We have opened more good bottles in the last couple of weeks or so.
I am now getting into my '95s from Bordeaux and Burgundy after holding off a long time but, although good, I have yet to find one really singing in the way that the Cornas '95 from Allemand was. Not included here are TNs on a premoxed Chablis Fourchaume '96 and a dried out Louis Latour P-Montrachet Folatières '95, both consigned to the sink. So it was a relief that my bottle of the '02 Huet turned out to be excellent.
1995 Château Poujeaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc (2/17/2015)
This bottle of '95, my first from a stash of six, did not have the appeal of recent bottles of '88, '89 and '90 nor of my memory of '96 and '97. Still lively colour and nose of red fruit with a little secondary development. The palate was medium/full bodied with round fruit sweeter than usual with Poujeaux, smooth acidity and still quite marked tannins on the finish. It lacked the liveliness and complexity of those other vintages in their different ways. I hope the remaining bottles will be more expressive. Good wine nevertheless.
2012 Les Vins de Vienne (Cuilleron Gaillard Villard) Côtes du Rhône Rhône Passion - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (2/21/2015)
A model generic Rhône with medium+ body, attractive sweet Grenache fruit free of jamminess and balanced by good acidity and completed by leather hints (Mourvèdre?) and decent grip on the finish. The overall impression was elegant as well as rich without any obtrusive burn from the high alcohol (14.5%). Good wine and excellent QPR at c.€6.
1995 Dominique Laurent Pommard 1er Cru Les Charmots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (2/22/2015)
Nice mature Burg. Colour lightish red with rust tints. Nose well developed with typical PN cherry aromas mixed with rusty metallic hints. The medium bodied palate showed mature PN fruit, some forest floor, quite suave texture together with still lively acidity and a certain firmness on the decently long finish. Very good.
2001 Philippe Alliet Chinon Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (2/27/2015)
Alliet often makes Chinon more burly than most but this one was beautifully fragrant and elegant. Both colour and body on the palate were medium/light. Both on the nose and palate the aromas were delightful showing notes of soft red fruit (raspberry, strawberry) and flowers with faint touches of fresh blood and wet leather. Fruit on the palate was still fresh and gracious with lively acidity, some minerals and some firmness supporting the finish where the fragrance faded very slowly. Very good.
1995 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (3/3/2015)
This is a lovely Cornas. Not a "wow" wine and medium bodied at most but full of delicious aromas on both on the nose and palate of bright cherry and violets with classical linear shape, silky texture and some depth of fruit allied to minerals, still quite lively acidity and decent tannic grip on quite long finish. Modest alcohol (12.5%) helps IMO. Some may object that this wine had refined away typical Cornas ruggedness but I love it. Excellent.
1995 Château Sociando-Mallet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (3/6/2015)
Colour was a still quite dense red with little bricking but I braced myself for disappointment on smelling the nose which was quite subdued with a dominant metallic element. Happily the medium/full bodied palate was much more expressive and complex yet integrated with lively red fruit, earthy mineral and balsamic notes, a nice underlying roundness, lively fine acidity and still some tannic firmness on the finish. Odd about that metallic streak dominating the nose but just a background element on the palate. I hope the other bottles are different in that respect. Nevertheless very good.
2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (3/8/2015)
Having read several reports from NY about premoxed '02s from Huet, I laid on a substitute bottle. The quite deep but limpid gold colour did not reassure but the initially subdued but clean nose of wax, white fruit and mineral notes did. The medium+ bodied and not bone dry palate grew progressively more expressive and complex as the wine took air and warmed up from an initial 10-11°C. It was hard to pin down which white fruit notes were present, I caught hints of citrus, passion fruit, apple and pineapple, nor could I narrow down the minerals but there were definite hints of honey and wax together with brilliant mouth watering acidity leading to a subjectively dry impression. The superbly long finish was supported by a slightly saline backbone. Excellent.
Posted from CellarTracker
PS: Huet is a biodynamic producer.