Davino Flamboyant 2007

I wrote previously about Davino when I visited their winery in December and also when I attended a vertical tasting of 6 vintages of Domaine Ceptura Rouge at Vinexpert. The Flamboyant is the winery’s flagship red wine, a blend of predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with Feteasca Neagra and Merlot, aged for up to 8-10 months in new Romanian oak barrels. The best barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon end up in this blend and in the more expensive Rezerva. I received this bottle as a sample from Mr Dan Balaban, Davino’s majority shareholder.

2007 Davino Flamboyant

Clean dark red garnet color. An intense and developing nose, with real complexity, the first thing that comes to mind is how youthful this nose feels like. The aromas of ripe red fruits that are very well represented: red currant, red cherry and raspberry, mix very well with additional aromas of sandalwood, mint, cinnamon, cloves and coffee bean. Full bodied yet supple on the palate, the wine shows a really velvety mouth-feel, a good structure, with incredible freshness and balance considering the 14.7% alcohol. The wine feels lively in the mouth with an elevated drink-ability. The finish is medium plus long, maintaining the same freshness, with lingering flavors of ripe red fruits and spices. The wine has a great potential for aging and, as much as right now the only thought that sticks to my mind is how youthful it is and that I should not have opened it, I’m glad I did and I can’t wait to try it in a few years again as the wine will evolve gracefully and gain more points. (91/100)

I find this style very similar to an Old School Left Bank Bordeaux. The balance and the freshness are really outstanding in this wine, with no signs of greenness and just ripe fruit at this stage.

Barolo, Barbaresco and two more wines

These are some of the wines I had a few weeks ago, but somehow did not manage to put my tasting notes on the blog earlier.

2006 Serralunga d’Alba Barolo Fontanafredda

Dark ruby red color. Modest nose, developing, showing red fruits, spices and no Barolo rose petals or tar aromas. Full bodied and very tight on the palate, there is structure but not very enjoyable at the moment. Medium spicy finish and plenty of tannins. (86-87/100)

2005 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva

Dark red garnet color. I enjoyed this wine on several occasions over the last 1 year, but it is the first time that I find it in such a closing stage, with dusty and firmer tannins. The fruit is still there, so is the mild stinky Brett and spices, but the wine does not seem to deliver the same drinking pleasure. Tighter palate, with biting tannins on the finish. (87/100)

2007 Beronia Reserva Rioja

Dark red-purple color. Sweet nose, oaky, with ripe cranberry, red cherry and plenty of vanilla, a fruit forward, very New World and “in your face” nose. Oaky on the palate and very little Rioja character. For me a disappointing wine, seems too extracted and oaky. Other people may find it more appealing. I remember liking more the 2006 version of this wine. (82/100)

2006 Barbaresco Costerubin Fontanafredda

Dark ruby red color. Also  a developing and discreet nose, with sweet red fruits, licorice, tar and spices. Firm and drying tannins, full bodied, tight, with a medium finish and more drying tannins. Difficult to enjoy now. (87/100)

1974 and 1996 red Burgundies

I had dinner on SAT with a good friend, a big fan of old wines as well. We spoke about our meeting a few days in advance and knowing what the wines and the vintages will be, my expectations grew by the hour. I was eager to get to my friend’s house as early as possible to uncork the wines and prepare them for drinking using a slow oxygenation in the bottle for a few hours.

I arrived around 7 pm, a bit later than initial planned, uncorked the wines and while we prepared the meal, left the wines to slowly breathe and open up. The meal was not a Pinot Noir classic dish, but it paired fairly well with the wines. We prepared foie-gras poele as my friend had an entire foie-gras ready to be fried, with medium rare veal steak, Basmati rice mixed with French butter with Piment d’Espelette (a variety of chili pepper that is cultivated in the French commune of Espelette, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and a mix of green salads. Comfort food for still a cold day in Bucharest.

We had two Burgundies: a 1974 Clos de Vougeot and a 1996 Corton.

It was a bit of a challenge to uncork this wine. I cleaned very well the head of the bottle as there was plenty of dirt under the capsule, tried to use the corkscrew, but the cork was easily pushing down the bottle when I attempted to stick the corkscrew in the cork. As I was afraid the cork would go in the bottle, some different approach had to be taken. So the solution we found handy, was to use a regular screw to somehow mobilize the cork and then use the corkscrew. The solution was efficient and as much as the cork was completely soaked with wine and it actually broke in two, I managed to pull out all the remaining pieces without any drops in the bottle. A successful extraction that took about 15 min.        

1974 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Jean Grivot

This bottle had an absolute perfect fill level, a bit unbelievable I would dare to say. There was no sign of being corked either.

Ruby red with an orange-brick rim color and cloudy. Completely developed and mature nose, there are only tertiary aromas left, the fruit is completely gone and smelling this wine you cannot think that you are already too late. There are aromas of coffee, old leather, tobacco, sometimes dried figs, but quickly vanishing and tar. Medium to full body, the wine confirms again that is completely mature and on a downhill slope for several years, with completely integrated and dissolved tannins, it is only the acidity that still keeps this wine together. The finish is short to medium, with pronounced flavors of tobacco, black tea and Ristretto bitterness, and a drying mouth sensation. This wine passed its peak many years ago and it is now just a modest shadow of a potentially good wine that it might have been once. (83/100)

There was absolutely no problem uncorking the 1996 Corton.

1996 Corton Grand Cru Louis Latour

The fill level was flawless.  Clean, ruby red, cherry color.  Well developed and mature nose, with aromas of sour red cherry, new leather, green coffee bean and mint, adding earth and tobacco as it aerates. The nose has a decent complexity and is rather ethereal. Full bodied, the wine has a high acidity that provides structure and makes it very easy to drink, completely dissolved tannins, a lively palate and a medium finish with flavors of light sour red cherry, coffee bean and earth. This wine is now almost completely losing the fruit and evolves towards more pronounced tertiary aromas. The mint takes on the front stage on the aromas profile. It can still last 5-7 years easily but probably with no more fruit. (86/100)

We also had some appetizers that were served with a small 0.375 cl bottle of 2007 Joseph Drouhin Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons that, when too cold, seemed a bit monolithic but, as it got warmer, it started to develop very nice chalky minerality mixed with chamomile, lemon and a bit of honey aromas. A pleasant acidity and a fresh, lifting finish. (87/100)

the main dish

As much as the wines did not put an unforgettable show, it was a great evening spent with friends and we will always remember the trouble of how we opened the 1974 Clos de Vougeot. It’s all in the details.

We finished the evening with a glass of 1998 Chateau de Laubade Armagnac to clean all the grease of the foie-gras poele.