2005 Araujo Cabernet Beltramo's 3rd of 6

During the tasting I was standing and chatting with a husband and wife who were tasting. The husband was not really taken with any wine but this one, and even though the price of this wine was noted at $265 a bottle it was the one wine in the tasting that he said he would consider buying. The others, nice to good, but not worth the triple digit, or near prices.

He was right.

Araujo Estate is a Napa cult wine. The prices are high, it is very hard to get unless you are already on the mailing list.

This wine was marvellously balanced. The fruit was luscious. The tannins sweet and round. The finish was long and delightful. The nose was hints of plum, berries and vanilla. I have not had any of these previously, but have read that vanilla is a flavor that predominates. I have to say it again lush and balanced. Truly an outstanding wine today and I would suspect for many years to come.

Clear and convincing 1st of 6.

WR

2005 Dominus Beltramo's 2nd of 6

Dominus is a "name" wine. It has tremendous heritage from its french roots (not literaaly) and it has been a very successful brand from Napa.

This wine was good, not great. Plenty of fruit, too much acid, and tart tannins. would clearly be much better in a few years. This is consistent with my experience with Dominus which has shown them to be long lived Napa wines compared to most. They are not in the Dunn category, but within the last year I opend a 1997 to enjoye with a meal and after decanting and letting it rest for a couple of hours it was still vibrant with fruit and very enjoyable.

4th of the 6 wines tasted.



WR

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

2000 Leoville-Las Cases Redux

So, two nights after opening this I went back to the bottle that had sat room temperature on my counter, with a simple stopper in the bottle.

My original note is here.

About 70% of the time I do this, I take a taste and pour out the glass and the bottle. 30% of the time, funny things have happened. Some just odd, others very enjoyable.

This was more than enjoyable. The wine had evolved wonderfully, developing some complexity, continuing to give the fruit with both strong and subtle flavors that it showed originally and the tannins had smoothed down beautifully. The finish was long and delightful.

It is so great when the 30% happens like this. It confirms for me that this wine will drink remarkably well for many many years to come.



WR

2006 Michel Picard Corton Clos des Fietres Beltramo's 8 of 9

This wine was a mystery. The nose was subdued. It really did not give off much of anything. The wine itself started with a burst of tannin and acid, carried along with some big berry fruit. It certainly stuck with you as it literally finished all of the way down my throat. I have some experience with good Burgundy, but not really that much with older wines. Some that I have had have been very good, others just weak and dead. This wine must be built to last. It has the pieces to be very good, but I would have a very difficult time playing the odds on that actually happening. I just really do not see the fruit coming forward, or perhaps the tannins resolving away sufficiently that this will end up a great bottle. And at $90, it would need to be very good to justify its price.

6th place out of 9.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Corton Clos du Roi Beltramo's 9 of 9

Okay, this was the best wine of the group by quite a margin. It was also the most expensive at $115 per bottle.

What made this special? First the nose was a beautiful fragrant blend of sweet strawberry and blackberry. The nose was special. Then it was followed by a wonderful fresh burst of fruit on the tongue, followed by a great slightly tart slightly sweet finish. The finish was lovely. Everything one looks for in a fine pinot from France. The fruit the fine wine making, structure, taste the works.

Definitely and easily 1st of the 9 wines.


North Berkeley Imports has the scoop on the La Pousse the winery.

And that concludes the Beltramo's tasting notes.

WR

2005 Joseph Voillot Pommard "Clos Micault" Beltramo's 7 of 9

This wine starts with a dark color and right away on the nose backs it up with a heavy berry nose, mixed with a slightly burnt hint. This wine was the most alcohol rich of the group from tasting and it had a slightly glycerin silky flavor which I almost never associate with pinot noir grapes. It was quite pleasant to taste, my guess is that it benefited as against the other wines due to the extra year of aging, but I think it will be a much more complete wine in three or four more years. Right now it is a bit disjointed, but when it settles down it should be quite good.

2nd place out of 9.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Volnay "Clos des 60 Ouvrees" Beltramo's 6 of 9

Nose of berries and a lovely ruby color. Fresh fruit starts off the mouth and opens up with strawberry hints. It is very light, but with excellent structure and balance, making it a very solid wine. Would be great with veal or game hen.

3rd place out of 9.

WR

2005 Bruno Clair Savigny-les Beaune "La Dominode" Beltramo's 5 of 9

This was a bit of an odd one. It was closed in the same way that the Mongeard-Mugneret, and on the first sip I thought it was going to be a very similar experience, but then out of no where a nice delicate fruit found its way to the front. The acid bite up front was not really that strong, but it had nothing to balance with at first. In the end it did not open up much either, so hard to feel good about it as a wine, but it seems like it would have more potential.

7th out of the 9.

WR

2006 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-les Beaune "Les Narbantons" Beltramo's 4 of 9

This was a very closed wine. Essentially no nose in the glass. Follow that up with the taste of chalky dirt and gravel. Not a revelation. Clearly this wine is not ready for this type of tasting. Even 15 minutes later when you could start to sniff some strawberry hints on the nose, the flavor in the glass was not there. Not really fair to judge a bottle like this, it clearly needs much more time to show its true nature.

8th place out of 9. Just can't rate it well, if it cannot show well.

WR