2009 Francois Grinand Vin du Bugey Les Etapes Vigne du Perron - France, Savoie, Vin du Bugey (3/17/2013)
A very pretty wine. It has very obvious Pinosity and is quite ripe and warm year in character - but that doesn't detract from the Pinosity at all. Wonderfully racy and light on its feet. I felt this very Burgundian and very good.
2010 Domaine du Recrue des Sens (Yann Durioux) Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Les Grands Ponts - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits (3/17/2013)
I know practically nothing about this wine and producer. All I remember our host telling us is of some connection with Prieuré-Roche but I wasn't listening because I was entranced by the wine. So I'll let the wine speak for itself instead of giving any info on its background. It's fucking awesome. It is pure and elegant and wonderfully expressive. It is well structured, ethereal, very pretty and absolutely wonderful. Platonic Pinosity. I MUST find more.
2008 Tsantali Reserve Nemea - Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea (3/16/2013)
10,07€; 100% Agiorgitiko. This is a really attractive little wine at a price where we usually only see mass-produced crap! Bright aromas of pomegranate. Nice ripeness and pleasantly tannic. Palate-cleansing and moreish. Very nice and seemingly un-manipulated.
2000 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (3/15/2013)
After my last bottle of 2001 was corked I had to open a 2000 instead. Immediately after opening this was a bit of a disappointment in that it didn't seem so much like Musar as white Burgundy. A little bit oaky (not usually something I sense with Musars since they are released after so many years of bottle age), a little bit creamy, a little bit citric. Gladly after 4h air it does come together and seems more Musary: a bit of funk, a concentrated citric character slightly reminiscent of botrytis appears, too. Crunchy and refreshing though not really a high acid wine; rich and intense though a fairly low alcohol wine (12% abv). Though disappointing on first taste, with air it became very nice - but not IMO a great year like '75 or '90.
Musar Blanc 2001
Corked.
2003 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (3/15/2013)
An attractive spicy, green apple and wax aroma. Full bodied though only 12% abv, not terribly high in acid but somehow is still refreshing. Very nice but not great; needs 4h+ decanting to show well now so forget in your cellars if you have any.
2004 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (3/16/2013)
A nice white Musar but quite mute (even on day three when writing this note). A bit nutty, a bit floral. Lowish alcohol but rich; not high in acidity but savoury and moreish. What is odd about this bottle is that usually even such young Musars open up brilliantly with extended air exposure but this didn't really open up even when drunk over three nights.
1999 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (3/17/2013)
With 4h air this is magnificent. I was afraid this would have been infanticide, but something that gives this great pleasure cannot be. A classic Musar: lovely bright, yet sweet, red toned fruit; a bit of funk; racy and savoury and pleasantly high-acid palate that perfectly counterpoints the sweetness of the ripe fruit. Perfect and though delightfully open aromatically, this is still a young wine and probably decades away from its peak.