Enjoyed a few other good bottles this weekend, between Gene's birthday party at the Ten Bells and catching up with some old friends in NY.
2007 Emmanuel Houillon Arbois Pupillin Maison Pierre Overnoy Chardonnay
Layered, savoury and incredibly compelling with all sorts of fresh white fruited flavours, dried herbs, floral elements and slightly funky earthy elements. There's plenty of richness, just a faint oxidative element but bright acidity underneath keeping it very fresh.
N.V. Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Colline Inspirée Montgueux
From magnum. Lovely Champagne; layering ripe pear and citrus fruits with savoury doughy and yeasty notes and fresh baked bread. There's a sense of tremendous energy and precision here with bright effervesence and lots of acidity that keeps it very lively and refreshing.
2009 Frantz Saumon Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos de Chênes
Phenomenal - a core of bright Chenin fruit and stony minerality seasoned with ginger and floral elements, and conveyed with a sense of remarkable purity, precision and freshness. This is flavour without weight - there's an incredible sense of lightness, tremendous acidity beneath but it's superbly balanced and a bottle disappears all too quickly.
2006 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux
Very, very young and a little tannic right now, but already offering a great deal of depth and aromatic complexity. Starts out with a beautiful fragrance of ripe berried fruit with a green herbaceous seasoning and with air opens out to show more earthy and mineral elements. There's a sense of real polish and finesse to the texture, and the structure and balance here suggest this will be amazing with time.
2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Hommage a Jeanne
Corked. Damnit!
2006 Marie-Noelle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée du Goulté
Outstanding Champagne and a producer I really need to pay more attention to - this is the complete package with layers of bright fruit, chalky minerality, fresh baked bread and doughy notes; amazing depth here and superb balance with the acidity and effervescence keeping it very precise and refreshing.
2006 Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Hohereck
Remarkably lean, taut and focused for such a big vintage. This has a lot of extract and material - layers of bright Riesling fruit, a vivid stony minerality and a fresh herbal seasoning, but what makes it really remarkable is the sense of sheer energy and tension in the mouth, power with elegance and superb balance despite the 14% alcohol which stays well hidden.