WTN: 07 Cotat Sancerre and 04 Bea Montefalco Rosso

2007 François Cotat Sancerre Les Culs de Beaujeu 13.0%
Classy aromas of grapefruit, lime and lemongrass. Good weight, biting acidity, some lemon oil, minerals and white flowers. Tart finish. Very fine.

I used to love drinking minerally Sancerre, straight from the fridge, sitting on the porch. Then I went through a phase of loving tropical fruit cocktail Kiwi sauvignons, sitting in the Porsche (just kidding). Now I find just about every SB I taste a bit, well, unexciting. I don’t want to jump on the SB bashing bandwagon, but I do wonder what place it retains. Serious examples like this (and Dagueneau, which I’ve never tried) may not have enough sheer fun, and perhaps I want my SBs to be that, too. I don't appreciate taciturn Beaujolais, no matter how complex, so maybe some of the same subjectivity applies here.

2004 Paulo Bea Montefalco Rosso Vigna San Valentino 13.5%
Bottle 1,931 from and edition of 6,333. 70% Sangiovese, 15% Montepulciano, 15% Sagrantino. Loved this from an enomatic machine a few months ago, so brought a bottle down for Marcia to experience the Bea magic. But this tasted very different. Perhaps damaged, in that infuriatingly unclear way that wines sometimes have of not being what they should be. Intriguing nose of herbs, pine resin (garrique?) and dishrag. Kept thinking light cognac, light chinato, light digestif. Sumptuous mouth feel, with excellent grip from acidity and fine tannins. Enjoyable to drink, exotic and different, but I just know there’s something wrong. Weird.

There are defects that make a bottle undrinkable. At least those are clear cut. There are defects that make the wine dull and lifeless. These are puzzling because it’s sometimes hard to tell if the wine isn’t simply closed. There are defects that make the wine taste different. These are perhaps the rarest, and hardest for me to grasp.

2007 François Cotat Sancerre Les Culs de Beaujeu 13.0%
Classy aromas of grapefruit, lime and lemongrass. Good weight, biting acidity, some lemon oil, minerals and white flowers. Tart finish. Very fine.

I used to love drinking minerally Sancerre, straight from the fridge, sitting on the porch. Then I went through a phase of loving tropical fruit cocktail Kiwi sauvignons, sitting in the Porsche (just kidding). Now I find just about every SB I taste a bit, well, unexciting. I don’t want to jump on the SB bashing bandwagon, but I do wonder what place it retains. Serious examples like this (and Dagueneau, which I’ve never tried) may not have enough sheer fun, and perhaps I want my SBs to be that, too. I don't appreciate taciturn Beaujolais, no matter how complex, so maybe some of the same subjectivity applies here.

Thanks for the TNs Oswaldo although I am not sure from your second comment above whether, despite the apparently positive description, you found that the Cotat had "enough sheer fun"? We certainly find Francois Cotat's Monts Damnes, Grande Cote and Culs de Beaujeu fun although we drink as many over 5 years [occasionally 10] as under since IMO the wines drink well at all ages - just differently.

Perhaps you were posting because this was now an exception for you that proved your new 'rule' concerning DB as a whole?

We love good SB which we have narrowed down to a selection of wines from Sancerre [Vatan (retired, daughter now making), Cotat, Bourgeois, Vacheron and Mellot], Pouilly [Dagueneau although the pricing is choking that off, Ladoucette, Dezat], Menetou-Salon [La Tour St. Martin and Pelle] and Touraine [Domaine des Corbillieres et al]. Obviously 15 years of holidays in the Loire has informed this pretty wide-ranging choice but we definitely think of SB as a 'fun' wine with and without food.

By the way I wouldn't like taciturn Beaujolais either but from a wide selection of good producers from the 'natural' semi-carbonic brigade through to the 'Burgundians' like Jadot I can't remember having such a Beaujolais which is usually the epitome of a jolly wine - no pun intended.

Thanks, Nigel, I was indeed praising the Cotat as a serious wine that wasn't giving me either fun or something exotic to compensate for that. Just high quality with perhaps a bit of a yawn! Must be a weird phase I am going through, wanting perhaps everything to bowl me over. Like the Bojos from the Go4 so often do. Though Jim Cowan recently had a Moulin a Vent that was terrific, the few MaVs that I've had have appeared to be Bourgogne wannabes, which I don't appreciate. So I'm sticking to Morgons until further notice!

Not everyone is going to be bowled over by the same things. But Cotat (either cousin) tends to do it for me. Though I seldom drink as an apertif, to me great SB really needs food. Great to me means the Cotats, Vatan, and maybe Dagueneau (though I find some just too much). But I'll also happily drink Thomas-Labaille or Boulay, and Clos Roche Blanche Touraine remains my value favorite.

Your note on the Bea makes me want to try it, even if I'm not sure I'll like it!

Your note on the Bea makes me want to try it, even if I'm not sure I'll like it!

But, but, but, I hope you get one that tastes like the one from the (Union Square Wines) enomatic!