nphase has never been a fan of this wine, which honestly, has always befuddled me a bit since he's typically a fan of that relatively lean style. I'm certainly less a fan of that style, but I've found Lilbert really hits the spot for me when I want a hipster low-pH kind of wine. This fits the bill perfectly -- and I'll thank nphase for bringing this to lunch. It's definitely got that heightened acidity, but at the same time, some lemon curd which to me seems to round out all the sharp edges. It gets better with air too -- I think this is one to cellar, since I imagine the age will help this mellow out.
This is a really nice and taut wine, showing the acidity of the vintage quite well. It's not necessarily the most complex or exciting wine, but there's a lot of solid material here. The heightened acidity does show a touch too much for me, despite a bit of a roundedness on the palate.
Don't know where this came from, but this bottle was from the 1980s. Initially, it was mushroomy and earthy, but counterbalanced with really nice fruit and freshness. Zippy acidity and a really convincing amount of stuffing here. Honestly I'm slightly surprised by how well this aged, but I can't deny that this was an outstanding bottle of champagne. It faded a bit with air -- it lost a bit of the freshness and more of those mushroom notes emerged -- but it was still an impressive bottle. I wonder if the modern day incarnations would be like this in the 2040s...
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Honestly, I still can't quite figure out Dancer. Some of the wines are too reductive and clammed up for my palate, but some of them are absolutely gorgeous. This belongs in the latter camp. Yes, this was intensely reductive, but there was also some really nice white fruit to balance everything out. A bigger wine, this certainly helps with the leanness that I sometimes experience.
Served double blind, but playing the player, I could have guessed it was gamay before I even poured it in my glass. The nose is truly quite nice, with all of the gamay elements that I like, without any of of those sickly candied flavours that I detest. It's fruity and earthy, with some really nice florals too. The palate is intensely fruity as well, but there seems to be enough earthiness here to cut any notion that this might be cloying. Never over-the-top in its carbonic or glou glou elements, this is a large-scaled gamay that actually displays and holds its gravitas.
White rioja has always been a bit of a struggle to me. Part of it is that it is incredibly difficult to pair (and it's not particularly pleasant when you're drinking it without food either), and the other part is that it kind of smells like the heartbreak of premoxed white Burgundy. Well, this bottle is no exception, but thinking that this would have paired well with Cantonese lobster noodles, I brought this along. Indeed, the pairing is brilliant. The sweetness of the lobster helps accentuate the acidity in this otherwise waxy and oily wine, and the nutty, oxidative elements give way to the salinity in the brown sauce. It's certainly an odd wine, and honestly, I don't know if I would feel as bullish about this wine on another day, but today, it just worked perfectly.
From a disciple of Leroy, if I have my story straight. And it shows -- this is just really great chenin. There's a tropical mix of fruit on the nose, showing a little towards the white side of the spectrum. Great cut and acidity on the palate, balanced with just the right amount of animal wooliness (which is, by the way, very little). Mineral and earthy to boot. Really good stuff.
Lot May 2014. Presumably disgorged November 2016. This bottle was showing a lot of sweet apples, both on the nose and palate. Really fresh, with a mousse that is just a slight bit creamy and rich. A bit of chalkiness on the back end to finish things off.
Disgorged December 2015, 7 g/L dosage. Yes, yes, yes, this is probably the best entry level champagne of them all (I think this may be the QPR champion of the Bereche lineup). Sweet red apples, and enough dosage to round out all of that modern champenois acidity. Mineral, refreshing, and not complex to the point of being tough slogging, this really hits the balance point for me in terms of entry level bottlings. I'm still hard-pressed to think of any that are better.
You know, I think as far as glou-glou red wines go, I think poulsard and trousseau are my favourites. That lightness and gentle red fruit, with those earthy tones (that for some reason always remind me of Domaine Leroy's burgundies) always seem to do it it for me. This is a little heavy on the dirt side, but there's a nice perfumed red fruit here to along with the earth. It's light and really pleasant drinking.
From magnum. Bouchard's wines are incredibly annoying to keep track of, but I'm fairly certain this wine is legally a vintage wine, and that I'm putting this in the right place. The nose here is extremely spicy, especially in the context of champagne, and this is relatively fat and large-scaled wine. Great acidity that's balanced well -- this isn't one of those bottles that come across as too lean.
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
Too reduced and stinky on the nose, even with a lot of time, this refused to blow off. There's nice crunchy fruit on the nose and palate here, definitely on the red side of the spectrum, but there also seems to be a bit more oak than I care for, which adds some astringency to the wine. Slightly candied as well, this is likely too young and will need time to settle down. Integrating the oak, losing the baby fat, and oxidizing some of the sulphur will be needed for this to really shine.
#70-17, 13% abv. Magnum 74/899. Is it just me or am I really starting to come around to dry riesling? I think this was a great example of the style, with some really fresh fruit on the nose that clearly shows this wine's youth. It has yet to settle down -- there's lots of material here -- but the balance is excellent. This wine doesn't suffer from one of the problems of GGs -- too much acid without much else -- it's much more balanced, perhaps thanks to the relatively riper grapes in the Rheingau.
#10-16, 7.5% abv. I sort of knew it was a mistake to open this wine now, but I didn't really have much other riesling on hand at the moment (yeah, right), and so I figured I'd sacrifice a bottle of this to do a check in. It's definitely got the right material in the wine, but this just isn't rightly expressive at the moment. Lots of minerality on the palate gives this a really firm backbone.
2007 Lilbert-Fils Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Millésimé Cramant 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
nphase has never been a fan of this wine, which honestly, has always befuddled me a bit since he's typically a fan of that relatively lean style. I'm certainly less a fan of that style, but I've found Lilbert really hits the spot for me when I want a hipster low-pH kind of wine. This fits the bill perfectly -- and I'll thank nphase for bringing this to lunch. It's definitely got that heightened acidity, but at the same time, some lemon curd which to me seems to round out all the sharp edges. It gets better with air too -- I think this is one to cellar, since I imagine the age will help this mellow out.
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2004 Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé 88 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
This is a really nice and taut wine, showing the acidity of the vintage quite well. It's not necessarily the most complex or exciting wine, but there's a lot of solid material here. The heightened acidity does show a touch too much for me, despite a bit of a roundedness on the palate.
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NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française 93 Points
France, Champagne
Don't know where this came from, but this bottle was from the 1980s. Initially, it was mushroomy and earthy, but counterbalanced with really nice fruit and freshness. Zippy acidity and a really convincing amount of stuffing here. Honestly I'm slightly surprised by how well this aged, but I can't deny that this was an outstanding bottle of champagne. It faded a bit with air -- it lost a bit of the freshness and more of those mushroom notes emerged -- but it was still an impressive bottle. I wonder if the modern day incarnations would be like this in the 2040s...
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2014 Vincent Dancer Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Tête du Clos 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Honestly, I still can't quite figure out Dancer. Some of the wines are too reductive and clammed up for my palate, but some of them are absolutely gorgeous. This belongs in the latter camp. Yes, this was intensely reductive, but there was also some really nice white fruit to balance everything out. A bigger wine, this certainly helps with the leanness that I sometimes experience.
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2013 Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvée 3.14 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon
Served double blind, but playing the player, I could have guessed it was gamay before I even poured it in my glass. The nose is truly quite nice, with all of the gamay elements that I like, without any of of those sickly candied flavours that I detest. It's fruity and earthy, with some really nice florals too. The palate is intensely fruity as well, but there seems to be enough earthiness here to cut any notion that this might be cloying. Never over-the-top in its carbonic or glou glou elements, this is a large-scaled gamay that actually displays and holds its gravitas.
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2004 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia 93 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
White rioja has always been a bit of a struggle to me. Part of it is that it is incredibly difficult to pair (and it's not particularly pleasant when you're drinking it without food either), and the other part is that it kind of smells like the heartbreak of premoxed white Burgundy. Well, this bottle is no exception, but thinking that this would have paired well with Cantonese lobster noodles, I brought this along. Indeed, the pairing is brilliant. The sweetness of the lobster helps accentuate the acidity in this otherwise waxy and oily wine, and the nutty, oxidative elements give way to the salinity in the brown sauce. It's certainly an odd wine, and honestly, I don't know if I would feel as bullish about this wine on another day, but today, it just worked perfectly.
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2014 I. et S. Bernaudeau Les Onglés 93 Points
France, Vin de France
From a disciple of Leroy, if I have my story straight. And it shows -- this is just really great chenin. There's a tropical mix of fruit on the nose, showing a little towards the white side of the spectrum. Great cut and acidity on the palate, balanced with just the right amount of animal wooliness (which is, by the way, very little). Mineral and earthy to boot. Really good stuff.
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NV Agrapart Champagne Les 7 Crus Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
Lot May 2014. Presumably disgorged November 2016. This bottle was showing a lot of sweet apples, both on the nose and palate. Really fresh, with a mousse that is just a slight bit creamy and rich. A bit of chalkiness on the back end to finish things off.
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NV Bérêche et Fils Champagne Brut Réserve 93 Points
France, Champagne
Disgorged December 2015, 7 g/L dosage. Yes, yes, yes, this is probably the best entry level champagne of them all (I think this may be the QPR champion of the Bereche lineup). Sweet red apples, and enough dosage to round out all of that modern champenois acidity. Mineral, refreshing, and not complex to the point of being tough slogging, this really hits the balance point for me in terms of entry level bottlings. I'm still hard-pressed to think of any that are better.
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2016 Renaud Bruyère & Adeline Houillon Arbois 90 Points
France, Jura, Arbois
You know, I think as far as glou-glou red wines go, I think poulsard and trousseau are my favourites. That lightness and gentle red fruit, with those earthy tones (that for some reason always remind me of Domaine Leroy's burgundies) always seem to do it it for me. This is a little heavy on the dirt side, but there's a nice perfumed red fruit here to along with the earth. It's light and really pleasant drinking.
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2013 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Millésimé Blanc de Noirs Les Ursules 90 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. Bouchard's wines are incredibly annoying to keep track of, but I'm fairly certain this wine is legally a vintage wine, and that I'm putting this in the right place. The nose here is extremely spicy, especially in the context of champagne, and this is relatively fat and large-scaled wine. Great acidity that's balanced well -- this isn't one of those bottles that come across as too lean.
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2015 Drouhin Oregon Roserock Pinot Noir Zéphirine 85 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
Too reduced and stinky on the nose, even with a lot of time, this refused to blow off. There's nice crunchy fruit on the nose and palate here, definitely on the red side of the spectrum, but there also seems to be a bit more oak than I care for, which adds some astringency to the wine. Slightly candied as well, this is likely too young and will need time to settle down. Integrating the oak, losing the baby fat, and oxidizing some of the sulphur will be needed for this to really shine.
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2016 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points
Germany, Rheingau
#70-17, 13% abv. Magnum 74/899. Is it just me or am I really starting to come around to dry riesling? I think this was a great example of the style, with some really fresh fruit on the nose that clearly shows this wine's youth. It has yet to settle down -- there's lots of material here -- but the balance is excellent. This wine doesn't suffer from one of the problems of GGs -- too much acid without much else -- it's much more balanced, perhaps thanks to the relatively riper grapes in the Rheingau.
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2015 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#10-16, 7.5% abv. I sort of knew it was a mistake to open this wine now, but I didn't really have much other riesling on hand at the moment (yeah, right), and so I figured I'd sacrifice a bottle of this to do a check in. It's definitely got the right material in the wine, but this just isn't rightly expressive at the moment. Lots of minerality on the palate gives this a really firm backbone.
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