like in every mediocre vintage great winemakers will most likely make better than average wine. The other five had been delicious, getting better and better with each opening. So it was with the last bottle. As always upon opening I got a nose full of dark, plummy fruit. This wine always takes a few minutes to develop the nuances beyond the fruit. Sure enough, soon those classic aromas of pepper, smoke, earth, and roasted meat we making their way out of the glass. Taking a drink, this has dropped its hard edges and is all soft, beautifully developed flavors. More dark fruit, more hints of garrigue (that taste of wild herb, earth, and spice that are the hallmark and siren call of Provençal reds), more velvety smooth texture that led to a finish that demanded another taste. As the wine sat in the glass after about 30 minutes it really opened up...bacon fat, plum jam, spring blossoms...crazy flavors that kept changing with each sip. An hour or so later the bottle was almost empty and that delicious French haze going was going on in my head that causes irrational trip planning and dreams of escape. 2004 turned to be quite a good year. Merci, M. Boisson!

Cellar report: '01 Mas des Chimeres Coteaux du Languedoc; '99 Monchiero Barolo "Montanello"

The life I lead is not so bad. A perfect example of how good it can get was last weekend's dinner at my sister's, where not only were the rib-eyes char-grilled beefy perfection, the two bottles of red wine that accompanied said meat did most definitely not suck. How not sucky were they? Read on, oh thirsty peeps, and see what 20 years of combined cellar time has wrought....

2001 MAS DES CHIMERES Coteaux du Languedoc
This was a bottle pulled out my sis and bro-in-law's basement, one they have coddled for the last six years. The Mas des Chimeres has, in the 10+ years I've been hanging out schlepping grape based beverage at the wine shack, annually been one of my favorite bottles. Not just because I adore wines from the south of France for all their earthy, rich, complex garrigue infused aromas and flavors, but because winemaker Guilhem Dardé obviously tends his family's vineyards just outside the village of Octon in France's vast Languedoc region with meticulous care. A blend of 70% Syrah, 20% Grenache and 5% each Cinsault and Mourvedre, it never seems to disappoint, especially given a few years of loving care in the cellar...or basement...or closet. The 2001 we poured didn't just live up to my hopes and expectations, it blew them away. The aromas had the classic Chimeres blackberry, white pepper, and dirt notes. Then when I took that first sip the word that popped into my head was "thick". Like having a glass of luscious blackberry jam in liquid form, only instead of slathering toast with it you're washing down hunks of meat. 2001 wasn't considered a great vintage in the south, but over the last few years this has put on weight, and is drinking absolutely beautifully with layers and layers of fruit, a tannic structure that has melded perfectly with the fruit, and this freakishly long finish. This is one of those crazy bottles that punched you in the palate when it was first opened, then just kept landing haymakers as it sat in the glass and blossomed. If anyone ever wants top know why the hell you would stick wine away in a dark basement instead of slurping it down on release, all they'd need to do is take one taste of this nectar. The best part- I still have a bottle in my own basement to ensure future happiness!

1999 MONCHIERO Barolo Riserva "Montanello"
This was a bottle I brought with to pop open. I told you we were drinking like kings! Barolo from Piedmont is at the top of Italy's wine heap along with its sister Barbaresco and Tuscany's great Brunello di Montalcino. Both Barolo and Barbaresco are made from 100% nebbiolo, and give you a sensory overload like no other red wine. It may be the only food & beverage related product in the world where if you use the term "barnyard" to describe it, it is a great compliment. In my mind Barolo from good vintages needs at least ten years to really show its stuff. Young, they tend to be tight, wound up, tannic wines. They're like people who take time to get to know. With age they finally relax and show all the goodness that has been hiding underneath that curmudgeonly exterior. 1999 was an excellent Piedmontese vintage. This single-vineyard Monchiero, produced at the family run winery in the village of Castiglione Falleto, showed all that vintages quality, and was still surprisingly youthful. Dark cherries, rose petals cedar, spice, and yes that stinky good barnyard aroma came flowing at you. The flavor echoed those sensations, but I think this beauty is still a good five years away from its peak. It's all there and all good, it only needs time. Since I have a couple more of the '99s left at home and plenty of other bottles to distract me, I think I can wait!