Sometimes the gods frown and you just can’t find a good wine experience. Maybe it was the high pressure system, maybe the phase of the moon, or maybe just coincidence.
1998 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape
What a disappointment. I was in the (very) rare mood where I wanted a nice, lush grenache and Charvin seemed like the answer. This bottle wasn't. It was flat and dull and without and of the richness and depth I would expect. In fact, only 1 off my 6 bottles of this wine lived up to my early expectations. This bottle didn't have any technical flaws other than being just average, even for grenache. This reminds me why I got out of the Châteauneuf game, it so rarely delivers what I want.
2006 Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée
I had heard (or really read) rumors that this vintage of Croix Boissée was a replay of 2003, a wine that was drinking splendidly young. What better way to keep your hands off 2002, 2004, 2005 than have a ready to drink replacement for the Croix Boissée urge. Wrong. Tight, tight, and tight. Showed really piercing acidity and was like a limestone brick in the mouth. Some pretty things going on in the nose, but not in any sense showing well. I stuffed the cork back in to try in a couple of days.
Showing posts with label Châteauneuf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Châteauneuf. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Châteauneuf blanc, who knew?
An old friend from graduate school who I haven’t seen in several years was in town. We enjoyed dinner at Rue Cler.
2006 Éric Texier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Vieilles Vignes
My guest claimed to not be that into white wines. I told her she had no idea what she was talking about. Well she sure came around to this hogging the last glass for herself. It started off slowly, but was refreshing and linear from the start. As the bottle opened, it started to put on flesh and the flowers became more deeply perfumed and the palate broadened. This has been my favorite Châteauneuf Blanc for a few years now. Eric is doing some seriously good work here. I think the wine is a blend of bourbelanc and clairette.
1996 Joël Taluau Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes
Inspired by a recent FLAJim note about this wine, I thought I’d check in on one of my remaining bottles. I really like where this is at the moment, although others might want it to have more time. I like the sense of shape that it has right now. Trapezoidal. There are fine mineral and dirt bones underneath of leafy/tobacco top notes. Somewhere in between some dried red fruits are sensed more than tasted. Very good wine but in such a great vintage one becomes aware of the gulf in class between it and the better sites in Bourgueil and Chinon.
Renardat-Fâche Vin du Bugey-Cerdon
Alpine and delicious. I could drink my bodyweight in this wine.
2008 Bodegas Ostatu Rioja Blanco
For whatever reason, I really like this wine. It doesn’t stick in the memory in any profound way, but it has drive and purity and is a nice antidote to muggy Southern weather.
2006 Domaine de Roally Viré-Clessé Tradition
I’ve commented on this wine several times. I can’t stop drinking it even though I know I should wait a few years. Why I don’t have a cellar full of Roally, I don’t know.
2006 Éric Texier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Vieilles Vignes
My guest claimed to not be that into white wines. I told her she had no idea what she was talking about. Well she sure came around to this hogging the last glass for herself. It started off slowly, but was refreshing and linear from the start. As the bottle opened, it started to put on flesh and the flowers became more deeply perfumed and the palate broadened. This has been my favorite Châteauneuf Blanc for a few years now. Eric is doing some seriously good work here. I think the wine is a blend of bourbelanc and clairette.
1996 Joël Taluau Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes
Inspired by a recent FLAJim note about this wine, I thought I’d check in on one of my remaining bottles. I really like where this is at the moment, although others might want it to have more time. I like the sense of shape that it has right now. Trapezoidal. There are fine mineral and dirt bones underneath of leafy/tobacco top notes. Somewhere in between some dried red fruits are sensed more than tasted. Very good wine but in such a great vintage one becomes aware of the gulf in class between it and the better sites in Bourgueil and Chinon.
Renardat-Fâche Vin du Bugey-Cerdon
Alpine and delicious. I could drink my bodyweight in this wine.
2008 Bodegas Ostatu Rioja Blanco
For whatever reason, I really like this wine. It doesn’t stick in the memory in any profound way, but it has drive and purity and is a nice antidote to muggy Southern weather.
2006 Domaine de Roally Viré-Clessé Tradition
I’ve commented on this wine several times. I can’t stop drinking it even though I know I should wait a few years. Why I don’t have a cellar full of Roally, I don’t know.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Don't age Federspiel
2001 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Vom Stein
This was aromatically lovely, but not the crystalline, perfect beauty that it can be. I think this is maybe a year or so late. Don’t get me wrong, it is still an excellent wine with lots of flowers, fruits, and a sense of being in some mountainous field from a movie. I’ve said this many times, but there is a vitality, and alive-ness to Nikolaihof wines. This is maybe my favorite estate that I have never visited. One day I will make it to the Wachau.
1995 Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
Once again, this wine disappoints. For whatever reason, it has never fulfilled the promise it showed as a young wine. It’s not flawed, or bad, just completely non-descript and uninteresting. Oh well.
This was aromatically lovely, but not the crystalline, perfect beauty that it can be. I think this is maybe a year or so late. Don’t get me wrong, it is still an excellent wine with lots of flowers, fruits, and a sense of being in some mountainous field from a movie. I’ve said this many times, but there is a vitality, and alive-ness to Nikolaihof wines. This is maybe my favorite estate that I have never visited. One day I will make it to the Wachau.
1995 Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
Once again, this wine disappoints. For whatever reason, it has never fulfilled the promise it showed as a young wine. It’s not flawed, or bad, just completely non-descript and uninteresting. Oh well.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Winning streak
Recently, I had a great streak where wines showing amazingly well. I think it has something to do with the beautiful weather during October (I’d really like to see a study on wine and barometric pressure). In any event, these two wines showed better than they ever have before. So well, I’m tempted to say neither one will ever get better.
1996 Pierre-Jacques Druet Bourgueil Vaumoreau
A great bottle of this, much better than my last bottle. Really well defined layers with lots of forest, leather, earth, and brighter flowers notes around a core of fruit lifted up on a bed of something distinctly limestone like. What was really striking was the sphericity of the nose. It was so headily perfumed it seemed to really invade the senses. The tannins are getting towards the resolved side and one wouldn’t be doing a disservice by drinking all your bottles in the next 3 years. I think it has more to show and I’ll try to hold one or two for another decade or more. Very compelling stuff and you should open a bottle soon if you have some.
1998 Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau
The best bottle of this I’ve had and the best Chateauneuf I’ve had in a long time. There was a nice structure to the juicy fruit with all the garrigue nuance you could want. Everyone knows we at the VLM-TR are not big fans of Grenache, but this really turned our heads. Unlike so many I’ve had, this was well delineated and complex with real presence and structure, not to mention actual acidic lift. If you like Chateauneuf, this is a wine I would seek out.
1996 Pierre-Jacques Druet Bourgueil Vaumoreau
A great bottle of this, much better than my last bottle. Really well defined layers with lots of forest, leather, earth, and brighter flowers notes around a core of fruit lifted up on a bed of something distinctly limestone like. What was really striking was the sphericity of the nose. It was so headily perfumed it seemed to really invade the senses. The tannins are getting towards the resolved side and one wouldn’t be doing a disservice by drinking all your bottles in the next 3 years. I think it has more to show and I’ll try to hold one or two for another decade or more. Very compelling stuff and you should open a bottle soon if you have some.
1998 Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau
The best bottle of this I’ve had and the best Chateauneuf I’ve had in a long time. There was a nice structure to the juicy fruit with all the garrigue nuance you could want. Everyone knows we at the VLM-TR are not big fans of Grenache, but this really turned our heads. Unlike so many I’ve had, this was well delineated and complex with real presence and structure, not to mention actual acidic lift. If you like Chateauneuf, this is a wine I would seek out.
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