2005 RJ Dard et F. Ribo Crozes-Hermitage C'est le Printemps
Young vine cuvee that is red and ripe, but not heavy and does have a pleasing freshness to the structure. Unfortunately, it is prickly throughout the first day and therefore is penalized with Rahsaan Demerit Points. Plus, it does not speak very much of Northern Rhone syrah aside from the slightly slippery greasy texture. On the second day the spritz is gone, which is good, but it is still too full in the mouth and absent of character and definition for my tastes. Although at 12euros it has its place (when nothing else is available).
2001 Dumien Serrette Cornas Patou Cuvée VV
Interesting, ripe, rustic, and roasted although the concentration and texture are a bit thin and watery. The tannins seem either resolved or mostly absent, so I wouldn't think this was sleeping (not that I'm an expert on Cornas Aging Curves) but rather just disjointed between the deep dark flavors and the thin structure. Still, it has some character and some brief interest.
2004 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60
Dark juicy spicy and primary, although lacking both substance and verve on the first day. On the second day the firm tannins and structure emerge on the back of the palate, and even a bit of stoney-ness. This is a dark clean juicy interpretation of Cornas, which is interesting enough, but not for me.
2004 Tollot Beaut Savigny Champ Chevrey
A flattering charming mouthful of sappy layered Burgundy cherries, quite full firm and rich both for my perception of Savigny and the vintage in general. A correct wine, and I was happy to drink it, but doesn't move me.
1996 Michel Gay Savigny les Beaune Vergelesses
This begs to be drunk, gushing evolved secondary tomatoes with spicy mentholated herbal orchard cherry drops, but still firm and holding, for now. This goes very well with lentils with tomatoes and red and green peppers. Nice, but no need to buy again.
1996 Roger Belland Pommard Les Cras
Not as evolved as the Gay and showing its new oak polish. It flirts between a puddle of high-toned juicy red fruits and a fine thin thread of tea with drying tannins on the finish. It moves around a bit, shows nice complexity at times, and perhaps still needs to sort itself out fully. But what I tasted wasn't convincing.
2004 Chateau Pierre Bise Savennières Roche aux Moines
Corked.
2004 Chateau Pierre Bise Savennières Roche aux Moines
That's better. At least it tastes like wine. Although on opening it is marked by the oak and the ripeness while only hinting at the Savennières flowers underneath. With air the sweet juicy chewy fruit shows some definition, with cherry and beeswax notes before the graceful long elegant finish. The second day it is clearer, plus has lovely elegance on the finish that shows the potential of the site. But, at the moment it is leaning more on the ripeness and the oak than the taste of the cepage/terroir, plus this definitely does not taste like the austere Savennières people have grown accustomed to drinking. I want to see how this evolves with time.
2004 Jean-Yves Péron VdP Allobrogie Mondeuse Champ Levat
As I said in the stand-alone note, this is the first vintage from a young winemaker who studied with Thierry Allemand. And, there are definite similarities in style as this shows intense florals and deep purple fruit but then crisp clear trembling structure. At times it veers into that slightly prickly realm of the non-SO2 crowd, but for the most part there is a lovely game being played in the balance between the bloody and deep fruit core and the fresh fragile but stable structure. Promising.
2003 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet Sevre et Marne Sur Lie Expression de Granite
This starts off extremely well with sappy juicy stones but then as it airs it turns a bit toasty kasha. Eventually it settles down into a slushy toasty sappy grapefruit thing that holds well over two days. Shows the year, fun to drink, I wouldn't stock up, but I wouldn't complain.
2003 Chateau de Roquefort Cotes de Provence Les Mures
Supple stones and a big whack of juicy juicy cherries although it finishes with relatively fine and restrained tannins. I can see that this is very nice wine, showing the year but still balanced, but I'm just not into this flavor profile (gsm, cinsault, cabernet sauvignon, I forget what else), call me a bigot.
2005 Henry Marionnet Touraine Premiere Vendanges
Correct bistro wine, relatively ripe and ample for gamay, and not at all thin despite the sour finish. But so downright boring, like most Marionnet wines I've tasted.
2001 Domaine de Torraccia Porto Vecchio Oriu
A decently layered bright fruit wine with soft melted tannins. The website says this is structured for the cellar, but this bottle tastes so melted that I would move it to the front of the queue. Of course it could have been mistreated by the restaurant and therefore prematurely aged, who knows, but it was a bit simple if decently pleasurable, so I won't be rushing out to solve the mystery with another bottle.