The iwnes drunk over the last several days with meals at home.
2007 Francois Cotat Les Mont Damnes Chavignol Sancerre
Sweet citrus, stone, grass and some sulfur on the nose. A good level of lushness, with the requisite mineral notes, but a short finish. I was looking for that bold, edgy notes, from SBs that the Cotat cousins usually produce - or perhaps I’m incorrect with my presumption and it was really just Pascal who goes for that distinctive bolder SB? Or perhaps my bottle was simply an anomaly? This was still quite good but I wasn’t as pleased as with the same wine I had a few months ago that was made by cousin Pascal and which I recall buying at just a couple of dollars higher, iirc. B
2009 Robinot L’Opera des Vins Concerto d’Oniss Pineau d’Aunis, Coteaux du Loire
Talk about expressive and yet divergent components in the bouquet! There was floral, there was wet earth, there was jello, and there was some horse sweat. The color was light red, cloudy, and transparent. A dry wine with tartness from raspberries and cranberries, plus a lot of earthiness. There’s just enough to keep it interesting, but I think I’ll pass on buying anymore. B-
2005 Domaine Les Grandes Vignes Terra Vitis Vaillant Bonnezeaux Le Malabe
Tinted dark gold in appearance that veered more towards copper. 11% abv. My first Bonnezeaux and this was a very pleasant surprise with our late lunch of organic 5-grain bread, some good pate-in-a-jar from our last French trip and tasty French butter. The Bonnezeaux was the complete sweet-wine package showing medium-to-full-bodied silkiness, with flavors of brown sugar, meringue, notes of hard candy and slight tropical fruit flavor. There were the earthy and slight mineral components reminding us that this rustic sticky came from the Loire Valley and not from the Graves. The aromatics also changed with the minimum of air time in the glass … from being agricultural, woody and fruity to one that highlighted fresh-baked sweet confection. A-
2009 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie, Burgundy
My 2nd bottle in about a month and this had the savory smell but more fruitier than the first. It tasted with ripe fruit and some tartness coming from slightly vegetal acidity. Compared to my previous bottle, this was plusher and fruitier with just a tad of the interesting complex stuff. Easier to drink, but I liked my first one more. B