5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Out of a 750 I noticed for the first time what people said about this having much older wine than your average fino. There is a richness on the backend that is ever so slightly leaning towards an amontillado puberty.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Little bit of fizz, very green but in a somewhat tender, pea-shoot in the early spring kind of way. The wine is actually almost equal part red fruit and greenness. Very seductive, and incredibly easy to drink.

This is what the pleasure police threatens suspects with when they want to speed up a confession ;)

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Very much appreciated its classicist stance next to a crazy Domaine de l'Octavin savagnin. It was gorgeous and just had this golden ratio kind of proportion to it. The wine's acidity was much better integrated than a year ago.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Delicious and eminently poulsard in its texture and expression, but the texture lacked a bit of tension in this bottle, like the wine was yawning.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

I had a bad bottle of this, but the second one was just phenomenal. There is an unmistakable manzanilla salty vibrancy here, but it's coated with a nutty crunchy praliné-like accent of oxidation. Fresh and mineral and yet barely hints at the richness of an amontillado.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

I love how the structure and overall fruitiness of rosé showed up without masking the intense minerality of the wine.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Very discrete at first. After a few hours open it starts to show its breed, and makes for a gorgeous wine. Not too oxidative or overall Joly-ish like some later 90s vintages. This bottle was in great shape, I have to say.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

I just love how unmistakably Chenin Blanc this is, the petillant side has done very little to alter its expression of Vouvray. It helps that the bubbles are a little timid. Really opens up after a while and has a whole lot to say.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Still a little shy, and goes back and forth between tannic and a little more expressive over two days, but boy this is delicious. Really pulls off the whole powerful and rustic yet elegant thing.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Very muted at first. After hours open develops into a spicy, deeply fruited mountain of rocky earth.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Fleshy and quite expressive. Not a massive amount of acidity.

5/2/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Delicious and wonderful interplay of freshness and oxidation. It really needs a massive amount of time open to start being expressive though.

4/20/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This wine is so bright and vivid, like it's transfigured by some sort of electric current. Glou, glou, glou, glou, glou.

4/20/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is evolving beautiful, the wine is a bit more rounded than it used to be, with the acidity receding a little bit and a soft delicate mineraly note coming to the forefront. Beautiful aligoté.

4/20/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Salty savory and soooo mineral. This is austere stuff and has you thinking about it for a while before you figure it out a little bit.

4/8/2013 - nadoum wrote:

I'm going to go on a limb and say that this is one of the very best bottles of Chinon I have ever had. It is very much a Lenoir wine, though the 05 has a degree of clarity and precision I haven't experienced in other vintages. The concentration is just perfect and there is an almost pinot noir like texture to the wine. There is little tannin, actually, a lot less than 04 for instance. Just crazy gorgeous wine.

4/8/2013 - nadoum wrote:

There is a competition here between funky, yeasty and lemony notes on one side and the more traditional nutty oxidative savagnin character. The alternating registers make this very thrilling to follow over a couple of hours, and there is just a ton of energy in this bottle.

4/8/2013 - nadoum wrote:

The last time I opened le Feu was last August, and this is really coming together in a gorgeous way, the wine seems more whole, if this means anything, now than it did 6 months ago, and there is a softness to the minerals that is just absolutely gorgeous. Not soft as in flabby, but soft as in the aromas themselves have this incredibly gentle and rounded way of presenting themselves to you.

4/8/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is all fruity carbonic on the nose, all yeasty nutty-finishing on the palate, and very delicious in its light texture.

3/23/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is beautiful, perhaps not as finely grained as the 09 Morgon - what you get instead are playful tannins and lots of fruit, delivered in the most elegant (can I say this about a wine that is meant to be 'rustic', whatever that means?) possible way, through a crystal-like texture and acidity.

3/23/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Oh my. What a beautiful bottle of Morgon. This is all about the earthy/peppery notes of Cote du Py, and how the wine carries them through in an incredibly silky, pure and feathery texture. The wine is so weightless that one expects something almost watered down on the palate. Instead, you get composed and exquisitely detailed notes of tart red fruits and minerals, and the wine has this way of lightly lingering on the palate that is just incredibly classy.

3/23/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This opened beautifully, with the muscular structure making this richly but elegantly fruited wine very delineated at first, but eventually turning it into a bit of a mute, tannic mess. Not exactly sure what happened and would love some recommendations on what to do with the next bottle.

3/23/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is particularly compelling in the way it delivers itself on the palate, there is an incredible freshness alongside the earthy peppery notes of syrah, and all of this is carried through with minutious detail. Really beautiful wine.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Kind of generic, and not terribly exciting.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Such an elegant structure to this wine, absolutely light but also velvety, and it shows a tremendous amount of Cote du Py character.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Exactly as advertised by the cartoon on the label.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Could not get a read of this!

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

There is a riveting streak of savory, oxidative, notes going on here that gang up with a mineral salinity, and make this wine an absolute joy to drink slowly over a few hours.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

I think my favorite of the Duplessis 1er Cru I've had in 09, makes me look forward to trying it in a slightly colder year.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

There's so much going on here that it's hard to stick to one angle. It's very 'carbo' at first, but then the syrah and the soil start shining, there is some very very seductive fruit, but just when you think the wine might be becoming a little 'slutty' the earthiness shows its tail, along with a refreshing bitter, tannic note. Just a gripping wine in every aspect.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is very Vouvray and delicious with its accents of honey and a distinct salinity. Weighty in structure and serious, yet also punctuated by very airy floral notes. As far as I know one of the best sparkling Vouvrays out there.

3/11/2013 - nadoum wrote:

So beautiful and lively champagne, showing delicious citrusy notes, and a complex minerality, alternating between champagne chalkiness and something of a more chablisien crushed rock, along with a background of masculine yeastiness. Really beautiful, and all of this is expressed with a lace-like structure and delicacy.

3/4/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Beautifully classic in its structure and proportions. Wood is integrated, giving way to serious minerality. I would still give this a couple more years though. Bottle was sound and very fresh.

2/7/2013 - nadoum wrote:

Just superb palo cortado. On day one, the oloroso aspect seems to dominate, with rich-yet-balanced notes of hazelnuts and toffee on the verge of praline, and a velvety, regal texture. Everything is kept together by an amazing crispness, that ensures flavors are conveyed with great definition and clarity, instead of being muddled.

On day two the fino side really shows itself, with a more pronounced acidic backbone that gives the wine a little more textural tension, and notes of flor and salt balancing the oxidative richness.

One things I found true on both days is that this sherry is kept together by a savory note that reminds me of a barely smoky highland malt, something that seems accentuated by the presence of pleasantly gritty wood tannins on the finish.

1/29/2013 - nadoum wrote:

This is simply brilliant in its ability to express Morgon. Everything about this wine screams Morgon, from the high-pitched red berry fruit to the deep, earthy tones. There's a good amount of acidity and minerality that just brings everything together.

12/16/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Yes. So apple-y and fresh, lots of acidity. What we talk about when we talk about aligoté.

12/16/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Maybe this bottle was off, but my experience could not be more different from that of other notes here. Very Chardonnay-ish, but very little Chablis or Montée de Tonnerre here. I found decent freshness, but a certain lack of energy.

12/16/2012 - nadoum wrote:

This is stellar Moulin à Vent, showing great secondary and tertiary notes. There is something almost Volnay-esque about it. Very much ready to drink, and may not last much longer though.

12/16/2012 - nadoum wrote:

So elegant and restrained, beautiful texture, power without weight. Really enjoyed this.

@wickerparker: I actually had this with sausage! I thought the wine was a little overwhelmed, and would go towards something a little more delicate. Or veal sausage?

12/16/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Was not expressive of anything, or of anything interesting at least. Not of Gamay, not of Beaujolais, and certainly not of Brouilly.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Lovely bottle, that has retained an undercurrent of fruit and freshness, even though the brooding soil notes are at the forefront now.

This seems to differ from what others say here about this wine being a little past its peak. Did I get lucky on this particular bottle?

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

This is a strange vintage for this wine. It's ripe and exotic, but somehow the minerality is strong enough to show itself here and there. It's a delicious wine that's ready to drink, but it doesn't scream Chablis.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Good but very 2009: the muscadet character is there, but competing with a more generic ''chardonnay-ish" register.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

This was just amazing. No fruit at all, purely savory and mineral, with a hint of yeastiness. Reminded me of a bottle of Overnoy ouillé I had this summer.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Infanticide at the moment. Still austere, but incredibly powerful and persistent.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

This is a great blanc de blancs, with a ton of Chardonnay character, that is absolutely ready to drink. Not the most cerebral or austere champagne out there, but lots of pleasure.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Fresh fruit balanced with acidity and lots of minerals. Lots of transparency. I thought Descombes' 09 regular Morgon bottling was a little on the heavy side, but this vintage is right where I like my Beaujolais to be. Bottles of this do not las very long on the table.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Good, and very Chiroubles in its pretty light-heartedness. This is a little "perlant" after opening, so a good amount of aeration really helps.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

Superb balance and minerality. So much energy and tension between the lemony fruit and the stone character of this wine.

12/2/2012 - nadoum wrote:

This was excellent. Incredibly nimble and elegant. Showed more fruit and a little less secondary character than other bottles. This really benefits from opening the bottle a few hours ahead.