2001 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage (11/9/2015)
I am a fan of Alain Graillot's wines; but I have enjoyed previous vintages better; it is hard to say why. There are no signs of excessive age, colour still quite deep and the nose expressive with the usual aromas of slightly metallic sour cherry seasoned with hints of grilled meat and pepper. The medium bodied palate was perhaps more simplistic than sometimes but had the trademark Graillot elegance and bright acidity and the best glass was the last which suggests that I should give my remaining bottle more air, perhaps a decanting, before serving. Good.
1996 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Cornas Domaine de Saint Pierre - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (11/10/2015)
This reminds me of Cornas from the last generation with its touch of rusticity. The present more sophisticated generation is making smoother but less typical? wines. Medium/full bodied with aromas of dark red fruit, especially sour cherry, violet hints, leather and earth showing plenty of crisp acidity (partly a '96 effect?) and backbone. Very good if one likes the style.
1997 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (11/15/2015)
This was riper tasting than my memory and notes of the excellent '95. Good deep colour with little bricking. Well developed and complex nose with still some primary fruit, mainly cherry. Medium/full bodied palate with sweeter fruit than in most Tuscan vintages, good depth, leather, tar and earth hints, good balancing acidity but with less than usual Tuscan tang and ripe tannins making a well covered backbone. I caught occasional undesirable cabbage like background aromas which may indicate an imminent slide towards break-up but they were mostly submerged by the attractive features and at present contributed to complexity. Very good.
2014 Domaine du Cros (Philippe Teulier) Marcillac Lo Sang del Païs - France, Southwest France, Marcillac (11/17/2015)
Another delightful vintage of Lo Sang del Païs with the usual characterful mix of fresh fruit, tangy minerality and crisp acidity. Am I imaging slightly more gracious fruit than in 2013 with no loss of minerality? Very good.
1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/19/2015)
This is a youthful seeming, deep coloured and fruity Barolo. At first rather simplistically so, but with a little time in the glass this quite full bodied wine developed complex notes of spice, roses, tar, minerals and backbone to complement the round cherry infused fruit thus becoming very good. It would benefit from decanting, I think, and no hurry needed to drink up remaining bottles.
1998 Domaine Gauby Côtes du Roussillon Villages La Muntada - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages (11/21/2015)
I was expecting more from this wine than it delivered. Still attractive and quite fresh fruit on the nose and medium/full bodied palate with few of the prune notes I was expecting, gentle spice, smooth texture, decent acidity and a vanilla, almost caramel, patina which, if blind, I would have guessed from Spain or the New World. Though showing no obvious signs of decay, this wine was probably more vibrant and exciting a few years ago. It was, I think, the last Muntada vintage made 100% from Syrah and, though no blockbuster, before Gauby's conversion to a more elegant and digestible style.
2011 Domaine du Vissoux / Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Les Garants - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (11/22/2015)
A delightful wine at its peak which fully lives up to its charming name. Medium bodied with good roundness and exactly the right seamless mixture of red fruit, fragrant aromas, flinty minerals, fresh acidity and silky texture. Fun to drink, moreish, graceful and elegant and would be ideal for its type with a touch more length.
2006 Domaine de l'Oratoire St Martin Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Cuvée Prestige - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne (11/25/2015)
Much better than the previous bottle with no signs of cabbage aromas. Full/medium bodied and quite rich and robust with deep colour, dark fruit and fresh acidity and aromas of liquorice, tar and spice. Good pairing for carbonades flamandes stewed in trappist beer and very good wine probably at its peak.
2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (11/28/2015)
I underestimated my previous bottle of this because its beautiful statement is so restrained. Medium/light body with all its elements of citrus fruit, stony minerals, bright acidity and underlying and slightly creamy roundness beautifully focussed and singing in unison with hints of lovely secondary development. Excellent.
1998 Catherine et Claude Maréchal Pommard La Chanière - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard (11/29/2015)
I liked this bottle better than the one a year ago. Most of the description still applies but I found the texture silkier and the less bitterness on the finish. Maybe the pairing, blanquette de veau, helped with the wine's fresh acidity cutting well through the dishes creamy sauce. Very good.
1995 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (11/30/2015)
This bottle was rather different from last March's but almost equally good. There was very pristine youthfulness with reductive notes for about 30 minutes after opening the bottle and, at first, the wine seemed more robust, fuller bodied, more savoury, earthy and tannic but with similar bright sour cherry and violet notes, in sum more typically rugged. As the bottle progressed it became suaver and sweeter fruited, more like the previous bottle. I guess that this wine in sound bottles can go on and even improve, where there is reduction, for many years. Very good.
2008 Clos de Gamot Cahors - France, Southwest France, Cahors (12/1/2015)
The Jouffreau estate's wines are prized by lovers of traditional Cahors and this one was certainly refreshingly different from suavely (sometimes excessively) oaked "modern" versions. A nearly black coloured, firmly backboned medium+ bodied wine with bright red fruit, earthy minerals, touches of fennel, tar and liquorice, lively acidity and firm but unaggressive tannins. I would have appreciated a bit more length but good+.
2005 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken - Germany, Nahe (12/6/2015)
I was sipping this wine with dinner while my appetite was being spoilt by reports of France's Front National making significant electoral gains. By contrast the wine was harmonious and fragrant; medium bodied, not bone dry, round, slightly creamy and full of white fruit, spice, minerals including hydrocarbons, lively acidity and backbone leading to a decently long finish. Very good.
2012 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (12/8/2015)
Though I think that I will enjoy this wine more in a few years time when it develops mature subtlety, it is certainly brighter and more brilliant now with fine red fruit, charcoal and fine mineral notes, touches of wet leather and bell pepper at a modest levels which add to complexity together with lively acidity and fine tannins. On this bottle I also caught a whiff of reductive aromas but not at a level to spoil enjoyment. Good++ with ++potential.
2014 René Noël Legrand Saumur-Champigny Les Terrages - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (12/9/2015)
An invigorating and moreish medium+ bodied wine which Germaine instantly recognised as coming from R-N Legrand with its typical savoury berry fruit, clay and leather notes, flinty touches and good backbone. Good+ now and, based on some previous vintages, could age well but I am unlikely to find out. Great QPR at c.€6.
1991 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (12/12/2015)
I have never had a disappointing bottle from the unfashionable '91 vintage but this was the first time I have understood the magic of Hubert de Montille, much praised by many Burgundy connoisseurs. It was a lovely medium bodied Volnay with precise aromas of rich pinot laced with elegant mineral and still some primary fruit along with forest floor, velvety texture, lively acidity and some firmness and hints of kirsch on the finish. It evolved in the glass towards greater weight and firmness on the finish but a tiny hint of coming decay showed in its aromas and in greater diffuseness and, unusually, I preferred its initial showing. Nevertheless very good.
2001 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (12/15/2015)
A delicious bottle of Coudoulet with more charm and elegance than in many vintages. Colour showed some bricking. Nose was very expressive and full of sweet cherry dominated dark fruit. The palate was medium/full bodied with good depth and velvety texture and, like the nose, was full of ripe fruit playing variations on the theme of sweet dark cherry as far as kirsch touches on the decently long finish and there were also smooth acidity, mint and faint liquorice touches. Tannins were well covered but enough to give adequate backbone. I seem to have been luckier than others who complain about loss of fruit but, at first, there were hints of decay which were rapidly obscured as the aromas opened up; so I will open my remaining bottle quite soon. Very good.
2001 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage (12/17/2015)
This is several notches better than Graillot's basic '01 Crozes which I opened a few weeks ago. The cherry, meat and pepper tinged aromas were more open and expressive, the fruit richer, the body deeper and the texture more velvety with similar focus and elegance. Only the shape on the palate, rather up-front, fell short of my ideal. Very good.
1994 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (12/20/2015)
This is lovely bottle of Hermitage, perhaps less virile than some La Chapelle but none the worse for that. The aromas on the nose and flavours on the palate were quite similar to those of a Crozes Guiraude 01 from Graillot of a few days ago which I described as cherry, meat and pepper tinged on a velvety texture but this wine was fuller bodied showing more depth, complexity and length together with extraordinary charm. In the 90s, quality control of Jaboulet's bottlings was somewhat wayward but I have hit the jackpot with this bottle from an under-hyped vintage. Really excellent and a candidate for my best bottle of the year.
2004 Gianni Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetić - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (12/21/2015)
This bottle was much fresher than my last one with no trace of the "off" aromas from which that one suffered. It was quite full bodied with fresh red and dark fruit, less fruit cake and complexity than the '01 but with more invigorating lively acidity and good backbone. It was difficult to taste the high alcohol (14.5%) but I certainly felt it. Very good.
2001 Casisano-Colombaio Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (12/22/2015)
This medium/full bodied Brunello is full of charm, not a word I often use with Tuscan Sangiovese, but also has the typical slightly sharp red fruit, earthy touches, tangy acidity as well as some depth, underlying roundness and well covered tannic backbone. Very good.
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