This is starting to sing. Terrific core of substance, with Levet you can’t really call it fruit. Terrific texture, with all that feral, gamey, dry minerality you expect from this address. Maybe missing an extra gear or complexity to really go to the highest level, but still so good.
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Bright medium to dark red. Very classical old school Cote-Rotie, blood, iron, smoke, charcoal, game and some old-fashioned funk. Outstanding wine that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder why so much wine is modern and lacking in individuality. This wine has body and soul! Night and day vs the Chevillon NSG that preceded it, I wondered whether serving something so different (bottle picking error for the second burgudy...) in the same meal (same course!) would work but it was fine. Just terrific high interest wine, savoury, rich yet elegant and with deep fruit, and ever so tasty. Best wine of Christmas. Decant it - we didn't, but we should have!
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67PM with Roger + friends (67 Pall Mall): Wow - this was fabulous from the first sniff, and surely at peak. Deep, dark fruit and plenty of smokiness on the nose. More of the delicious blackberry character through the palate, and a salty, briney quality too. Fairly clean - certainly more so than a relatively blocky and tannic bottle tried a few months ago - but with plenty of character and charm, and savoury enough to match perfectly with our meaty mains. Actually quite fresh and fleet of foot, too. A really lovely wine.
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Loire Wines of North London (Must & Lees): Off-theme bottle opened simply because we had it to hand. Feral and savoury on the nose, which was slightly more evolved than I'd expected for an '05. Lean, graphitey and gamey on the palate, with high acidity and a very dry, grown-up feel. I found it delicious, and it would have been even better with food.
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TWS North London - Loire (Must & Lees, N1): The fateful 'one for the road' at our Loire tasting. A nose that could only be Cote-Rotie with all the nervous energy and vitality that makes it unique. Cordite, bacon, bloody meat, leather, soy, some dried flowers (pot pourri?) and dark fruit. Honestly I found the nose pretty spectacular - but I wasn't as enamoured of the palate. My interpretation is that it's drying out - grippy, assertive tannins without much in the way of fruit to balance it out. Dry, savoury and a little challenging - maybe it needs a steak but I'm not convinced. That nose though...
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(Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Chavaroche / La Péroline) Dark red violet color; charcoal and black fruit nose; tart black fruit, pepper and sage palate; medium-plus finish
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2/25/2024 - blanquito wrote:
This is starting to sing. Terrific core of substance, with Levet you can’t really call it fruit. Terrific texture, with all that feral, gamey, dry minerality you expect from this address. Maybe missing an extra gear or complexity to really go to the highest level, but still so good.
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12/25/2023 - oenanthe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bright medium to dark red. Very classical old school Cote-Rotie, blood, iron, smoke, charcoal, game and some old-fashioned funk. Outstanding wine that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder why so much wine is modern and lacking in individuality. This wine has body and soul! Night and day vs the Chevillon NSG that preceded it, I wondered whether serving something so different (bottle picking error for the second burgudy...) in the same meal (same course!) would work but it was fine. Just terrific high interest wine, savoury, rich yet elegant and with deep fruit, and ever so tasty. Best wine of Christmas. Decant it - we didn't, but we should have!
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11/14/2023 - NickA Likes this wine: 94 Points
67PM with Roger + friends (67 Pall Mall): Wow - this was fabulous from the first sniff, and surely at peak. Deep, dark fruit and plenty of smokiness on the nose. More of the delicious blackberry character through the palate, and a salty, briney quality too. Fairly clean - certainly more so than a relatively blocky and tannic bottle tried a few months ago - but with plenty of character and charm, and savoury enough to match perfectly with our meaty mains. Actually quite fresh and fleet of foot, too. A really lovely wine.
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7/20/2023 - NickA Likes this wine: 92 Points
Loire Wines of North London (Must & Lees): Off-theme bottle opened simply because we had it to hand. Feral and savoury on the nose, which was slightly more evolved than I'd expected for an '05. Lean, graphitey and gamey on the palate, with high acidity and a very dry, grown-up feel. I found it delicious, and it would have been even better with food.
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7/20/2023 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine: 88 Points
TWS North London - Loire (Must & Lees, N1): The fateful 'one for the road' at our Loire tasting. A nose that could only be Cote-Rotie with all the nervous energy and vitality that makes it unique. Cordite, bacon, bloody meat, leather, soy, some dried flowers (pot pourri?) and dark fruit. Honestly I found the nose pretty spectacular - but I wasn't as enamoured of the palate. My interpretation is that it's drying out - grippy, assertive tannins without much in the way of fruit to balance it out. Dry, savoury and a little challenging - maybe it needs a steak but I'm not convinced. That nose though...
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