A Corky, Quirky Evening

• 2000 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis 1er Cru Séchet Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Great start to the evening-oxidized.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1996 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Medium yellow. Intrusive oak that robs this of the Perrieres rockiness and clips the finish. This only gets worse over time. Some '96 acidity comes through, but this is not enough to carry the wine through the lumber.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2000 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

  Deep yellow. Tropical fruit, creamy corn, and orange. Big, viscous wine without quite enough buttressing acidity. It reminded me of Zind Humbrecht wines-Tokay Pinot Gris in its exotic fruitiness and Gewurztraminer in its cyanic, bitter finish. This fell apart within a half hour of being poured. Extremely disappointing for a Hirtzberger wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1998 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Continuing down the path of flaw after flaw, this one was corked.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1990 Georges Lignier et Fils Clos Saint-Denis

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

  Excellent, even medium ruby. Lots of upfront licorice, herb, and menthol aromatics, with the latter component really asserting itself as it opened. Beautiful weight, difficult to characterize fruit, crisp acidity and a good dose of unresolved tannins-in short, still quite young and structured. Cooler character than most '90s. Only at the very end of the bottle did it begin to show any secondary perfume. The clear standout tonight even if not a mind bending Burgundy.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Le Rocher des Violettes Côt Vieilles Vignes

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine

  Deep color. Oaky base, cedary with good volume of fruit. This was served blind and my initial inclination was in the direction of Italy or Spain. Fairly approachable now without a lot of grip or tannin to resolve. A good mouthful.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Mama said there would be days like this-oxidation, TCA, woodiness, insufficient acidity. Oh well, sometimes you just have to laugh at what wines bring you. At least a lovely red Burgundy and an interesting Loire red thrown into the mix to salvage things.