TN: New Years W/E--06 Briords, Richeaume, Leitz, Delbeck...

Some brief notes from last weekend.
Happy New Year everyone.
Charles

2006 Domaine de la Pepiere (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine (1/3/2008)
Fruitier than I'm used to from Briords. Surprisingly open. Citrus and even some melon notes. Bone dry, minerals enough. So refreshing, overall puts me in the mind of a grown-up bottle of "Squirt."
Good match with simple sauteed sea scallops, and I suspect with many other things.

1985 Domaine Richeaume Côtes de Provence - France, Provence, Côtes de Provence (12/30/2007)
This was a very big wine in its youth, and I hadn't tasted one for 7 years. Now fully mature interesting secondary flavors including tobacco leaf, dried red fruits and just enough funk, the latter of which diminished over time. While I wouldn't seek it out to buy more now, it was a very satisfying match with leg of lamb.

2005 Bodegas y Viñedos Maurodos Toro Prima - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro (12/30/2007)
Very dark color, intense sweet dark red fruit. Considerable soft tannins. Adequate acid. Not great length. Others more enthusiastic than I. Certainly plenty of bang for the buck, if bang is what you want.

1990 Château Tour Haut-Caussan - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (12/30/2007)
Enjoyable solid claret that has reached peak. Nothing to take for granted even if not a life-changing experience. Matched well with leg of lamb.

2001 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Rheingau (12/30/2007)
Really same note as 7/6/2007: Delicious! Excellent intensity. Moderately sweet but still refreshing because of mouth-watering lemony acidity. Apples, lemon, minerals. This is drinking beautifully now

1990 Delbeck Champagne Brut - France, Champagne (12/31/2007)
Bubbles mostly gone, but quite tasty. Good cut and moderate complexity might have been better at table than as New Year's toast.

[David M. Bueker]

Trying to get me to open my 2001s are you...

Trying to get me to open my 2001s are you...

I can't say it won't get better, but it sure doesn't have to. My guess is that you have perhaps 4 in your cellar and you'd not be doing yourself a disservice to pop one. But certainly no hurry--no change in my experience over past 5 months.

[David M. Bueker]

My guess is that you have perhaps 4 in your cellar.

I wonder how you know that...

Anybody willing to predict when the best drinking window will be for the 06 Pepiere Briords. I know these are generally agers but this year's fruity, approachable version is hard for me to figure out.

Anybody willing to predict when the best drinking window will be for the 06 Pepiere Briords. I know these are generally agers but this year's fruity, approachable version is hard for me to figure out.

Clint, others have much more experience than I with older vintages, but I've had a lot of 2000-2005, except for 2003, and have (for me) a lot in the cellar to age. The 2004 and 2005 were well worth drinking on release but, but the 2006 is much more pleasurable, and it's BEST drinking may be now. Like you, I'm interested in others' speculations on how long that window will last and how it will evolve compared to, say, 2000, 2002, or 2005.
Charles