2013 Dauvergne Ranvier Côtes du Rhône Vin Rare - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (1/16/2016)
A very enjoyable CdR with medium+ body,good density of savoury brambly fruit, decent acidity and a nice sprinkling of spice with black olive touches and a little liquorice on the gently tannic finish. Unlike many in the region, no heaviness and cloying and the 14.5% alcohol does not obtrude making the wine treacherously moreish. Good. I have never yet had a bottle from this young négociant firm which has disappointed. Look out for them.
2013 Gilles Gelin Fleurie - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (1/17/2016)
Good Fleurie stronger on minerality than fruit and on savoury backbone than charm. Paired well with veal Marengo.
2011 Les Arpents du Soleil Orange - France, Normandy (1/23/2016)
A nice crisp and tense white from the Auxerrois grape with medium body, apple and citrus fruit, lots of minerals, fresh acidity and some underlying gras. This is perhaps the best white from a Norman estate just 25km from here; the others are from Pinot Gris and Melon de Bourgogne. Their Pinot Noir is surprisingly good. Good wine but price €10 is quite high for 50cl.
1996 Parusso Barolo Bussia Vigna Rocche - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (1/25/2016)
A lovely quite deep coloured and medium+ bodied Barolo with great aromatic expression on both nose and palate. Dominant notes are of complex herbs, spices and forest floor, but behind these is a good body of mature red fruit, fresh acidity and ripe tannic backbone leading to a decently long finish. Excellent.
1998 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (1/26/2016)
The Eguren family, owners of S.Cantabria, are very versatile winemakers. They make some spectacular "modern" cuvées, like El Bosque, more restrained "modern" like San Vicente and also classical cuvées, like this GR, by traditional methods. They are all very good in their way. The '98 GR is medium bodied, classically shaped and very harmonious with quite deep colour for the style. It was initially shy aromatically but with beautifully smooth sweet cherry tinged fruit already apparent and it opened up as the bottle progressed adding velvety texture, discreet hints of vanilla, smooth acidity and well resolved tannic backbone. Very good.
2013 Claude Lafond Reuilly Cuvée Tradition - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Reuilly (1/27/2016)
A nice crisp Reuilly with good gooseberry fruit and saline backbone SB character, but I must confess to inability to identify a Reuilly character as distinct from Touraine SB or even Sancerre character. Good QPR at €7.
1998 Tardieu-Laurent Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (1/28/2016)
A mature, rich and complex Côte Rôtie with sweeter cherry notes than usual, grilled meat, tobacco, velvety texture, good acidity, but less than in '96, and a suave patina from the otherwise now scarcely perceptible oak ageing. Very good.
2008 Domaine Arretxea Irouléguy Cuvée Haitza - France, Southwest France, Pays Basque, Irouléguy (1/31/2016)
I am not very familiar with this appellation though I have tasted a range several times at commercial tastings and have had two at home, a red and a white, the latter excellent. Considering the grower's reputation and the price (€24), this was a mild disappointment. There were aromas of quite sharp red fruit, grainy minerals and mild note of quinine tinged liquorice, which could be dislikeable if more prominent. The palate was medium+ bodied showing more red fruit, grainy minerals with that liquorice/quinine tinge, fresh acidity and much less prominent tannins and structure than most from its neighbour, Madiran, which also uses the tannat grape variety. Maybe more age is needed to turn this into something really interesting.
PS: Grape varieties used are Tannat 75% and Cabernet Sauvignon 25%. "Haitza" means oak in Basque and the wine is matured for 14 months in “foudres” of which 20% new and bottled without fining and filtering. I could not detect any overt oak flavours unless they played a part in the liquorice/quinine note.
2014 Joël Taluau Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil "Les Racines Du Temps" - France, Loire Valley, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil (2/2/2016)
I think this is a bit fuller than L.Mabileau's St.Nic. A lovely refreshing drink showing fresh red fruit, a touch of leafiness, which may worry hardcore Parkerites but which I love at this modest level, refined minerals, lively acidity, some underlying "gras" and enough backbone with refined tannins. Good+ for drinking now and in the next two years but not for the long haul, I guess.
1993 Domaine Maume Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (2/4/2016)
Very youthful seeming with colour still a vigorous ruby with hardly any bricking. Beautiful Pinot nose with cherry and a little kirsch but the palate didn't quite live up to it. It was medium/full bodied but seeming quite lean and linear showing bright fruit with a savoury tinge, grainy minerals, a little leather, very lively acidity, good tannic backbone and the finish was infused with a rusty metallic touch which gave a slightly rustic overall impression to the wine. Probably a lot more life here but I doubt if it will bring much improvement. Just very good.
1995 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2/7/2016)
I held back opening the rest of these bottles of '95 because a bottle opened in the early '00s was as tight as a drum though full of substance albeit inexpressive. This bottle still seemed too young and aromatically somewhat closed. Colour quite pristine with a subdued nose of savoury red and dark fruit. The medium/full bodied palate showed more red and dark fruit, smooth texture, fresh acidity and backbone which had lost its asperities but there was not a lot of complexity and the subdued aromatics led to a lack of flavour expansion on the palate and an impression of mediocre length. Will it ever open up as it should? Good but not (yet?) worthy of the Beaucastel name and a hyped vintage.
2013 Rene Carroi Sancerre Rouge Pierres Blanches - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre Rouge (2/8/2016)
Bought by mistake as a cooking wine, this was surprisingly good to drink cool in the manner of an old fashioned brasserie red Sancerre. Quite light in both colour and body, it was full of fresh red fruit, minerals, lively acidity and light tannic grip with a kirsch hint on the finish. Refreshing and elegant.
1990 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (2/10/2016)
My previous bottle was opened nearly 7 years ago but the TN which I wrote then can be reproduced almost word for word. Once I had adjusted to the shock of its slightly rusty red colour which suggested marked evolution, I found it roundly, maturely and quite sweetly fruity, medium/full bodied, velvety and beautifully harmonious with smooth acidity and just enough resolved ripe tannins to support the finish which showed very faint metallic notes. Very good.
2001 Château Verdignan - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (2/11/2016)
I think that this bottle was better than the previous. Once I had recalibrated my palate after yesterday's fuller, richer and less acidic Canon '90 and Poujeaux '96, I found a lot to enjoy. The nose was perhaps its best feature with very attractive claret aromas of red fruit with slight green herbaceous edge and balsamic hints. The palate was quite small but round with attractive fruit and aromas and lively acidity. Tannins were almost completely resolved but there was still some firmness supporting the finish. Good like the '96 and '98.
2013 Domaine de l'Évêché Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise (2/14/2016)
A nice white Burgundy with suave texture, white fruit, cream, faint minerals and lively acidity. Served by the glass with St.Valentine's dinner at Pavé d'Auge restaurant.
2013 Domaine de Malavieille Rouge Permien - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc Les Terrasses du Larzac (2/14/2016)
NR because served by the glass rather too warm IMO at the Pavé d'Auge; a black mark for an otherwise excellent restaurant. It appeared to be a medium/full wine (a lot of Carignan) with warm fruit, suave texture and a touch of vanilla. A bit bland at that temperature.
NV Domaine Lucie Cheurlin Champagne - France, Champagne (2/14/2016)
A refreshingly elegant house Champagne at Pavé d'Auge (good mark for them) with lively fruit filled out by that squirt of Pinot, fine minerals and fresh acidity. Very good.
2014 Famille Amirault-Grosbois Chinon Le Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (2/15/2016)
A very enjoyable medium bodied Chinon with, at first, a hint of reduction which rapidly dissipated. Fine red fruit with touches of game and leather, minerals, lively acidity and firm but ripe tannic backbone. Good+ and I will look for more bottles at good QPR price of €8.50.
Posted from CellarTracker