A small afternoon get-together to try some things:
Luneau-Papin, Muscadet, 'les Pierres Blanches', 2002
This showed better (younger) than a bottle tried last year with saline and fresh citrus notes...very nice. A-
Long-Depaquit, Chablis, 'les Vaillons', 2009
Light oak and lemon, soft due to vintage? Opens and becomes fuller with air, lots of soft lemon honey water. B+
Côtar, Ponece, Crna, 2009
Skunky nose. Spiced dark fruits, dullish, but the sparkling format here probably provides lift. Very dry. 12% B/B+
Paixar, Bierzo, 2006
I was pleasantly surprised by this. Yes, it's a BIG wine, full of deep, dark mulberries, black raspberries and dense black fruits. There is oak, manifested by the polish and nutmeg scents. But the oak is integrated and does not show as obvious and as grossly modern as I feared. For $50 and beyond, a pass, but if it was cheaper,...why not? A-