Some Bottles from a Week in France
Paris, Northern Burgundy, Alsace
Tasted Sunday, April 14, 2013 - Sunday, April 21, 2013 by drwine2001 with 678 views
Introduction
Just a brief crazy quilt of what we drank and tasted outside of formal producer visits, which I've noted separately.
2011 Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert) St. Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
(4/14/2013)
Dark but not opaque. Incredible violet fragrance. Supple, medium weight. Lovely stuff.
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2011 Yann Chave Crozes-Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
(4/14/2013)
Medium color and weight. More herbaceous than fruity. OK.
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2011 Yann Chave Crozes-Hermitage Le Rouvre
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
(4/14/2013)
Much more flavor, texture, and length to this than the regular cuvée of Crozes. Very good.
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2010 Alphonse Mellot Sancerre "La Demoiselle"
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
(4/14/2013)
Limpid color. Subtle aromatics, not overly Sauvignon. Light weight but explosive lemon fruit with great mine reality and acidic structure. We had this with fantastic oysters, and the wine had as much briny dynamism as the crustaceans. It built in the mouth like a Grappa.
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2010 Kientzler Riesling Osterberg
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/14/2013)
Light yellow. Lime and tea scents. Dry. Not a big wine but tremendous impact due to tart acidity and endless stoniness. Great power for its weight. In the Trimbach mold and exceptionally well rendered.
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2010 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon
(4/15/2013)
Deep color. Lean, spicy, tart black cherry and creosote. Classic. Will age well.
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2007 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
(4/15/2013)
Light golden color. Sultanas and pears. Seamless, lush feel. Not that sweet. Adequate acidity but not nearly as prominent as in other Huet wines from the vintage. No matter-still a honey of a wine.
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2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
(4/15/2013)
Boy, I think the last note from 10/12 really captures this well. Light color. Aromas of white flowers and subtle salinity. Medium weight. Lemon cream and a touch of the Raveneau wax and nuts, but most notable for a blazing amount of acidity and limestone. Terrific accomplishment for the vintage.
Day 2 more ripe orange and wood show, but still appealing structure underneath.
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2007 Domaine Tempier Bandol La Migoua
France, Provence, Bandol
(4/15/2013)
Medium color. Just exceedingly porty and alcoholic on the nose and in the mouth. A great disappointment and undrinkable for me. I certainly hope this is an aberration-not at all like the bottle I tried 3 years ago.
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2009 Domaine Durand Cornas Empreintes
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
(4/15/2013)
Purple and thick. This too had a bit of alcoholic heat, along with pine needles and blackberry confit. Woody base, round, little severity. Not as big as it looks. It didn't thrill me.
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2008 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
(4/15/2013)
Light color. Tart lemon nose. Light weight (much lighter than the '09 Montée de Tonnerre tasted today) and not that dense. Very primary and nervy with resounding back end acidity and rising florality. Extremely young and tightly coiled. I was curious to try this from a great list; great potential without question, but only a fraction of what it will be in 5 or 10 years.
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1996 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
(4/15/2013)
Light ruby, maturing edge. Complex aromatics-a touch of caramel, sweet red fruit and brambliness. Light bodied but intense, smoky tart cherry fruit and tooth rattling acidity. I was surprised by how approachable this was, but its compact structure and tremendous acidity predict further refinement and evolution for another 10 to 15 years. Outstanding Clos des Ducs.
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NV Michel Guignier Beaujolais Moncailleux
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais
(4/16/2013)
This was billed as an '09 Moulin a Vent, but it certainly did not say this on the label, so I have to believe this is a different wine altogether. Very '09 Beaujolais in style, though, with rich dark cherry fruit. Nice back end acidity. Some brett but not too much. A good natural wine with some of the usual funk.
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2009 Dujac Fils et Père Chambolle-Musigny
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
(4/16/2013)
Medium center, some fading. Extremely fragrant right out of the bottle-ethereal strawberries, toffee and smoke. Medium weight, silky, discretely oaky base. No trace of overipeness, fine acidity, and a good dose of soil at the end. Astonishing class and length for mere village Chambolle. Those who question the appeal of 2009 Bugundy should give this beauty a try.
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2010 Domaine Philippe Gilbert Menetou-Salon Les Renardières
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Menetou-Salon
(4/16/2013)
Pale. All sorts of tart citrus aromatics and subtle grassiness. Light but fantastic intensity. Bristling acidity and minerality in total harmony with the fruit. Immensely impressive. This would give many higher priced Loire Sauvignons a strong challenge.
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1996 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
(4/17/2013)
Beautiful medium yellow clear color. Opens with marvelous, discreet aromatics of beeswax and white flowers. Light to medium weight with lemon rind and stone. High acidity which crescendoed and closed down the wine about 90 minutes in before loosening its grip. Most amazing was the evolution of the nose which eventually expressed smoke and an unbelievable array of primal algal tide pool smells. Nothing we tasted in Chablis today screamed Chablis as much as this wine (except, perhaps, the young Dauvissat Preuses). An utter marvel which must have been brutally acidic when young but which is blossoming now and poised for a run of 20 more years. Wow!
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2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
(4/17/2013)
Light yellow. Strong lime note but then turns more lemony. Relatively light and less dense than the '08 we just had but tremendous penetration. Tightens with air and becomes more tart; this is a good sign for the future, but that said, it is still quite a bit more open than the '08. A lovely 2007.
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2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
(4/17/2013)
Light ruby. Classic Gevrey nose-small red fruits which pick up gaminess, anise and earth. I could sniff this all night ( and pretty much did). Light, great drive and command for its weight and perfect, refreshing acidity. OK, maybe not one for the ages and without the power of bigger years, but my god, this is gorgeous now and will hold for some time.
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1999 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
After tasting at Deiss today, we just had to order this off a list. Full yellow. Creamy sweet nose of ripe peach. Full bodied but the flavors surprise; after a bit of honey that recapitulates the nose, it tightens down due ver strong acidity and is only off dry, not at the VT level you expect. Complex, and at this point, it is difficult to pick out the component varietals. Interesting and very good.
Held up very well the second day with rich, sweet fruit and no oxidation.
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1999 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
(4/19/2013)
Fortunate enough to drink another bottle a year after having the last one. Still primary full ruby. Actually a whiff of ripe, medicinal black cherry as well as earth and menthol. Light and linear. There is a lot of fruit just waiting to burst forth, but before it gets started, it is rebuffed by dynamite acidity and fine grained dry tannins. Perhaps a bit of evolution over the past year, but I'd still say it needs 10+ years to fully resolve. We saved a good bit of the bottle, so it will be interesting to follow it for a few days.
Second night-While the tannic, earthy background remained, the fruit had risen, becoming redder and less ripe, resulting in much better balance of fruit and acidity. Very beautiful but likely to be as closed and awkward right out of the bottle as it was for us.
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1993 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
Medium center with maturing, tawny edge. Slight mustiness blew off. Then pungent gaminess and char. Dense, powerful and forbidding, it took a good few hours to get going. Black fruit, anise, a bare hint of spice, incredibly zingy acidity and a finish that initially seemed hard. As it aerated, it became more fragrant, silkier and the fruit took on a distinctly sweeter tone. I don't know if this will be one of the all time great DRC's, but It was still fascinating and an extraordinary find. I'm certain that if we had left any behind, it would be better in 2 or 3 days. Amazingly youthful and robust despite the suggestion of maturity in the color. Hold another 10 to 15 years or decant the hell out of it.
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1994 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
France, Alsace
(4/18/2013)
Medium yellow. Petrol and yellow peach. Not as dense as this wine in other years, but lots of glycerine which gives the illusion of sweetness. Fear not-it is classically dry with rising lemony acidity and great, late crushed rock. Kept improving and was just as fresh the next day. Perhaps a tad behind the '95, which recently made me swoon, but not by much. More and more impressive as it went.
Two days later from the dregs of the bottle, still vibrant, crystallizd lemon, light , taut and dry without any trace of oxidation. Just incredible staying power due to its great structure.
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2005 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
(4/18/2013)
Half bottle. Deeply colored. Slightly bretty, sweaty nose, but soil and spice also came through much more so than any fruit. Utterly dense. Maybe a little more forthcoming after 2 hours with traces of black fruit. I thought we might get lucky out of this smaller format, but no, this is another 2005 Burgundy to put at the very bottom of the pile. So massive it needs 20 more years.
Two days later-still very earthy, high acidity, tannins relaxed a bit but fruit seems stewed and alcoholic. Hmmm.
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2009 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Cuvée Théo
France, Alsace
(4/18/2013)
Half bottle. Bright citrus nose and fruit. Lean and crisp with excellent acidity and minerality. Of the 2 wines we had tonight, this was the one that should have been the 2010. Very stylish.
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2010 Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/18/2013)
Attractive ripe citrus but somewhat simple and lacking tension. This is a victory (if you can call it that) of winemaking style over vintage.
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2007 Hugel Riesling Jubilee
France, Alsace
(4/20/2013)
Dry, full of herbs, medium weight and sprightly acidity. This did not seem that much more memorable than other Basic Riesling cuvees we tasted this trip.
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2005 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(4/20/2013)
Medium ruby. Not surprisingly, closed at first, but this really blossomed with 3 hours in the decanter. Earth and tart red fruit aromas. Initially, all that you tasted was round, sustantial tannins, but it developed beautiful texture, strawberry fruit and licorice. This is a larger than life Chambolle with exquisite acidity and a strongly muneral finish. It is Grand Cru in everything but name, and I was amazed at how much more forthcoming it was than 2 years ago. However, this may be just a passing phase before it clamps down again. Glad to catch it on a good day!
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2011 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Cuvée Théo
France, Alsace
(4/19/2013)
Limpid, bright and dry. Much like the 2010 version we tried the other night.
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2011 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
Light color, medium weight. Deep citrus and peach, excellent balance.
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2011 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine L'Inédit!
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
Richer and slightly sweeter than the Schlossberg Ste. Catherine but not necessarily better.
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2007 Marcel Deiss Schoenenbourg
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
Full yellow. Rich, concentrated, VT level sweetness. Not that easy to pick out the individual varietals here, but the mouth feel has the lushness of Pinot Gris.
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2008 Marcel Deiss Mambourg
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
(4/19/2013)
Nose very floral, dominated by Gewurztraminer +/- Muscat but the palate is all Riesling. Drier, more mineral style. Fascinating stuff.
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