5/4/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

A grown-ups wine - great layers of honeysuckle, lemons, waxy cotton (??) notes and creamy buttery richness that sits on top of a bed of acidity. I had the 2019 recently and that had evolved beautifully - time is on its side and this is really quite wonderful value for money.

4/28/2024 - pjaines wrote:

On the ripeness spectrum this is definately on the right-hand side of the bell curve but damn it is so good - its never boozy - more restrained power. Notes of brioche and butter but with some mineral zing that just just just keeps it on the correct side of the line. Good value? at 20 quid yes - at 35 no.

4/28/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Super elegant, whispy colour, refined nose. This is all about air and space and allowing the components of the wine to breathe together. Violets, red fruit, some dusty soil and some young-cherry juice notes. This needs a big Burgundy glass and some air ... a nerd wine but lovely. £20 well spent.

4/19/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Yeah man! This is good - light but with some grip and gritty notes that give it some real "palate-cleansing" twangs. Cherry, black fruit and a long finish of strawberry and violets. Impressive for the price of £15

4/13/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Back in the day at the start of my wine journey I embraced Ribera del Duero wines great enthusiasm. Despite my palate moving to the more austere end of the wine spectrum Ribera del Duero has always been my go-to "ripe wine". This wine is why - it has all the hallmarks of the black fruit and density and ripeness but without any heavy boozy overt sweetness. Classic cherry and strawberry notes layered over black darkness with a nose-tingling whack of aromas that lead to tangy and axotic spices on the finish. Great stuff.

3/31/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

One of those "oh, this is why I drunk Pinot from Burgundy" bottles. Lifted cherries, soft entry on the palate but with that texture and "je ne sais quoi" that just doesn't seem to exist anywhere else. As it unfurls there is much more meat and density with a grippy finish. That is my afternoon sorted!

3/31/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Ooh, hello! Notes of crushed black olives, neck snapping acidity and layers of violets and strawberry. Lovely minerality on the finish. Taut. Dark and no flab here.

3/29/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Imagine a world where you dont have to feel gutted at missing out on top quality Burgundy because you can't afford it - even the modest stuff. Come to the Loire - come and drink wines like this - come and bask in the cool waters of tight red berries infused with a peppercorn crunch and fine grained tannins at 10% of the price of a 1er Cru burg. Some meaty depth going on here but never overtaking the high toned notes of tannins, acidity and food-friendly balance.

This has a nice balance between the austere and the more approachable end of the spectrum.

3/23/2024 - pjaines wrote:

This is all Loire-esque pleasure of green peppers and raspy tannins - imagine being licked by 20 cats. No screechy end notes here though - there is enough depth to provide some bass notes. Really really impressive.

3/22/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Dialled down to 6 on the spinal-tap-ometer, this is Syrah with a bit of cut and drive. A little bitter on the finish but there is decent enough punchy red fruits here to get you through your plateau de fromage without ruining your life.

3/1/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Woah! This is quite a gnarly beast at the moment but underneath all that deep, chewy textured fruit are the most wonderful tannins and acidity that snaps this back - like a snarling big dog that has had its leash pulled firmly. Come back in 10 years. With the tannins and acidity I'd say this will grow into a glorious wine.

3/1/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Taut, lean on the palate with crystal purity of fruit. There is a nice bass-note underneath that one can imagine really fleshing out this wine as it matures. Will be quite wonderful in 5-10 years.

3/1/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

An absolute knock out wine for £15 - this has the great combination of black fruit, fresh acidity and fine tannins that give it a lift over and above what you'd expect for this price. There is a plushness to the finish that is neither cloying or heavy. Impressive.

2/8/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Very impressive, light bodied / coloured wine with lacy light tannins and a whispy aromatic feel to air. It is more about the air and spaces than density and mass. Anti-mass. Would love to see this in 10 years to see what feral little beast it has turned into.

1/21/2024 - pjaines Likes this wine:

In these times of inflated prices in Burgundy one could just look west to the Loire for their seashell and minerality fix at prices that are basically bonkers-cheap for the quality. Another lovely wine from Huchet - this is like a muscadet that has grown up with the nice children - all elegance and finesse and nice manners. The undertown of Melon de Bourgogne is there with a slightly mealy, chewy layer but then the citrus and minerality cuts through. It has a very much 1er-Cru vibe about it. Huzzah for Muscadet - huzzah x 2 for single plot Muscadet.

1/20/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Ripe pinot but is it Burgundy? I have no idea anymore. Soft tannins, and while it avoids the crappy-NZ-pinot-Cola-sweet palate it does lack the drive and acidity and focus of a good Burg. It is pretty and there is calmness on the palate but....... is this what I really want from my Burgundy?

As the region grows warmer through global warming (yes, its real MAGA folk) I guess this is the new normal.

1/20/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Big, bold, ripe, buttery. To be fair there is some freshness on the finish as well, but certainly serve this as cold as you can. My face is bright red after half a glass - certainly one for the more enthusiastic oak-fan.

Edit: 90 minutes later this has calmed down a touch.... or maybe I have adjusted to the booze??

1/20/2024 - pjaines wrote:

And here is the Burgundy experience in a single bottle; the flush of expectation; a good producer; 10 years in bottle; 60 quid dropped; what can possibly go wrong?

Well, lots and also not much. The base materials are there - there is no doubt this WILL be a good wine, just that right now it is grumpy and bitter and angular BUT with occasional whiffs of all that lovely Burgundian stuff that we all love.

60 quid wasted? Well, if I had my time again I'd spend it on something else. However, if this was opened in another 5 years time I'd probably be raving about it.

Plus ca change....

1/20/2024 - pjaines wrote:

Sometimes on just has to forget the wine nerd narrative (yes, its too young, yes, it will be better in 10 years, yes, yes yes I know) but damn it, once in a while a nice round, plump Bordeaux can be a think of beauty.

This has all the texture and gummyness and stickiness of black fruit that you would expect but what it also has is a streak of freshness that stops this being some dumb-as-a-brick-wall fruit bomb.

Serve fresh from the cellar and this is great fun - as it warms up the youth of fruit flattens and fattens. Enjoyable for what it is right now, with obvious wine-nerd approved "upside".

1/19/2024 - pjaines wrote:

This is like being stroked by a some gnarled animal that you are not quite sure if it will lick you or bite your face off.

Dense material here - it has gravity and pull without being heavy. Lemony rind notes - slightly bitter with some rock and soil action - then a whack of briney sea air and broad zingy sherbert notes. It lurks and glowers and the wine making is impressive. Needs a) food b) 3 other people to share the bottle.

12/11/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

A stunning Chinon straight out of the bottle. This is a heady mixture of crushed rocks and red/black fruit infused with cashmere-soft tannins. No green elements here, but instead a refined pepperyness that elevates this into something quite wonderful.

11/5/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Vibrant lime and wet slate. Good density without ever being shrill. Excellent value.

10/28/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Banging quality for the price - it is a Schrödinger wine - rch but not-rich at the same time. On the nose there is a cool sea breeze quality that is almost "ice cold Muscadet" and the palate slips between the not-too-rich and not-to-austere Golidlocks zone.

Schrödinger and Golidlocks in the same tasting note? Yup.

10/11/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Deep gold colour - at first a bit worrying but this straightened its collar and buttoned up its shirt and ended up with a more correct structure. Lemon rind, butter notes but a streak of acidity. A bit rich for my palate but in and of itself it was impressive. Needs food and pontification.

9/28/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Dry and gritty - how I imagine a dried out corpse would smell after 80 years in a Victorian wooden chest of drawers in an old house.

5/31/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

One of those yes/no/yes/maybe....give it 30 minutes kind of wines. Initial note on the nose was wet dog and cork taint.... 30 mins later this has blown off and now we have mature red fruit with lots of stink. Lovely stuff with a streak of acidity. 30 quid well spent. These little Burg hits - you have to make the most of them.

5/20/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Well Decanter magazine gave this 97 points. I guess it was 90 points for the oak and 7 points for the sugar. Big fat boozy. A classic tasting wine - as in a wine that will stand out at a tasting (and get 97 slutty points) but is not a wine that will age or give much actual pleasure.

5/19/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Oxygen is the friend here. And time. And a big bloody glass. Oxygen + 2 hours + Riedel = a wine that develops something beautiful and elegant. At first high acidity and high toned ( still beautiful) but then everything just unfurls into something more elegant and deeper with a cool, damp forest floor vibe yet still tightly restrained. Excellent.

5/14/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Bloody hell (as Ron Weasley once said). This is totally above and beyond what anyone should expect for 20 quid. Reminds me of a Bachelet Gevrey Chambertin (yours for 80 quid!!) with sous-bois and charcoal notes. Lots of blood and iron on the finish with a mature softness coming through. Sour cherries wrap around the palate to give some punch on the finish. Great stuff.

5/11/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This needs a lot of air right now and some sympathetic serving temperatures (dont serve your red wines too warm folks!!) but when it finally gets out of bed and puts on its trousers it is a cracking wine. High toned, fined boned, well honed. It carries a lot of teeth-sucky mineral tang and palate cleansing acidity. This has a long life ahead.

5/8/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Decent wine here with soft notes of warm terracotta tiles with a little tickle of herbal complexity cutting through. It actually has more grip than the 2005 that I find generally too soft. Looks like it is not going to improve and the colour indicates it is now starting to decline into late middle age.

5/1/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

In the future when scientists develop a pill that means you can drink wine as though it was water then I'd probably have a magnum of this for breakfast most mornings. All the classical Barolo notes that I read about, but without ever really experiencing - my Barolos are usually closed or grumpy or nasty or acidic. This was all the good things. Everything dialled to about 6.... not too showy, not too tasty - nothing set to maximum or 10.... all those settings on the equalizer just worked perfectly in their own way.

5/1/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

As a devout non-champagne drinker (it really is usually wasted on me) this was a wonderful experience - rich without any weight - great depth and nuance with layers of brioche and minerals. Wow. Really excellent.

5/1/2023 - pjaines wrote:

A little tricky to get a handle on right now - the 18 vintage probably flattens it down a little but there is good quality here with nuanced notes of guava and lemon rind. As with most 18s this is more rotund than lean but if this is left alone for a few years I think it could be a fascinating wine.

5/1/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Exceptional wine that seemed to have two phases in the evening. First phase was struck match and crackling acidity layered across taut fruit. The second phase was more dialled down with the bass-notes starting to come through. Wonderful wine.

2/15/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Nice depth, soft fruit with a slightly new-world cola twang. Lacks a bit of grip and dirt!

2/10/2023 - pjaines wrote:

Maturing but less exciting that when it was in its youth. Leathery red fruit with some horse-poop. Softening. Not bad, but I'm coming to the mind-set of drinking Chateaneuf in its youth.

1/8/2023 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Simply wonderful. This has layers and layers of black fruit, graphite notes, pencil lead and a density on the palate that works wonderfully well with the green notes. A classic Loire red but with some extra density to really push this up a notch or two. Beautiful.

12/29/2022 - pjaines wrote:

Quite dense and structured... chewy red fruit with sticky tannins and layers of rose and tea leaf. Leave for now...

12/15/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is beautiful. Zero oak . Just a vibrant crackle of energy and black fruit infused with essence of rock and Death Star

11/20/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This comes flying from leftfield... my brain took a few seconds to recalibrate the expectation/reality gap. Tasted blind i would have said this is a super light elegant Fino sherry... a touch of richness with lemon and oxidative notes. A really good wine if consumed like a sherry. One glass per sitting is enough but its been open 4 days and held up superbly.

11/13/2022 - pjaines wrote:

At the heavier end of the spectrum.... sealed under cork (advanced ageing??)... with a deeper colour than iwould exoect. Wet cotton...soft. needs more cut. Poor value.

11/12/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Obviously drunk waaaay too young, but this is infused with lemon, seashells, bruised apple and a bracing freshness. Excellent balance and this has a seriousness lurking underneath the surface that points to some great potential in the future. Great stuff. Reminded me of a young Chabils Grand Cru...

10/26/2022 - pjaines Does not like this wine:

Oaky. Rioja... ??

10/22/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Persuaded to try this buy this.... I was resisting because it was so young, but "whodathunkit".. this is like a clear alpine lake of pinot goodness - a bath of pure cranberry juice with a dollop of black cherry. Great stuff.

10/11/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is a knock out Malbec. Ripe fruit, of course, but infused with a mineral spine of crushed rock and menthol cool black fruit. Notes of strawberries and perfumed flowers. Impressive.

10/7/2022 - pjaines wrote:

This is quite boozy.... but good enough for Friday Decompression Duties... as the weather turns i have a Pavlovian response to buying these kinds of wines....

One cannot over analyse things. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs I'm sure chunky Rhone blends are quite near the top....

7/26/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is probably my "Bordeaux of the year" - 15 quid and this is layered with flavours and aromas that you have no right to expect at this price. Classic Graves - crushed rock, dry earth, cigar box - and then classic 2016 - all that delicious fruit that is plump but not fat. The finish has a damp-clay, cool black fruit element to it. It feels like a grown up wine at student prices. Superb.

7/25/2022 - pjaines wrote:

I hate it when that happens. You have a bottle in the cellar that you despise and open the last bottle from a shockingly poor case of 12.....out of spite with the intention of writing a mocking and pearl-clutching disgusted tasting note railing against the shockingly poor value of wines in the intersection on the Venn diagram of natural wines v cult wines v hipster.

And what happens? The final bottle of my Yvon Metras Fleurie Le Printemps 2013 turns out to be the one bottle in the case that is drinkable.

Clear, perfurmed - still a tang of natural horse butt on the palate and nose (erm, not sure what horse butt tastes like! - maybe I should reword that). Quite Burgundian - tarte finish. But actually very decent... although anyone who would spend more that 15 quid on this needs their brains feeding to themselves.

5/7/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is really impressive stuff, showing a mix of both Syrah typicity and also classic South African feel to it. Definitely not fruit forward, this is more reserved with elegant tannins and a deft touch on the fruit. With air some meatier notes come through, but this is more refined that full-throttle. Impressive.