Drinking the Ketelsen - My Impressions
I drank a bottle of my 2003 Ketelsen Tudor House Reserve Pinot Noir this past Saturday. Nice wine! Definite tip o’ the hat to Josh at Pinotblogger for this one. I didn’t take notes as I drank because it wasn’t that sort of evening, but here’s what I remember now.
- Aroma: Predominantly red cherries and a certain smokiness, with some other more subtle things going on than that.
- Flavor: Lots of cherry flavor up front that grew more balanced as the wine aerated; rich, supple tannins with very nice mouthfeel; lots of flavor, very nice mid-palate balance of red and black fruit with a pretty long finish.
- Overall: Seems fairly muscular for a Pinot Noir, which I like. It stood up well to the different types of food we had with it, which I also like.
Clearly I need to open another bottle soon. It’s a very nice wine overall…no scores, of course, because I think they’re nearly worthless (particularly if I’m doing the scoring). So yeah, I liked it. Everyone did, in fact.
The wine needed time in the glass (2 hours of decanting was about right) and good food (grilled salmon and a fancy green salad) to taste perfect, though. My friend, who bought 3 of my 6 bottles sight unseen, was pleased. That made me breathe a sigh of relief, although I know his taste well enough by now that I thought he’d like this wine (although I hadn’t tried it yet).
Next up? Good question. I think I might try my Odisea Two Rows Garnache next…maybe. I need an excuse first. Hey, tomorrow is Tuesday! There’s my excuse.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
I’m filled with what can only be described as relief that you enjoyed the Ketelsen. You just never know with wine recommendations.
Your description is spot on BTW. It’s a bigger fruit forward wine with balance. Who needs wine magazines with blogs like yours?
I’m also glad your friend enjoyed it as well. Bonus!
And with that I’m going to bed. Cheers.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Yes, your recommendation was well received! Four out of four gourmands enjoyed the wine. I’d say we were “foodies” but I hate that description…”gourmand” makes us sound less like greedy Americans and more like rotund French people, which in this case is cool.
I’m impressed by the number of posts and comments you find time for with your new baby! And I look forward to more recommendations like this one….