TN: A few wines at Paul's baconpalooza

Paul and Sandy Jaouen played kind hosts to this years baconpalooza a week ago this past Saturday, timed to coincide with the bounty of fresh tomatoes coming from their garden. Lovers of BLT's gathered to try various brands of bacon and to drink a little wine, too. Bacon brands represented were the North Country Smokehouse apple smoked, from New Hampshire, Vande Rose Farms applewood smoked, from Iowa, both of which were deemed top of the class, a good head and shoulders of the next two, Surry Farms hickory smoked, from Virginia, which was deemed by most to be too salty and Trader Joe's applewood smoked, which many found too sweet.

There were a lot more wines present than I took notes on, or even tried because it was a fairly hot and humid day, but here's what I have. Maybe some others that attended can add their notes?

• 1998 Müller-Catoir Haardter Bürgergarten Riesling Spätlese Flawed

  Germany, Pfalz

  Deep gold in color and showing more advanced than normal, or as it should. While still tasty, and offering up grilled peach and tropical fruit flavors and aromas, this has clearly seen some heat along the way.

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• 2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Salvation on a hot and humid day. Precise and invigorating with quince, almond, mineral and yellow fruit flavors and aromas. It's showing a surprising amount of residual sugar for a Sec and a quick check later on the stats chart I got at the domaine confirms that there's actually13.5 g/l in it. As a comparison, there's only 8.5 g/l in the '09 and 6.0 g/l in the '05. That said, the wine is brilliantly balanced. Just a delight to drink. Solid A-.

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• 2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Rosé

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

  Another revitalizing energy drink. This just perks you up with it's refreshing purity, it's zippy balance and it's crunchy bright red fruit and mineral character. Probably my favorite rose from 2010. A-.

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• 2009 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Nano whips out a Cabernet bottle wrapped in paper and asks us to guess. Fruit forward, with black and red fruit, no real tannins but good acidity. I'm the only one that guesses Gamay and am feeling confused and silly when he opens it to reveal a bottle of '89 Lafite, but am then vindicated when he tells of the switcheroo. Yeah me. This bottle was actually surprisingly fruit forward and softer than other bottles I've had with a little less mineral showing, though, as it turns out, Michel had also brought a bottle and that showed more structure and mineral. A-.

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• 2001 Patrick Jasmin Côte-Rôtie

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  This is showing a bit more ripeness than what normally comes from the domaine, with black fruit, bacon and light herb and olive notes. A touch softer than usual, which I think is a good thing as I sometimes find the acidity can be a bit too high with not enough framework to support it, but the wine falls off a little on the back. Two bottles I had of the '01 in California this past July should a little bit better follow through and maybe a tad more vibrant. A-/B+.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Barton

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  This bottle showed poorly. Also served double blind, it was disjointed and a bit harsh with the tannins and acidity seemingly at odds with each other. This wine normally shows a good amount of black fruit, but I found the fruit in short supply here. A little bit of tobacco, but a too strong bitter green note dominated the wine and while I've never noticed any woodiness in this wine previously, this bottle showed a good deal. A C+, but I don't think this is a representative bottle, though it's not corked or cooked.

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• 2001 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  A delicious wine just hitting its prime drinking window. This bottle is showing a little bit more expressively than one I had at the LA offline in July, with more of a black fruit character. Good weight and balance with a nice interplay between the fruit and its usual dance partners, garrigue and spice. It picks up hints of baked earth with air. Would've been better in cooler weather, but it certainly beats a sharp stick in the eye. A.

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