WTN: Experiments w more misses than hits but good Fontalloro

The last couple of weeks have seen some experimenting with more misses than hits. In particular I begin to despair of finding locally a nice workhorse Chianti, which rivals the Colli Senesi from Castello di Farnetella, formerly a standby for me in Belgium. However, a Fontalloro and Cairanne from the depths on my cellar were performing as they should .

1999 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (4/10/2016)
I'm basically a pop and pour man but I concede that this one needed to be decanted because it only started really to open up by my last glass. Deep red colour with hardly any bricking. Good nose of sharp red and dark fruit and earth with leather hints. On the palate full/medium body showing good depth of still primary fruit, marked tangy acidity and tannic backbone with more of the aromas from the nose and smoother texture developing as the bottle progressed. Still quite youthful seeming so no hurry to drink the remaining bottles. Very good.


2013 Château de Varennes Savennières - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières (4/12/2016)
THis bottle is much more simplistic than my memory and notes of the 2012 at a similar age. Nose is pleasant with white fruit and minerals and an odd lactic touch. Palate is medium bodied at most with some pretty white fruit and lively acidity but not much depth or "gras". Quite good.


2013 Château de Chamboureau Savennières - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières (4/16/2016)
Less than a week ago, I opened a Savennières '13 from Château de Varennes and found it a bit simplistic with lively acidity. This one is similar and has a plus in slightly fuller fruit and absence of a lactic touch but a minus in rawer acidity. I guess that it is a vintage problem and will not hurry to buy more '13 Anjou chenin.


2004 Domaine de l'Oratoire St Martin Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Cuvée Prestige - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne (4/17/2016)
Colour still deep with very little bricking at the rim. Nose quite subdued with notes of dry brambly fruit with herb touches. More dry dark and brambly fruit on the quite intense full/medium bodied palate with rose petal overtones, mild garrique, some earthy secondary complexity and moderate acidity leading to a slightly porty firm finish with orange peel and liquorice notes. I think that I might have enjoyed this even more when the fruit was more primary but still good+.


2014 Wither Hills Pinot Noir Clocktower Marlborough - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough (4/19/2016)
My guess is that this wine will prove popular with its targeted audience, namely shoppers at the M&S chain in the UK. It is medium/full bodied and, on entry and mid-palate, shows very pretty features of sweet cherry infused Pinot fruit and velvety texture. However, for me the sweetness became a bit jammy and excessive, particularly on the finish where there developed a molasses touch, and that texture became a bit too thick. Add to that an underlying aroma, again most perceptible on the finish, which reminded me of tobacco, and for me the wine increasingly cloyed as the bottle emptied. The wine is quite young and the aspects which bother me may attenuate with age but it is not the wine for my Pinot fix right now.


2014 Denis Bardon Touraine Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Touraine (4/20/2016)
The Cher valley east of Tours is much less known for CabFranc than the Chinon/Bourgueil/Saumur area to the west and, if this wine is typical, it is not hard to see why. Medium + bodied with round fruit, it was marred by a coarse touch, a sort of mix of struck match and the muddy dog note, which used to be much more common than nowadays. A one-off flaw? A wine-making fault? Or a terroir effect? I am not tempted by a repeat purchase.


2012 Fattoria il Palagio Chianti - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti (4/22/2016)
It's hard to imagine how Chianti can be so bland. Where are the tangy acidity and the leathery earthy notes, even rusticity, which I like so much in authentic basic Chianti? This is not a bad wine; some sweetish fruit balanced by adequate acidity. Just characterless.

Posted from CellarTracker

Good heads up on Loire 2013 whites Tim.

Good heads up on Loire 2013 whites Tim.

Bob, one has to be a bit careful about generalising on a vintage for the whole Loire valley.

It's a long way from the Muscadet area to Sancerre. I've indeed had enjoyably light and lively 2013 whites with crisp acidity from both these. It's particularly the chenins from Anjou and Touraine which strike me as undernourished in 2013 but I guess that Chris K can recommend some better ones.

2014 is billed as a very successful year for white all along the Loire valley and its tributaries. I thought that Jacky Blot's line-up from Montlouis and Vouvray (both chenin) was superb, but, alas, almost completely sold out.

Have a good time with your birding .

[David M. Bueker]

'13 Loire was a general pass for me. Focused on '14. And I bought a decent amount (for me) of'12, so no issues. Vintages come so fast!

I noticed you used the word 'simplistic' on both of the Savennieres. Have most become this way now? I remember that earlier, say through the early 1990's they used to be wines that carried more weight, now they seem to be a middling sort of chenin.

I noticed you used the word 'simplistic' on both of the Savennieres. Have most become this way now? I remember that earlier, say through the early 1990's they used to be wines that carried more weight, now they seem to be a middling sort of chenin.

Just the 2013 vintage of those two wines.