Today I went to pick up a small delivery of Muscadet from Chéreau-Carré. I went to the nicest restaurant in Helsinki (Carelia) and the wine manager, Tuomo Laitinen (jolly nice chap, who's willing to sell even 4cl tasting samples!!), said he had a nice wine by the glass: Moreau Petit Chablis 2004 12% which I bought a small sample of. It was indeed quite lovely with a mineral yet friendly rather than austere nose. The palate was fairly high in acid and savoury and fruity enough not to be tart. Quite lovely in fact!
My girlfriend came over for dinner (my specialty of smoked salmon pasta was served) and I opened up Chéreau-Carré Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Château de Chasseloir 2005 12% which came in a funny 0,5l bottle. Water coloured. The nose is lovely and classical in its sea-breeze and intense mineral aromas. The palate is light, fresh, very mineral but perhaps lacking a bit in the zippy acidity I would have liked - maybe warm year or house style? Very good, anyway.
0,5l wasn't quite enough for us, so we opened up a Riesling from the dreaded year: Kees-Kieren Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese * feinherb 2003 12%. Wilson Logan had spoken well of this wine that he sells and since he seems like a jolly nice chap and isn't the sort who pushes his wines (but rather refused to sell some because he said I wouldn't like them!!!!), I decided to buy it despite it being from a year which I've rather disliked. The colour was a bit more golden that I would have expected from such a young Auslese. The nose is very full on and sweet, but also prominent on the more savoury spectrum (grapefruit, quinine, olive stone). The palate is rather weighty, a touch too alcoholic, slightly sweet, with fine acidity (though I would still like a firmer focus to the wine), immense minerality and good length. Certainly one of the best 2003s I've tasted. This wasn't flabby, this wasn't too big, this wasn't elegant but this was a loveable wine. I gladly have 2/3 of the bottle left to monitor over the next few days!