Drinking fabulously, despite being one of psmith's always-corked bottles. The nose is fairly mild, and doesn't show too many mature notes. There's amazing freshness overall here, with an incredible youthfulness thanks to the acidity. Sometimes I find older chardonnay can get a little funky and weird, but there's none of that here.
Coming off of the fairly clean 96 Pol Roger BdB, I actually picked up quite a bit of funk here. It's not distracting, and there's almost a slight herbal greenness in this wine. Good acidity and freshness, but a little dilute overall.
"This wine tastes weird." Really wooly and funky, and honestly if I had this blind, I'd probably have gone to some sort of dry chenin as a guess. Broad and powerful, but with a nice linear acidic kick on the back end. It's a bit of a headscratcher of a wine for me -- honestly, I don't think I've ever really understood the fuss about these.
Served double blind. Seeing the wax top, I jokingly said this was the Envinate Tiganan (no, of course it isn't). In any case, intensely mineral and fresh, but also with a very mild waxy quality on the palate. This is a somewhat demure wine right now, tasting a little angular to me. Good acid, but I wouldn't mind a slight bit more of a cut overall.
Served double blind. There's a really nice nose here with some spiciness and tropical fruit that reminds me a bit of young riesling. It's quite exuberant with a moderate amount of fruit cut with some fresh acidity. Seems a bit anonymous as far as character goes, and I didn't really place this as from anywhere.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Every time I drink this, I'm reminded of how lights-out good this wine is. Quite a bit of reduction on the nose here, but with the advantage of time, I think this has generally blended in quite nicely. Intense and powerful with clear fatness and power, all cut with ample mineral precision. Buttery, yes, but that cut is so precise. Monumental Corton-Charlemagne; as I've mentioned many times, better than the Chevalier of the same vintage.
The nose starts with a mild hint of reductiveness, which tends to be a good sign for me. There's a slight bit of fruit as well, and it's not the buttery, flaccid stuff that is so common. Instead, there's some real power and heft here, with a fair amount of acidity to boot. It's definitely not as good as the 2000 Boillot CC I had next to this, but there is some serious material here.
The nose and palate here show a good bit of ripeness, thanks to the vintage. That white fruit character that I remember from tasting the 2012s on release is still present here. There's a slight bit of sponti here too, but it doesn't detract from the wine. Overall, fairly ripe and powerful, and the acidity isn't screechy here -- the fruit helps to keep this in check.
This is good, but Hans-Leo it is not. This is a very demure wine, with some classic Mosel qualities, but it lacks that rustic touch that I've found in the pre-2002 bottlings. This is a little diffuse and soft, though that may well be part of the vintage, and the acidity isn't as bright and linear as I prefer. Good, but I'm betting on Hans-Leo.
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
Yeah, this is a bit of rare bird these days. I liked this quite a bit more than some other Rougeards in the past -- even though there is no overt sweetness from fruit to be found here, there's this red-fruit perfume that is really compelling. Earthy, ashy, and green, but all in good balance both on the nose and palate here. Nice overall intensity -- this is a pretty damn good cabernet franc (for someone who has been really down on the grape lately), but whether or not I can justify the tariff is a whole other story...
Sans soufre, from a bottle that had been refrigerated for eight days. The nose has some really awesome, classic syrah black fruit and black pepper, but there's definitely a hit of acetobacter here. The palate regrettably did fall apart, and there were some black fruit flavours, but also a bit of what I picked up as mousiness on the back end.
This is showing really well, and for my palate, is probably around the very long peak. It's definitely got that blue-cheese-Wehlener-Sonnenuhr funk, and there's ample fruit to counterbalance the 1990 acids. It's not a large-scaled wine, but this is very ripe and well-balanced overall.
From half-bottle. Damn is this stuff delicious. It has the fruit profile of a port (or rather, should I say that port smells like boysenberries?), without that much of the alcoholic burn. Incredibly sweet, but also balanced by what I have to assume are acids from those boysenberries. The floral honey tones are on the back end, and they add complexity to an already-delicious drink.
1996 Pol Roger Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay 93 Points
France, Champagne
Drinking fabulously, despite being one of psmith's always-corked bottles. The nose is fairly mild, and doesn't show too many mature notes. There's amazing freshness overall here, with an incredible youthfulness thanks to the acidity. Sometimes I find older chardonnay can get a little funky and weird, but there's none of that here.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2007 J.L. Vergnon Confidence 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Coming off of the fairly clean 96 Pol Roger BdB, I actually picked up quite a bit of funk here. It's not distracting, and there's almost a slight herbal greenness in this wine. Good acidity and freshness, but a little dilute overall.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 88 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
"This wine tastes weird." Really wooly and funky, and honestly if I had this blind, I'd probably have gone to some sort of dry chenin as a guess. Broad and powerful, but with a nice linear acidic kick on the back end. It's a bit of a headscratcher of a wine for me -- honestly, I don't think I've ever really understood the fuss about these.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Domaine des Ardoisières Altesse Vin des Allobroges Quartz 88 Points
France, Savoie, Vin des Allobroges
Served double blind. Seeing the wax top, I jokingly said this was the Envinate Tiganan (no, of course it isn't). In any case, intensely mineral and fresh, but also with a very mild waxy quality on the palate. This is a somewhat demure wine right now, tasting a little angular to me. Good acid, but I wouldn't mind a slight bit more of a cut overall.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Domaine Belluard Gringet Vin de Savoie Le Feu 88 Points
France, Savoie, Vin de Savoie
Served double blind. There's a really nice nose here with some spiciness and tropical fruit that reminds me a bit of young riesling. It's quite exuberant with a moderate amount of fruit cut with some fresh acidity. Seems a bit anonymous as far as character goes, and I didn't really place this as from anywhere.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2000 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Every time I drink this, I'm reminded of how lights-out good this wine is. Quite a bit of reduction on the nose here, but with the advantage of time, I think this has generally blended in quite nicely. Intense and powerful with clear fatness and power, all cut with ample mineral precision. Buttery, yes, but that cut is so precise. Monumental Corton-Charlemagne; as I've mentioned many times, better than the Chevalier of the same vintage.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Failla Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
The nose starts with a mild hint of reductiveness, which tends to be a good sign for me. There's a slight bit of fruit as well, and it's not the buttery, flaccid stuff that is so common. Instead, there's some real power and heft here, with a fair amount of acidity to boot. It's definitely not as good as the 2000 Boillot CC I had next to this, but there is some serious material here.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2012 Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein Winninger Uhlen Riesling "R" Roth Lay 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
The nose and palate here show a good bit of ripeness, thanks to the vintage. That white fruit character that I remember from tasting the 2012s on release is still present here. There's a slight bit of sponti here too, but it doesn't detract from the wine. Overall, fairly ripe and powerful, and the acidity isn't screechy here -- the fruit helps to keep this in check.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2002 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
This is good, but Hans-Leo it is not. This is a very demure wine, with some classic Mosel qualities, but it lacks that rustic touch that I've found in the pre-2002 bottlings. This is a little diffuse and soft, though that may well be part of the vintage, and the acidity isn't as bright and linear as I prefer. Good, but I'm betting on Hans-Leo.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2013 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny 93 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
Yeah, this is a bit of rare bird these days. I liked this quite a bit more than some other Rougeards in the past -- even though there is no overt sweetness from fruit to be found here, there's this red-fruit perfume that is really compelling. Earthy, ashy, and green, but all in good balance both on the nose and palate here. Nice overall intensity -- this is a pretty damn good cabernet franc (for someone who has been really down on the grape lately), but whether or not I can justify the tariff is a whole other story...
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Stolpman Syrah So Hot
USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon
Sans soufre, from a bottle that had been refrigerated for eight days. The nose has some really awesome, classic syrah black fruit and black pepper, but there's definitely a hit of acetobacter here. The palate regrettably did fall apart, and there were some black fruit flavours, but also a bit of what I picked up as mousiness on the back end.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1990 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese *** 93 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
This is showing really well, and for my palate, is probably around the very long peak. It's definitely got that blue-cheese-Wehlener-Sonnenuhr funk, and there's ample fruit to counterbalance the 1990 acids. It's not a large-scaled wine, but this is very ripe and well-balanced overall.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
NV Schramm's Mead Boysenberry Madeline
USA, Michigan
From half-bottle. Damn is this stuff delicious. It has the fruit profile of a port (or rather, should I say that port smells like boysenberries?), without that much of the alcoholic burn. Incredibly sweet, but also balanced by what I have to assume are acids from those boysenberries. The floral honey tones are on the back end, and they add complexity to an already-delicious drink.
Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue