Recent tastes

Two from Savennières:

Day one:
The 2005 Château d’Epiré, Savennières and the 2005 Château d’Epiré, Savennières Cuvée Spéciale were tasted side by side. Both show ripeness, salty minerality, bracing acidity and decent length. Both have scents and flavors in the lanolin, chamomile, hay, apple, beeswax end of the spectrum with very little of the honey, floral or quince/apricot/peach tones I often find (and prefer) in Savennières. The regular bottling is fairly open but by no means mature and makes for pretty good drinking now. The Spéciale is more closed, more intense and clearly more structured.
Day two:
Both of these are showing more fruit and minerality, and, less hay and lanolin today. Both were served colder than when served on day one which may account for a slightly more closed delivery for both. Neither has lost ground in any respect.
Both are imported by Kermit Lynch, the regular is about $15, the Spéciale about $19 and neither is quite the style of Savennières I prefer but both are well-made and very well priced.
Certainly, both could use a little time down.

Others:

2005 Tiefenbruner, Chardonnay:
Smells sweet but isn’t; somewhat floral on the nose; clean, quite crisp and lively in the mouth with chardonnay and mineral flavors, nice balance and moderate length. Nothing deep or rich about this but it isn’t woody or buttery and has a lovely freshness and tang. 13% alcohol, imported by Winebow and about $10; I’ll buy more.

2004 Catena, Malbec:
Oaky nose, confected fruit and a sweet n’ sour finish. The barrel does not allow what seems to be respectable fruit get through. For those who like oaky, sugary, soupy, very California-style red wines, ‘sure to be a hit. 13.8% alcohol, imported by Billington Imports and about $17; I wouldn’t accept it as a gift let alone buy it again.

Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Those Savenierres still sound pretty good Jim. Perhaps picked just a tad too early?

$10 non-buttery/woody Chardonnay is rare as hens teeth, so it sounds like you found a good one.

As for Catena...I used to buy a lot of their wines (esp. the Malbec) until they ratcheted up the wood about 5 years ago. I even bought their Catena Alta Chardonnay once.

While I'm here, have you had any of the 2005 Brun Cru Beaujolais? I picked up a couple (Fleurie & Moulin-a-Vent) from Chambers St. and don't know whether these are wines to leave alone for a while or drink up this summer.

While I'm here, have you had any of the 2005 Brun Cru Beaujolais? I picked up a couple (Fleurie & Moulin-a-Vent) from Chambers St. and don't know whether these are wines to leave alone for a while or drink up this summer.

I'm not Jim, but I'd like to be.

I picked up the same wine at Chambers, too, a few weeks back. I thought the Fleurie was just delicious right now, though that's not to say it wouldn't benefit from a short nap.
My thought was to bury the Moulin for a year or so - it was fairly tight.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks John. Perhaps I will open a Fleurie this weekend (or at least bring it along so that it might get opened).

While I'm here, have you had any of the 2005 Brun Cru Beaujolais? I picked up a couple (Fleurie & Moulin-a-Vent) from Chambers St. and don't know whether these are wines to leave alone for a while or drink up this summer.

David,
John makes a good call although I think the Moulin-a-Vent may need longer than a single year. I can say that it will be delightful to follow them both over time and I have enough to do just that.
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

You don't worry about the warning label regarding minimal sulphur? I know my cellar is quite cold, but have these wines held up ok in the past?

You don't worry about the warning label regarding minimal sulphur? I know my cellar is quite cold, but have these wines held up ok in the past?

I think it was Dressner who told me he was just now getting around to the 1991's. There's a lot of other ways to preserve wine over time and it would surprise me a great deal if Jean-Paul Brun doesn't know most of them.
Best, Jim

Jim, I too posted similiar remarks about the Catena Malbec on the Open Mike thread. I was surprised at the change of style but found the Kaiken more my cup of tea!!