Thursday, December 4, 2008

Sunday Dinner #2

It’s a nice time, Sunday dinner with my brother and his family. Reminds me of growing up. We always had a nice relaxing Sunday dinner, lingered over wine and conversation.

These matched some hearty, braised beef short ribs and assorted other stuff.

2005 Coudert Fleurie Cuvée Tardive
Sappy and juicy but not really expressive yet. There is an old-vineyness to this wine that I find hard to really define. It is a sort of steel core of fruit with herby insects buzzing around in a hum (the Alary had it a bit too). It’s a very cool sensation that I’m very much drawn too in a wine. This is everything you would expect from a great vintage of Coudert. I don’t know whether it will match the 1991, but it will sure give it a shot. I’ll wait another year before trying another one.

2000 Alary (l'Oratoire St Martin) Cairanne Cuvée Prestige
Started out with tons of sappy, beautiful fruit. Grenache in a good way. Herbs and woodsy sorts of notes buzzing around with a hint of earthiness, but only a hint. Great texture in the mouth. Sort of luscious, but held together by some structure. However, after a while it began to close down and the nose became really muted and the flavors stumbled. The mouthfeel was still good, but it just wasn’t the same wine. So I guess this isn’t ready yet, or maybe needed decanting, although I doubt that decanting would really help all that much. I’ll try again in 3 years or so.

3 comments:

Florida Jim said...

Broght one of the Tardive with me; will try soon. Lots more back in NC.
Best, Jim

Cliff said...

On the Tardive, you guys are babykillers. Glad it showed as well as it did.

the vlm said...

Well, I've got plenty and I am not a necrophiliac like some.

It isn't in a prime drinking window, but it isn't too early to enjoy it.