QPR tasting #1

Frankfurt
Tasted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 by Will with 917 views

Introduction

Every once in a while I organise a so-called "QPR tasting" with friends. The aim is to discover great, cheap wines, if possible available locally.

The inofficial rules include:
- 1 bottle per person
- no bottle should cost more than 20 euros
- the average cost (per person) for the tasting should be in the 10-15 euros range
- wines should be available locally whenever possible

Flight 1 - Alsatian whites (4 Notes)

This was a good opportunity to try different wines from the same producer, with a clear difference between the grapes and the various terroirs.

Flight 2 - Southern France reds (4 Notes)

We started the flight with an Austrian Blaufrankish wine whose name I cannot remember and which was quite awful, with a strong nose of burnt rubber. Bleh! Fortunately enough the rest of the flight was much better!

  • 2002 Domaine de la Mordorée Lirac Cuvée de la Reine des Bois

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Lirac

    I was slightly surprised by this one since it showed quite different aro;as fro; when I tried it at the winery. Although it had the same mouthfeel (very tannic) than I remembered, and although I still find it an incredible effort (and success!), especially for this vintage, the one I remembered was mainly on fruit/primary aromas. This one showed very strong sweaty and barnyard-like aromas on the nose. They faded after a while but could still be felt. Very good, but less than I remembered.

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  • 2000 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône

    Unfortunately the bottle was slightly corked - after a while in the decanter it almost completely disappeared though, and the wine was very drinkable. However I am afraid some of the fruit might have faded away due to this. For a very nice expression of grenache, I would say old vines due to the very strong cherries aromas. Not as funky as I would have thought from Beaucastel. Delicious nonetheless, that's probably the bottle we drank the quickest in the whole evening. Regarding the price, I would say this is a bit expensive for what it is and I had the impression to pay a bit for the name - however this is based on an assessment of the wine as it is now - since it clearly has enough structure to age nicely, it might turn out to be much better in a couple of years, and then deserve its price.

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  • 2001 Abbaye Sylva Plana Faugères Le Songe de l'Abbé

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Faugères

    A more evolved bottle than the one I had 2 days before - still a lot of fruit but masked a bit by oak. Also starting to show tertiary aromas of coffee and leather. This one was a bit too oaky for my taste, but it had all the "funk" I was expecting compared to the very fruit-driven previous bottle. a really good QPR.

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  • 2001 Domaine Gardiés Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel Vieilles Vignes

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel

    A very nice wine from Roussillon, one can feel the sunshine out of the glass. Quite "new world" in style, nobody thought it was a French wine! Very ripe fruit, quite tannic, clear oakiness but well integrated. Can age a little more. The kind of wines that bring a smile to my face.

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Flight 3 - Dessert wine (1 Note)

I bought this wine only based on the name in a French supermarket... good call!

Closing

All in all very nice wines. I should have known better than to bring a wine (the Austrian one) that was completely out of context - that was the only off note, apart of course from the slight corkiness of the Coudoulet :(

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