WTN: Alliet, Schneider, Coche-Dury, L'Evangile, Texier, etc.

Martti arranged an impromptu dinner tonight and kindly asked me to join. He made a wonderful dinner of chicken in onions and false morels which was a sublime pairing with the Coche-Dury.

• 2002 Philippe Alliet Chinon Coteau de Noiré - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (4/28/2008)
  Blind: cassis, leafy, dark yet refreshingly greenish fruit, some oak also. Quite full bodied, a bit hard and ungiving, but with charming juicy and refreshing fruit. Very nice despite the oak tones.
• 1998 Schneider Vineyards Cabernet Franc - USA, New York, Long Island, North Fork (4/28/2008)
  Blind: A nose of toffee, oak, sweetness, vague and frankly a bit anonymous - even when revealed I had trouble finding the Cabernet Franc character in it. Juicy but light on its feet. Short. Not bad, but not exciting either.
• 2000 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (4/28/2008)
  Blind: Very oaky and bacony on the nose, buttery, but some pleasant citrussy aromas also come forward. Plump, buttery, very full bodied palate, clean acidity, not as obviously oaky as the nose and even shows some mineral notes. Very long and lively aftertaste. Impressive, but too oaky now.
• 1960 Château L'Evangile - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (4/28/2008)
  Apparently this is was a horrible vintage. But this wine was lovely. Perfect level, perfect cork; the colour was still very dark. This is fully mature, but still shows a clear Pomerol character in its dark and plummy fruit, wet clay and cigar aromas. Still has plummy fruit, but the aftertaste is a bit short and lacks the charm that the rest of the wine has. It is quite a masculine wine and not at all as frail as expected. A wonderful treat!
• 2004 Château Pedesclaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (4/28/2008)
  Blind: very oaky, chocolatey on the nose, quite a modern style of Left Bank. Lighter palate than expected from the nose, with some brightness and refreshing structure. Still, not really my thing.
• 2006 Éric Texier Roussanne Côtes du Rhône-Brézème - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône-Brézème (4/28/2008)
  A truly charming wine that smells of apples and oolong tea: sweet but savoury and mineral. The palate has the richness typical of Rhône whites, but has none of the excess weight so many of them have. Refreshing despite the oily texture. Mineral and long.
• 2003 Château La Tour Blanche - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (4/28/2008)
  Blind: a heavy, full on style of Sauternes, lots of botrytis, oak, not much elegance but rather over the top youthful exuberance. Well structured but very, very sweet, surprisingly refreshing for the year. I thought this similar to the Rieussec in style.

Posted from CellarTracker

[Jenise]

Of all the wines for both of us to have had, I've also had that Schneider. It's the only Long Island wine I've ever seen for sale. Considering that most Long Island wines are fairly small production items, it's rather surprising that this one got so far afield as to find both of us. You captured it well. And...Coche-Dury? I've said it before, but you travel in a good pack.

Of all the wines for both of us to have had, I've also had that Schneider. It's the only Long Island wine I've ever seen for sale. Considering that most Long Island wines are fairly small production items, it's rather surprising that this one got so far afield as to find both of us. You captured it well. And...Coche-Dury? I've said it before, but you travel in a good pack.

Our host is a cellist and he used to travel often to the States to give recitals - usually New York. I very much like the pack. Classical music and wine - what could be better?

One thing I forgot to write was that I thought the Alliet was a St-Estephe - it didn't have much typicity to it. I guess it is a turbo-charged style of Chinon. But still surprisingly nice.

-Otto

Otto, nice notes and thanks

The only one I have actually had is the 03 LTB and I agree it is similar to the Rieussec in many ways and pretty typical for the year. I bought too many Bordeaux 03s [my last major Bordeaux en primeur vintage] mainly from the top half of the left bank and Sauternes but am pretty certain I will regret the latter least.

I will drink my Sauternes 03s before my 01s but for now the 90s will do. However IMO the occasional bout of early drinking of these wines is never as unrewarding as it can be with their red brothers which really need some age.

Your comment about the Chinon also rings a bell since a number of top Loire domaines, taking advantage of riper grapes, have apparently been searching for more 'serious' reds with increased new oak as part of that equation. However I understand that one of the major players, Thierry Germain of Roches Neuves, Saumur-Champigny, has decided to reduce his oak component so it will be interesting to e.g. compare his latest Marginale red with those that have gone before - like the 2005 I tasted a couple of weeks ago alongside Joguet’s 2005 Chinon les Varennes du Grand Clos and 2004 Chinon Clos de la Dioterie.

A recent major Decanter blind tasting of 2005 Loire reds produced a storm of controversy over its ratings with many writing in to complain about the low ratings for some old favourites alongside negative TNs including those about oak. I like the Loire reds from people like Joguet and Germain but for me these Cabernet Franc wines need time to integrate any oak and ‘green’ flavours even more than some of their modern Bordeaux cousins even though they are usually drunk much earlier.

thanks Otto for notes. I'm a 1960 vintage myself, but never found a Bdx that did as well as your Evangile- I'm jealous.

I'm not a big white Rhone drinker, but have liked the Texier Brezeme.

Might I ask your host's name? Wonder if Betsy knows him. She played there with the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra once in late 80s (I do realize that Finland has more classical musicians than most countries 5X its size).

Nigel, In a sense I can understand why Alliet etc. want to make such turbo-charged Cab Francs - they seem like fine Bordeaux to me once/if the oak starts to go the background. But why make Bordeaux in the Loire when they could make such unbelievably charming Loire instead?

thanks Otto for notes. I'm a 1960 vintage myself, but never found a Bdx that did as well as your Evangile- I'm jealous.

I'm not a big white Rhone drinker, but have liked the Texier Brezeme.

Might I ask your host's name? Wonder if Betsy knows him. She played there with the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra once in late 80s (I do realize that Finland has more classical musicians than most countries 5X its size).

Dale, I think this is the only 1960 I have ever tasted and was kept in a cold cellar since release in Helsinki - which explained why it was so well preserved. Texier has a magic touch - I have liked everything I have tried and I am not a huge fan of S. Rhone or Rhone whites.

Our host was Martti Rousi, currently the professor of cello at Sibelius Academy.

-Otto