WTN: October Miscellaneous Wines

These are some wines that I had last month, but never posted any notes for. I thought that it would be worth sharing them now before getting to some more recent wines.

2009 Domaine Pascal Granger Chénas
Medium-bodied, nicely balanced, meaty and slightly gamy, with cherry/mixed berry notes, and hints of baking spices. Very good – hard not to drink now.

2009 Maison Louis Jadot Moulin-à-Vent Château des Jacques
Full, tight, some cherry/plum/mineral notes. More structure than usual for a Beaujolais, which isn’t surprising for Moulin-à-Vent. Rather closed right now; needs time.

2008 Clos Centeilles Le C de Centeilles Blanc VDP des Côtes du Brian
A blend of 35% Picardan (the CDP ingredient, also known as Araignan Blanc), 30% Aspiran Blanc (aka Riveirenc Blanc), 30% Aspiran Gris (aka Riveirenc Gris), and 5% Grenache Gris.
Interesting, gently oxidative nose of green apples, salad greens, and smoke. Light to medium bodied, juicy, and compact; slightly off-dry. Tastes of fresh apple and pear fruit mixed with something reminiscent of Fino or Manzanilla Sherry, and hints of cinnamon stick and mint. Lightly herbal (bay leaf?) finish. More herbal on Day 2. An attractive, subtle white that would be at its best with a delicate fish like sole or flounder.

2008 Elian Da Ros Abouriou Côtes du Marmandais
Abouriou is the grape that used to be known as Early Burgundy in California. This is the only wine that I have tried from this now-uncommon grape, which is native to the Côtes du Marmandais, just southeast of Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers.
Floral/berry nose. Light to medium-bodied, round, with good underlying acidity, and noticeable tannin on the midpalate. Decidedly mineral, with plum, cherry, baking spice, fennel, and mint notes.

2007 Calera Wine Company Pinot Noir de Villiers Vineyard Mount Harlan
This is Calera’s first vintage of Pinot Noir from this particular vineyard. Full-bodied, dark, quite ripe, and soft, with forward black cherry and currant flavors, along with subtler notes of stones, herbs, and asphalt. Gets the terroir part right, but a bit too ripe for my tastes.

2007 Domaine du Closel - Château des Vaults Savennières La Jalousie
Light in weight, nicely balanced and focused, with good underlying structure and acidity. Very mineral, with notes of citrus and tropical fruits, and melons. A definite step up from the 2004 that I tasted two years ago. Very good/excellent – should develop nicely.

2006 Maison Verget Meursault Tillets
Full, quite ripe, on the verge of overripeness; also oaky, with apple/pear/herbal/spice notes. The first really disappointing Verget that I have had, it is too big, and completely lacks any sense of coming from Meursault. Perhaps, for me, Verget’s style works better for Mâcon and Chablis than the Côte de Beaune?

2006 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz
From 375 ml bottle. Citrus/mineral/ground black pepper nose. Full, sleek, round, and nicely balanced, with good underlying acidity. Bone dry, with vivid minerality, and flavors of citrus and tropical fruits, white pepper, and fresh herbs, along with an unusual acai note.
Gobelsburger Steinsetz isn’t on the current list of Erste Lagen for Kamptal, but you wouldn’t know it here – this is a really nice expression of terroir, and an excellent food wine.

2001 Domaine Louis Jadot Santenay Clos de Malte
Nicely balanced, with moderate weight and acidity; mature, with gamy/meaty flavors overlaying notes of cherries and dried blood. Not the most complex, but a very good village Burgundy.

NV Domaine Yves Cuilleron VdT Roussilliere MMV
From 500 ml bottle. I thought that this wine was entirely Roussanne because of the name, but it actually is a blend of one third each of Roussanne, Marsanne, and Viognier. The ‘MMV’ is just the Roman numeral for the vintage year 2005. (Contrary to what some people have written elsewhere, this is a Vin de Table, not a Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes. Then again, I may be the only one who cares about that detail.)
The nose is full of tropical fruits and botrytis, with some floral, marmalade, and glue notes. Full, quite fat, lightly to moderately viscous, without enough acidity. The label says that the alcohol is “only” 14.5% - I would have guessed 16%+, because this wine comes off being noticeably stronger than a good Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. (Interestingly, another vintage was said to have only 13%, so I may have just picked the wrong one to try.) Tastes of papaya, apple, candied orange peel, and cappuccino. Fiery, Scotch-like finish. Too hot for me.

These are some wines that I had last month, but never posted any notes for. I thought that it would be worth sharing them now before getting to some more recent wines.

2009 Domaine Pascal Granger Chénas
Medium-bodied, nicely balanced, meaty and slightly gamy, with cherry/mixed berry notes, and hints of baking spices. Very good – hard not to drink now.

2009 Maison Louis Jadot Moulin-à-Vent Château des Jacques
Full, tight, some cherry/plum/mineral notes. More structure than usual for a Beaujolais, which isn’t surprising for Moulin-à-Vent. Rather closed right now; needs time.

2008 Clos Centeilles Le C de Centeilles Blanc VDP des Côtes du Brian
A blend of 35% Picardan (the CDP ingredient, also known as Araignan Blanc), 30% Aspiran Blanc (aka Riveirenc Blanc), 30% Aspiran Gris (aka Riveirenc Gris), and 5% Grenache Gris.
Interesting, gently oxidative nose of green apples, salad greens, and smoke. Light to medium bodied, juicy, and compact; slightly off-dry. Tastes of fresh apple and pear fruit mixed with something reminiscent of Fino or Manzanilla Sherry, and hints of cinnamon stick and mint. Lightly herbal (bay leaf?) finish. More herbal on Day 2. An attractive, subtle white that would be at its best with a delicate fish like sole or flounder.

2008 Elian Da Ros Abouriou Côtes du Marmandais
Abouriou is the grape that used to be known as Early Burgundy in California. This is the only wine that I have tried from this now-uncommon grape, which is native to the Côtes du Marmandais, just southeast of Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers.
Floral/berry nose. Light to medium-bodied, round, with good underlying acidity, and noticeable tannin on the midpalate. Decidedly mineral, with plum, cherry, baking spice, fennel, and mint notes.

2007 Calera Wine Company Pinot Noir de Villiers Vineyard Mount Harlan
This is Calera’s first vintage of Pinot Noir from this particular vineyard. Full-bodied, dark, quite ripe, and soft, with forward black cherry and currant flavors, along with subtler notes of stones, herbs, and asphalt. Gets the terroir part right, but a bit too ripe for my tastes.

2007 Domaine du Closel - Château des Vaults Savennières La Jalousie
Light in weight, nicely balanced and focused, with good underlying structure and acidity. Very mineral, with notes of citrus and tropical fruits, and melons. A definite step up from the 2004 that I tasted two years ago. Very good/excellent – should develop nicely.

2006 Maison Verget Meursault Tillets
Full, quite ripe, on the verge of overripeness; also oaky, with apple/pear/herbal/spice notes. The first really disappointing Verget that I have had, it is too big, and completely lacks any sense of coming from Meursault. Perhaps, for me, Verget’s style works better for Mâcon and Chablis than the Côte de Beaune?

2006 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz
From 375 ml bottle. Citrus/mineral/ground black pepper nose. Full, sleek, round, and nicely balanced, with good underlying acidity. Bone dry, with vivid minerality, and flavors of citrus and tropical fruits, white pepper, and fresh herbs, along with an unusual acai note.
Gobelsburger Steinsetz isn’t on the current list of Erste Lagen for Kamptal, but you wouldn’t know it here – this is a really nice expression of terroir, and an excellent food wine.

2001 Domaine Louis Jadot Santenay Clos de Malte
Nicely balanced, with moderate weight and acidity; mature, with gamy/meaty flavors overlaying notes of cherries and dried blood. Not the most complex, but a very good village Burgundy.

NV Domaine Yves Cuilleron VdT Roussilliere MMV
From 500 ml bottle. I thought that this wine was entirely Roussanne because of the name, but it actually is a blend of one third each of Roussanne, Marsanne, and Viognier. The ‘MMV’ is just the Roman numeral for the vintage year 2005. (Contrary to what some people have written elsewhere, this is a Vin de Table, not a Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes. Then again, I may be the only one who cares about that detail.)
The nose is full of tropical fruits and botrytis, with some floral, marmalade, and glue notes. Full, quite fat, lightly to moderately viscous, without enough acidity. The label says that the alcohol is “only” 14.5% - I would have guessed 16%+, because this wine comes off being noticeably stronger than a good Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. (Interestingly, another vintage was said to have only 13%, so I may have just picked the wrong one to try.) Tastes of papaya, apple, candied orange peel, and cappuccino. Fiery, Scotch-like finish. Too hot for me.

Thanks for the notes, Andrew.

I am pleased to see that Elian Da Ros is still around (around again). The last vintage that I tried of it was 1998 in about 2002 back when Eric Solomon(?) was importing it. I found it fascinating along with a blend he was producing. Elian worked for a spell at Zind-Humbrecht and was one of the early Bio-Dyn guys in the Sud-Ouest. Do you recall who imports it now?

Cheers,
Bill

2006 Maison Verget Meursault Tillets[/b]
Full, quite ripe, on the verge of overripeness; also oaky, with apple/pear/herbal/spice notes. The first really disappointing Verget that I have had, it is too big, and completely lacks any sense of coming from Meursault. Perhaps, for me, Verget’s style works better for Mâcon and Chablis than the Côte de Beaune? [b]

That's too bad as I generally like Verget's and they generally are not as overripe as you are talking about. Oak has always been there but yours sounded so heavy.

2006 Maison Verget Meursault Tillets[/b]
Full, quite ripe, on the verge of overripeness; also oaky, with apple/pear/herbal/spice notes. The first really disappointing Verget that I have had, it is too big, and completely lacks any sense of coming from Meursault. Perhaps, for me, Verget’s style works better for Mâcon and Chablis than the Côte de Beaune? [b]

That's too bad as I generally like Verget's and they generally are not as overripe as you are talking about. Oak has always been there but yours sounded so heavy.

A big fan of batonnage, Jean Marie Guffens is, and I have often found his wines over-the-top. Les Tillets is normally a chiselled, exacting, focused terroir and one of the more mineral of the Meursault Crus; very Puligny (and can be too lean for fans of Meursault in general.) I visited Verget in Feb. 2007 and found that I wasn't impressed with many of Vergets 2006's (because they were so brooding and clumsey), though I rather like the vintage in both Chablis and the Mâcon.

Cheers,
Bill

Thanks for the notes, Andrew.

I am pleased to see that Elian Da Ros is still around (around again). The last vintage that I tried of it was 1998 in about 2002 back when Eric Solomon(?) was importing it. I found it fascinating along with a blend he was producing. Elian worked for a spell at Zind-Humbrecht and was one of the early Bio-Dyn guys in the Sud-Ouest. Do you recall who imports it now?

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill - Sorry for the late response to your question. Unfortunately, I recycled the da Ros bottle already, and didn't note the importer. Don;t think that it was Eric Solomon, though. Anyway, I will look it up next time I go to the retailer where I bought the bottle - they had 3 or 4 different wines from da Ros there.

Thanks for the notes, Andrew.

I am pleased to see that Elian Da Ros is still around (around again). The last vintage that I tried of it was 1998 in about 2002 back when Eric Solomon(?) was importing it. I found it fascinating along with a blend he was producing. Elian worked for a spell at Zind-Humbrecht and was one of the early Bio-Dyn guys in the Sud-Ouest. Do you recall who imports it now?

Cheers,
Bill

Bill - To follow up - quite belatedly - as to who imports Elian da Ros' wines these days, the Massachusetts importer/distributor is Oz Wine Company. Unfortunately, Oz seems to mostly (only?) sell to Massachusetts retailers, and I am pretty sure that da Ros is an producer whom they import directly, as opposed to those whom they bring in from other portfolios such as De Maison Selections and Savio Soares.

Clos Centeilles is ringing a bell here.
Thanks for the great round-up posted.

OK, I found this on Ryan O`Connells website (one not to be missed)......>

http://love-that-languedoc.com/tag/clos-centeilles/

Thanks for the notes, Andrew.

I am pleased to see that Elian Da Ros is still around (around again). The last vintage that I tried of it was 1998 in about 2002 back when Eric Solomon(?) was importing it. I found it fascinating along with a blend he was producing. Elian worked for a spell at Zind-Humbrecht and was one of the early Bio-Dyn guys in the Sud-Ouest. Do you recall who imports it now?

Cheers,
Bill

Bill - To follow up - quite belatedly - as to who imports Elian da Ros' wines these days, the Massachusetts importer/distributor is Oz Wine Company. Unfortunately, Oz seems to mostly (only?) sell to Massachusetts retailers, and I am pretty sure that da Ros is an producer whom they import directly, as opposed to those whom they bring in from other portfolios such as De Maison Selections and Savio Soares.

Andrew, thanks for taking the time to research this. Though da Ros is likely always to remain a producer on the fringe (and bless him for that!), I have found the wines to be important examples of what is possible in the Sud-Ouest of France, one of my favorite regions of the world.

Cheers,
Bill