Paris, Loire, Alsace
Tasted Friday, April 6, 2012 - Saturday, April 14, 2012 by drwine2001 with 1,641 views
While I've catalogued domain visits separately as freestanding events, there was the usual plethora of things to taste and drink along the way, ranging from several great classics to wines previously unknown to me. It helps to have friends with a deep cellar, but there are still many treasures awaiting you on wine lists around the country.
(4/8/2012)
100% Chardonnary aged on the lees for 6 years. Deep yellow. Bollinger-like nose-would never have guessed Chardonnay. Big, powerful wine with some caramel notes. Very dry. Excellent.
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(4/8/2012)
Same producer as the Alexis St. Aude, different label. Also 100% Chardonnay, aged for 5 years on the lees. Fresher, lighter, higher acid than the older cuvee. A more typical Blanc de Blancs wine. Very good.
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(4/8/2012)
Disgusting corked.
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(4/8/2012)
Replaced the flawed 1983. Nice richness of Chenin with wooly funk but well retained fruit. Just a hint of nuttiness.
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(4/8/2012)
Light color for its age. Distinctive nose of spearmint that lasted through the whole bottle. Lighter weight than most Edmonds I've had but a touch of vanillin, fabulous acidity. Closer to typical unwooded Sancerre than usual. Really good.
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(4/8/2012)
Deep ruby. Obvious wood, more so than any Barthod I can recall. Red fruit and cocoa but dominated by oak. Not nearly as good as the sublime Cras from this year. Disappointing.
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(4/8/2012)
Medium ruby. Olives on the nose. Rich, tannic but much less exotic than the 2008 village wine the other night. Long. Needs time.
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(4/8/2012)
Golden. Unctuous, sweet, little botrytis, nice balance due to strong underlying acidity.
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(4/9/2012)
Light golden. Remarkable late harvested Sauvignon almost like a great Dagueneau in weight and texture. Still fresh, no oxidation, excellent minerality. It is actually not labeled as a Quincy and far outstrips anything I've had from the appellation.
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(4/9/2012)
Mature with some browning. Strange combination of stalkiness and artificial sweetness at first (chaptalization?), but this improved over time to show some gaminess, cocoa and ripe black fruits. Some VA. Not great but at least a '97 that has held on for 15 years. Drink now if you own any.
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(4/9/2012)
Typical light, mineral rather flavorless Sauvignon.
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(4/9/2012)
This had much more depth and interesting orange fruit than the Reuilly from the same producer.
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(4/9/2012)
Tasting at the Easter wine fare in Reuilly, we went through a depressing array of thin, earthy, uninteresting red wines. This stood out as the best of the lot by far and could have competed with Pinots from other more notable regions. Medium to light red. Lovely cherry and smoke aromatics. Light weight with deft use of wood that allows the Pinot fruit to come through. Subtle soil, good length. Well done!
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(4/9/2012)
Disgorged June, 2010. Fantastic nose of flowers, herbs and lemon. Medium weight, bright fruit and a bit of brioche. Breathtakingly vinous, harmonious, long, dry and delicious.
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(4/9/2012)
Pale. Intense underripe lemon scents and quinine flavors. Very good and like a small Sancerre.
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(4/9/2012)
Light ruby. Licorice and bright red fruit. Light weight, great acidity, a streak of earth running through it. Lovely Cote de Beaune wine.
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(4/9/2012)
Mature looking, brown edge. Exaggerated mint and green aromas. Light, earthy, short on fruit and hard edged. Not very pleasing.
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(4/9/2012)
Light golden. Honeyed nose. Heavily botrytised but not terribly sweet. Falls off in the finish. Interesting yet not wholly successful.
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(4/10/2012)
What a wine with which to start our stay in Alsace! Still light yellow. Citrus plus petrol aromatics. Absolutely dry. Perfect glycerine feel cut by incredible acidity without any harshness. Superb bottle. I'm sorry we could only spend 2 hours with it as it was still opening.
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(4/10/2012)
Decanted. Even, deep primary color. Powerful nose of grahite and anise. Pure red and black fruit without much complxity yet. Beautiful acidity, substantial tannins that are starting to loosen. Obviously Grand Cru quality and equally obvious that it's 20 years too young. Exciting to get a glimpse of this now (i.e., while I'm still alive).
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(4/10/2012)
Half bottle. Golden. Heavily botrytised nose with yellow peach. Unctuous, creamy and well balanced by acidity. Oh my, what a surprise and a wonderful treat.
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(4/10/2012)
Tulip yellow. Inviting scents of peach and citrus. Rich and spicy, clean fruit, fresh for 14 year old Pinot Gris, impeccable balance due to racy acidity. We shook our heads in wonder about this-marvelous. This was the antidote to all of the poorly balanced Pinot Gris we tasted in Alsace.
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(4/10/2012)
Promising color. Some wood, brambly black fruit and stemminess. Earthy, short on fruit and underripe in the mouth. I just don't get Alsatian Pinot Noir. Disappointing for this producer.
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(4/10/2012)
Half bottle. Quite light. Fantastically complex aromatics-petrol and herbs. All of that and tart green papaya fruit on the palate with blazing acidity but the additional layer of VT texture. This must be one of the driest Vendage Tardives I've ever had; in fact, it had a lot in common with the great '96 Clos Ste. Hune that we drank earlier today. Wow. Both Hugel wines we had tonight were really strutting.
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(4/11/2012)
Full yellow. Much fresher than the '99 Cuvée Catherine we drank earlier today. Started with more exotic notes and citrus that made me think of Pinot Gris but got more petrol and Riesling with air. Medium to full, rich, some sugar but electric acidity cuts through the fat. In the end, marvelous tension between fruit and acid. Outstanding wine.
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(4/11/2012)
Variable experience with this, but 10 km. from its place of birth, it was pristine. Light yellow, incredibly fresh, complex nose of white flowers, a touch of petrol, herbs, tea and apply fruit. Light at first, it picked up another layer with air. Bone dry, lime flavors, rapier-like acidity. Just mouthwatering. Not a lot separate this from the Clos Ste. Hune in style or quality this vintage when the bottles are right. Fantastic.
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(4/11/2012)
Medium ruby. Sexy nose smoky high char oak and sour red fruit. Gently oaky base, tart red fruit, average acidity and soil-inflected finish. Yes, it is pretty dressed up, but there is a lot to like and admire about this 10 year old Loire red. Impressive if a tad manipulated.
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(4/11/2012)
Pale. Pure, dry, lean, mineral and limey. Very much in linear Trimbach style.
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(4/11/2012)
Full yellow, a touch of brown. Low pitched peach and nuts. Then it became fully maderized and dull. Some botrytis deep in the background. Full bodied, some residual sugar. Just when we thought it was completely dead, it perked up in a remarkale way to show more lively stone fruit. Ah, the mysteries of older wines. Not one to hold or bet on at this point.
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(4/12/2012)
Pale. Crisp, dry, light and mineral. With faint Muscat perfume. Perfect as an apertif sip.
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(4/12/2012)
Medium yellow. Bright orange aromatics with a bit of perfume. Medium to full bodied, excellent buffering of the low residual sugar with well integrated acidity. Some soil on the extremely long finish. Nothing out of place here. After tasting younger examples of these blends at the domain, it was very impressive to see how the grapes meld together and give something really complex with time in the bottle.
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(4/12/2012)
Still quite deep ruby. Sexy nose of smoke and blackberry, but over time, the high char wood takes over. Medium weght, blak fruit and anise, crisp ending acidity. Very attractive, yet the oak is overblown, robbing it of some delicacy and the finish just astringent enough to detract from its harmony. The sad thing is that the outstanding material did not need all that.
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(4/12/2012)
What an object lesson in the incalculable value of never moving a wine. Light color retaining some green. Slowly building mature Riesling aromas. Light weight, lemon/lime fruit with light herbs. Blazing acidity that could have been confused with a '96. Long, mineral, brown tea inflected finish. This only improved for the 2 hours it lasted. I have had several bottles of this in the U.S. and it has never been as pristine as this bottle from an Alsatian restaurant. Briiliant and by my recollection, perhaps the equal of a Clos Ste. Hune of the same vintage drunk several months ago.
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(4/12/2012)
What a thrill to find and drink this. Deep ruby without clearing. Intense perfume of violets and black fruit. No evident wood, all pure fruit. Lean, linear and dry, just beginning to gain some flesh, but essentially strict without any sweetness or excess fat. Gorgeous acidity and an amazing finish which leaves stone dust on the tongue for minutes. Quintessential, pure Volnay. It had much more in common with the Frederic Emile Riesling alongside it than the wood drenched Vosne Suchots we had at lunch. A very great Volnay in the making. Optimally, hold until 2025 for full development, but if like me, you must try one now, that's okay too.
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(4/12/2012)
This is essentially a declassified SGN, but it is not labeled as such. Deep yellow with some orange, slightly cloudy. Initially some nuttuness made me worry about oxidation, but this quickly blew off to reveal ripe yellow peach without a trace of botrytis. Clean, intense and neither that sweet nor that heavy in the mouth. Perhaps not the peak of complexity, but an excellent dessert Riesling at any rate.
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NV de Venoge Champagne Brut Sélect Cordon Bleu
France, Champagne
(4/6/2012)
Pretty user friendly Champagne, but not too sweet and admirable minerality.
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2007 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Les Vaudenelles
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay
(4/7/2012)
I was served this blind and was correct on the vintage due to the racy acidity but misfired with Savigny or Pernand because of its brambly red fruit and licorice. It is slightly bigger than most of those wines, though. Very crisp, impressive depth. A few more years will tone down the acidity, but a pretty zesty drink now.
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2009 Yvon Métras Fleurie L'Ultime
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie
(4/7/2012)
Dark for Gamay. Brimming with raspberry fruit aromas and flavors but then adds some herbs and anise. Definitely sappy, but this has much better shape and acidity than when tasted a year ago out of magnum. Much easier to see what all the hype was about-extremely impressive!
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2010 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
(4/7/2012)
Deep color. Absolutely gorgeous, soaring aromas of violets-pure essence of Syrah. Medium weight, great acidity, strong fruit. Not nearly as weighty and overripe as the '09. Bravo!
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2010 Alain Graillot St. Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
(4/7/2012)
While this shared the potent acidity of the Crozes, this was much earthier and seemed to have a touch less of everything, including excitement.
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2006 Philippe Gonet Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
(4/7/2012)
Light yellow/brown. Very fine bead. Marvelous yeast, dry lemon nose. Ligt, dry, elegant and powerful with an incredible finish of rock and clay. I can't think of a single French white that I've tasted that matches the incredible structure of this wine. Go Gonet!
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2010 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Sec
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
(4/7/2012)
Very light. Butter, pear, and honey on the nose, but this is an honest to goodness, bracing, true Sec, just like the old days. Some quinine bitterness just to underscore the point. Loved it but it needs a lot of time.
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2010 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Irancy
France, Burgundy, Côtes d'Auxerre, Irancy
(4/7/2012)
Medium red without complete clarity. Earth, licorice and brambly red fruit on the nose (like Savigny), but only 2 of 3 in the mouth-where's the fruit? As much as I admire Vincent Dauvissat, this strikes me as one of those "Why bother?" Pinots.
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2008 Didier Dagueneau Blanc Fumé de Pouilly
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
(4/7/2012)
Limpid. Subtle, reticent floral and grapefruit scents. Almost feels like a Muscadet, but this packs quite a mineral and acid punch despite its seeming lack of presence.
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2008 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Rouge
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
(4/7/2012)
Medium ruby. This has typical Cabernet Franc character at beginning and end, with herbaceous, Chinon-like aromatics and a dry, earthy finish. What is in the middle of this sandwich is fascinating, though. There is so much chocolatey richness and cinnamon spice that at one point, it actually had me thinking of Mexican coffee! Unusual richness, especially for an '08.
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2010 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
(4/8/2012)
Pale. Bright grapefruit. Snappy, mineral, lovely texture. Top notch.
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2009 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon
(4/8/2012)
As wonderful and complex as before, but this bottle was the first to have a touch of brett.
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2009 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
(4/13/2012)
Pale. Pretty amazing intensity of sour lemon flavor and mineral grip compared to other 2009 Muscadets. Snappy yet has that extra element of texture. Super.
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2009 Evening Land Vineyards Beaune 1er Cru Bressandes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
(4/13/2012)
Deep ruby. Inviting nose of red fruit that is overtaken by the smokiness of heavily charred oak. Medium body with prominent wood, nice tart fruit and a bit of soil on the finish. In case you couldn't tell, this has too much goddamn wood for a wine of this class and size. A waste of otherwise delicious juice. It did not seem this extreme when tasted at the domain last fall.
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2010 Mas de Restanques Vacqueyras
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras
(4/13/2012)
Medium to dark red. Licorice pastille and bright red fruit. Attractive middle weight, supple, spicy, terrific acidity. Just delicious, extremely well fresh and balanced, and a delight to drink already. My first encounter with this producer. I hope someone brings the wine into the U.S.
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2009 Joseph Drouhin Pernand-Vergelesses
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses
(4/13/2012)
Even medium ruby. Utterly typical tart red fruit plus licorice from the Pernand/Savigny corridor. Lovely crisp fruit, light weight, really good acidity for the year and a good dusting of soil at the end. Surprisingly good village Pernand.
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NV Philippe Gonet Champagne 3210 Extra Brut
France, Champagne
(4/13/2012)
Amazing consistency of this cuvée over the years. Exuberantly frothy. Light, completely dry, lemon zest and driving minerality. Walks a fine line and would be too spartan for some palates.
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2009 Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
(4/14/2012)
Quite deep ruby. A ripe nose that just screams Pinot-raspberry and flowers. Perhaps a little full for a Chambolle but definitely not overripe. In fact, while very lush, it bacomes tangier and lighter and picks up a touch of herbs as it goes. You feel but never taste the wood. Pretty terrific for a village Chambolle even if it leans toward a more modern style. It is hard to not like its pure red fruit.
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2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
(4/14/2012)
Pale greenish. What a nose! Combination of iodine, brine, white flowers and underripe citrus. Absolutely, gloriously dry. Not a big wine but completely penetrating and expansive. Tart lemon with just an incipient glimpse of surrounding flesh. Long, long finish of stone and some earth. This is very, very young and should age for 20 more years. Remarkable power for its degree of elegance and delicacy. As I followed it over 6 hours, I could not help but think "Will Chablis like this exist in 20 years?". When I tasted it in 2010, I was struck by some wood, but that was not at all evident today.
Addendum: Well, the oak did show up at the very end of the bottle.
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2010 Paul Janin et Fils Moulin-à-Vent Domaine des Vignes du Tremblay
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent
(4/14/2012)
Very dark. Lean, pure black fruit, very tannic. Wow, this is mind's eye Moulin a Veny built for the long haul. Striking mouthful.
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2010 Paul Janin et Fils Moulin-à-Vent Clos du Tremblay
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent
(4/14/2012)
This is also very good but it is a little lighter and softer than the highly structured Domaine du Tremblay. My least favorite of the trio M. Janin was pouring.
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2010 Paul Janin et Fils Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes des Greneriers
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent
(4/14/2012)
Again, very dark. This too is quite tannic, but the tannins are hidden behind material and roundness that remind me more of many 2009 Beaujolais rather than 2010. However, still very classic with tartness and blackberry fruit. I was licky to stop by La Dernière Goutte while the producer was showing this impressive set of wines.
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2009 René Bouvier Marsannay Ouzeloy
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay
(4/14/2012)
Medium center, lighter edge. Very Gevrey-like nose: soil and sour red fruit, but it also has mint and a certain pepperiness to it. Clean, medium weight, good acidity, both red and black fruit in the mouth and some anise. Ripe but not overly so. Very good example.
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2010 Bertin-Delatte Chenin Blanc L'Échalier
France, Loire Valley, Vin de France
(4/14/2012)
I was fortunate to meet Genevieve Delatte, one of the 2 young proprietors of this new domain which only makes this one declassified cuvée. Light yellow, typical Chenin weight with some glycerine. Off dry (probably demi-sec level), excellent pure quince fruit and finishing acidity. Nothing wrong with this wine, which could stand up to some of its classified brethren. Based on this wine, may be an interesting producer to watch.
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