WTN: Good Alsace and Bdx, great Macon

With sausage, leftover pasta, and young arugula the 2005 Trimbach Riesling (Alsace). A bit less austere than some vintages of this basic bottling, dry with peach and apple fruit. A little hint of petrol.  Good acidity, not a lot of depth but a solid bottle of $14 Alsace Riesling. B

We grilled some corn and thick porterhouses, accompanied by some leftover broccoli and a salad with heirloom tomatoes. Wine was the 1999 Leoville Poyferre (St. Julien). This is a fairly forward and ripe Poyferre, I'm not sure how much of that is the stylistic change since mid-90s and how much is the ripe style of the vintage. Cassis laced with espresso, little notes of cigar tobacco and lead pencil. Gets some soil/earth notes with time. Not "classic" Bordeaux, but a nice bottle of ripe Cabernet that still shows its roots. B+

Last night we did lemon/herb Cornish game hens on the grill, with asparagus and a salad with grilled peaches and shallots. The wine was the 2005 Texier "Tres Vieille Vignes" Macon-Bussieres. This is one lovely bottle of Chardonnay. Rich and deep fruit balanced by good acidity. Palate reminds me of perfectly ripe pears dressed in lemon juice. Minerals, earth, and a little nuttiness. Excellent concentration and length. I'd call it atypical for Maconnais, but quite delicious. None available on Winesearcher, will put an alert on and keep an eye out. A-

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

[Robin Garr]

You're drinking well, Dale! Curiously, what was the closure on the Texier? I know he was using a lot of synthetics for a while.

Robin, can't swear, but as I don't remember I'm 99% certain natural. Usually I notice fake (I do think this one might be a waxed natural, though, thinking about it). I know I've had Texier's basic CdR with fake cork, but that's all I remember.

I confess I used to think that while Texier was good, he wasn't as great as some people seemed to think. However, I was wrong. I've probably tasted most of his releases in last couple years, and quality level has been great.

You're drinking well, Dale! Curiously, what was the closure on the Texier? I know he was using a lot of synthetics for a while.

The red '05s and white '06s that we import all have normal cork. I hate synthetic, but I'm still hoping for screwed.

I never tried the '05 Macon TVV, but the '06 I found to be excellent (though take my words with a grain of salt, since I work for the importer!).

Does Texier still make a lot of wines from the Macon? I seem to remember he narrowed his range a few years ago.

Your note sounded appealing and almost made me want to buy one, although I never seem to get around to it as I am too easily sidetracked by other regions in the wine shops..

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the notes Dale. I'm surprised by your comment on the vintage style for the Poyferre, as I have always found '99 to be a bit lighter and more accessible rather than "riper."

Pretty much all the Texiers I see are Rhone, this is the only Macon or other Burg I remember trying, I just tried at a store tasting and liked.

David, ripe to me doesn't neccessarily equal big. I've had and enjoyed a lot of '99 Bdx, all pretty much fit the same pattern - ripe fruit/low acid, lighter tannin structure, not hugely concentrated.

Just googled "1999 bordeaux vintage" to see if I was an outlier. First hit was the Commanderie de Bordeaux, whose newsletter said:
Parker sums up the 1999 Bordeaux vintage as a wet, hot and irregular year. Decanter is not blessed with quite such brevity but essentially they tell the same story. Although a difficult year in many ways for the Bordelaise, the warmth meant that the grapes achieved good ripeness. According to Decanter the wines have ripe fruit. Green and unripe flavours are uncommon, the tannins are soft and acidity is generally on the low side. The other characteristic is that it was a year that neither favoured the right or left bank, where selection was rigorous good wines were made from all the regions. Not necessarily a vintage to buy for long aging, but some very appealing wines at attractive prices.

1999 (and 2001) strike me as slightly lesser versions of 1985. Good ripe wines, no greeness, not as powerful as vintages like '82, '89.'90, '95, '00. I doubt many '99s will be great after 20+ years, but a lot will drink well for 15 or so years from vintage. The other great thing is these type of vintages don't seem to go through much of a closed period. Of course, ymmv.