Gramona Cava Brut Gran Reserva 2003 is a very pretty wine indeed! The nose is elegant and savoury with lots of clover. The palate is a touch fruity, but has elegant mousse and fine acidity despite the year. Nice!
Larmandier-Bernier Brut 1er Cru NV is a nice Champagne that is mostly (80% IIRC) Chardonnay. The nose is strange - but nice - in that it is more a sweet pear scent than a savoury appley one! It has lovely acidity and is very full bodied for a mostly Chardonnay champagne. Nice stuff!
André Clouet Brut Grande Réserve Blanc de Noirs NV is a very nice Bl de N indeed. I generally prefer the tarter style of Bl de Bl, but this wine in its elegant floral notes and fine, acidic structure wins my heart also. It is also mineral which is both nice and IMO something too rarely seen in Bl de N. Very nice!
Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio 2006 is a very nice Alto-Adige PG: appley, ripe and mineral. It is rather full bodied but not too weighty and the minerality and ok acidity keep it fresh. Nice!
Alois Lageder Gewurztraminer 2006 is, on the nose, a very restrained example of the grape with a floral and mineral aspect but without any too forward sweetness. The palate is rosy and mineral and full bodied. Nice stuff indeed!
Martin Codax Burgáns Albariño Rias Baixas 2006 is fresh and has much sea-breeze. Refreshing and salty yet peachy. Nice.
Palacios Remondo (Alvaro Palacios) Placet 2005 is a 100% Viura from Rioja. The nose is very fruity - fruity enough to hide the oak. The palate is too oaky however. I don't get it.
Domaine Alphonse Mellot Sancerre La Moussière 2005 is oaky but also mineral. Why the oak?
Domaine Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Cuvée Edmond 2001 is super oaky. Sure it has a very long aftertaste and it is an impressive wine, but I still find it abominable. I am sure it is only my prejudices that make me say so and am equally sure than many will find this wine absolutely fantastic.
Domaine Lucien Crochet Sancerre 2005 is pungently blackcurranty and mineral - very Sancerre, but with some leanings toward the NZ style in its pungency.
Domaine Lucien Crochet Sancerre "Le Chêne" 2005 is pretty much identical to the above. Maybe I am just biased against a grape that I'm not too fond of, but these were rather pointless wines to me.
Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 2005 is steely and full-on-fruity, but with nice acidity. A very decent basic Chablis.
Domaine W. Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 2005 is a rather soft style compared to the following Clos. It has nice fruit, nice minerals but just seems too soft and lacks the nervosity I hope to see in Chablis.
Dom W. Fèvre Chablis GC Les Clos 2005 is quite a lovely wine: steely and nervous, perfectly delineated and impressive. I am so happy that Fèvre have toned down their oak - the result is impressive. Yet the style seems very fruity despite its true Chablis style, which - to me at least - makes it very approachable young. Very nice!
Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four 2004 is oaky. Yet this is the sort of overt oak that I can handle. It has a bright lemon-curd-like character and minerality that isn't swamped by the oak so the whole is very fresh and moreish. Nice acids also. Quite a delight despite the oak, for an oakophobe like me!
Jean Thévenet Domaine de la Bongran Viré-Clessé Cuvée Tradition 2002 must have some botrytis in it? The nose has ketchup and orange peels and is unique - and I always applaud uniqueness - yet not at all to my style. Super ripe, perhaps a touch of RS, decent acidity yet much too weighty for me. Impressive for sure, but I won't come near it again!
Chateau Les Charmes Godard is from Fronsac, Bordeaux and is apparently highly rated by Parker. Well, it is massively oaky. This sucks.
Ch. de Beaucastel Perrin Réserve Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2006 is delightfully fresh - though fresh is rarely a word I use with Rhone whites. It has lovely white fruit and minerals, and even adequate acidity for the area. Not bad at all!
Ch. de Beaucastel Roussanne Vieilles Vignes 2004 is a very impressive wine. I admit it is complex. I admit it has a very interesting nose of apricot, minerals and lemon curd. Yet it is extremely full bodied and just too much for me. It has unbelievable length. This is very impressive, yet I am not sure I will enjoy it even with age. It is just too big.
Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling Urgestein 2006 is pure and mineral and nice.
Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz 2005 is warm and open and mineral, yet a bit too soft. Pleasant, but not something I would seek out.
Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Kammerner Renner 2005 is mineral and pungent and rather nice! Sure it has big and ripe fruit but its not bad at all.
Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Lamm 2005 has a tighter core than the previous two GVs and is all the better for it. It is more mineral and more impressive. Nice.
Pipers Brook Ninth Island Riesling 2005 is a rather confected and too obviously limey wine from Tasmania. Not bad, to be honest, but just a touch too obvious.
Pipers Brook Riesling 2005 is the better (and more expensive) version of the previous according to the blurb. And yes, it is indeed better and more expensive. It is tropical but not so confected and obvious. Pretty nice.
Pipers Brook Estate Chardonnay 2003 is not the worst offender in the oak department, but there was still too much of it for me. There were some truly nice citrussy hints underneath, but I quickly got bored and moved on....
Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling 2005 apparently has some German (Loosen was it?) Riesling mixed in. It's not bad: simple and Riesling and petrolly.
Bonny Doon Malvasia Bianca 2005 is very floral and attractive, but the palate is a touch too weighty despite having a nice mineral touch.
-O-