WTN's: 2 Cabs, 1 Beaujolais

Beautiful, but most un-Holiday like weather this weekend lead to steaks on the grill with the neighbors.

1) 2005 Vineyard Block Estates "Block 312" Napa Valley / Rutherford Bench - Very tasty Napa Cab in the 18.00-19.00 range. A bit high in alcohol at 13.9% but it carries itself well enough to not be noticeable. Clean, perfumed nose of dark berry and cassis w/ hints of tobacco. Leggy and full bodied without being jammy. Fairly tannic (a quality I like in a big Cab). On the palate there is berry and plum with tobacco and spice. The oak is apparent, but balanced for the wine. A very tasty Napa Cab .

I've had a couple of the other "Block" wines, but have found all of them to oaky and soft for my tastes. This one is an exception.

2) 2005 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cab - One of our regulars, but it was a bit of a letdown following the 312. Just a tad hot on the finish. Classic CA cab flavor profile, but maybe it wasn't fair following the Block. I'll give it a try tonight and see if I like it better.

3) 2007 Pierre Pierre-Marie Chermette (Domaine du Vissou) Beaujolais

Very tasty little AOC Beaujolais in the $10.00 range. Medium bodies with a highly floral and spicy nose and palate w/ a touch red berry. Juicy w/ great acidity. This is the second 07 Beaujolais that I've had and liked both of them. One was a nouveau even..and I almost never drink those. But both seem to have above normal (for the style ) acidity...which I like.
Has anyone else noticed this in the 2007's? Just curious.

Richard

'07 Chermette? Is this a nouveau? Seems a bit early for '07 Villages. Of course the world is getting smaller. I'd love to know who's selling this already.

Kevin

Kevin,

Its not claiming "Nouveau" anywhere on the bottle. Seems like the Nouveau we get down here want that designation in large block letters somewhere on the label. But maybe it is nouveau?

Richard

Does it maybe say "Primeur"? Same thing, but I think some more "serious" producers use the term to distinguish themselves from the flood of BN. I can't see how any other northern hemisphere red could be in bottle. I've got some of the '06 Vissoux/Chermette wines, but think they've only been out a few months.

Did you retry the Cab? Thanks for notes

Dale,

As a matter of fact, it did say “Primeur”…Something like Primeur Traditionale Cuvee…or something like that (going by memory since I’m at work right now). Interesting, I didn’t know that. So it was Nouveau…good stuff though.

Yep, we finished off the 05 Alexander Valley last night with a big ol pot of beef stew. There is nothing wrong with the wine except for a tiny bit of heat on the finish. Good nose, medium bodied w/ lots of good fruit and balanced oak. The difference was intensity compared with the bigger Block wine. Certainly worth purchasing again.

Richard

Pierre-Marie & Martine Chermette [Domaine du Vissoux] make some of the best Beaujolais particularly their Fleurie Poncie.

However they do make 2 superior Beaujolais Nouveau: primeur Griottes and a more powerful primeur Vieilles Vignes which I suspect is the one you may have had.

The Chermette's Fleurie Poncie et al as well as Marcel & Mathieu Lapierre's Morgon Cote du Puy and Jadot's Chateau des Jacques Moulin a Vents [his standard wine and particularly the 5 'Clos' wines] are superb Beaujolais.

There are many more worth trying with Beaujolais on the 'up' but these are my current favourites

Nigel wrote:

a more powerful primeur Vieilles Vignes which I suspect is the one you may have had.

Nigel,

Yes, that was the wine. Honestly, I would never have guessed that wine was a Nouveau. Very nice and we'll definitely be buying more.

Richard

3) 2007 Pierre Pierre-Marie Chermette (Domaine du Vissou) Beaujolais

This is the second 07 Beaujolais that I've had and liked both of them. One was a nouveau even..and I almost never drink those. But both seem to have above normal (for the style ) acidity...which I like.

Hi Richard, something curious here: 2007 harvest in France is barely over. Usual cycle for Beaujolais release (except nouveau or what were traditionally called en-premieur and de-l'année styles, all for short-term drinking) in US for many years was the following Spring, in this case it would be spring '08 for the '07 Beaujs. Large numbers on retail shelves around April or May after a touch of aging. That's when I'd expect to see Jadot for instance, and most regular Beauj. that I've bought in the past 30 yrs. What gives here?

Edit: Sorry, I belatedly saw the sequelae in this thread, explaining it. (Nota bene: Creighton on anchovies in "umami" thread, Forum Kitchen, has me using Latin words now.)

Hi Richard, something curious here: 2007 harvest in France is barely over.

What is curious Max? Everybody in town has the 2007 nouveau vintage. 2007 Debeouf and Mommesin is available all around the country right now.
The Chermette is, apparently, a Nouveau. That, I didn't know though until these posts

Richard

The basic 2006 Cuvée Traditionelle, which just landed in the States not too long ago, is great, again.

What is curious Max? ...The Chermette is, apparently, a Nouveau. That, I didn't know though until these posts.

That was what I suspected and what I meant above, I reponded only to the original post. It is too early in the typical yearly Beaujolais release cycle for a 2007 except in the nouveau-like categories. I'm sorry that when reading this, for some reason, I missed or couldn't view the sequel postings that filled in the story (and also, that my attempt to post this current follow-up last night also failed for some reason).

Sounds like you enjoyed the wine anyway which is the main point after all.

Cheers -- Max