WTN: More notes

2007 Le Colombier, Vacqueras Tradition:
13.5% alcohol, about $15, retail; 70% grenache, 20% syrah, 10% mourvèdre, 30 year old vines, élevage in cement; shy but clean nose of brined meat and dust, little fruit when first opened, later its all dark cherry scents; more generous in the mouth with raw meat, garrigue and wild cherry fruit; focused and firm but not tannic; medium length. With Rancho Gordo® Christmas bean soup, excellent.

2008 Erath, Pinot Noir:
13% alcohol, screwcap and about $16; translucent in appearance, transparent in delivery; smells like Oregon pinot without artifice or enhancement; tastes of clean red fruit, crisp and of its place; good sustain. Not a complex wine but as feminine and easy to drink as one could ask. With braised pork butt, excellent.

2008 Adelsheim, Pinot Noir Willamette Valley:
13.3% alcohol and about $20; much darker in both appearance and delivery than the foregoing wine, slightly sharp but otherwise a pleasant but forgettable wine. Not in the same league as the Erath.

N/V Cedric Bouchard, Champagne La Purcelle:
For Valentine’s Day; I have written glowingly about this several times previous so . . . over the course of the evening, the following stages were observed: mmmm, sigh, gush and swoon. Me, that is.

2009 Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages:
13% alcohol and about $9; firm and reticent at first but opens over 30 minutes to become a complete, fairly deep, beautifully focused Gamay with a mineral backbone and juicy fruit that the cru producers would be proud of. If there is a better $9 bottle of red on your wine store shelf, I’d love to try it. Outstanding with burgers and oven fries.

Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Bouchard=La Parcelle

But as always, nice to read your notes. I haven't tried the Jadot Villages in a long while, as I have been focused on their Moulin-a-Vent offerings. Perhaps I will pick one up.

2008 Erath, Pinot Noir:
13% alcohol, screwcap and about $16; translucent in appearance, transparent in delivery; smells like Oregon pinot without artifice or enhancement; tastes of clean red fruit, crisp and of its place; good sustain. Not a complex wine but as feminine and easy to drink as one could ask. With braised pork butt, excellent.

Agreed

2009 Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages:
13% alcohol and about $9; firm and reticent at first but opens over 30 minutes to become a complete, fairly deep, beautifully focused Gamay with a mineral backbone and juicy fruit that the cru producers would be proud of. If there is a better $9 bottle of red on your wine store shelf, I’d love to try it. Outstanding with burgers and oven fries.

Agree here also and well worth the $1 more than the Beaujolais.

Something is wrong when I have tried two wines in your notes. For the longest time, it seemed that you wrote notes on wine I have never tried and for many that are not even on the shelves of my local wine shops.

[David M. Bueker]

Something is wrong when I have tried two wines in your notes. For the longest time, it seemed that you wrote notes on wine I have never tried and for many that are not even on the shelves of my local wine shops.

Jim is The Borg. You have now joined the collective.

Something is wrong when I have tried two wines in your notes. For the longest time, it seemed that you wrote notes on wine I have never tried and for many that are not even on the shelves of my local wine shops.

Jim is The Borg. You have now joined the collective.

Actually I think it is Jim that has turned to the Dark Side. We are talking Erath and Jadot not Tissot and Luneau-Papin.

Nah, he's just another itb guy now. Before, he was an aficionado. When he ramps his volume up, gets a couple of 99 point reviews, and sells his operation for numerous millions, then he'll start drinking only really expensive cult wines (because money is the determinant of quality, as we all know) and become jaded and querulous. Then he'll be back to drinking wines you'll hear of but can't afford to drink.

It's a common cycle.

Nah, he's just another itb guy now. Before, he was an aficionado. When he ramps his volume up, gets a couple of 99 point reviews, and sells his operation for numerous millions, then he'll start drinking only really expensive cult wines (because money is the determinant of quality, as we all know) and become jaded and querulous. Then he'll be back to drinking wines you'll hear of but can't afford to drink.

It's a common cycle.

Common?
Best, Jim

I've liked Erath Pinot Noir in the past but offer a differing opinion on the 2008 Adelsheim Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley. I tasted it at Seaboard Wine Warehouse in Raleigh during Triangle Wine Experience and liked it well enough to purchase two bottles. At under $30 a bottle I thought it was a good price for Oregon Pinot Noir. I haven't had the current release of Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages but usually find it a very good QPR.

I always found the basic WV bottling of Erath to be a bit thin and lacking interest - maybe they have improved or it was a stellar vintage? In general, I would have put Adelsheim a peg above Erath, but I've sort of lost touch with what is happening in Oregon. Mostly the occasional bottle of St. Innocent or Belle Pente for me.

I always found the basic WV bottling of Erath to be a bit thin and lacking interest - maybe they have improved or it was a stellar vintage?

Many say the vintage is excellent, but you couldn't prove it by me.
I like a lighter style so "grain of salt," if you will.
Best, Jim

Nah, he's just another itb guy now. Before, he was an aficionado. When he ramps his volume up, gets a couple of 99 point reviews, and sells his operation for numerous millions, then he'll start drinking only really expensive cult wines (because money is the determinant of quality, as we all know) and become jaded and querulous. Then he'll be back to drinking wines you'll hear of but can't afford to drink.

It's a common cycle.

Common?
Best, Jim

Yeah, it's either that or you work your heart out, pour all your money down that every yawning hole that is a winery continually searching for that elusive perfect wine you know in your heart you can make and become just a little bit mentally unbalanced, fail miserably, lose all your money and end up indigent and trying to find a job and Bronco Wines buys your now dormant label and uses it to launch a ten million dollar brand of bulk wine at Trader Joe's.

One or the other. Usual stuff.

Nah, he's just another itb guy now. Before, he was an aficionado. When he ramps his volume up, gets a couple of 99 point reviews, and sells his operation for numerous millions, then he'll start drinking only really expensive cult wines (because money is the determinant of quality, as we all know) and become jaded and querulous. Then he'll be back to drinking wines you'll hear of but can't afford to drink.

It's a common cycle.

Common?
Best, Jim

Yeah, it's either that or you work your heart out, pour all your money down that every yawning hole that is a winery continually searching for that elusive perfect wine you know in your heart you can make and become just a little bit mentally unbalanced, fail miserably, lose all your money and end up indigent and trying to find a job and Bronco Wines buys your now dormant label and uses it to launch a ten million dollar brand of bulk wine at Trader Joe's.

One or the other. Usual stuff.

Oh.
Best, Jim