WTN: Bunch of wines from August (Loire, Jura, few Burgs, a couple CA, etc)

2004 Gérard Boulay Sancerre
Straw yellow color. Pear, black pepper, and grapefruit nose. Plenty of acid, zingy, and seems a little thin compared to some of the 2005s. Good with pasta with pesto.

2005 Domaine de Bellivière Coteaux du Loir "Le Rouge-Gorge"
Took a bottle on a recent camping trip, which turned out to be a good choice. Big mouthful of black pepper and a little dark strawberry fruit, ripe tannins without drying. Very enjoyable, even out of a plastic camping cup. Fun and different wine.

2000 Château Cambon La Pelouse
My best bottle of this yet, it really has developed some nice tertiary flavors. Lots of earth and cedar, a nice core of cassis fruit. Tannins soft but not completely resolved. Maybe on a plateau right now.

2001 Pellegrini Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Estate
Darkish garnet color with a little bricking at the rim. Ripe cherry strawberry fruit, tomato leaf and a little high toned mint add interest for me. Supple and a bit sweet on the finish. Nice with some grilled Ahi tuna. I would drink up any remaining bottles pretty soon, as the wine started to fall apart after about 2 hours of air.

2005 Domaine de Colette Régnié Sélection Vieilles Vignes
Straightforward and ready to go. Bright, juicy, red cherry and not a lot of tannic structure. Drink now.

2005 Domaine du Vissoux / Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes Cuvée Traditionnelle Corked.

2005 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Allees Delicious. Open and expressive, white flowers, and wet stone minerals, more "fruit" than Pepiere but no less enjoyable.

2004 Inama Soave Classico Vigneti di Foscarino
Dark gold, quite mature color. Very good depth and concentration, lots of deep yellow pit fruits, almond, also evident oak and leesy flavors. There is great material here but it seems like it is given the Grand Cru white burg treatment.

1999 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Calistoga Cuvée
Hey, we really liked this. The nose was more old world, closer to Loire Cabernet than Napa. Menthol, herbs (something between mint and basil), a little black currant, picks up some licorice at the finish. Not too sweet or fruit forward in the mouth with some tannins but everything pretty well integrated. I think we caught this at a nice point in its life, mature but not OTH. Good match with grilled steaks, string beans w/ black bean and garlic sauce, and roasted new potatoes.

2005 A. et P. de Villaine Bourgogne La Digoine
Very primary but really nice. Steely menthol, lots of fresh turned earth, at first a bit grapey, then more red fruit, light but good concentration and fairly firm acidity. Finishes with a little bitter tannin, maybe the signature of the 2005 vintage. Lovely.

2002 Westrey Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley
Drank this side by side w/ the De Villaine La Digoine and it seemed sweet almost candied next to the Burg. Tough comparison for the Westrey. In other company this would be decent as it has depth and nuance with some forest floor notes.

2002 Domaine de Montbourgeau L'Etoile Jura
This was similar to my previous note, it is still pale colored, smells of malt, corn, milk chocolate, lots of sous voile character. Rich but with great acidity too.
A killer match with a roasted eggplant/feta/mint/tomato/cucumber salad made with a lemon viniagrette. The recipe was in the NY times this past week, except I added a cucumber and cut the amount of bell pepper.
I love this wine and find it really complements a lot of the food we eat.
K and L has this on sale right now for $15.

2002 Pierre Overnoy Arbois Arbois Pupillin Jura
Pale red slightly cloudy color with an orange tinge. One of the cleaner bottles of this I've had with just a scosh of barnyard. Smells of wet leaves, loam, cranberry bog, pie cherry. Sharp acidity, with a wealth of flavor for such a light bodied wine. Nice with roasted chicken and potatoes, green beans sauteed in garlic and salad. Unique wine that I really love.

2004 Philippe Faury St. Joseph
Drinking beautifully right now. Smoke and meat aromas, violets, blackberry fruit underneath. Soft, full, and generous with just enough acidity to keep it fresh. Very enjoyable, not sure it will be a long term ager.

2004 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grezeaux
Big and beefy for Chinon, maybe starting to close down. Blackberry bramble and dark raspberry fruit, minerally, tannins a litle gritty. Lots of stuffing and structure. Leave the rest alone for now.

2005 Domaine de Bellivière Coteaux du Loir L'Effraie
This really needs a good decant right now. Rich ripe yellow fruits, quince, acacia flowers going towards tropical. Still very good+, but a little awkward right out of the bottle.

2004 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Fleurie
Drank w/ Vincent. This is great right now. Very minerally, red fruit, classic Beaujolais crunchy acids, but long with good depth. Really delicious Fleurie and a lot more fun for me than the 2005 right now. Drink or hold, this will be good for several years. I wish I had bought more. I think this wine has become the standard I use to compare other Beaujolais to.

1989 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Le L D'Or
Drank w/ Vincent. Another great bottle, still youthfully pale color, classic seatang minerals with great concentration and cut. Hard to believe at 18 years old, but this isn't close to mature. Another standard bearer for the appelation, for me anyway.

1996 Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos de Saint Yves Thanks to Vincent. Mature gold color. This must have come through the Boston area as it had plenty of the canned veggies in the nose. Under the funky smells some honeycomb, wax, dry with decent concentration and length. The tinned asparagus (Vincent says canned corn) goes away partially with air but it is pretty funky stuff.

2004 François Chidaine Vouvray Clos Baudoin
So very different from the 2005 Vouvrays I've tried recently, much more apparent acidity, and less richness/sugar. Great nose, lemon stone minerals. Sec/dry with good balance, lemon citrus chalky towards the finish. Very enjoyable with various cheeses.

2003 Clos Ste. Magdeleine Cassis
Apricot and melon, white floral nose that is restrained and not too perfumey. Leans toward the round rich side of Southern whites but with suprisingly good acidity for 2003. Very good with grilled silver salmon with a dill cucumber ginger sauce. Probably best to drink this sooner as it is very pretty now but I don't think it will improve by further ageing.

2005 Domaine Sorin Côtes de Provence Cuvée Tradition
This is the wine Jenise emailed to tell a few of her buddies about, and voila, something like 11 cases were sold in Bellingham in 2 days! Dark and purple in color. Grapey and primary at first, with air this develops very nicely, some garrigue and minerals, a little pepper spice, medium weight with some pretty ripe tannins adding a lot of structure. Good now but potentially very good in 1-3 years. Incredible value at $9. Thanks for the tip, Jenise.

2005 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bourgogne Blanc
A little shy at first, this opens up nicely with about an hour of air. Pale straw colored, some yellow apple and pear fruit and some nutty flavors. Not too sharp but just crisp acidity make this a good match with halibut and grilled zucchini. Good value for $15. Lots of tartrate crystals in the bottle.

2002 Isenhower Cellars Syrah River Beauty
Dark concentrated purple, black fruit, some oak and a little reductive. Decent acidity and some noticeable wood tannin. I like this a bit more than the Isenhower Wild Alfalfa syrah right now. I think they both need a little more time, hopefully the fruit will outlast the oak.

2006 Domaine de la Pepiere (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
A little dissolved CO2. Nice aromas, mineral, lemon and even a little white melon fruit this year. Even though this is a little less austere and maybe a bit more fruit than usual, it still is balanced by good acidity. Very good and has me looking forward to trying the 06 Briords.

Still going strong on day #2, aromatic, very minerally. A very good Pepiere, I liked it more with a slight chill then room temp. Will buy more.

2004 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette
With herb and dijon mustard coated pork loin, garlic new potatoes, and some white beans with rosemary this was a perfect match. The wine is in a really good place right now, expressive with red cranberry cherry fruit, earth and a little herb. The acidity has softened a bunch and it is a pleasure to drink. Very good.

2004 Domaine de la Pepiere (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords
Quiet and stony, very strong through the mid palate. Seems a little closed, but still the quality is obvious.

On the second day this too is much more open and really is tremendous with great definition, acidity and length. Excellent.


Best,
Marc

[David M. Bueker]

Really great selection of wines. Thanks for all the notes. Extra thanks because you have given me a free peek into a number of wines in my cellar.

[Jenise]

Thanks for the note/nudge on the Cambon Pelouse! It's time for me to dig a bottle out--I've mostly been ignoring my 2000's, and some are probably inching into prime time.

Ah, the Faury you told me about. Damn, I forgot to buy a bottle of that when I was at Mike's last weekend.

The Sorin--he sold 13 cases. And I had no idea anyone listened to me! Glad you enjoyed it as much as we did.

And a general comment--you are the Washington Winemakers' Association worst nightmare, and I say this with admiration. Here you live in a winemaking state, and only 1 out of 27 wines you listed is a Washington wine. Have to admit, I'm almost as bad, and I feel bad about that--I believe in supporting the home product but so far most of my experience adds up to just a bunch of first dates. I keep buying them, but I rarely re-purchase.

Marc,

Great notes as always. Your diligence reminds me that I have a large backlog of notes to post -- though, I must say, on wines that overall aren't nearly as good as the ones you're drinking. In fact, I'd say your August tops a typical year for me!

Also good for me to get your data points on 2004 Beaujolais (Roilette and Brun Fleuries, both of which I own and neither of which I've opened yet); sounds like they're in a really good place right now.

Thanks.

-- Bruce

Jenise -
On WA wines, I drink them but have found my tastes evolving away from them, and I just don't like to write up too many negative TN's.

For instance, I went to a local tasting last Sat that feature the wines of a well known WA winemaker. The whites, a Sauv Blanc Semillon blend and a riesling) were surprisingly good, the riesling done in stainless steel and 10% abv, it was a slightly off dry and reminded me of a decent Kabinet. The sauv semillon blend was done in old oak and was pretty appealing but at $20 there are much better options for me.

The reds on the other hand were a mess. The basic cab blend had too much green pepper. The cab franc had a lot of cinnamon from oak. A straight petit verdot was interesting but very ripe without any structure. Another Bdx blend smelled like cotton candy and had 0 structure. The high end reserve was very good, lots of material to cover the 100% new oak, and had many layers of flavor. Unfortunately it was priced at $75.

So not much love. I keep trying them though looking for better. Also, I bought a bunch of Cab blends and found I just don't like them young. I am hoping the flavors willl outlast the oak in some of these, and they will develop into something good, but who knows.

If you want to know the winery I will email it to you.

Bruce- I love the 04 Brun Fleurie. Please let me know what you think. I wish I could have a small sample of it to take with me to tastings, as a baseline of what I love.

We were blessed with a lot of visitors in August so I opened way more wines than usual, and got to drink some fun ones.

[Jenise]

On WA wines, I drink them but have found my tastes evolving away from them, and I just don't like to write up too many negative TN's.

I hear you. I sometimes think I should do the same. But it hasn't stopped me yet.

For instance, I went to a local tasting last Sat that feature the wines of a well known WA winemaker. The whites, a Sauv Blanc Semillon blend and a riesling) were surprisingly good, the riesling done in stainless steel and 10% abv

Only 10%? That's astonishing. I think I know the winemaker, this was at the Blue-Red Grin? I'm on his email list, so even if I don't attend I have an idea what's going on, and I remember who was there last weekend.

So not much love. I keep trying them though looking for better. Also, I bought a bunch of Cab blends and found I just don't like them young. I am hoping the flavors willl outlast the oak in some of these, and they will develop into something good, but who knows.

A few months ago, we had a bottle of the 01 Stella Maris Red Table Wine that kind of set a benchmark for me, though it wasn't meant to be a remarkable wine, for what a good Washington red blend could be when it doesn't try too hard. Not huge, no blueberries, no vanilla, lots of minerality and leathery secondary nuances (so rare). If more Washington wines were like that, you and I would have less to complain about.

As it is, many of us seem to increasingly crave smaller wines of more delicate charms like the Bellivière you mention. Where in Washington can we find a wine like that?

Great notes. Sounds like time to revisit the '04 regular Coudert.
Too bad re corked Vissoux, dynamite for regular Beaujolais. Lots of nice data points for me.