WTN: Four more

With mushroom and olive pizza and a Cesar salad:
2004 Domino de Tares, Bierzo Baltos:
Very oaky nose with lots of candied, upfront fruit; fruit driven but simple palate with a lot of oak flavor and an extremely oaky and drying finish. Became even more oaky as it opened. God awful, IMO, but I suppose this has a market. 13% alcohol, imported by Classical Wines and about $10 on sale; way over-priced for me.
Bad wine with or with out food. I gave the bottle away and went and got . . .

2003 Dom. Tempier, Bandol:
Flowers and lavender on the nose with some fruit and earthy funk; “like drinking a field of flowers, dirt and all” said a neighbor and I see no reason to try to improve on that; long, structured finish. Great wine now that obviously has a shelf-life. 11-14% alcohol, imported by Kermit Lynch and about $30; if it didn’t cost so much, I buy several cases.
Just terrific with the pizza as the cheese helps round out the structure of the wine and defeat some of the tannins but the grip of the wine and its intensity stand-up to the strong flavors in the dish. Excellent pairing.

With a dish of sausage, peppers, kale, onions, olives and pasta:
2002 Overnoy/Houillon, Poulsard Arbois Pupillin:
One whiff and you know this is unique; pomegranate, old ladies closet, dust, and light sulpher notes; light-weight yet smooth in the mouth with considerable complexity, no sulpher flavors, a savory tang and lovely balance; medium length finish. Idiosyncratic and not for everyone but Diane and I are smiling a lot as we sip this. 12.5% alcohol, imported by Louis/Dressner and about $21 on release; I didn’t buy enough.
Good with the dish as neither dominates but each is complimented.

After dinner:
2005Dom. Vissoux, Fleurie Poncie:
Sweet fruit, deep fruit, perfect balance and a long finish; yummy.
12.5% alcohol, imported by Weygandt-Metzler and about $20; I bought plenty.

Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Jim,

Matt Kramer at the Spectator (about the best writing in that magazine, along with the food & coffee columnists) has caught onto your Vissoux bandwagon. One of their wines was listed as one of his personal wines of the year. He also wrote that nowhere was 2005 better than in Beaujolais. Good to see the region getting some respect.

Bad wine with or with out food. I gave the bottle away

Can you translate that into points or grades? I can't decide if you liked or not?

I THOUGHT I bought enough of the Vissoux Poncie and Cuvee Traditional '05s, but now I look and realize it's just not enough.

Can you translate that into points or grades? I can't decide if you liked or not?

No.

I THOUGHT I bought enough of the Vissoux Poncie and Cuvee Traditional '05s, but now I look and realize it's just not enough.

I went back to the well several times and if I don't have enough now, then I know I will see my 100th birthday.
Best, Jim

Just a little comment on the Overnoy/Houillon Poulsard: this producer is resolutely 'sans soufre' i.e. they use no SO2 whatsoever, so any sulphur notes you found would most likely have been notes from a touch of reduction. In order to get away with no SO2 they bottle 'under' CO2 which helps keep the wine fresh. Just be warned that each bottle will probably taste different according to time of year you taste it as much as anything - these wines really 'live', not necessarily a good thing, guess it depends if you like surprises ... it's the lottery of no-SO2 wines.

By the way, a perfect choice to have drunk it with sausages. I have had the enormous pleasure of drinking this wine whilst eating local Jura sausages cooked in wine with vine cuttings by Pierre Overnoy himself (a lovely, gentle man in his 70s) in his kitchen for lunch, simply accompanied by boiled potatoes and bread he made himself. He is a real character - and the wines, now made by his protegé Emmanuel Houillon (equally passionate about no-SO2 wines) - are very idiosyncratic indeed, especially Poulsard (or Ploussard as they mainly name it in Pupillin).

Can you translate that into points or grades? I can't decide if you liked or not?

No.

Spoilsport!

I went back to the well several times and if I don't have enough now, then I know I will see my 100th birthday.
Best, Jim

I'll drink to that.

Mark Lipton

Wink,
I appreciate the input.
I have become a big fan of Jura wines, especially those of Overnoy, Tissot and Puffeney. It seems these days that I am buying more Jura wines than any others and find that they are, at least among these producers, character driven, well-made wines at tolerable prices. And those three things don't usually go together.
Any experience with Tissot and Puffeney?
Best, Jim

Hi Jim

By Tissot, I presume you mean Stéphane Tissot of Domaine André et Mireille Tissot. Have to check, because his Uncle Jaques Tissot is another big (by Jura standards) domaine and there's at least one other Tissot (Louis I think) in the area too! A & M Tissot, with dynamic son Stéphane has been my number one domaine in Wine Report for all the years that I've been writing for the guide (5 now?). He is a mad innovator, with a love of terroir of course - his catch phrase = "la vie est belle!".

Jacques Puffeney is a wonderful, quiet man, bridging the gap between traditional and modern ideas in the Jura beautifully.

I've written about both for a new book coming out July 08 - 1001 Wines to Drink before you Die! So you might have to wait till then for more.

As a Jura fan, however, you should get hold of Edward Behr's fantastic profile of the Jura - it's in Issue Number 72 (2006) of "The Art of Eating". It profiles all three of these producers and more.

You are lucky to be able to get these wines in the USA - in the UK they are hardly available ... and most UK wine lovers seem to ignore the Jura. I'm off back there next week.
Best,
Wink

You are lucky to be able to get these wines in the USA - in the UK they are hardly available ... and most UK wine lovers seem to ignore the Jura.

Yes, my experience has been that the UK is so traditional and focused on Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Brunello, Barolo.

Very limiting for different palates.

Although I guess there is a limited number of producers in the Jura making wines for the international Hipster Terroir Market. But, perhaps with more posts from Jim, in the future it will look more like the Loire of today.

I've written about both for a new book coming out July 08 - 1001 Wines to Drink before you Die! So you might have to wait till then for more.

I await with baited breath.

As a Jura fan, however, you should get hold of Edward Behr's fantastic profile of the Jura - it's in Issue Number 72 (2006) of "The Art of Eating". It profiles all three of these producers and more.

Got it.

You are lucky to be able to get these wines in the USA - in the UK they are hardly available ... and most UK wine lovers seem to ignore the Jura. I'm off back there next week.

Travel well; I will bask in my good fortune as some 2004 A & M Tissot Chardonnay is our wine for dinner this evening.

Btw, I see you credited in Jacqueline Friederich's book, "The Wines of France;" a very nice kudo in a very useful book.
Best, Jim

Jim - I trust you enjoyed the A & M Tissot Chardonnay.

Rahsaan wrote:

my experience has been that the UK is so traditional and focused on Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Brunello, Barolo.

This is only the case with an elite (and/or old-fashioned) sector of the wine-drinking public in the UK. The vast majority of wine drinkers in the UK - even 'interested' wine drinkers - drink very widely, though with a tendency in particular to drinking wines from Australia, Chile, South Africa, California (but mainly big brands) as well as France, Italy and Spain. France has had a rough time in recent years, but is fighting back now particularly the Rhône and Languedoc.

The wines that suffer most from a lack of support from UK consumers are from some of the more interesting areas like Austria, Hungary, Portugal and lesser known areas of France, Italy & Spain.

This is only the case with an elite (and/or old-fashioned) sector of the wine-drinking public in the UK.

But they are the ones who drive what is stocked in the retail outlets.

The vast majority of wine drinkers in the UK - even 'interested' wine drinkers - drink very widely, though with a tendency in particular to drinking wines from Australia, Chile, South Africa, California (but mainly big brands) as well as France, Italy and Spain. France has had a rough time in recent years, but is fighting back now particularly the Rhône and Languedoc.

The Rhone and the Languedoc may be one thing, but I'm more interested in the Jura, the Loire, and the quirky wines from places in France that don't even have "regional" AOCs. I remember one shop in London thought that C&P Breton Chinon was pretty edgy/trendy, and while I was glad they carried the wine, I thought that spoke volumes for their limited selection.