2007 François Cotat, Rosé:
13% alcohol; tasted over several nights with salads or curries; brassy color; smells as one would expect, sort of strawberry meets mineral; full flavored and about sec-tendre sweetness, balanced and medium length. Both Diane and I agree, it is well made but we like rosé bone-dry and this isn’t. Better with curries but not something I will buy again, particularly in view of its $40 price.
1998 Vieux Télégraphe, CdP:
14% alcohol; a lovely meat, iron, fruit nose that is very expansive (open the bottle, fill the room with aroma); much the same on the palate with some complexity, excellent integration and balance, and good sustain. Grenache and I usually don’t play well together but I enjoyed this; not a great wine but a very good one. Terrific with ‘bubble and squeak.’
2009 Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages:
13% alcohol; nothing suggests carbonic maceration; strong strawberry and black raspberry scents; solid flavors that follow the nose with good balance with a medium length finish. Not remarkable but enjoyable. With a pasta dish that included greens, olives, tomatoes, sausage and parmesan cheese, nice.
2002 François Chidaine, Montlouis Les Choisilles:
12.5% alcohol; on several previous occasions, I was not pleased with this wine (a touch sweet, a little unfocused, etc.) but tonight, that changed; if one could imagine a reduction of quince, perfectly ripe, bright, concentrated, tangy, with perhaps just a hit of mineral, that’s this wine. No wool, lanolin, herb etc.; just the purest, deepest, most intense yet balanced fruit I can remember from a chenin. And with grilled chicken, Caesar salad, caramelized onions and crusty bread, as good a pairing as I have ever had. Oh my!
Finally, I get this producer.
Best, Jim