A ridiculously hectic September and October didn't prevent me from slumming at Grocery Outlet and trying a number of heavily discounted bottles. Unfortunately other bottom feeders snapped up a rather good Gruner and Cambria Syrah, but East Bay folks might find the following still in stock, for good or ill:
Red Bordeaux Blend Coonawarra “MC2” 2001, Rymill ($5)– mildly herbaceous Bay-berry nose with moderate vanilla oak; lively blackberry-blueberry fruit with just a hint of green bean, small yet hard tannins, tangy acidity that seems almost artificial, simple and clean. No depth or grip. Balanced, not overripe, and yet boring. **(*?)
Fiano di Avellino 2005, Caputo ($4) – alarming deep golden color for a 2005, turning darker and brassier with air; mild nose with hints of pear and dusty sage; medium body, low acid, some weight and density but vague flavor with touches of pear, raisin, pebbles. Oxidated tone gets stronger with time and air. The flavors strengthen a bit with food, especially garlicky peppers and onions with tarragon, but you have to wonder what happened here. Cooked on some loading dock? Subtle TCA? Oxidized during bottling? (artificial cork BTW). **
Meursault 1997, Olivier Leflaive – Meursault for $2? Of course I have to try it! Brassy gold color; oxidized nose with a touch of oatmeal and applesauce; medium-full body, dead tired Chardonnay flavor, lowish acidity, the flavor gets steadily more sherrified with air. And yet…the finish is quite long and the ghost of Meursault past persists in hazelnut-oatmeal-gravelly notes. Was probably a very good wine around 2000-2002. Intriguing in small doses for a while, the corpse is then given a decent burial basting some chicken with mustard in the oven. *
Bordeaux Cotes de Francs 2000, Ch. De Francs ($8)– fragrant French oak with floral incense and vanilla over ripe but green bean toned Cab fruit; sweet oak mingles with ripe herbaceous fruit on palate; moderate length, slightly vague. Slick (too slick?) modern Bordeaux. ***
Sauvignon Blanc Paso Robles “Jardine” 2005, Vinas Robles ($3)– sweet pea and melon fruit, fresh, decent acidity, simple and fruity. **
Bonus Globalization Wine: Pinot Noir Pfalz 2005, Turning Leaf – Pinot Noir is hot, there’s not enough cheap Pinot to fuel demand, so the brand-meisters go wherever they have to go to find some. A lot is coming from France well south of Bourgogne, including (absurdly enough) Corsica. But here is some genuine cool-climate Pinot for $8/bottle. So what do you get? A pale garnet color, a somewhat weedy nose with a bit of Pinot rose and cherry; light body, quite dry, rather weak and slightly bitter raspy dried cherry fruit. Really not much better than many eastern hybrid reds, yet ironically truer to Pinot than most blended or spoofulated under-$15 California Pinots. *