WTN: Huet Craggy l'Eglise Larmande Innocent Bourdy Chave

Recent lunch notes.

1993 Dom. Huet Vouvray Le Mont Demi-sec – an outstanding bottle of wine, from the slightly sweet waxy Loire nose that just kept on trotting out more and more facets (coconut, floral, and one someone else suggested that I agreed with, bay leaf) to the smooth palate presence with sweetness becoming more apparent at the end. Excellent.

2006 Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vd. Pinot Noir – medium colour, sweet Pinot nose with coconut hints and lots of acidity. Seemed a bit Californian except for the acid. OK, but maybe a bit tired?

2000 Clos l’Eglise – just to be accurate, this wasn’t the Pomerol, it was the Cotes de Castillon. Nonetheless it put on a great showing with nice raspberry in the nose, as well as a coffee/mocha component, and it had good balance and medium length. What a bargain.

1995 Ch. Larmande – as it turned out, I had brought this St. Emilion, so it was a right bank lunch to a degree. This showed well, although it took a bit of time to open up and start showing typical claret notes. One of the 95s that needs drinking now, and pleasant.

2005 St. Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir – the first of a Pinot duo. This one was medium colour, had a good fruit based nose with some mushroom and forest notes and a faint hint of mint adding interest, and it was sweet in the mouth, showing notable ripe notes at the end. Good wine. No rush.

2005 Bourdy Cotes de Jura (Pinot Noir) – same vintage but was paler and seemed much older. Definite mint in this nose, and a slightly astringent finish. It did develop a bit in the glass, but suffered from being side by side with the much more generous Oregon Pinot. Not sure this one is going anywhere better than it has already been….

2006 Chave Mon Coeur – this CDR was simple and a bit awkward, but it does show a decent fruit level and a fair bit of soft tannin. Don’t think I’d wait on it though – makes a good bocce/garden wine right now.

[Jenise]

Bill, speaking of Bourdy, do you recall that I brought an older pair (blanc and rouge) to a previous lunch about five years ago?

My notes:

1990 Jean Bourdy Cotes de Jura Blanc– deep gold. Interesting oxidative flavors though not objectionable--more like what a Lopez de Heredia would taste like 20 years out if LdH made chardonnay. My wine--purchased from Garagiste who got this shipment direct from this old old winery's 16th century mountainside caves for a special dinner last year at Stone Barns in NY. I liked it a lot.

1982 Bourdy Cotes de Jura Rouge – purchased from the same source at the same time. Per the vigneron this was supposedly at peak though it could hold through 2025, but it was clearly way past that. A shame--$90 down the drain.

My notes on the lunch wines shortly--someone's here to buy my washer/dryer.

I do - and I recall enjoying the white a lot.

What are you going to do without a washer - back to nature?

I found some sec and demi sec '93 Huets a few years ago, very good from an unheralded vintage.

[Jenise]

I do - and I recall enjoying the white a lot.

What are you going to do without a washer - back to nature?

Hang our skivvies outside just like you do!

[Jenise]

Recent lunch notes.

1993 Dom. Huet Vouvray Le Mont Demi-sec – an outstanding bottle of wine, from the slightly sweet waxy Loire nose that just kept on trotting out more and more facets (coconut, floral, and one someone else suggested that I agreed with, bay leaf) to the smooth palate presence with sweetness becoming more apparent at the end. Excellent.

2006 Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vd. Pinot Noir – medium colour, sweet Pinot nose with coconut hints and lots of acidity. Seemed a bit Californian except for the acid. OK, but maybe a bit tired?

2000 Clos l’Eglise – just to be accurate, this wasn’t the Pomerol, it was the Cotes de Castillon. Nonetheless it put on a great showing with nice raspberry in the nose, as well as a coffee/mocha component, and it had good balance and medium length. What a bargain.

1995 Ch. Larmande – as it turned out, I had brought this St. Emilion, so it was a right bank lunch to a degree. This showed well, although it took a bit of time to open up and start showing typical claret notes. One of the 95s that needs drinking now, and pleasant.

2005 St. Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir – the first of a Pinot duo. This one was medium colour, had a good fruit based nose with some mushroom and forest notes and a faint hint of mint adding interest, and it was sweet in the mouth, showing notable ripe notes at the end. Good wine. No rush.

2005 Bourdy Cotes de Jura (Pinot Noir) – same vintage but was paler and seemed much older. Definite mint in this nose, and a slightly astringent finish. It did develop a bit in the glass, but suffered from being side by side with the much more generous Oregon Pinot. Not sure this one is going anywhere better than it has already been….

2006 Chave Mon Coeur – this CDR was simple and a bit awkward, but it does show a decent fruit level and a fair bit of soft tannin. Don’t think I’d wait on it though – makes a good bocce/garden wine right now.

Agree with your notes all the way down, pretty much. The Huet was the wine of the day. The L'Eglise was fab--a wine I was familiar with on release and owned a few bottles of, but found them too fetching to leave alone so they're no longer with us. Was happy to see how it had turned out. Your Larmande surprised me, I actually thought it was California because it seemed so modern after the more old school L'Eglise. The Craggy Range was definitely past it; and I feared that hence we brought three bottles. But it was perfect about 15 months ago, and I really did think it might hold there longer than it obviously did. The St. Innocent is still on it's way to plateau--drinking well now, but should be prime in about two years. The Bourdy--dunno. Those wines are tricksters--I get what you're saying but I'd never bet against one. Have had some exceptional bottles. And of course, I'm hoping it's so, as I have two more. The Chave was drinkable but odd in that I'd have expected more classicism and elegance of both Chave and the 06 vintage. The first thing I wrote down about it said "gritty". Would be a decent burger wine, though.

I hope the Bourdy comes around too - you might need a second opinion on it!

I guess it is a case of 'Watch the Bourdy!"

[Jenise]

GROOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

But . And, I posted about the Bourdy on Cellartracker snarking that it might come around "in about ten years" and heard from another Bourdy owner on the east coast who snarked back that he'd marked his next bottle for 2030.

All this Bourdy talk is enlightening as today I found some `09 Cotes du Jura from Jean B. Pretty good find when you consider where I live .

[Jenise]

Bob, I never cease to be impressed at what you find considering where you live!

Lots of foot slogging and getting tips from reps!