After an emergency bread/chevre run, made trip up to Candlewood Lake. Our crew of 11 to taste Pascal Cotat had dwindled to 6, but it was a quality six! A nice assortment of cheeses, charcuterie (speck and Smoking Goose rabbit/pork cheek pate were my favorites),. Olives, Etc., Later in evening we had a great seafood (shrimp, scallop, cod) stew/chowder, and sausages with the reds.
2018 Grongnet Special Club
Slightly more PN than chard. Beautiful, elegant, pear and brioche, a little smoke on long finish. B+/A-
2010 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
Funky cheesey nose, good acids but seems older and not very long. Not a fan B-/C+
2008 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
Full rich spicy with a saline tang on finish. B+
2008 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre
Good zip but feels like this one is fully ready and I wouldn;t wait. B/B+
Pascal Cotat Chavignol Rose Lot 2012
Lean, weedy, fading. C+
Pascal Cotat Chavignol Rose Lot 2010
I thought lovely, think some others liked less, Minerally and long, Ready. B+
2005 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre not as awful as Tuesday’s bottle, but still oxidized, C+
2007 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
Weird reductive nose nose at first, but long good acids and pretty classic on palate. With time nose cleared and I thought very good B+
2013 Vatan Clos la Neore Sancerre
Fabulous, citrus and green apple, apple blossoms, wax. A-
Pascal Cotat Chavignol Rose Lot 2008
very good, crunchy red fruits, herby. B/B+
Pascal Cotat Chavignol Rose Lot 2007
Cheesy weak, tired C+/C
2004 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
I liked, good length, fresh citrus, nice chalky finish. B/B+
2004 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre
Bubbles/CO2. This has apparently refermented in bottle, kind of made a nice petillant though! Would be a big hit at a Paris natural wine bar. B-
2003 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
Ripe, round, ok for vintage. B-/C+
2003 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre
This is SO 2003 , round and flabby. C/C+
2002 Pascal Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre
Pretty fabulous, fresh and long, citrus and wild spearmint, complex. A-
2002 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre
Interesting, plenty fresh, but less pleasurable than the MD. B+/B
2002 Thomas Labaille Monts Damnes Buster Sancerre
This is pretty oxidized, not for me. C
More roses
(if I remember correctly these had the vintage and appellation, the younger roses served earlier were VdF with vintage as a lot number)
2004 Pascal Cotat Chavignol Sancerre Rose
Tired, round. C+/B-
2003 Pascal Cotat Chavignol Sancerre Rose
My note only read vile, I think this was rather bacterial D
2002 Pascal Cotat Chavignol Sancerre Rose
Good, strawberries, cherries and herbs, with citrus zest, no hurry. B+
Back to white for the late harvest wines
2003 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre Cuvee Speciale
Premoxed (or Oxed if you prefer) C
2002 Pascal Cotat Grande Cote Sancerre Cuvee Speciale
Sweet and overripe for my tastes. C+
Lets visit the cousin
1996 Francois Cotat Monts Damnes Sancerre Cuvee Speciale
Delicious, just a hint of brown sugar, sweet grapefruit and blood orange, waxy. A-
Whew. Sausages came out
Blinded with an obvious Bordeaux, I held out for St Julien due to a big tobacco notes, but it was the 1986 Ch. Palmer. I was surprised by vintage as well, no hard tannins at all. Complex, long. A-/B+
1970 Tondonia. Gran Reserva
Somewhat lifted but I like, tangy acids with citrus and red cherry, herbal and exotic. I believe I liked more than some others. A-/B+
1970 Huet Clos de Bourg Vouvray Demi-Sec
Honey, sweet oranges, beeswax, Earl Grey, more a sense of sweetness than overt RS, very long and fulfilling. A-
Fun night (and I was glad to be crashing there, though I spit a lot I definitely wasn’t driving). In the end I think this solidified my opinion that maybe the Pascal wines are at their best a bit younger than his cousin’s wines.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.