Over the holidays, we did a fair bit of eating and drinking with the in-laws here at the house. These notes are on some of the more interesting wines or pairings we tried.
2009 Bisol Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Crede Brut. This Prosecco has a light, airy bouquet of apples, lemon slices, chalk and struck match. It tastes clean and easy, with a pure apple flavor to go with some sweet chalk notes. It is easy-drinking, but surprisingly fleshy-textured, with a little sliver of sweetness on the pretty finish. It pairs well with an appetizer of baked brie with cranberries and walnuts.
N.V. Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut. The nose here is of candied lemons, chalk dust, botanical herbs, pencil shavings and spiced pears—feeling light and breezy, with a little sweetness underlying it all. In the mouth, it is bright and not real deep, but fresh and frothy with flavors of lemon-lime, herbs, graphite and pear. The finish is tangier and shows a bit more layered nuance, but mostly this is just a nice easy-drinking sipper with a good herbal and citrus zest twist.
N.V. L. Aubry Fils Champagne Brut Premier Cru. Disgorged September 2010. This wine is a bit brassier in color, with much finer bubbles. It is kind of tight, but smells interestingly of white peaches, ginger ale, lemon sourball and recently-struck match. In the mouth, it seems rather minerally to go with the additional flavors of ginger, cooked peaches, citrus and smoke. The acidity provides structure and crunch all the way through, and it seems to me that this somewhat serious and focused disgorgement could benefit from some more time in the cellar.
2008 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Alsace. First off, this is a very attractive golden color, with a fine sheen to it. And it features fine aromas of baked apricots, yellow peaches and nutmeg-sprinkled cream. In the mouth, it is expansive and a bit oily-textured and just slides across the palate with languid ease and fine cohesion. It also has a welcoming burst of flavor that features notes of peach, smoke, flint and meringue that is lightly sweet but never cloying, heavy or unbalanced. Indeed, this is just young, expressive, and loaded with flavor, with a little tingle of sweet effervescence on the taut and promising finish. It is a perfect pairing with an Alsatian potato, onion and bacon tart.
2008 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Les Monts Damnes. This wine is a home run pairing with a roasted tomato soup. It features a delightful nose of lemon peel, fresh herb garden, wet river rock, limestone and chalk aromas that already show excellent depth and definition and come across as reminiscent of a fine premier cru Chablis to me. In the mouth, it has impressive acidic structure but plenty of pliant yellow apple, grapefruit, crushed shell, wet pebble and lemon flavors to put flesh on those bones. It shows great cut and definition, but absolutely no austere, sharp or drying edges/angles. Instead, it remains poised and very well-balanced throughout. The finish is much airier and almost seems to evaporate off the tongue, leaving a light and pretty impression when all is said and done. This is very well done.
2009 Meulenhof Riesling Erdener Treppchen Spatlese* Mosel. The nose here is pure and sweet, with peaches and spring flowers. The first bottle is a bit effervescent on the palate, but the second is more settled. Both, however, are pure, full-flavored and fruity, yet very nicely balanced, with a mouthwatering finish. This is a very good match with a dish of chicken marbella.
2009 Champalou Vouvray. The nose on this wine is youthfully taut, but very appealing in its aromatic profile of wax, wool, lemon peel, quince and clementine that expands and grows over the course of an hour or two. Flavor-wise, it is full of star fruit, lime, chalk, honey and wax candy notes that despite feeling tightly-wound are rather giving and fleshy. There is just a faint hint of sugar in the wine, but it comes across as mostly dry to my palate. The acidity is fairly gentle here, though the finish is nice and juicy, with a nice little mouth-watering quality. It is a fine pairing with a richly-creamed seafood fettucine (nicknamed the crustacean sensation).
2002 Chateau Romanin Les Baux de Provence La Chapelle de Romanin. From a 500 ml bottle, this younger vine cuvee features savory aromas of fireplace ash, white pepper, rawhide leather, currants and spiced dates, with a whisper of wintergreen in the background. In the mouth, it is smooth and showing no tannins whatsoever. The fruit and acidity is cool and earthy, with dark currants, dates, smoke and Christmas spice notes playing out over a mid-weighted package that is probably starting to fade a bit at this point. Drink up if you have it.
1996 Fontanabianca Barbaresco Sori Burdin. This wine gives off an immediate blast of wilted roses, tar, cedar planking, melted black licorice, dark chocolate and black cherry aromas that seem promising until one also starts to sense a creeping bit of corky mustiness emanating up from the depths. Indeed, after a short while we’re all pretty convinced that it is at least lightly-corked. That is confirmed by the surprisingly tough and leathery texture of the wine on the palate, which is a shame since it also features some pure dark flavors of black licorice, black currants and black olives that are interesting and rich. It never really tastes of cork taint, but the nose and the texture are still marred by that pervasive fault.
2001 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. Instead, we made due with this wine, which showed extremely well with a few hours in the decanter. The nose is full of savory scents of saddle leather, dried sweat, tobacco leaf, garrigue, cassis and persimmon that feel rich, complex and compelling. It is still a tad chewy and rustic on the palate, but also very full-flavored and expansive and laden with Southern Rhone personality. It is easy to connect with this wine as it just flows so nicely and finishes so generously. It is built to last, but I am happy to drink it right now with herb-crusted tenderloin of beef.
2003 Chateau de Malle Sauternes. Served from 375 ml bottle. This wine possesses a killer bouquet of baked apricots, orange gumdrops, lemon meringue, rock sugar and botrytis spices in an exotic, unctuous and inviting package that shows tons of richness but no overt heaviness. In the mouth, it is creamy-textured and full of vanilla bean, peach, apricot and brown sugar flavors that are deliciously sweet but also juicy and tangy in fine balance. It can seem young at times, but it is already pliant and giving, so drink now or hold. We had it with an end of meal cheese course and it was just the right finale.
-Michael