LC13. This wine is always a treat (thanks again, Charles!). It was a little grumpy today, with the nose quite reticent, though there were definitely all those nice Selosse-y elements on the palate: baked bread, stewed apples, nuts. The palate seemed a touch grassy today, and I picked up a nice bit of chalkiness on the finish. Not the most expressive showing, but I'll never turn down Prevost.
50% pinot noir, 50% chardonnay. 8 g/L dosage, disgorged October 15, 2014. Yeah, this isn't my style of Champagne. It's super round and a total umami-bomb, and there's none of that taut acidic tension that I love (granted, it's not that the acids are low here, it's that the tension isn't there). There's so much autolysis here. Pol Roger's got nothing on this. Really, really opulent, large-scaled, and to me, more than a little cloying. It's not the zero-dosage stuff that's hipster anymore (that's so over). This style of champagne, like they made a long, long time ago, is the real hipster deal.
#05-15, 7.5% abv. Holy cow. This is amazing young Kabinett. I bought this at Salil's insistence, but it's clear that I'm much more enthusiastic about this bottling than he is. Pineapple, white peaches, and super potent acidity, while at the same time holding a nice roundness that prevents this from becoming an acid bomb. It certainly doesn't suffer from any Prädikat creep -- this is sinewy and lean riesling. One of the best 2014s I've tasted so far, and a very convincing young Kabinett indeed.
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières Roche aux Moines
Served blind. Thick and oxidative, with a real dose of funky animale, and a really dark golden colour had me thinking some sort of weird wine to start. The palate shows lots and lots of neutral oak, and while there's acidity, it's all hidden behind a goopy, oily texture that I don't particularly enjoy. I guessed chenin based on all this weirdness, but thought it was probably ten years older than it actually was. Well, turns out it was Joly, whose wines basically taste ten years older than the vintage on the label anyway. I've never been able to understand this stuff.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This shows quite austere and stemmy at first, but air allows a very nice floral perfume to blossom. Despite being Nuits, there's a really nice airy elegance to this wine, and the rusticity of this seem to have played well with the leaner vintage. I'm not a huge fan of 1996, but I found this wine to be quite well-balanced. Without a doubt, time will be a friend to this wine.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. From the Chevillons tonight, I'd say that this was my favourite. It's drinking marvelously well right now, although perhaps it's just a little bit too giving. Cheerful red fruit, with not so much leanness as the 1996 or the 2001. There's a touch more ripeness here that makes this much more accessible, and indeed, this was pretty much roaring from the get-go. The stems are very subtle here, and they add a nice touch to the fruit.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This is perhaps showing even more stemmy and austere than the 1996. Certainly, air allowed this to blossom more, but it never really left that ornery phase. There were some really nice red fruits on the palate, but this was mostly a very dense wine that was hard to read. That said, all the right elements were still there: fruit, acid, earth, tannins. It just needs to all loosen up a bit.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This was surprisingly also quite open and ready for business, despite the relative youth of the wine. This showed the most ripe fruit, with that earthy beet tone that I've found in many 2006s: geosmin? If you overlook that (it might be a flaw to some, but I can tolerate it), you find a very nice and approachable bottle. I found this a little more polished than the older vintages (has the winemaking changed?), although there's still plenty of rusticity to go around.
#12-02, 9.5% abv. This had a really pronounced herbaceousness to the nose and palate. Although I'm not sure if I'd attribute it to being from the spice garden, there are some clear herbal elements here. The palate though is a little bit disappointing. It feels a little out of focus -- I'd have expected the acidity to be much more prominent and bright here. And oddly enough, there's a little bit of heat that pokes through the back end as well.
NV Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines 93 Points
France, Champagne
LC13. This wine is always a treat (thanks again, Charles!). It was a little grumpy today, with the nose quite reticent, though there were definitely all those nice Selosse-y elements on the palate: baked bread, stewed apples, nuts. The palate seemed a touch grassy today, and I picked up a nice bit of chalkiness on the finish. Not the most expressive showing, but I'll never turn down Prevost.
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1997 Vincent Couche Champagne Sensation 83 Points
France, Champagne
50% pinot noir, 50% chardonnay. 8 g/L dosage, disgorged October 15, 2014. Yeah, this isn't my style of Champagne. It's super round and a total umami-bomb, and there's none of that taut acidic tension that I love (granted, it's not that the acids are low here, it's that the tension isn't there). There's so much autolysis here. Pol Roger's got nothing on this. Really, really opulent, large-scaled, and to me, more than a little cloying. It's not the zero-dosage stuff that's hipster anymore (that's so over). This style of champagne, like they made a long, long time ago, is the real hipster deal.
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2014 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#05-15, 7.5% abv. Holy cow. This is amazing young Kabinett. I bought this at Salil's insistence, but it's clear that I'm much more enthusiastic about this bottling than he is. Pineapple, white peaches, and super potent acidity, while at the same time holding a nice roundness that prevents this from becoming an acid bomb. It certainly doesn't suffer from any Prädikat creep -- this is sinewy and lean riesling. One of the best 2014s I've tasted so far, and a very convincing young Kabinett indeed.
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2009 Nicolas Joly Savennières Roche aux Moines Clos de la Bergerie 80 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières Roche aux Moines
Served blind. Thick and oxidative, with a real dose of funky animale, and a really dark golden colour had me thinking some sort of weird wine to start. The palate shows lots and lots of neutral oak, and while there's acidity, it's all hidden behind a goopy, oily texture that I don't particularly enjoy. I guessed chenin based on all this weirdness, but thought it was probably ten years older than it actually was. Well, turns out it was Joly, whose wines basically taste ten years older than the vintage on the label anyway. I've never been able to understand this stuff.
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1995 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
A poster child for why wine should be bottled with screw caps. Corked.
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1996 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This shows quite austere and stemmy at first, but air allows a very nice floral perfume to blossom. Despite being Nuits, there's a really nice airy elegance to this wine, and the rusticity of this seem to have played well with the leaner vintage. I'm not a huge fan of 1996, but I found this wine to be quite well-balanced. Without a doubt, time will be a friend to this wine.
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2000 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. From the Chevillons tonight, I'd say that this was my favourite. It's drinking marvelously well right now, although perhaps it's just a little bit too giving. Cheerful red fruit, with not so much leanness as the 1996 or the 2001. There's a touch more ripeness here that makes this much more accessible, and indeed, this was pretty much roaring from the get-go. The stems are very subtle here, and they add a nice touch to the fruit.
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2001 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This is perhaps showing even more stemmy and austere than the 1996. Certainly, air allowed this to blossom more, but it never really left that ornery phase. There were some really nice red fruits on the palate, but this was mostly a very dense wine that was hard to read. That said, all the right elements were still there: fruit, acid, earth, tannins. It just needs to all loosen up a bit.
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2006 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Double decanted an hour before dinner. This was surprisingly also quite open and ready for business, despite the relative youth of the wine. This showed the most ripe fruit, with that earthy beet tone that I've found in many 2006s: geosmin? If you overlook that (it might be a flaw to some, but I can tolerate it), you find a very nice and approachable bottle. I found this a little more polished than the older vintages (has the winemaking changed?), although there's still plenty of rusticity to go around.
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2001 C. H. Berres Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese 85 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#12-02, 9.5% abv. This had a really pronounced herbaceousness to the nose and palate. Although I'm not sure if I'd attribute it to being from the spice garden, there are some clear herbal elements here. The palate though is a little bit disappointing. It feels a little out of focus -- I'd have expected the acidity to be much more prominent and bright here. And oddly enough, there's a little bit of heat that pokes through the back end as well.
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