WTN: Boasso Barolo, 89 Luneau Papin, 05 Saumur, NV Margaine Rose, 05 Hofer

2001 Boasso Barolo Serralunga
This was very open and showed amazingly well tonight. A slight balsamic note, pure sour cherry fruit, and some spiciness. Good acidity and correct red color. Some tannins but they are quite ripe and approachable. Decent length. I didn't know what to expect on the modern vs traditional continuum given that this is a de Grazia selection, but I thought this was great for a young Barolo. It went well with some mushroom filled ravioli with a parmesan mushroom sauce. Terrific value. I would buy this again.

2005 Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny La Grande Vignolle
Lots of blackberry leaf smells, good acidity, strong through the mid palate, some iron and rusty minerals, nice ripe tannins. Developed a tobacco spiciness with air. I liked this a lot and will buy a few more. Thanks Dale for the tip.

1989 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine le d'Or
A pure rainwater on rocks fragrance, followed by lemon zest and a sea tang. Just a fantastic aroma. This is developing a slightly more creamy texture than it had 2 years ago, when it was more crystalline. Otherwise it hasn't really budged all that much. Great with mussels cooked in a saffron and leek cream sauce.

N.V. Margaine Champagne Brut Rosé A blend of mostly chardonnay and some pinot noir. Some red fruit / strawberry smells, lively bubbles, and pretty acidic. I think this would benefit from some short term cellaring. I liked the pinot driven character of the Serveaux NV brut rose we drank last week more than the Margaine, but this wasn't bad.

2005 Hofer Grüner Veltliner Trocken
After using a cup of this in the mussel dish, we drank this rest over several days. The first night it showed mostly lemon citrus smells and very acidic, a little too tart to be enjoyable. On day 2 it had a toasty leesy smell, but the palate had settled down and also some minerals made an appearance. Much better. On day 3 the wine was drinking at its best for me, some leesy notes, strong minerals, citrus and still quite fresh. For $9/liter and topped with a crown cap, it is hard to imagine a better value.

Cheers,
Marc

Love that Filliatreau, Marc.

Havent heard of Boasso (and can't seem to locate it on de Grazia's website) but there are quite a few reviews out there that echo what you are saying.

I would buy this again.

will buy a few more.

Glad to see you've adopted the Florida Jim Rating System®. I should start doing the same myself.

2005 Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny La Grande Vignolle

The only Filliatreau I've found locally (DC area) so far has been their low-end bottling, the Chateau Fouquet, which I like very much and is a terrific value. I'd certainly like to try this wine as well -- did you get it at Chambers Street?

Great notes, as always. Thanks.

The Filliatreau Grand Vignnole is at CSW, but it also has arrived here in Seattle (yay). For me Domaine Filliatreau has always been a steady, reliable, very reasonably priced Cab Franc, but I think they hit a home run in 2005 with the GV.

Glad to see you've adopted the Florida Jim Rating System®. I should start doing the same myself.

He's the man.

Havent heard of Boasso (and can't seem to locate it on de Grazia's website) but there are quite a few reviews out there that echo what you are saying.

Bill, I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. My Italian is almost zero, but from Googling the producer I think their Barolo is done in medium to large new wood and not barriques. I hope someone will chime in here with more info on Boasso. The wine was priced more like a nebbiolo which is a very good thing.