WTN: Red, White, and Rosé

WTN: 2002 Château Saint Martin de la Garrigue Bronzinelle Coteaux du Languedoc Languedoc Roussillon, FR.
$12.50 Imp: KLWM. 13.5% abv.
41% syrah, 13% grenache, 27% carignan, 19% mourvèdre.
Rich fruit flavor mixed with a bit of farmy earth. Somewhat thin mid-palate and slightly green, chalky tannins. Some chocolate/toasty oak on the finish. Decent enough for the price but no where near as full and balanced as past vintages.

NV Pearly Bay Celebration Cape Winelands, South Africa.
$7 8% abv. A sweet bubbly made from Muscat d’Alexandrie. My family loves moscato d’asti and this sparkler fills the bill at a ridiculously low price. Rich muscat nose of floral and honey, fairly sweet (76 gm/l), and enough acidity to keep things interesting. Not at all serious but it sure is fun.

2005 Château Monbousquet La Rosée de Monbousquet Bordeaux, FR.
$12 Imp: Touton.
Oak-o-phobes beware. This wine sees some serious new barrique. It’s a fully dry wine with heavily buttered, light red fruit flavor. Not much of a finish either. If I’m going to drink Bordeaux rosé, I’d take the ’04 Pavie rosé over this one in a heart beat (although I’d rather have Tempier).

Bill, thanks for the notes, particularly on the Bronzinelle. I've liked those from the late 90's, but what I've really liked is the lesser cuvee, I think it is called the Tradition, even better. They started off pretty stern, but lately have been showing their stuff. The '98 is not ready yet, but the 99 and 00 are really something special. An amazing bit of juice for the $$$.

Bill:

Thanks for the notes. They must have upped the ante this year on the oak in the Monbousquet. I wasn't a fan of it before, but two of us were trying to decide whether it was oak we tasted, not how many trees went into the wine.

Oh well. No loss as I wouldn't be buying this in its 2004 or 2005 form.

Here's the old note on the '04.

• 2004 Château Monbousquet La Rosée de Monbousquet - France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Rosé (6/15/2005)
  Offline in Dobbs Ferry (Dale's House): Color has a little more orange/tawny than I’d expected, but still largely pink. Nose seems a little sweet with dark berry fruit. On the palate it is completely dry, but still lacks interest. Dale wonders if there is a bit of oak, but I can’t find it. Then again, one last absent-minded sip shows a hint of woody character in the back of the nose. Nothing objectively wrong with it, but where did the fun go? If I want a rosé from Bord grapes, I think I’ll stick to the Loire.

Enjoy,

Jim

Bill, I posted your note to the WLP database last night. Mechanically everything went fine -- it's very easy to find the tasting notes when you insert WTN in the text, and easy to post.

The note looks fine on http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1

I got some garbage info after posting, although I also got a message that the post went through into the database itself, and received a document number. The database updates sometime in the evening so you may be able to find it on April 18 sometime.

Regards, Bob

I've liked those from the late 90's, but what I've really liked is the lesser cuvee, I think it is called the Tradition, even better

I didnt realize they produced a lesser cuvee, OW, as I figured $12 would be the low end. I'll most certainly look out for it as in years past Bronzinelle has been quite yummy.

They must have upped the ante this year on the oak in the Monbousquet.

I didnt have it in years past, Jim, but our notes sure sound similar. It wasnt so much a big blast of wood as it was that buttery palate flavor I get from overoaked chard. I just don't like that at all.

Bill, I posted your note to the WLP database last night. Mechanically everything went fine -- it's very easy to find the tasting notes when you insert WTN in the text, and easy to post.

Glad it went easily, Bob!