4/18/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Popped just ten minutes ago, and its nose has that slightly funky fresh sweat thing, almost musky, in a good way.

Lovely concentration, almost juicy fruited, but balanced nicely with a mineral acidity & savoury/bitter nuttiness at the back (stalky?). Very fine powdery tannin dries the finish. Definitely some spice in there too. I'll still have some of this around tomorrow night, so I'll add anything significant if it offers up anything much different.

A good Cote du Py.

Edit: Only thing to add is that this bottle produced the largest amount of and lump of residue I've ever seen in a bottle of wine. Like a shrivelled piece of leaf mulch about an inch across (l used a tea strainer). Perhaps this speaks of this wine's dry extract, texture and density?

4/13/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Dark but fairly polished, light-middleweight varietal presence with good fruit & savoury balance.

Solid entry level Escarpment holding well.

4/12/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Just really good solid Cote de Brouilly

Creamy dense red fruit nose

Raspberry, and sweet ripe red cherry(almost strawberry) up front, which turns pleasingly sour, mineral and dry, with a sherbet tang back end.

Fine grip & surprising length

Love this

4/7/2024 - mysterycooper wrote:

Not smooth as I anticipated, and no lift, the savoury herb was there, almost spicy; not much fruit or acid to balance. Disappointing.

Had with cheese and crackers over 4 hours

3/30/2024 - mysterycooper wrote:

Someone brought this round as a gift one day. I recently gave it to someone who I know drinks it occasionally. I didn't taste it. They just did, and told me; "yeah, it was ok". So there you have it, someone I know said it was ok.

3/30/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Again, good density and fruit; certainly not light on its feet.
I'd be tempted to chuck it in a decanter or jug for half an hour before serving it.

Don't understand why it needs such a heavy bottle and deep punt.

88/89

3/21/2024 - mysterycooper wrote:

Nice fresh, red berry nose.
Palate not so good; nice initial fruit, then a little muddiness, and a woody bitterness as you leave the middle, before the red berry sweetness reveals itself again at the back. A touch of oak, spice & heat on the finish.

Possibly needs a good vintage to be a decent version of itself and be worth even this small entry fee.

I've had better vintages of this wine.

3/1/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Good, rich, Gigondas. It took about half an hour for the juicy fruit to plump up the middle, and another half hour + for the savoury and spice to add depth and fill out the finish.

Drinking very nicely right now.

£23.50 the Wine Society UK. Recommend.

2/22/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Think I might have had a good 2010/11 of this, and a very disappointing 2013. This is a good one; and though not a particularly 'serious' PN, it's fairly dense, fruit forward (red & black) and sweeter on the palate than the nose suggests. A lush PN with just enough savoury in the middle and drying nuttiness on the finish to give it something beyond being quality plump fun.

89/90

1/20/2024 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

It's what I imagine you'd imagine it would be like.

Lower register PN, a bit rustic and earthy, raspberry & red cherry, fine custard powder on the teeth & tongue. Nothing lifts it above, ok.

There's better out there for £20 or so. 83/4 seems about right.

12/27/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Again, great value.

P&P, consumed over a few hours.
Blackcurrant, dry wood, ripe cherry. No leather this time, but smoother tannin largely resolved.

Good

12/23/2023 - mysterycooper wrote:

Popped & poured, & decanted.
Consumed over 4 hours.
Started tart red cherry, developed some slight licorice in the mid-palate, and not much else.
Never really opened up.

Too early for this 2016? The maker, on their website, reckons it should be good in its youth; didn't drink it early enough? Shut down? A longer decant?

Whatever the case, it was very disappointing tonight.

12/20/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Yup, agree pretty much with those below.

Good Alsace PN. Particularly savoury/sweet balance, and concentration.

On the 3rd day I noticed a sort of pleasing bitter lemon sherbet top note on both, the nose, and from the mid-palate to the finish. It had been kept in the fridge.

12/3/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Red & Black berry, pepper.
Juicy Raspberry & Blackberry, slight tar, soft oak, smooth. Almost sugary sweet. Nutty late finish. Quite polished.
Probably as resolved as it's likely to get.
Nice
87/88

11/18/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Red & black berries
Blackcurrant, tobacco leaf, yellow plum, dry wood
Fresh, some dried red berry and tomato leaf
Nice balance. Finish is more delicate than the middle.

Doesn't seem its age, integration aside.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

My wine of the night at a tasting

Concentrated red & black fruits, blackberry, smoke
Same to palate; stewed blackberry, mulberry, kirsch, currants, slight sweet mulled wine thing. Ageing depth.

Really good

£60

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper wrote:

Amazingly fresh
Dark fruit, cigar box (the wood not the tobacco)
Not that complex, pretty straight-up, but good.

This bottle could have gone on for a while I suspect

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Vanilla
Dry
Ok

Too young?

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Dark
Concentrated dark berry nose
Sharp red cherry, ripe red cherry, nutty cherry stone finish
Slightly drying
Good

Fairly pricy at £40

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

White flowers, fresh washing
soft, dry
Ok

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Fresh, citrus, upright, flint smoke

Very good

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Viscous
Grass, a little cat's pee
Soft, ripe, rich
Good stuff

I'm not actually much of a white wine drinker, so you might want to ignore my note.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Rich, smooth, exotic, raisiny, nutty finish.
Really good example.
Worth its price.
Will buy again.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

UK tasting. 3 bottles. Seems some variation:

1st - asleep, no one impressed.
2nd - corked.
3rd - now we're talking: Red cherry, mulberry, balsamic, herb.

I got mine fairly soon after the cork was popped. I sadly forgot to return later (or didn't need more wine by then; almost no one was spitting).

Number 3 eventually showed us what a £52 bottle of Brunello should be like.

Very nice wine and ready to go.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Well this is in the UK and a small independent, at £25

A stock Californian PN. It's ok. Not too sweet, and a bit of savoury to balance. If I want a full & fruity £25 PN, I tend to go New Zealand. This reminds me why.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

This wowed everyone at a tasting with around 40 wines.

Noticeable legs
Elegant nose
Solid & smooth pomerol with some spice or heat
Bitter nut finish, in a good way, and still some unresolved tannin
This goes down very easily, and might yet improve a tiny bit.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

I used to see this in shops and think it was literally wine made from just oranges.

It's obviously Torontel grapes with orange peel in the mix, I'm told.

Very clean yet quite full flavoured, the orange really works although I'm not much of a white wine drinker myself. I'm at a tasting. Surprised by this, thought I'd hate it. In summer, a little more chilled than it is in this glass, perhaps with crab salad?

Well made stuff.

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Linear
Good value
Nice

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Dark
Dark berry nose
Not quite ripe plum, red cherry

Good

11/4/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Not much nose
Light, dry body
Thin, herb, not much fruit
A little spice to finish?

Ok

10/28/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

2nd bottle and I'm amazed to find that although it's moved on nicely from 2021, this is still quite tannic and drying, so I won't be opening another until at least 2026 if not later. Didn't drink it with food mind you.

Very nice Puisseguin though.

10/28/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Quite dark and spicy at its core, with a bit of juicy berry, some savoury herb & bitter nuttiness toward the back, but also some fresh lift giving it an almost creamy Gamay like softness and with the finest of grip.

A very pleasing, yummy, mixed bag.

13.5%. £24

10/12/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Not quite as good as the one I opened 3 years ago. Less red fruited, round and creamy in that delicious young Gamay way. But still good.

9/19/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Pretty much agree with the previous notes.

Rather than the Comte finish I get a bright ripe red cherry stone finish. A suggestion of heat along with the garrigue too.

This is very good, especially for £19.50, from the Wine Society UK.

9/5/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Honey, a little citrus, melon, a tinge of burnt orange. My sister noted asparagus. Very nice balance. Clean.

Suffered from a fairly high dose of petillance.

9/5/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Took a good few hours to open up and for the fruit to show, sort of. Stern.

Took until the next day for it to soften up and become pleasing to drink. Dark, rich, a little rustic.

Ok after 24 hours open and chilled to a little cooler than this warm evening's room temperature.

8/27/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Just very decent Viognier.
Pretty underwhelming for a Condrieu.

8/27/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Too ripe for a big nose but a rich and intense palate.
Didn't seem to be in any hurry to be drunk, as far as this bottle was concerned anyway. I'd say it would have held strong for a few more years. Not particularly complex, but this is proper, quality Hermitage. Took around 40 minutes of air to give all it was going to give.

8/18/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

For me the balance right across the board is great.

Sweet fruit & savoury herb. Rustic polish. Lushly elegant. Engrossingly fun. Neither particularly youthful nor particularly aged.

Seems like the right time to be drinking this.

Bought recently - £22 Wine Society. Highly recommend.

8/6/2023 - mysterycooper wrote:

Dense colour.

Creamy red berry, then blackcurrant, nose.

Mouth coating tannin, creamy blackcurrant, licorice; sort of mild garrigue/black pepper/hot finish. Quite meaty, but nicely layered. A touch of pleasant bitterness; and smoke, which is there suddenly, and then isn't. Talcum powder gums finish.

It's definitely growing with air. 14.5% Solid CDR

8/3/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

My 1st note, I just realised, was posted onto the non Vielles Vignes version of this wine, so I've placed it here, hence the double date.

I've just had my 2nd bottle, and unfortunately it wasn't as good today. Not bad, but much simpler; all cranberry.

8/3/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

11/5/2022 - I like this wine:

No notes to speak of as I had it a couple of days ago; popped and poured.

What I remember is that, at something like £21 this was very good value and very enjoyable. Quite bright, with - if memory serves - a little dried cranberry/red cherry finish. Not particularly long but what you get is good.

I went back and got another.

8/3/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Not wildly complex but harmonious and tasty all the same.

Not big on the nose but the palate is smooth with ripe cherry, nice oak, and a little of that Kirsch thing.

Nothing wrong with this, and it's ready to go.

7/29/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

I found this bottle to be denser, a little grippy, and darker fruited than the 2019, but really not a patch on the 2018, which had a ton more character and Burgundy styling about it. Although this had greater weight than the previous vintage I found the 2019 a smoother & more balanced ride from front to back, and so slightly preferred it.

I wonder if my minor experience of this, and a few other English reds, reveal a deeper truth, that a particularly good summer is currently required to create a wine that comes anywhere near close to a good entry level French or Italian one. No great surprise, but nice to know it can be done at all.

Not only is Charles Palmer doing a great job with this PN, but the price of these have dropped from £29 to £26.50 a bottle (in my local independent, and, I hear, at the vineyard). I can't recall another time I've seen that happen; top man.

I look forward to following this wine further.

7/29/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

yup, one year later it has improved and probably deserves a point or two more.

Typical decent Fleurie.

7/9/2023 - mysterycooper wrote:

Really enjoyed the pretty & fragrant 2017 vintage of this wine.

I expected a somewhat weightier version of the above with this 2018.

Didn't get it; tonight anyway.

Nothing memorable, but it was ok.

7/2/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

This is a quality, entry level Bordeaux at a great price. Very decent, balance, weight, precision, oak, and leather. Everyone liked this.

I'm getting more.

£14.50

6/10/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

I only had the one 175ml glass from some sort of Coravin type wine vending machine in a deli/wine bar I visited in South East England. It had about 10 or so bottles in it; all somewhat more expensive than most house wines. My glass was £16.50.

No specific fruit note except - red 'ish', a little minty but actually more fresh cut Fennel bulb than mint, and orange peel. Quite a dry finish, maybe food would have smoothed it out; air eventually did that job about 45 minutes from being poured, and after much agitation and when down to the last 20mls

If I ever opened a bottle, I'd probably drink with food and/or decant for a good hour or two.

6/1/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

P&P

Started soft and light with strawberry on nose & palate, then shortly the nose became indistinct, and the palate gained red berry/red cherry fruit richness up front, before dropping away fairly quickly leaving a very fine powdery sort of bitter/stalkiness on the teeth & tongue, though not unpleasant.

Developed a tiny bit of funk, but also a tiny bit of wet paper. Doesn't seem to sit well in the glass for very long.

A bit unsettled and awkward. Like some people I know, whom I also enjoy the company of, in spite of it.

5/26/2023 - mysterycooper Likes this wine:

Smooth, oak, a little juicy blackcurrant lift in the middle, but quickly goes to the brooding almost tarry dark side. Cherry stone & powdery tannin teeth coating finish. A little heat (14.5%)

1st day better with food.

2nd day good without food but still the dry finish.

Good.

Actually, by the 3rd day and in the glass, this became much softer and more harmonious. Took its time; perhaps a very long decant or much longer in the bottle would suit my taste.