Sept 26
Lunch in Gigondas at Les Florets
Highly recommended restaurant but perhaps a bit off their form this time, unfortunately.
2009 Dom. La Garrigue Vacqueyras blanc – some colour, and a nose of mineral and light fruit, smooth and supple. This is the house brand, made by the owners of the restaurant.
With (for Jenise an me) a duck leg terrine, done in a round mould, unfortunately with a top layer of quite sweet orange, a very sweet onion jam, and another sweet sauce around it on the plate. I scraped off all the treacly garbage and enjoyed the duck meat and the hidden surprise inside of a lump of foie gras. The others had a starter that included (!) an ice cream on the plate, and goat cheese in various other versions including a chevre ‘brick’ (I can think of no other way to convey the solidity of this strange dish).
2006 Dom. La Garrigue Vacqueyras Cuvee d’Hostellerie – we’d wanted to follow through with tasting the house wine, am unfortunate choice in this instance as it was a lean mean thin wine with a decent nose but too high acidity.
I had a chicken and chorizo brochette with this and it wasn’t bad. Funny, we’ve yet to see cuisine that matches the level we achieve every day cooking for ourselves.
Sept 27 – off to Lirac and Tavel
Dom. de la Mordoree
2009 Lirac blanc – nice nose of peaches and mineral, clean supple and tasty
2009 Tavel La Dame Rousse- pale pink with melon notes, also very tasty. 60% Grenache – can age for 5-6 years
2008 Reine des Bois Lirac - Nice smoky nose, huge fruit in the mouth, mostly blackberry, fresh and long. Very good.
2006 Reine des Bois Lirac - a more mature nose and fairly hefty tannins, big flavours, a vin de garde.
2008 Chateuneuf du Pape Les Reine des Bois - we never see this at home, which is sad, as this was really excellent. Nose of black olive tapenade, with a hint of mint and something else, not quite dill, but familiar, finely tuned tannins and big flavours. Bought as couple of these to take home. The real deal.
Couple more wines we tasted at lunch that day:
2009 Dom. De Lafond Roc Epine Rose – good colour, pleasant nose, cool, refreshing but overly soft compared to some fo the really good rose wines we’d been tasting.
2008 Dom. de Mordoree Lirac La Dame Rousse – the entry level for this really good producer in Lirac
Came back via CNduP
Dom. La Milliere
2009 blanc – clear wine with apple nose, a bit light on weight.
2009 Rose - very fresh, and again, a light colour.
2008 Cotes du Rhone – light red, spicy, tasty
2008 CduR Villages – a definite step up with a very nice spicy nose, better fruit in the mouth. If I lived here I’d buy this by the case as my house wine.
2008 Chateauneuf du Pape – some spice, a bit light in the nose, medium weight.
2007 Chateauneuf du Pape – ripe plum nose, warm medium weight wine that drinks well now. Decent but unexceptional wines.
With dinner we did a Ch. Pradeaux Bandol vertical we had picked up last week on the coast when we visited them. We had been quite impressed with the old style winery and wines.
2005 – nice bright colour, mushroom and dark fruit and tons of fruit on palate, smooth and long. We have no idea why some wines that are made from all, or almost all mourvedre exhibit a pongy nose for anything up to about 8 years (Beaucastel is a good example) while some are clean and pure like this from the beginning and never seem to go through any dumb or funky stage. OTOH, recent vintages of Beaucastel don’t seem to experiencing this stage the same way older ones did, so….
2004 – very similar nose, more tannin and grip, not as green as the 2005, and with an overall impression rather similar to a large framed Bordeaux.
2003 – notes of dry straw and dark fruit in this nose, with cinnamon hints, and beef, rounder in the mouth with a creamy feel.
2001 – slightly funkier nose, with a hint of cloves – best nose of the flight. Juicy entry, medium weight, a nice earthiness, and excellent length. Needs time, lots of tannins (not too hard). Very good wine.