TN: Tulloch, Burguad, Čotar, Fonsalette, Papin-Chevalier...

Tulloch Sémillon Julia Limited Release 2004 Hunter Valley

11% abv; 23,10€. About a year since my last taste, and I still love it. It has the strong minerality that reminds me of Muscadet, but also a pungent green fruit, citrus and slightly spicy scent I so love in unoaked Semillon. Medium body, lovely acidity but certainly not the tart, sharp, painful acidity I read that young Hunter Valley Semillon should have. But it is steely and should improve though I did love it now, also!

Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais Rosez! NV

13,68€; 12% abv; 3200 bottles produced.



No vintage on the label, but the importer says it is 2007. Deeper edge of salmon pink. Lovely minerality, some strawberry scents. Crisp, bright and fruity enough not to be tart. Some who have tasted this, whom I very much admire, have found this too neutral but I loved its elegance and purity and crispness (though apparently only 4,7g/l acidity, it tastes like it would have much more). I thought this was a really charming wine. It also had a very high evaporation rate. With the packaging including a lurid pink, fake cork (you will have to forgive the sergeianism) this is a tried and tested panty remover.

Čotar Terra Rossa 2000



Teran 40% – Merlot 40% – Cabernet Sauvignon 20%; 13% abv; 34,50€. Aged for 5 years in oak; only 5000 bottles produced. A very interesting scent: lifted, deliciously and mouthwateringly herbaceous like Teran/Refošk tends to be, dark fruit and also some oak (but in such proportions that only a few of us will find it bothersome). Full bodied, sweet and ripe fruit, but with plenty of grip, very lively like "natural" wines tend to be, bright. Slightly balsamic on the finish. Despite my slight reservation of a bit of oak showing, I did find the whole very pleasing.

Château de Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Réservé 2005 Ch. Rayas; 14% abv; 44,70€.

This was awesome! I am a S. Rhone doubter, still, despite some truly great wines that have been opened in my presence. But I really loved this. It opened up very funky, angry and animal; but it calmed down to a ripe but well structured wine smelling of more conventional Grenache-based aromas. Full body, but great structure: it really is refreshing and moreish despite being both primary and southernly fruity. Very enjoyable. I wish I could afford to lay down a couple of these.

Papin-Chevalier (Ch. Pierre-Bise) Clos de Coulaine Savennières 2006

The scent is ripe but citrussy, some hay and quince and everything else one expects in Chenin. The few 2006s we saw from the Loire have seemed a bit on the heavy side for my comfort, but despite some serious mid-palate heft, I found the brightness and structure quite charming. Nice stuff!

It seems very primary but very approachable. Does this wine usually age well? I had some very weird experiences with the 2004 where some have been fine even in recent months yet others are deep, deep gold and taste decades older than they are. Is the dreaded POx spreading from Burgundy elsewhere? Or is the general recommendation to drink this young?

John Duval Wines Shiraz Entity 2005

33,80€; 14,5% abv; 6,4g/l acidity. Not as much purplosity as the Plexus (note here), but still not a very subtle wine. But it certainly isn't only a stereotypical fruit bomb, but rather mixed with the strong, dark, peppery fruit is a slight savoury scent of damp earth. Very full bodied, but with surprisingly refreshing and natural acidity for Barossa and better support from tannins than what the Plexus had. The oak is well judged: it is there, but isn't dominating the other aromas, so I feel confident it will integrate. Strangely for such a fruit-forward wine, the aftertaste is carried more by acidity than the sheer power of fruit and is therefore refreshing rather than cloying. The massively high alcohol was hardly noticeable. As far as Barossa goes, this isn't among the most in-your-face wines, but was still a but much for me as I really do prefer cool climate aromatics. But in its style, I do think it a great success.

What should one eat with these bigger wines? This was just a quick taste so without food. What foods can stand up to such intensity of pure fruit? And an even more challenging pairing question: what foods can stand up to even more FRUIT-forward Aussie wines that don't have such an acid-defined finish?

Papin-Chevalier (Ch. Pierre-Bise) Clos de Coulaine Savennières 2006

The scent is ripe but citrussy, some hay and quince and everything else one expects in Chenin. The few 2006s we saw from the Loire have seemed a bit on the heavy side for my comfort, but despite some serious mid-palate heft, I found the brightness and structure quite charming. Nice stuff!

It seems very primary but very approachable. Does this wine usually age well?

Nobody knows. Not even Claude Papin. At least the last time I spoke to him, which was three and a half years ago now!!

For what it's worth, Claude started working 'seriously' in the late 80s and became more established through the mid-90s. His real track record with strong vintages started with the 95, 96, 97 trio. So it's hard to know exactly. Plus he was changing his style (like many in the region) to get softer rounder fruit and nobody knows what that means for aging. At least circa 2005 vintage. I am sure his thinking has evolved since then.

Beyond that, Clos de Coulaine is not a 'grand terroir'. Personally, I usually liked Haut de la Garde better because I thought it had better structure, even if it was lowly Anjou in comparison to Savennieres.

At the moment, Roche aux Moines is clearly the jewel in his stable that should have the most potential for aging.

That said, I still have some bottles of 94 Clos de Coulaine that was holding up remarkably well last I checked. (Although I may have held on too long at this point)..

Papin-Chevalier (Ch. Pierre-Bise) Clos de Coulaine Savennières 2006

The scent is ripe but citrussy, some hay and quince and everything else one expects in Chenin. The few 2006s we saw from the Loire have seemed a bit on the heavy side for my comfort, but despite some serious mid-palate heft, I found the brightness and structure quite charming. Nice stuff!

It seems very primary but very approachable. Does this wine usually age well?

Nobody knows. Not even Claude Papin. At least the last time I spoke to him, which was three and a half years ago now!!

For what it's worth, Claude started working 'seriously' in the late 80s and became more established through the mid-90s. His real track record with strong vintages started with the 95, 96, 97 trio. So it's hard to know exactly. Plus he was changing his style (like many in the region) to get softer rounder fruit and nobody knows what that means for aging. At least circa 2005 vintage. I am sure his thinking has evolved since then.

Beyond that, Clos de Coulaine is not a 'grand terroir'. Personally, I usually liked Haut de la Garde better because I thought it had better structure, even if it was lowly Anjou in comparison to Savennieres.

At the moment, Roche aux Moines is clearly the jewel in his stable that should have the most potential for aging.

That said, I still have some bottles of 94 Clos de Coulaine that was holding up remarkably well last I checked. (Although I may have held on too long at this point)..

I had some Clos de Coulaine 1997, a warm year. In its youth it was almost a ringer for Viognier. More recently I remember it as dark in taste and alcoholic like an old school Mediterranean wine and far from the Loire; no oxidization, though. Howver, plenty of oxidization of my stash of Château d'Epiré 95 and 96, particularly the former.

I had some Clos de Coulaine 1997, a warm year. In its youth it was almost a ringer for Viognier. More recently I remember it as dark in taste and alcoholic like an old school Mediterranean wine and far from the Loire; no oxidization, though. Howver, plenty of oxidization of my stash of Château d'Epiré 95 and 96, particularly the former.

Interesting.

My 'bad' bottles of the older Clos de Coulaine have all tasted like flabby tinned apple juice.

The Tulloch Semillons I've had seem to be in a more accessible style than a lot of other Hunters - without the tooth stripping acidity in Vat 1 and certain others, and I absolutely love them (when I can get my hands on them). Glad you enjoyed that one.

The Duval sounds interesting. While I'm drinking less and less Barossa Valley red these days (and buying more from Clare/Eden Valley), I think I do need to try one of his wines. Re. food pairings, I've found the simple stuff works well. Good pizza, or a burger tends to work reasonably well (as the bigger Barossa wines tend to blow away the subtleties in a lot of other dishes I've had).