1999 Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (9/4/2016)
Another lovely Côte Rôtie, my favourite N.Rhône appellation by a short head in front of Cornas. Colour still quite pristine red, nose expressive with complex bright aromas including cherry, violet, grilled meat and olive. Medium+ bodied suave, linear and long palate with plenty of bright fruit infused with the aromas from the nose, minerals, light pepper, lively acidity and a perfectly integrated oak ageing patina with enough residual tannins for firmness on the finish. The overall effect is harmonious and elegant with, I reckon, a few more years of prime still ahead. Excellent.
2011 Château Bourda Tursan - France, Southwest France, Tursan (9/5/2016)
I enjoyed this even more than last year's bottle. Very refreshing yet sturdy and with backbone, I think I might take this for Loire Cabernet franc in a blind line-up. The vanilla notes on which I commented last year have almost completely disappeared. Good.
PS: This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Tannat from the Pyrenees foothills.
2011 Valiano Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (9/8/2016)
This is a very enjoyable Chianti with medium+ body, lively red fruit, touches of leather and minerals, tangy acidity and some grip. Estate previously unknown to me but address at Castelnuovo Beradenga inspires confidence. Good but I would appreciate a more moderate price than the €14 charged by an Italian delicatessen.
2013 Patrice Colin Coteaux du Vendômois Pierre à Feu - France, Loire Valley, Coteaux du Vendômois (9/9/2016)
IIRC I have never before had a white from Coteaux du Vendômois. So I am unable to say whether its flavour profile, unusual for Loire basin chenin, is typical of the appellation or is a function of a difficult vintage. Colour very pale, almost watery. Nose of fresh fruit, mainly citrus, apple and pear with a touch of grilled meat. Medium/light bone dry and highly strung palate with slightly sour fruit, grainy minerals, an overlay on mid-palate not unlike iodine, very crisp acidity and a salty slightly bitter and somewhat tart finish. Tense and invigorating, this IMO would be very good with oysters or a sea food platter but was a tad too austere with rouget and a quite rich mussel sauce
NV Gonzalez-Byass Palomino Fino Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Tío Pepe (Muy Seco-Extra Dry) - Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry (9/10/2016)
I only had one glass on the third day after opening (the rest was drink by Germaine over about a week) but it reminded me how good this drink is; refreshing, bone dry, elegant, very slightly salty and nutty, filling the mouth with an invigorating dry fragrance and showing backbone and good length. Hard to find another wine with such refinement for only c.€9; indeed hard to find at all in France. Very good.
2003 Château Saint-Pierre - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (9/10/2016)
Much better than I feared from this torrid vintage. Colour deep dark red with little bricking and a slightly viscous look causing marked legs in the glass. Nose well developed with fragrant red and dark fruit, graphite touches, trace of leafiness and a metallic hint. Palate a generous medium/full body with rich complex fruit, replay of the aromas from the nose, sugar hints, some forest floor, good acidity and ripe tannins supporting a decently long finish. Well balanced and harmonious but in a bigger and slightly sweeter style than St.Julien from most vintages. However, I feel that this may be at its peak and I won't delay for long opening my last bottle. Very good.
2014 Pico Maccario Barbera d'Asti Lavignone - Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti (9/13/2016)
When I entered my purchase into CT, I was disconcerted to see some negative posts, but I am glad to report that I like this wine's rather unusual flavour profile. Deep colour, expressive nose, medium plus bodied showing rich red and dark fruit with a touch of raisin, spice and an odd but attractive, for me, overlay as if the wine had been poured into a glass which had traces of Campari orange. Add to that enough smooth acidity for balance and some firmness and mild bitterness on the finish and there is a lot to like. A far cry from the rustic, rather acidic but cheerful Barberas of a generation ago. Good.
2014 Azienda Vinicola Venea du Paolucci Nicolino Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Burbero - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (9/14/2016)
I used to believe that Montepulciano d'Abruzzo produces very reliable entry level wines but now I found an exception!! Perfumed with industrial seeming fragrances and exhibiting unpleasantly harsh dry caramel notes towards the finish, it is hard to believe that this was made from grapes. Two-thirds of the contents will go down the sink. Ugh!
2010 Les Caves du Sieur d'Arques Limoux Toques et Clochers Occursus - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Limoux (9/15/2016)
My son usually offers me an interesting bottle off the beaten track and he succeeded once again with this one. Limoux is at the North-Western extremity of Languedoc (very nice Chardonnay form Mouscaillo), Sieur d'Arques is its well regarded co-operative and its reds have an unusual varietal cocktail of Bordeaux and Mediterranean grape varieties with a supposed minimum of 50% Merlot under the appellation's rules. This wine was shy on the nose and palate at first but rapidly filled out showing attractively bright and complex fruit and aromas consistent with its varietal composition, mouth-filling generosity and decent moreish acidity but absence of the tannic backbone found with a similar grape cocktail in neighbouring Cabardès, where there is no 50% minimum requirement for Merlot. Good+ though.
2014 Château la Voulte-Gasparets Corbières - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Corbières (9/16/2016)
A nice easy drinking entry level Corbières with colour, body and alcohol slightly lighter and texture leaner than common in Languedoc but showing attractive red fruit infused with herbs and anise and decent acidity and grip.
2013 Famille Perrin / Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Peyre Blanche - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne (9/18/2016)
A nice medium+ bodied Cairanne with peppery red fruit and decent acidity and liquorice tinged backbone but lacking the personality and magic of its neighbours (but more expensive) from Richaud and the Alary brothers.
1996 Château de Villeneuve Saumur-Champigny Le Grand Clos - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (9/20/2016)
This last bottle of my three pack was much better than the brett spoilt previous; not perfect but with far more to enjoy than most squeaky clean flawless wines. Colour deep with a little brown tinting. Nose expressive with rich and complex raspberry infused fruit and leather. Palate unusually full bodied and richly fruited for Loire CabFranc recycling the aromas from the nose with caressing texture, still quite fresh acidity, secondary notes of forest floor, more leather and ripe firmness on the finish. Let's be clear, there is still too much brett influence for faultless wine fundamentalists to tolerate but, at this modest level compared with the previous bottle, I find that it adds welcome complexity in spite a slight cloy on the finish perceptible before and after food. So, imperfect but fascinating.
1975 Château Moulin du Cadet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (9/21/2016)
Served to us by Germaine's charming niece and her wine loving husband with lots of forebodings about possible decay, we were delighted by its still healthy colour, with just some bricking, and beautifully mature cherry tinged fruit, enhanced by secondary and tertiary aromas of forest floor, coffee and old dusty leather bound books together with enough residual acidity and resolved tannic backbone. Probably near its end but right now much more appealing, IMO, than most flawless modern "prestige" wines.
2012 Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Le Fort - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (9/23/2016)
This wine continues to improve. The aromatics have become much more expressive and the fruit has opened up with some attractive grape-like undertones and the whole seems more mouth-filling, complex and long. Good+.
2001 Château Poujeaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc (9/24/2016)
Poujeaux was reputedly in decline under the Theil family from the late 90s until the Cuvelier family took over but, if this was decline, give me more. The only difference I sensed from the fine vintages from the 80s to those late 90s was perhaps slightly leaner body and texture but I would need a side by side comparison to confirm that.
It had the usual mature Poujeaux open and quite complex aromatics with red fruit, summer flowers, a balsamic touch and a faint hint of cedar. On the palate, there was medium body, still quite primary red fruit with typical '01 graciousness, faint leather, minerals, some secondary notes, silky texture, fresh acidity and residual tannic structure supporting a decently long finish. No hurry to open my remaining bottles. Very good.
2004 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (9/25/2016)
This was a rather austere, lean and structured Chinon in keeping with other Loire reds I have had from '04. Colour a still quite pristine dark red. Nose very shy at first but opening somewhat to savoury fruit infused with discreet damp leather. Palate medium bodied, quite small at first, but expanding with air and greater warmth, showing more savoury fruit, earthy minerals, fresh tangy and leathery acidity encased in still marked tannic structure. Future pleasure will depend on whether the fruit or the tannins win out. I will decant next time. Good but I expect more from Dioterie.
Posted from CellarTracker