Ca’ del Bosco Curtefranca Bianco 2005 (80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Bianco) smells very yeasty; mineral but short taste. Interesting, but I’m not sure I want to try it again.
Ca’ del Bosco Chardonnay TdF 2002 was an oaky mess. Pass.
Jermann Vinnae 2006 is a blend of Ribolla Gialla, Friulano and Riesling and is refreshing, nutty (but unoaked I think), light and acidic and bright. Nice.
Jermann Chardonnay 2006 is in a bright and focused, citrussy style – refreshing and floral. Nice.
Santa Barbara Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2006 is nutty but refreshing and unoaked. Mineral and long. Nice!
Santa Barbara Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi ”Le Vaglie” 2006 I sense a touch of oak on this one, but so little that in such a hurried tasting I’m not too sure of myself. Refreshing palate and I wouldn’t mind trying this again in a less crowded environment.
Santa Barbara Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi ”Stefano Antonucci” 2005 was an oaky mess. Pass.
Sepp Moser Muskat Ottonel 2006 has a nose of white flowers and minerals. Light and mineral and nicely acidic palate. Very lovable little wine.
Sepp Moser Grüner Veltliner Wolfsgraben 2006 is a thick and heavy style, but with nice minerality, depth, character and length. A little acid-deficient perhaps? Well, it did leave a positive memory nonetheless.
Sepp Moser Grüner Veltliner Breiter Rain 2006 is also a powerful and big GV. I’m starting to think that the ’06s are just too massive for me to be enjoying them in big quantities. Impressive, but doesn’t have that much finesse.
Sepp Moser Riesling Gebling 2003 has true Riesling aromatics but is a bit flabby. Not bad, but I really want acidity in my Rieslings. Pleasant aromatics, though.
Sepp Moser Riesling von den Terrassen 2005 was nice, had some depth and character and nice grip and minerality.
Sepp Moser Sauvignon Blanc Schnabel 2005 had a nose of grass but was more elegant than attacking. The palate is very full-bodied and ripe and mineral. Fascinating style of SB – quite unlike any other SB I’ve ever had. Nice!
Pierre Peters Cuvée Speciale 1998 was mineral and full of white flowers. Elegant, yet full bodied. I like it.
Cava Cripta 2002 has a nose of clover and stomach acids (is better than it sounds, lol!). The palate is mineral, elegant, dry and long. Nice! Funny shaped bottle with an ”anti-punt”.
Cava Aliguer Brut 2004 is grassy on the nose; soft and a touch sweet on the palate. Not bad, but a bit boring.
Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Cuvée Edmond 2002 was quite impressive, but in a style I can’t get excited about. The nose was mixture of ketchup/oak notes and jalopeño. The palate had lovely acidity and fruit to back it up. I can understand that this works for others.
William Fèvre Chablis 2006 is the négoce stuff, but quite a lovely drop anyway. Bright and mineral but with a good concentration of fruit.
William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2005 (négoce stuff again) seemed a bit vanillary and diffuse on the nose. I wasn’t too keen on the nose, but the palate was bright and focused though not very high in acidity.
Domaine Latour-Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières 2005 was so full bitter oak notes that I couldn’t appreciate anything of it except the pretty decent level of acidity. Maybe I’ll like it in a long time in the future when/if the oak fades?
Château de Fonsalette Blanc 2004 was a fair wine, not terribly memorable except for having enough grip to be in balance (rare for my tastes in the Rhone whites).
Ch. de Saint-Cosme Condrieu 2005 smelled and tasted of barrique. It gladly had surprising zip for a Rhone white, but why the oak?
Leonildo Pieropan Soave Classico Calvarino 2005 was just lovely: an open, nutty (but not as in oaky) and floral nose with lots of minerality. Nice, juicy acidity. Lovely.
Leonildo Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca 2005 smelled of oak and something weird (rancid fish oil?). Quite off-putting IMO.
Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Lössterrassen 2006 is a very ripe and full-bodied GV but still true to the grape. Fun, but not quite as refreshing and light on its feet as I would like it to be. I wouldn’t mind a few in my cellar, though.
Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Tradition 2005 was bright and green in its aromatics, full bodied but refreshing and mineral. Lovely.
Château d’Agassac 2004 is a Cru Bourgeois and comes with a screw cap – bravo! The nose is a rather slick and modern style, but not obfuscated by oak gladly. A nice, full Claret.
Ch. Pibran 2004 had an imbalance between oak and fruit and therefore smelled of the powder that one makes hot chocolate from. Nice, savoury, palate, but the aftertaste is again marred by that hot chocolate powder taste.
Ch. Lynch-Bages 2004 was nice and savoury, overtly oaky still, but at least here there is promise of balance. The palate was savoury and full of tannins and graphite and enough fruit (for my tastes anyway) for this to be a promising wine. I wouldn’t mind one or two in my cellar.
Domaine Joblot Givry Pied de Chaume 2005 was quite a delight: vegetal, savoury yet ripe and lots of pinosity.
Domaine Joblot Givry 1er Cru Clos de la Servoisine 2005 was more oak-influenced and not so light on its feet. Rather more tannic than I would hope also. Not to my taste.
Camille Giroud Beaune 1er Cru Aux Cras 2005 smelled of hot chocolate powder. There isn’t the slightest hint that this could be Burgundy. Yuck.
Camille Giroud Volnay 1er Cru Les Taillepieds 2005 wasn’t much better, but at least there was some fruit to counter the oak.
Camille Giroud Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru 2005 made me yawn. I don’t appreciate this style of Burgundy that is all about the oak which then masks then fruit. I find that the vibrancy of the pinosity is the charm of Burgundy, so why smother it in oak?
Domaine Gry-Sablon Julienas 2005 is in an unforced and attractive style: red toned fruit, sweet but earthy and savoury. Lovely acidity, good tannic grip also. No banana or bubblegum or any other Lalvin 71B-1122 induced smells.
Tandem 2005 is Alain Graillot’s project in Morocco. It is made in a relatively cool microclimate, influenced by the Atlantic and is 100% Syrah and sells for c.10€. And for that price, this totally rocks! The nose is very ripe and has notes of dried fruit and is perhaps a bit raisiny, but it is deliciously dark toned and peppery. The palate (only 13% abv) is tannic and savoury and deep and very true to the grape. This is a wine of true character. Bravo.
Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 2005 is a success. It is a classic but ripe Syrah, well structured and well balanced. Very yummy.
Domaine des Lises Crozes-Hermitage 2005 is made my Maxime Graillot (Alain’s son?) and is in a more ”modern” tradition with destemming and some other practices which I promptly forgot. But the wine itself was pretty nice, more slick than Alain’s, more polished but with true Syrahsity. Nice, but I did prefer Alain’s.
Dom. Jean-Paul & Jean-Luc Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2004 was just brilliant! Peachy nose with some animal character and true Syrahsity; lovely grip on the palate and healthy fruit. Lovely.
Dom. Auguste Clape Côtes du Rhône Syrah 2004 was very sweet on the nose, but grippy and dark on the palate – very nice except the finish was a bit short.
Clape Renaissance 2004 is a younger vines Cornas and again had a very sweet nose, but a dark and rocky palate with a good finish. Nice.
Clape Cornas 2004 once again has a very sweet, almost raisiny nose (why?) and a deep, savoury, mineral, elegant palate. Lovely, but why are the scents almost over-ripe on all three Clapes? The alcohols aren’t that high (13% abv) and the palates don’t seem so ripe. Weird. But it works.
Château des Tours Vacqueyras 2003 was appley and oxidative on the nose; as sweet as dessert wine, alcoholic and quite vile on the palate.
Ch. de Fonsalette Rouge 2004 was floral, peppery, red toned and had nice structure. Nice.
Ch. de Saint-Cosme Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004 was toffeed on the nose; dark and tannic on the palate. I like the grip on the palate but am not conviced by the aromatics.
Ch. de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004 was very nice: red toned, floral, not very animal but with some interesting darker/savoury tones also. Refreshing structure and good length. Very nice. So much so that I might overcome my Grenacheophobia and buy a couple!
Domaine de Montcalmès Rouge 2004 is a fair Languedoc, dark toned, warm aromatics, sweet yet with some savouryness. Nice if you like GSM blends (I confess that I almost always find the G a bit difficult).
Domaine Peyre Rose Clos des Cistes 2002 was a very interesting Languedoc. It is very sweet, with some very attractive red toned fruit – but it seems very unforced, very natural and unmanipulated. I don’t sense oak either. Good grip and good fruit. Nice!
Dom. Peyre Rose Clos Syrah Léone 2002 was darker toned, more surly, but a great wine also. Again, it was very unforced. I want to know more about Peyre Rose – I know I often find warm climate wines hard to understand, but these two I really liked!
Elisabetta Foradori Teroldego Rotaliano 2004 was funky and savoury and herbal – obviously I like it!
Foradori Granato 2003 was over-ripe, raisiny, structureless – a blob. Pass.
Kanonkop Pinotage 2004 is very drinkable for a Pinotage – in fact, it is even enjoyable. It isn’t terribly funky nor cumin-like, but has good ripe fruit and structure.
Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2003 is leafy and elegant – like what Bordeaux should be like (except so much of it is over-oaked so rarely is). The palate has a great concentration of fruit but good grip and is very refreshing. I really like this. I wouldn’t want to bet the usual 50£ because I would most likely put this in Bx in a blind tasting.
Glaetzer The Bishop Shiraz 2005 is dark toned and tarry and is about as thick as motor oil. I thought that only PX Sherry was supposed to be this thick! Yikes.
Glaetzer Godolphin 2005 is oaky and dark and even thicker than the previous. Wow. I’ll pass.
Q. do Vallado Douro 2005 is vibrant and fruity; good tannins and a bit of a burly nature, but still nice.
Q. do Vale Dona Maria 2005 is a rather modern style but nice – thick, weighty fruit, but with well integrated oak and enough structure that in a few years I would imagine this would be very nice at the table.
Q. do Vale Dona Maria CV 2004 is aromatically like the previous except clunkier and with less elegance.
Alois Kracher BA Cuvée 2006 is grassy on the nose. Sweet on the palate with fair acidity. Not much else to say about it. Not bad, not memorable.
Kracher TBA No.6 Grande Cuvée 2004 Nouvelle Vague is thick, botrytised, and super sweet. A bit much for me, but impressive.
Mas Amiel Muscat Collection 2004 is sweet and grassy with fair acidity. Pretty decent.
Mas Amiel Maury Vintage 2005 is strawberried and vegetal, but also tarry. Very sweet, good tannins – quite impressive if very thick and clunky at the moment.
Mas Amiel Privilège 2003 is like the vintage, except with more depth and concentration – was a bit much for me, but is very impressive.
Now, I think it’s time for a supremely hoppy beer to cleanse my palate.
. Right up my alley . I'm just sipping the last drops of a '05 Potel-Aviron Morgon Cote du Py VV. Not thin and acidic, actually - plenty of stuffin' but young and pure with a bright future.