2012 Marco Abella Priorat Loidana - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (8/20/2017)
This is a very pleasant medium+ bodied wine with plenty of red and dark fruit, some spice, smooth texture, decently fresh acidity and adequate backbone but with rather too much oak patina for my "like" at the present time. Quite good and may get better if that patina integrates fully.
Retasted on 8/21/2017, the oak patina was better integrated. Nice wine but not very good QPR at €14, c.f., say, Côtes du Roussillon, though that is a low price for Priorat.
2016 Domaine Yves Cuilleron Syrah Les Vignes d'à Côté - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes (8/21/2017)
Attractively refreshing with typical N.Rhône fruit of savoury complexion with sour cherry and grilled meat notes but rather small on the palte and quite short. Good quaffing wine but mediocre QPR for that purpose at €10.
2010 La Cave d'Irouleguy Irouléguy Aberatsa - France, Southwest France, Pays Basque, Irouléguy (8/22/2017)
7 year old rosé is risky, especially when the back label recommends consumption within 2 years, but the mainly Tannat content gave some confidence and this turned out to be justified. As the photo shows the colour was deep salmon with orange tints visible on pour. Nose was expressive and quite complex with some strawberry and mineral notes. The palate was not big but was harmonious and seamless replaying aromas from the nose and showing the moreish acidity and residual liqueur sprinkled backbone which had no doubt kept it going. There was an ethereal elegance rare in pinks. Good+ and good QPR at €7.
2016 Antoine Ogier Tavel Héritages - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Tavel (8/24/2017)
Enjoyable Tavel with the usual quite deep ruby colour, roundness and rose scented fruit but with enough acidity for freshness and a welcome but less usual moderation in alcohol (13.5%). Good.
2016 Clos Sonnenta Corse Rosé - France, Corsica, Corse (8/25/2017)
The pink tints are so discreet in this rosé that I checked the varietal contents on the back label to confirm that I had not pulled out the white. No boiled sweet notes this time perhaps due to the seasoned couscous pairing with which it went very well, the wine's strong minerality piercing through the dish's spice. Good+.
1998 Domaine de Trévallon - France, Provence, Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône (8/26/2017)
In a good vintage like 1998, the Trévallon Cabernet/Syrah blend is arguably the finest red on the French Mediterranean rim with its unique combination of power, Provençal warmth and finesse. This bottle did not disappoint with its superbly fragrant bouquet of fine red fruit, herbs, minerals and balsam being an outstanding feature. The full/medium bodied palate followed though with bright fruit, silky texture, fresh acidity, full round warm depth, the beginnings of forest floor, ripe backbone and good length. Excellent.
2001 Bodegas y Viñedos del Contino Rioja Contino Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja (8/26/2017)
This bottle did not equal my memories of previous vintages but following on an outstanding Trévallon did it no favours. However a far from an indifferent wine with its full/medium body, round cherry tinged fruit, light spice, smooth texture and ripe structure but the vanilla component was excessive for my palate. Very good, though, and it may shine more in different company with a touch more age to further integration.
2014 Gérard Bertrand Corbières-Boutenac Cuvée d'Exeption - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Corbières-Boutenac (9/1/2017)
I remain unconvinced by wines from the Gérard Bertrand stable. They are invariably suavely well made and opulently fruited but lacking in place and varietal specificity. This was an experimental bottle bought because I usually like Corbières Boutenac although "Cuvée d'Exception" and "Élevé en Barriques" would normally turn me away. I should have followed my instinct because, for me, the richly fruited and otherwise well balanced wine was marred by a strong bitter aftertaste of recently roasted coffee which I attribute to the barrel ageing. A couple of years or so will probably improve things but I guess that there will always remain a sophisticated patina which may please many but which IMO obscures real character. Only fair at present.
Retasted 9/3/2017, there has been no progress in integrating that bitter oaky streak.
1994 Château Lascombes - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (9/2/2017)
Based on unenthusiastic memories and notes of a previous bottle drunk in 2010, I was expecting little from this and was pleasantly surprised. Colour was still quite deep with little bricking and the nose showed a discreet but delightful Margaux fragrance. The palate was quite small and not very long but it was round not thin and showed the fragrant fruit laced with minerals and forest floor which the nose promised combined with fine acidity and resolved tannic structure. It displayed discreet class and went very well with fillet steak simply presented with mushrooms and fennel. Good.
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