WTN: Ogier, Brusset, Clape, Pegau, Vesuvio

A raft of whites at a holiday blind tasting today.

2005 Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs – could have been a Champers, but a little on the simple side. Pronounced green apple nose, high acidity, clean. 10% chard, 90% Pinot Noir.

2004 Ogier Viognier de Rosine – a wine from the Colline Rhodaniennes, showing a mellow waxy nose, soft and full in the mouth with fair persistence.

2004 Bouchard Meursault Genevrieres – nutty complex nose, bit of lime, good balance, clean wine.

2004 Latour Giraud Meursault Genevrieres – a more floral nose, and steelieron palate, with more complexity. I preferred this one but opinions were varied.

2000 Mastroberardino Taurasi I Radici – slightly warm plumy nose, medium colour, lots of acidity and flavour. Good wine. Drink now.

1998 Brusset Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas – dark wine with sweet fruit and spice, also sweet on palate, exc. length with some tannin left.

1990 Pegau Cuvee Reserve – the slightly sweet nose on this mature wine tricked us at first and a couple of people mistook it for a claret. Hints of mushroom. Excellent flavour in mouth with sweet fruit, lingering finish. Excellent.

1999 Bois de Boursan Cuvee des Felix CNduP – clearly another Rhone, showing some mustiness we at first thought could be TCA, but it did blow off. Then a bit of mint and blackberry, tannins up front. This should continue to improve.

1997 Clape Cornas – pure nose with hints of tar and red fruit, almost elegant on palate, with abundant soft tannin and very good fruit levels. Not quite as good as the 1996, but both are very nice.

1993 Zilliken Saarberger Rausch Spatlese – killer varietal petrol nose, not to sweet and with very good acidity and good length. Very refreshing.

1991 Quinta do Vesuvio Porto – dark and a bit hot, but not too sweet, flavours now well melded, and smooth and long. For some reason this cried out to me and I identified it right off the bat. I should always get so lucky!

2004 Ogier Viognier de Rosine – a wine from the Colline Rhodaniennes, showing a mellow waxy nose, soft and full in the mouth with fair persistence.

Sounds like this was holding up well. I know you were doing quick fire tasting notes but do you remember any evaluation of this? How good/interesting/exciting was it? Doesn't sound terribly expressive but it also sounds like an interesting look at viognier. How close was it to demise?

Oh, I think it would have held up for som time. It was Jenise's wine and I'm sure she'll post more details about it.

Interesting, I really like the La Rosine red, never knew they made a white.
I really liked the 93 Zilliken Rausch (assume this is same, mine was #8, not sure if they did more than one that year).

[Jenise]

2004 Ogier Viognier de Rosine – a wine from the Colline Rhodaniennes, showing a mellow waxy nose, soft and full in the mouth with fair persistence.

Sounds like this was holding up well. I know you were doing quick fire tasting notes but do you remember any evaluation of this? How good/interesting/exciting was it? Doesn't sound terribly expressive but it also sounds like an interesting look at viognier. How close was it to demise?

Rahsaan, I didn't have this wine when it was younger so can't address how it's changed, but now? Very deep yellow in color, looks quite mature. Coop took over the questioning right aways and his first guess went straight to "Loire or Rhone" and upon learning Rhone, he went on to vintage and his first guess was 2001. When I ruled that out, he asked "older?" That tells you a lot. It presented as very mature--not sherryish or oxidative, but it seemed more like marsanne/roussanne than viognier, lacking viognier's delicacy and specific perfume. Very dry with soft acids. (To some of us, that was a plus!) Between it and the two white burgs, for drinking on its own I like the Ogier less than the other two, but I saved all three knowing I had a lobster thermidor main course coming and with the food, the viognier was the clear winner.

For a reality check, last night I took a 2004 Cristom Viognier from Oregon to a friend's house for dinner. It was pale and youthful looking, with good acidity and a sweet creaminess. Quite delectable. The Ogier was a different animal altogether.

It presented as very mature--not sherryish or oxidative, but it seemed more like marsanne/roussanne than viognier, lacking viognier's delicacy and specific perfume. Very dry with soft acids. (To some of us, that was a plus!) Between it and the two white burgs, for drinking on its own I like the Ogier less than the other two, but I saved all three knowing I had a lobster thermidor main course coming and with the food, the viognier was the clear winner..

Sounds fun/interesting.