Park Avenue I

We did promise to give our thoughts and notes on the six bottles we picked up at Park Avenue Liquors recently. Remember, drop by and participate in that juicy sale!

When we went through, we found four interesting Burgundies, one Bordeaux and one New York State. The latter we requested because we are feeling that Californians are over-rated, and a friend introduced us recently to a very nice Chardonnay from Long Island. Park Avenue, as the name suggests is a bit old school, so all they had for us was a white from the Finger Lakes (northern New York State, for you International Readers), Herman J. Wiemer, Chardonnay Reserve 2003, $28.

Now those 'standing salesmen' at Park Avenue said that Wiemer was best known for their Riesling wines, that this was not a sweet, over-oaked California-style Chardonnay, and that it was 100% fermented in steel tanks. In the glass the wine was a pale golden yellow. The nose was fresh with warm fruit and light white flowers but missing the mustiness or the steeliness we associate with a Chardonnay from Burgundy. In the mouth, the full fruit continued but without the mineral structure of a good Chablis and without the warmth and toasted nuts of Chardonnay from further south in Burgundy. Our assessment: drinkable, but not regularly for that price.

Next up, and still not from notre région préférée, Château Les Grands Chênes, Medoc, Cru Bourgeois 1996, $23. 1996 was quite a decent year for red Bordeaux but a Cru Bourgeois could well be over the hill. However, this bottle was a pleasant surprise. In the glass, it was a deep ruby red without any fading to rust or brown on the edge. Immediately out of the bottle, the nose was warm and extremely aromatic, a bouquet heavy with red fruits. In the mouth there was plenty of life although the tannins were completely dispersed. As a result, we don't think there would be much change from time in a carafe. There was fruit and a slight woodiness but missing was the lingering flavor or the layering of flavors we look for in an older wine.

While it is true that we prefer elegant, even thin, wines, we are still looking for a dominant note or an explosion of flavors in the mouth. Medoc of this level seems always to disappoint us – thin without elegance, limpid without depth. However, for the price at that age, this is not a bad bottle. It is rare to find in New York a $23 bottle of 1996 that is this drinkable.

On to our région, Viré Clessé, Domaine des Chazelles 2004, $18. A beautiful white wine from the southern extremities of Burgundy, Mâcon. Here temperatures are slightly warmer, the soil contains less stone and mineral and the hillsides have more southern exposure than other parts of Burgundy. As a result, wines from here tend to be fuller, sweeter, and fruitier, capturing, if you will, some of that temperate weather in the bottle. 2004 was not a great year in Burgundy; we know French who will not drink reds from this year, describing them as missing the musky earthiness but replacing it with what can best be translated as ‘leaf mold’.

In Mâcon, and with white wines from this year, there is less with which to be concerned. This wine was a lovely light golden yellow in the glass, but the nose was only mildly apparent even though it was only lightly chilled. A bad sign we thought, even though some say that at a certain point after bottling Burgundies “go to sleep” and loose their nose and their flavor until a certain point when they become ready to drink. We discount this phenomenon in a Viré Clessé for it is too simple a wine, made to be drunk with less aging and without the expectations of greater Burgundian whites. We were hoping for a whiff of white spring flowers, perhaps a slight peach scent or an almost mentholated nose of citronella or spruce.

Unfortunately, in the mouth, our Viré was equally flat. There was fruit, and a certain roundness with a slight expression of warmth however with little expression of the terroir. With such a reasonable price, however, we’d give this bottle a 6 on a scale of 10.

Continuing with Burgundy whites and headed north from Mâcon, our next bottle was a Meursault Domaine Latour-Giraud, Cuvée Charles Maxime 1998, $25. Recently we had stumbled across a reasonably priced stash of Meursault 1998 and 99’s which were delightful. Sadly, they are all gone and we’ve been hunting for more ever since. Meursault can be a difficult wine, misunderstood for its particular nose and flavor. Often with older bottles, the uninitiated upon uncorking will think the wine is ‘corked’ and reject it. As we are partial to older Burgundies, we’ve learned to appreciate this wine.

This domain is an old family property begun in the 17th century. Latour is a common Burgundian name that appears in several permutations today; Latour-Giraud is unrelated to Louis Latour and is located in Meursault with an ongoing production primarily of white wines in the Côte de Beaune. A ‘sturdy’ wine with good structure, Meursault, even as a Village appellation, can be imagined to remain beautifully drinkable for 10-12 years. However, as we pulled the cork it became apparent this was not the case with this bottle.

The first odor, even off the cork was an overly sweet smell, slightly unpleasant but not sharp and vinegary. In the glass, the color was a deep antique gold and the nose remained overly sweet, almost sickeningly so. Without tasting it was obvious this bottle had turned, maderized as the French would say, as in Madeira or sherry, a ‘cooked’ wine from the days when wine was transported in casks in the holds of ships and would sometimes in summer arrive in England having been overheated in travel or ‘cooked’ in the barrel creating a sweet sugary wine we now call Madeira. The wine was drinkable and our tasting partner was loathe to “waste” it, but we put it aside to return to Park Avenue.

And with that, we’d like to close this posting with a small lesson. When wine is bad, off, corked, past its prime, always let the seller know. Whether it is a wine shop, a restaurant or a Excel spreadsheet sent from France (!!), the seller did not wish for you to have a bad experience, but wine is not a constant, it is a living thing, as a favorite winemaker of our often says, and some bottles will not ‘perform’ as expected. A reputable seller will always replace the bottle and you are obligated to alert them to the problem.

Until next time, bottoms up!