2001 Verite Le Desir Beltramo's 1 of 6

Another Beltramo's tasting. This one was of Robert Parker 95+ rated wines. The tasting included three whites that I am not reviewing here. They were all three good, but the reds were the draw so here goes quick notes.

The Le Desir was closed and low in fruit, really low in everything. Many of you will have heard the phrase that a wine is going through a "dumb" phase. This may have been the case here. Based on this tasting I could not recommend this wine to anyone at any price. It just never came to life.

Verite site is located here. You will note if you take a look through their wines that they have a history of great ratings. In the past I have had both Le Muse and La Joie and enjoyed them quite a lot, so I would not draw any big conclusions from this tasting.

In any case, last of six tasted on this day. I would be interested in trying it again a year from now and see what come out then.

WR

2001 Vall Llach Priorat

I sure wish I had bought more of this a couple of years back. It was $70 a bottle or so, but it is a dynamite wine. Not sure why I opened this tonight to be honest, just seemed like a good idea after a difficult day. It goes down beautifully. Smooth, long finish, lovely aroma and fully blended flavors of black cherry, burnt tobacco (the good kind of taste) and sweet tannins. A great wine from an up and coming area of Spain. Truth be told a now well discovered part of Spain but in 2003, not so much. Just outside of Barcelona. If you can get this wine, any year in the last five years, even if it seems steep in price, you will not regret it. I still have a couple of the 2001 and I will be delighted to open the next one in an other two years.

It is a blend, half Carignan, then Merlot and Cabernet. Great tasting wine.

Back in awhile.

leh

2001 Quinault l'Enclos

Yet another Merlot, over 80% in this Bordeaux. It seems to me to be still a bit young to drink. The tannins are still showing and the fruit is buried a bit underneath it all until they come through in the finish. Rasberry and plum were the most notable flavors. I had this right after the Jayson (see other note) and then had the Jayson again right after this. The Quinault was a classical French Bordeaux style and showed some structure and balance and I believe will improve for another five years. The Jayson, it may be good in five years, but I would not expect much chance of better.

Back in awhile.

leh