2006 Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied 12.0%
I'm interested in the impact of original v. grafted rootstock, and while the only valid comparison would be "same clone, same vineyard, same producer, same vintage, etc.," I'm curious to try such wines, common in the Andes, but relatively rare elsewhere. This one got a not discouraging review from Dale a couple of months ago, so I brought a bottle down with me. The plastic cork deserves a demerit. The nose was initially sour cherry, chocolate and, er, well, foot odor, though I'd be hard pressed to identify the latter as the result of pigeage. Thankfully, it dissipated within a few minutes, a reminder that there's something to be said for leaving a bottle open for two hours before pouring. The mouthfeel was surprisingly sweet at first, but with good underlying acidity, making for balanced drinking. There was a peculiar note of nail varnish lurking in the wings, and that green twig taste I usually find in cabernet francs. With time, the green twigs became more and more dominant. Alas, can't say this gave me pleasure, and it didn't really teach me anything about original rootstocks (how could it?), but I'm still somewhat quixotically pleased to have tried it.