Wow I called this blind as a Loire sparkling because I thought it tasted similar to a Huet sparkling I had before. Oxidative style and some honey notes, the finish was rather abrupt at the beginning but settled down well after a couple of hours to the point where it bore little difference to an aged champagne. Incredible balance to the wine and drinking at its apogee now.
Perfect cork. Classic Bordeaux nose of pencil shavings with a certain elegance to it, on the palate it wasn't as strong at first but gradually put on weight. Cool fruit with no signs of excess alcohol, developed some tertiary notes with air. Drinking well now with no upside from here. Very impressed with this for the price.
Cork was soaked through. Very tight on opening, only began to show a lovely floral nose with some VA after an hour in the decanter. Elegant and classic without the imposing structure of Nebbiolo, I definitely wouldn't have gone to Piedmont. Had a kirsch-like quality, lovely weight and finish. Strangely the wine fell over and lost its fruit to become a wall of tannins with stewed prunes after three hours. The retailer I bought this from doesn't have the best provenance so might not have been the best bottle, but when it was on I liked this a lot.
The awfully green nose reminded me of the Sassicaia 1999 I had a month back but I placed this as a left-bank Bordeaux based on the classic palate that didn't betray much sweetness. I guessed this was a warm vintage from the ripeness of fruit so combining this with the greenness I went for Sociando 03 - oops.
It's funny how both Las Cases I've had so far did not play up to the stereotype of Las Cases being never ready. On the contrary, the 90 and this were full of juicy, ripe red fruits and silky tannins, rather the imposing structured monster that I've been led to believe. Impeccable balance and a richness to the palate that underscored its pedigree, just that the greenness both on the nose and the palate (less so) was rather distracting.
2002 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Pétillant Brut Réserve
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant
Wow I called this blind as a Loire sparkling because I thought it tasted similar to a Huet sparkling I had before. Oxidative style and some honey notes, the finish was rather abrupt at the beginning but settled down well after a couple of hours to the point where it bore little difference to an aged champagne. Incredible balance to the wine and drinking at its apogee now.
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2004 Vieux Château Certan La Gravette de Certan
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Perfect cork. Classic Bordeaux nose of pencil shavings with a certain elegance to it, on the palate it wasn't as strong at first but gradually put on weight. Cool fruit with no signs of excess alcohol, developed some tertiary notes with air. Drinking well now with no upside from here. Very impressed with this for the price.
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2006 Fratelli Brovia Barolo Rocche
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Cork was soaked through. Very tight on opening, only began to show a lovely floral nose with some VA after an hour in the decanter. Elegant and classic without the imposing structure of Nebbiolo, I definitely wouldn't have gone to Piedmont. Had a kirsch-like quality, lovely weight and finish. Strangely the wine fell over and lost its fruit to become a wall of tannins with stewed prunes after three hours. The retailer I bought this from doesn't have the best provenance so might not have been the best bottle, but when it was on I liked this a lot.
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1998 Château Léoville Las Cases
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
The awfully green nose reminded me of the Sassicaia 1999 I had a month back but I placed this as a left-bank Bordeaux based on the classic palate that didn't betray much sweetness. I guessed this was a warm vintage from the ripeness of fruit so combining this with the greenness I went for Sociando 03 - oops.
It's funny how both Las Cases I've had so far did not play up to the stereotype of Las Cases being never ready. On the contrary, the 90 and this were full of juicy, ripe red fruits and silky tannins, rather the imposing structured monster that I've been led to believe. Impeccable balance and a richness to the palate that underscored its pedigree, just that the greenness both on the nose and the palate (less so) was rather distracting.
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