WTN: Beaujolais and Champagne pinks, '02 Bdx

Saturday Betsy was in city for showcase, we had some close friends over for dinner. I was chef, and chef's prep wine was the 2007 Terres Dorees (JP Brun) "Brun d'Folie" Beaujolais rosé. Pretty, though maybe a bit austere for rosé, raspberry and a little cherry, moderate acidity. Tasty, not quite as lively as I expected. B

We started with a lobster/fennel/orange salad, with the NV Charles Ellner Brut Rosé Champagne. Lighter than I remembered, strawberry and cherry fruit. a bit of orange zest. Quite bright, but a bit short on finish. Pleasant. B

Main course were dry-aged steaks (these are from Stew Leonards, I had liked before, but while these had the texture of dry-aged they didn't show it much from flavor standpoint), with grilled squash, sauteed mushrooms, and leftover red cabbage (good friends, ok to serve leftovers). Wine was the 2002 Ch. Lagrange (St. Julien). This had a couple hours before dinner to loosen up a bit. Good rich cassis and dark berry fruit, some distinct espresso overtones, a little vanilla, good length, ripe tannins. Nice midweight but masculine Bordeaux that could use a few more years, but pretty tasty with rare meat right now. A great buy at about $23 on release, wish I have bought more, down to 3. B+/A-

A good night to be with good friends.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

I'd say you did very well with the LaGrange, given that '02 wasn't exactly a banner vintage.

I've seen (and tasted) another Beaujolais rosé, Domaine du Vissoux cuvée Les Griottes '07, made by Pierre Chermette. Nice bright red fruit (as its name suggests), and a bit of richness that was unexpected. Chermette, as you probably know, is devoted to "natural" winemaking; I don't really know whether "natural" equates to "fresh," but this is certainly a fresh-tasting rosé. We've got it at our store for $16--couple bucks more than what the "Brun d'Folie" is going for.

I'm a huge Brun fan, but didn't love that rosé either. I look forward to trying the Chermette.

Dave,
I thought '02 was uneven, but there were some very nice wines on Left Bank- Cos, Leo-Barton, Latour, etc. Seems better in Northern Medoc. Best part of 2002 of course was prices.

Cliff,
I actually thought the '06 Brun rosé was fun if not complex. '07 wasn't bad, just not as lively.

Agree on the '02's Dale, I cracked a Leo B last Thursday and enjoyed it on Saturday, good concentration and beautiful tannins. Just ITNOS because I have enough. I also got Cos (the last Cos I'll ever see for $50 let alone $100 first growths) which I tried on release but would be silly to open now, Duhart Milon and a smattering of others that I consider gems.

Kevin

I also got Cos (the last Cos I'll ever see for $50 )

Matt and Arv arranged a tasting a bit after release, the Cos was the one I went to find more of after tasting.
Overall, one of the more uneven vintages of classified Bdx of recent memory. Some good bargains, some bad wines.

Dave,
I thought '02 was uneven, but there were some very nice wines on Left Bank- Cos, Leo-Barton, Latour, etc. Seems better in Northern Medoc. Best part of 2002 of course was prices.

Hey Dale - do you have any recent experience with 2002 Pichon Lalande? That wine and some Palmer halves were about all I purchased from that vintage.

Best,

Mark S

sorry, haven't tasted either since 2005 horizontal.