Earlier than expected

2011 Pépière Muscadet

With excellent Kumamoto (on the east coast, who’da thunk) and decent Malpeque and Blue Point oysters, its usual dominant self. Fucking Marc is a demi-god.

2010 Guy Breton Morgon Vielles Vignes

Another very pretty and delicious bottle of this wine. Perhaps a bit tighter than others. Whispy berryish fruit mixed with herbs and some purple flowers. A meadow. Should be even better in a couple of years. A wine that is often overlooked by Beaujolais lovers.

2002 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot

I picked up some of these on a lark as it was a screaming deal and part of my auction bottom feeding for wines in or near a drinking window. While this is undeniably young, it showed superbly last night. Everything one could ask of a Clos Vougeot, dark, brooding, deeply pitched stony blue and black fruits. There was a whiff of bitter chocolate, but more like earth than torrefication, mixed with all sorts of sous bois notes underpinned by leather. I don’t think I’m doing justice to how deep the nose was. On the palate there was much more evidence of the wines youth. Very firm tannins that aren’t choppy but refined but have evolved past the spot where they cut the finish short. With rich winetry food, this was fantastic. I think that in another 5-7 years the tannins will soften enough to be in a great spot for me with fruit still there and the beginning of the earthy elements shading savory. For others, they may want to wait 15 years or so for the wine to fully resolve.

Dressner at 3cups

At a wine dinner at 3 Cups with Shawn Mead of Louis/Dressner

2007 Jean Manciat Mâcon Charnay Franclieu
This was exotic and wildly floral. Lots of ripe melon type fruit with honeysuckle type flowers. Some richness but not sloppy. This had an almost carnal quality to it that I found really compelling.

2007 Domaine de Roally Viré-Clessé Tradition
Showed as beautiful as ever. Juxtaposed with the Manciat, it was more mineral, linear and restrained. Lovel yellow pitted fruits with maybe some apples in there surrounded by white flowers and some herbs.

2009 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais Cuvée l'Ancien
Plump and volumptuous with pitted fruits and berries. There is the typical mineral spine, but buried pretty deep.

2008 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette
An interesting counterpoint to the vivacious Brun. This was more aromatically complex and had a tart cranberry type of fruit on the nose.

2007 George Descombes Brouilly
This was really gorgeous. Drinking superbly with tons of aromatic expression and seamless texture.

2007 Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin
This was another surprise showing as I expected it to be really tight. The palate was a little firm, but the nose was a very Gevrey, animal, mineral, wet earth, dark red fruited concoction. Really interesting and well delineated. I have completely ignored 2007 Burgundy, but I might pick up some Esmonin.

Afters
2004 Domaine de Briseau Coteaux du Loir Les Mortiers
This bottle seems a bit faded from the last one I had. Still has the white pepper and ash notes that I associate with pineau d’aunis. IIRC, this has some côt in it which explains the darkish color.

2009 Clos Roche Blanche pineau d’aunis rosé
I get to enjoy more of this than is probably fair. Another lovely bottle of this excellent rose. It just feels healthy to drink this.

Vin de Soif

Having dinner with my friend RJ who was packing things up before closing on his house and heading out to Seattle for good. Had a light dinner of apps and charcuterie at Vin Rouge. Excellent.

2002 Radikon Jakot
This is my favorite of the Radikon whites for reasons I cannot fully explain. I am of the belief that these, with exceptions, gain nothing from extended bottle aging I convinced RJ to bring out his last bottle. It showed OK, but a bit more loose than previous bottles. While still a very good drop, I’ve had better bottles.

2008 Foillard Morgon
When you are in the mood, nothing else will truly suffice. Again, this was not the best bottle of this I’ve had, a bit less overt fruityness (which was sort of what I was looking for) but still able to tickle all the right spots on my palate and even spine. If you don’t like this, you really need to ask yourself if wine truly is your beverage of choice.

Carafe of joy

Every now and then I have a quiet dinner at my brother’s restaurant, Rue Cler, which allows me to relax and enjoy it as a simple pleasure. Dining with an old friend we were able to drink two fantastic wines by the carafe to accompany a perfect three course meal. Each was $17 for 500 ml. The whole meal was $94 before tax and tip. When my brother and his partner opened this place about 5 years ago, everyone doubted them, but look at what has happened since. There are 5 more restaurants downtown and more scheduled to open soon. Every now and then I get to sit back and be proud.

2009 Domaine de la Pépière La Pépiè Rosé
Of course Marc Ollivier has made a beautiful little rosé from cabernet franc. Maybe a bit more strawberry-ish than one would expect from this master of minerals, but a focused and delightful drop and perfect to accompany our first course. Does Marc ever make a misstep? I can’t remember one.

2009 Damien Coquelet Beaujolais-Villages
Holding a bit of CO2 which blows off after 10 minutes or so. This has a natural feel to it, but with a pretty wave of fruit with bones underneath. Delightfully unassuming with the meal which let us enjoy the food and conversation without intruding.

Beach Week Highlights

Every year my family gathers from the far corners of the US to converge on the beach for a week, there is a lot of drinking involved. Some of the wine highlights.

2009 Clos Roche Blanche gamay
The first bottle was tight, more tannic and mineral but the second bottle was stunning. Stop you in your tracks gorgeous with layers of fruit buttressed by the structure and that whispy nose I get from CRB gamay that screams naturalness to me. This is a great wine.

2009 Damien Coquelet Beaujolais-Villages
Fresh, vibrant, and a great coif without any of the three bottles being particularly memorable.

2009 J-P Brun Beaujolais l’Ancien
The one bottle of this I tried was fairly tightly wound, much like the first bottle of CRB gamay. Given my experience with the synthetic closure I would drink this sooner rather than later and won’t be loading up.

2009 Pepière Muscadet & 2009 Clos Roche Blanche pineau d’aunis rosé
Yes & yes. Emphatically. Duh.

2009 Three Trees (Tom Lubbe) Côte Catalanes Blanc
This is a blend of rolle and macabeu, IIRC. I am a huge fan of this wine and I’m generally not a fan of white Rhônes and below. In fact, I’m pretty much a fan of all of Tom’s wines even if the labels make them look Australian.

2006 Sanguineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
A very interesting wine. Clearly sees a decent amount of time in casks of some kind as the color is a translucent ruby. Fragrant and elegant and almost willfully Victorian. A racous dinner with grilled steaks was probably not the best setting for such a wine, but I was so intrigued that I snagged the remaining bottle to take home and assess at a more leisurely pace.

Dumb

Well, against my better judgment and advice from the boards, I went ahead and opened a 2005 Desvignes Morgon Javernieres. I thought that if I gave it a decanting for an hour or two and then had the bottle with a hanger steak at Vin Rouge, all would be well. Not exactly. Totally shut down. Hard. Do not touch for 3-5 years, I think.

Special report: 2005 Beaujolais

A special treat to make up for not posting last Friday. These notes are from Spring 2007 that I found while doing some housecleaning of old files.. Of particular interest is that the 2000 Brun l’Ancien was corked and the 2005s have become an undrinkable mess under fake cork. Puts the difficulty of dealing with this issue in sharp relief.



My tasting group gathered for our (more or less) annual Beaujolais dinner. This year the focus was on the 2005 vintage, a vintage thought to be the best since the legendary 1991. I'm in no position to dispute that as the tasting showed many wines with excellent density, structure and balance and a couple of surprises. We had a fantastic meal of hearty French fare put together by my brother and the staff at Rue Cler (if you are ever in the triangle, make sure to stop in for dinner). The thing that really struck me tonight was that some surprising wines like the Savoye, Chignard, and Diochon showed so spectacularly. The Savoye and Diochon look likely candidates for the cellar as well. Another smaller lesson is that it is time to start finishing off your 2000s. This was never likely to be a long lived vintage, so I'd get what's left in them now rather than waiting. This brings up an interesting issue about how much 2005 Beaujolais to buy. It is certainly a stupendous vintage that should drink well for 20 years (at least if the 1991 Coudert I tried in February is indicative of the future behavior of the best 2005s). I didn't put any 2003 or 2004s in the cellar and will probably be loading up, maybe not in blackwoodian quantities, but more than I've ever bought before.

2005 Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais Cuvée l'Ancien
Nice dark but translucent robe. Bright fruit and that crunchiness I associate with l'Ancien. An excellent showing tonight with plenty of stuffing, structure, and length. Clearly punching above it's weight class and as good a young l'Ancien as I can remember. At least one person thought this was the best wine of the night.

2005 Michaud Brouilly Prestige de Vieilles Vignes
Kind of a letdown after the rave reviews this has been receiving. Nothing wrong with it, but rather mute on the nose and out of it's depth in the company of many of these wines tonight. Best in terms of it's mouthfeel, but I expected to have more on the nose and a greater sense of style.

2005 Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Côte de Brouilly
This is really dominated by its structure today. Tastes of chalk and tannin and really doesn't show the seamless texture and fruit. Not sure what to make of it. I mean, I like the structure and the ascetic qualities, but I would like the promise of fruit coming into balance.

2005 Chanrion Côte-de-Brouilly
Tastes almost artificial in this company. Kool-Aid-ish and not terribly interesting.

2005 Clos de Roilette (Coudert) Fleurie
I've already had this several times, so I spent less time with it than maybe I should have. While it is no surprise that 2005 is an excellent vintage for this wine, what did surprise me was that I preferred the Tardive to this bottling. That almost never happens.

2005 Clos de Roilette (Coudert) Fleurie Cuvée Tardive
As alluded to above, this may be the first time I've preferred the Tardive to the regular cuvee from Coudert. I think because of the massive amount of baby fat they both have, it was the sheer expressiveness on the nose of this wine. Bought a case of magnums (cool!) and will fill my cellar with this spherical wine. Tons of fruit, as one would expect, but it was the clarity and poise of the nose that made this wine so dramatic. If I had a complaint, it would have been the absence of structure, but my guess is that it was just covered in baby-fat.

2005 Chignard Fleurie Les Moriers
This wine showed brilliantly and was another wine that exceeded expectations. Really sparkeled with fresh flowers, fruit, and rocks. It was mouthfilling, but not heavy and washed off the palate with fresh acidity, bright flavors, and nice structure. Not sure this will be a long ager, but should be a delight for the next 3-5 years.

2004 Vissoux (Pierre-Marie Chermette) Fleurie Poncié
This turned out to be a 2004 as well. Pretty much undistinguished, but I didn't put much effort into it either.

2005 Clos de Fief (Tête) Juliénas
A great vintage for this wine which a couple of folks thought was the best of the night. I seem to have a real weakness for Tête's wines. They have a really brash, deeply cherry quality that is tangy and deep without being too flirty to be taken seriously. There is always a dark mineral underpinning to the fruit and a purple flower quality tot the nose. No doubt at least a couple cases will make it into the cellar.

2004 Clos de Fief (Tête) Juliénas Cuvée Prestige
Turned out to be the 2004. To my palate, not a great year for this cuvée, but polished and graceful if a bit herby. Amazing how old this looks next to the electric 2005.

2005 Lapierre Morgon
This showed the most aromatic complexity of the low-sulfur Morgons without any of the unbalanced qualities that can sometimes plague this wine. Lots of ripe berries and herbs here and less structured than I would have thought. Again, covered in baby-fat I presume. I'm definitely a buyer, but maybe in small-ish quantities.

2005 Savoye Morgon Côte de Py
For me this was one of the big surpises of the tasting. Lighter in color than many of the other wines and more mineral and structured. Has a vinous quality that surpasses many of the other wines. While stern and serious, it still tastes like Morgon. It reminds me quite a bit of the wines of Desvignes. I do not know very much about this producer, but to my palate this was one of the 2-3 best wines at the table. I will certainly put some of this in the cellar.

2005 Foillard Morgon Côte du Py
This has an herb and seeded berry jam quality that I associate with this wine. A distinctive profile and the 2005 is no different. Lots of fruit and baby fat make it appear a bit simple, but delicious. A slight wiff of VA (this wine usually has some) makes me a bit wary of cellaring, but the potential is definitely there.

2005 Thévenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes
This wine was mildly corked. It seemed off at first, but it took a while for the TCA to become apparent. Too bad as the 2002 was the star of the dinner for that vintage.

2005 Vissoux (Pierre-Marie Chermette) Moulin à Vent Les Deux Roches
One of the most deeply colored and fruited wines. I've always found the Vissoux Cru to be stylistically quite different from the Cuvée Tradition. However, you have to give it it's due. It shows waves and waves of deep fruit over a bright granite slab. A delicious wine if not especially complex.

2005 Diochon Moulin-A-Vent Vieilles Vignes
This was the other big surprise. Really an excellent wine with herb and mineral infused fresh crushed berries, excellent length, and precise structure. I have developed a theory on Diochon, that the wine is ho-hum but in excellent years, it will be truly excellent (see the 1991 and 1995). Really, this was shockingly good.

2000 Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais Cuvée l'Ancien
Corked. Damn.

2000 Clos de Roilette (Coudert) Fleurie
It was tough having these together with the newer wines. I had a bottle of this in September with my folks and it showed great. It looked tired (a bit of browning, but that could be the lighting as well) and showed it a bit. I'm planning on finishing off my remaining bottles over the next 6 months.

2000 Clos de Fief (Tête) Juliénas
See above. Also tired, although maybe a bit more spine left than the Coudert.

What we mean when we talk about natural wine

When Descombes is good, it is very, very good.

2006 George Descombes Régnié
Beautiful, fragrant and the epitome of what we look for here at the VLM-TR. I must admit, I had some rough experiences with Descombes many years ago, but the wines that I’ve had over the last several years have been very good to stunning. This is undoubtedly a natural wine. We might not be able to rigorously define it, but I sure as shit know it when I drink it. The enveloping nose of herbs, flowers, blossoms and a bit of spice is followed by that gossamer palate that caresses and dances across your senses. I can’t see a reason not to drink it now, the structure is resolved and it seems perfectly á point. This is what we mean when we talk about natural wine.

Even non-geeks love geeky wine

I would like to thank the Politburo and the other disorderlies for making this the refuge of choice on the intertubes.

Over the weekend, I enjoyed a magnificent bottle of 2006 Baudry Chinon Blanc La Croix Boisée. This was screaming delicious from the moment it was opened. Thrilling nose of stones, Sweettart, limestoney that seemed to shimmer and pulse. On the palate it was racy and alive, as if it had absorbed its fat and transformed it into muscle, but with just enough cushion so as not to be freakish. One of the best bottles I’ve had in a while. Exhilarating, even to the decidedly non-geek I was dining with.

A difficult act to follow, but a bottle of 2001 Chevillon Les St. Georges was stellar, if not quite as captivating, but that’s some hair splitting. Unlike the Baudry, this was tight upon first opening. Clinched and with its structure in the forefront it took a while to open. Once it did, it was excellent. Everything you could want in a Burgundy. Layers of fruit, minerals, and brush, draped atop a lattice like structure. This may be the most consistently pleasing wine in all of Burgundy. I’ve never had one be brutally mean, even if I opened it too young, and I’ve never had one be terrible, even in difficult vintages. This vintage has epic written all over it. It should be a fine wine for a couple of decades although you can enjoy it now for those silky layers of fruit if you have a decent stash.

We followed these up the next day with a stunning bottle of 2006 George Descombes Morgon. My mother loves Descombes and put a huge dent in my stash the last time she was here. This bottle showed splendidly with lacey stoney fruit that mixed in hints of flowers, herbs and sunshine. About as delicious as a wine can be and I see no reason to age it further. Incidentally, non geeks love this wine.

Last but not least, a wine that I think really typifies Wine Disorder, the 2007 Puzelat pineau d’Aunis La Tesniere. I’ve always had a soft spot for the wines of Thierry (and those he makes with his brother Jean-Marie) and I’ll accept the odd flawed bottle or rough patch to experience the gorgeousness of something like this. This bottle was fresh, vibrant, snappy but with just enough pineau d’Aunis grip to stand steadfast in the face of some fatty food. I could drink my bodyweight in this. Really.

I’m with Blackwood, all hail 2007!

Happy Birthday Wine Disorder. I think we all know that I’m the obvious choice for Stalin.

Too young again

Made a milk braised Boston butt from Brinkley farms. A delicious piece of pork from right down the road.

2002 Louis Jadot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode
I should probably keep my hands off of these, but I really like the way the lean, spice-box fruit shows right now. It is a bit tight and young and not as aromatically expressive as it will be, but I really like how the verve, snap, and tannin work with fatty food at this stage. I’ll try to keep my hands off for at least another 3 years, but this can certainly go for a long time. A great value in red Burgundy.

2005 Desvignes Morgon Côte du Py Javernières
OK, I’m pressing my luck with this one. I think it is finally starting to shut down. I bought a good bit, so I could afford to be profligate. No more. Hands off for 2 years and should hold for many more.

Holy Merlot

2007 Charly Thevenet Régnié Grain & Granite
Bright and fresh and natural seeming. Has that sort of spring field bug spray quality that I find more pillowy natural wines to have. There seems to be a rocky underside, but maybe that’s just the power of suggestion. I quite liked the mix of floral and herby flavors with the blue fruits and stoniness. I think this has the structure to improve for a little bit and hold well for 5 years of so, but this is the first of Charly’s wines I’ve had, so that’s just a guess. Thanks to David Lillie for recommending this and making internet shopping safe.

1998 Stanislao Radikon Collio Merlot
This started out soft and drinking easily. As I said to Ken, it is delicious but not impressive. The aromatic profile became broader and encompassed plumy fruit, earth and animal notes and as it opened they all seemed to have a chalky, mineral underpinning. This was a really fascinating wine which evolved and moved around. It might seem strange, but it reminded me a lot of Chave Hermitage from the old days. Great with food. A really remarkable bottle of wine which is pretty expensive, but worth trying at least once. No need to age it any longer (Stanislao took care of that for you), but do give it some air.

La Nouveau est arrivé!

In the better late than never category, the 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau was here recently.

2008 Chermette Beaujolais Nouveau
Juicy, fruit-juice gamay. Chill, crunk, repeat.

2008 Vissoux (Chermette) Beaujolais Nouveau Vielles Vignes
I liked this better. It was tighter and more structured. More chalky and grippy.

2002 Michel Tête Julienas
A great bottle. Has started to go a bit pinote. I don’t know that it will get better. Structure seems to be resolved and there is still some freshness. I had a disappointing bottle not too long ago, but this one was fabulous. I’ll try a 1999 soon and see where that is.

2002 Brun Beaujolais L’Ancien
Dirty stinky diaper. Good structure underneath, but seriously flawed. Tried the chill technique advocated by FLaJim, but to no avail. My entire case has been fucked. I blame Kevin McKenna.

Another Tuesday at Rue Cler

Dinner with some friends at Rue Cler. Lovely, as always.


2006 George Descombes Régnié
Although I’m not as blown away by these wines the way others are, this was delicious. Sappy, bright, and light on its feet. Nice floral/herbal streak running through it. Pillow-y almost. Not a wine for aging, but who cares?

2005 Desvignes Morgon Côte-du-Py Javernières
This wine has shed most of its babyfat and is absolutely, devastatingly good. I think it may be the best wine of the 2005 vintage in Beaujolais. The strong soil-driven, mineral core is what really sets it apart. Ample fruit that comes in waves, firm tannin, and a whiplash on the finish. Delicious and complex, it drinks well now, but should age very, very well (in my experience, Desvignes are among the longest lived wines in the region). As good a Beaujolais as I’ve had. I think I’m going to pick up another case.