12/18/2015 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Chameleon wine! I can reconcile - if not explain - the two most recent TNs below...

On opening, a brief raised element of funky floral, then a brown perfume: game, raisin, wet earth, a trace of old red raspberry, caramel and plastercine. It flies across palate: finessed / weightless. Decent spread. Lacks angles: low-tannin and near end of life? Therefore didn't decant, cooled further, and drank 2 hrs later. Led by red cherry skin! Flicker of farmyard. Strong and dry. Almost entirely different! A tad of nice sour edge too. Doesn't extend much... but that might be the now-evident tannin. Maybe it could evolve for quite a while from here; open out structurally and break up aromatically. 89-91 at moment; potential for more. 89 now?

10/31/2015 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Thanks to the note from XA below, I paused my perception that ‘09s were awkwardly closed at the moment...

Immediately, one of those affirmations that Vosne is real. Smiling taut blackcurrant quickly yields to quite intense red and black cherry. The superb, clean, bright, natural, concentrated, ripe fruit quality is revelatory in fleetingly evoking the liqueur character I dislike in hot-climate wines; begging the question of whether such are forlornly trying to imitate Vosne! This has a little integrated clip of acid attached to that characteristic; even if the ripeness calls for the fridge to enhance that pique of mouthwatering delight. Back to the nose, which is a meld rather than a set of components at the moment, but certainly includes subtle spice and red earth. Indeed, another surprise is that Lamarche’s distinctive red-leather oak is so well integrated at this age. That’s not the case in some of their ‘08s or ‘10s at the moment: I think the ripeness of the vintage is balancing well, and their 'oaking hand' was judicious with this level of wine this year. In the mouth: profoundly elegant. You could no more separate out the structural elements than you could pull the wine apart: it’s strong; a superior silk. That’s its substance too: light, firm silk; no dense, fleshy irrelevance. The wine’s concentration - and this drinker’s desire for contemplation - slow the drinking at the moment. Like a 1999, this will journey from blacker to redder fruit with age. It’ll lighten gracefully, and drink better and better. The balance and elegance will push drinking beyond the short-medium term I bought for. So it’ll do the job of protecting the ’09 Lamarche 1er and GCs I loved so much at E-P; and much more.

4/17/2015 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Exciting, penetrating aromatic lines from bottle. Double-decanted and drunk 45 mins later. Nose contains some strawberry jam; lending density. Also wild strawberry, ginger and red earth; you can smell the energy. Palate is perhaps a little lean - reflecting '96 and grower - but has loads of vitality. Still some grip; reflecting Rugiens well & suggesting years in hand. Its remaining natural substance had me wanting to cool a cool wine further. Nose later added red raisins, tar and red citrus. Maybe the acid is a little aggressive. Immediate obvious excellence though. 10% next night. Rare meat to bandaid. Citrus, burnt strawberry and toffee. Concentrated, but dissipates / doesn't drive in finish. Still enjoyable, but clearly an oxidised manifestation.

1/25/2015 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Previous bottle of this, served by a friend at a tasting a couple of years ago, had some brown-apple oxidisation. I thought that’d had too much air. I decanted this off sediment and back to bottle 30 mins before meal. Surprisingly red fruit; if restrained by its vintage and age. Elegant substance! Seemed a little singular. A little more air complexified to red-spice finish. Faintest trace of meat. Reminds of a more-elegant, less complex, good-period, mature Thalabert. Has improved, and was perfectly served(!) Reached 91!

1/17/2015 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

A bad start to my policy of eliminating Bordeaux from the cellar, because only after opening did I notice that RP has just upgraded this to the most saleable of scores. On opening, nose is reasonably high pink-purple fruit; yet also it smells soft and succulent(!) Trace of mocha and purple leaf. In mouth, an immediate fresh core – good – then leaves surprising grip (in light of reputation). Therefore splash decanted, and back, 45 mins before. At meal, nose is dry blackcurrant, dark earth and trace cedar. Quite restrained and singular. Saturates well and grips less. 20 mins in gets drier again: coal, cedar and sour plum grip, despite beef stew. A further 30 mins and nose is a jewelly, deep, dark redcurrant… which then runs to gentle red-purple cherry… and cream! Variation speaks to depth of content of course. 89-90 pts of pleasure now. 90. Definitely not too oaky; what there is will integrate easily. Needs 7+ years to calm. Has balance, so could be special… within the Bordeaux idiom.

12/1/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

A striking red citrus aromatic, which is increasingly joined by strawberry skin. A tiny mint-to-chlorine note, which might be oak, but might be something acetic. Really good reach, built of elegant lines of acidity, which help make the wine juicy and 'moreish'. Yet the core is really succulent and supple for a 2013. Could actually do with being served even cooler (c13 degrees C, rather than the c15-16 it's probably at) in order to give more focus. Fairly saturating, and really impressive length. Palate has hints of leather and mineral, as well as pale earth and wild strawberry. Pretty glorious, compelling, gluggable wine; which, on first impressions, was towards 93 pts!! As it warmed and breathed, everything was shifting from pale red to purple. That went on towards pears and apple-barrel, i.e. it was oxidising fast in a negative, homogenising, 'Natural' way. That's the use of too little sulphur and, sadly, means that this wine of excellent material and structure (i.e. what would have been potential for several years) will need drinking in the next year! Chill, then pop and pour, and one might just get to 93 after all.

10/12/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

I couldn't disagree more with the description by JL immediately below! Currently dominated by heat, and showing little complexity, this wine is at a very closed stage. It has attractive, stony tannin; actual notable acidity (rippling the sides of tongue); and the serious concentration which has always been a hallmark. Enjoyable enough now as a drink with rich food. Indeed, it's fun to drink a fortified wine occasionally! The likes of Armagnac and Port do actually age of course. I'm confident that, after serious further ageing, this will will re-develop significant aromatics which will re-bury the heat. Alcohol aside, it's miles from the soft and soupy Parker stereotype. This will drink over a further 20 years.

9/26/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

NB this 'Grande Cuvee' is actually the producer's 'basic' wine. Half the bottle poured out and back in, 2.5 hrs before. By far the best 2011 Beaujolais I've tasted. It has freshness and energy completely at odds with a rather long, over-ripe, dull vintage. From the producer's website, it's made with a "double sorting table" and de-stemmed; a triage rarely afforded in Beauj. That will have contributed to the bright colour and cleanliness/purity of the wine. I'm not sure whether, in this vintage, it's a good thing or a bad thing that this is their 'regular' wine, rather than one of their vineyard cuvees. I suspect the former. Whilst into its relatively closed window (a limited aromatic which has floral high notes but a negative flicker of something like chlorine), it will drink well at every age because of its particular structure. That is: fine tannin so well integrated with lively acidity, easy extract and just 13% alc; elegance in the most Burgundian sense. Amongst the best natural structures of any young Beauj I've tasted. Initial hints of bloody, Rhoney flavours, before it retreats north with small purple cherries and freshness. Should develop classic M-a-V aromatics, because there's no overt oak. Deliciously drinkable now; 91-92 pts now for that and its sheer class. A sure thing, to stack into the cellar. Longevity depends on your belief about the preservative value of tannin vs acid. I want to call it as v long term, but maybe there isn't enough tannin. Taking a mid-point, to 2022?

6/14/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

From bottle, the aroma is very oily, with some clipped, controlled cedar, green pepper, one early note of incense, a little dark smoke, and the faintest trace of dark blackcurrant. The vegetal aspect occasionally wavers towards rot. Decanted 45 mins, and a complete change. Redcurrant and red bricky earth. Just a trace of mushroom. A surprisingly smooth entry; glass tilts further. A good curl of acidity; nicely within the substance. Later a trace of red orange in the finish. Palate is right at peak: integrated and laid back. Moving to the 40% still in the bottle, some of the darker and dirtier aspects returned, and the structure was more awkward. Tasting the last 30% the next day, we were right back to the start: rather ugly. Boy, do wines like this need to escape their sediment and breathe!! 91pts, correctly served.

6/13/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Starts with the Pear Drops of fermentation and youth, but that quickly blows off or become ignored, because … because of many good qualities. A compact dark florality and bloody tone run into bitter plum skin and a hint of purple cherry. There's a piercing, incipient end to the aromatic: what is it promising?! Excitement! High acid and a little grippy, but with better depth than the Coop's 2013 Beauj-V, and a good silken firmness to the mid-palate. Fair purity. 88-89, 88. Again, it shouts about what top-end growers might do with this vintage. They'll be less aggressive; they should be borderline historic. It'll depend on taste, because it is a high acid and obviously tannic vintage. Along with 2009 (a differently style), this is the most excited I've been about a Beaujolais vintage at this stage in the last 20 years.

3/8/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Double-d c45 mins. Nose has striking red cherry skin, with a trace of beef. Bright and pure: remarkable fruit for the age. An immensely citric palate; a thrill. I note a drink-by date of 2007 above: a classic case of modern critics originally missing the idea of the closed period. Confounding for me too, in respect of my perception of '99 being a darker-fruited, moodier vintage. This village wine has 8-10 more years! Might gain more aromatic complexity as it calms. 93 now though!

12/18/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

18th of 25 wines, at the annual 'Best Bottle' event of our weekly wine group. From David S. Well, the nose is unbelievable! Iodine, ink, pale/boiled beef. Jasmine. Dried oranges. A flicker of purple fruit. A dense puff of tea, then liver. Into the mouth, the wine is so unexpectedly full and initially weightless! That nicely-fluffy feel recedes as some woody tannins appear from finish of first mouthful onwards. Nice, small-scale perky acidity still. The palate isn't that special, but the perfume isn't just every-sniff different - and the notes it's built of aren't petite - they're full-on and penetrating; definitely wild, relatively sizzling, and completely entrancing. Unforgettable wine. Overall, 94-95, 94? That is, a c98pt nose; c88pt palate!!

1/19/2014 - campingfleurie wrote:

From bottle top: oily, olivey, unfocussed black fruit. From glass, 30 mins later: metallic, stalky, loud, loose, slightly-candied red cherry. A sawdusty note: oak chips? Into mouth is syruphy, fluffy; very front-palate, then quickly dry - relatively rough tannin. Fruit-sweetness lingers. Somewhat tinned fruit. If this all sounds rather negative, it was better with the intended 'Mediterranean' food. A bitter aspect to the finish was faintly refreshing. I was thinking of pushed it to 87pts over 86; but S's eventual comment of "rather crass" has me stepping back.

1/17/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Not decanted. Minor brown-red fruit, trace dried earth, definitely foxy. Feral; if that possibly being part of an arguably relatively thin and bitter aromatic. Bright, lively. Something a little blocked in flavour expression; then dry. Probably to open out? High, angular acid physically compels a smile. A little crisp tannin in the finish. Some could call that combination screechy and scratchy. However, that would only be without food, and surely no one would drink a 1er Cru Vosne without food? A flicker of pale boiled sweet. Switching from a 'Burgundy' glass to a tasting glass, the nose was actually better! It let the limited threads of red fruit to be brought together, giving the wine a more complete/attractive aromatic density. That was true on tasting an hour before the meal and again during it. This has me leaning towards the modernist view/interpretation of light-vintage now-fading fruit meaning to drink up in the next three years. However, AL, from tasting two other bottles, observed black and red fruit on the palate; which presumably could become airborne in turn. He read as being a 15-20 yr wine (from vintage). Is also a chance that the fruit expression was a little structure-blocked tonight. Even if my negative insight was correct, there's still a chance that with age, it'll become a wine with a big cloud of tertiary aromatics, and be fun for that. S really liked it. To me, 91-92 for now, 91.

1/8/2014 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Blind, and last red of the night. AL always takes his wines off the sediment before coming to these sessions, and I'm sure that air helped this wine significantly. Cigarette! Red brambles; minor liver and gravy - surely Rioja? Red bacon too. Nice lift: this is a pretty aromatic. Oh, coffee granules! That's less refined, but I like it as a component. In the mouth, what beautiful, gentle, central material! This is a surprising big tick in favour of the ageability of modern 'rounded tannins', because this character is surely about good raw materials rather than age-softened tannin. That little body of material is thrillingly small-medium in the centre of the mouth, rather than big and overwhelming. Juicy acidity swirling around it; in complete proportion: gorgeous. I don't normally go for Rioja - and maybe this wine lacks drama - but here is one lively, easy, indulgent, successfully-mature wine!

7/13/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

From magnum. To a family BBQ. Opened that morning. Sauvage! Deep, wild, meaty, funky-floral. Syrah-esque, but the most classic MaV too. Fundamentally grand wine. Grip. At the BBQ, tangy irises, as if a large bag of fully grown ones had been dried and crushed. The pale-purple raspberry fruit lightens in the mid-palate. Rather than a weakness, that is reasonably likely to be acidity narrowing and hiding things, because there's a huge acidic tang to the wine. Structures, grand depth and being a magnum say leave a long time. Being Gamay brings that forward to a 2017-2020 window. Gratifyingly, no oxgenation or VA. This wine is towards the pinnacle of what classically-styled MaV can be, so does, in its lack of fruit, beg questions about the potential of Beauj in general. However, it might dash such doubts if the structures yield and reveal. Others didn't drink that freely - probably didn't enjoy much in light of the wine's aggression. I think I have to give it 91 already, for its grandeur. I don't 'like' it, I love it.

8/23/2013 - campingfleurie Does not like this wine:

Unusually black. No sediment! Also very unusually plush material for Moulin; with soft edges that are perhaps loosening, in the sense of getting too old for a smoothed, low-acid style. A muddy, livery aroma worries in same vein. A couple of recent ’05 MaV have been aggressive and benefitted from air, so unfortunately I’ve double-decanted this 2 hours before meal… On drinking, nose is framed by a little classy coal, but then there’s nothing in the middle. Similarly the palate is largely washed out / absent in flavours. A trace of pastilly blue plum fruit, then a plasticine tone. The latter is hot vinification revealed now that the fruit and density have dropped out. Juiciness in mid-palate a momentary positive. It’s incongruous, though; hard to believe it can have come from grapes over-ripened into the soft texture of this wine: I think the acidity is adjusted!! A particular other top-end, usually successful, ’05 MaV was flawed by a lack of acidity, so I think that was a situation that modernist MaV growers found themselves in ’05! Weather, viticulture, winemaking and filtration have made a MaV for relatively early drinking: it’s past its best. For drinking now, pop and pour to prevent deterioration, served cool to quieten the negatives. Treat as a glugger; don’t expect complexity.

7/5/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Cool: c15 degrees. Surprisingly pale and translucent in light of the vintage. That pale but heavy (and not totally attractive) strawberry jam of my at-home bottle of the '08. A much deeper and more pungent aromatic though. Sweet spice, red licorice, engine oil and red leather. Shimmering, bright and very red. Mouthpopping: huge and round from tannic and alc structure. Acidity washes the material from the mouth like a retreating wave: quickly thinning the material, but then a fine layer lingers on the beach, now showing red fruit, the concentrated essence of red flowers, blood and oxtail! The extract and the tannin then grip the lower palate. Did double-d for 3 hrs, but that didn't change it! With steak, so was drinkable, but it's fairly componential at the moment. The very concentrated strawberry-jam fruit will need to calm down a fair bit; but the concentration suggests that fruit will always be with this wine. Should be pretty amazing drunk lengthily-decanted in c3 years. Will surely have 20 years after that! 90-91 pts of pleasure now; 90. I've ?never tasted a wine with this wild (bizarre) combination of brightness, cleanliness, red-fruited concentration, scale, fine-and-significant acidity and full-skeleton tannic structure. Could (and I think it will) hit 96+ heights in a decade!

6/23/2013 - campingfleurie wrote:

Sold to me as Vieilles Vignes, but that isn't on the label. Served c15 degrees. A little woodsy, beery, 'Natural' element within the shoe-polish-led, rose-water-thin, pink-purple fruit. A licorice tone in finish. Nicely medium-small and fresh, but with slightly woody, awkward tannins in the finish. Despite our food, that meant it couldn't lead on to the easy-drinking which the first moment of the aroma promised. 86 to 87, 86. My rating will be below others due to my sensitivity to (and accumulated prejudice against) the homogenising (oxidisation-allowing) consequences of Natural (low/no sulphur) winemaking.

6/15/2013 - campingfleurie wrote:

Popped and poured from the cellar, after 7 other grand bottles! A fairly sensational nose begins with stripped leather amidst multiple animal furs. Minor, plush fruit in that aroma, with the sweeter tones (oak and fruit-concentration) mostly being a herbal-spice complex (undoubtedly built a little of terroir-derivatives too). One to keep in the glass, cherishing; to re-sniff before sips tiny so as to prolong the encounter. Scratched velvet: just a little tannic texture. Fresh and good. I suspect it lacks fruit and length for long term development. Gently sizzling, and so lovely, now. 94? May well have perceived more and rated higher by itself. A fabulous, terroir-wine, actually; gently handled; appropriate restraint with the oak in this vintage. Above all, a wine of natural energy; 95. [Edit: On further reflection, 96.]

6/5/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

[NB, this cuvee is labelled just "La Roche" on the bottles I've seen...] At diverse blind tasting. Nose is lower-toned but distinctly complex: softening red cherry, with the leaves attached; shading towards muskiness - it fuzzes nicely. Also some dried florality, earth, and oak in a slight-caramel vein. In the mouth, just above medium scale. Pepper and some raspberry jam. Lower acid than ideal. Needs to be cooler: could star cellar-cool. Throughout the tasting it stayed good: didn't betray Gamay artificial tones in comparisons. The fuzzing grew; natural and good. First comment from L was than maybe from the Cote-de-Nuits. These Jadot MaV often show like that. '06 responsible for relative lightness of concentration. At the start of a drinking window; if one that won't be for more than 3-4 years due to the relatively low acid. Edges to 89 pts now... with 92 reasonably likely, soon, served cooler.

5/18/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

On opening (cool), nose offered initial excitement and interest via warm purple-raspberry jam, clayey earth, trace rhubarb… but then a little foxy spice which added a question mark. In the mouth, on the lighter side of medium bodied; then a very impressive little silken flow, which is kept flat and composed by a relatively high quantity of bright, pretty acidity. Just a little tannin prickles on the tongue, and then closes off the experience in that first mouthful; making the wine somewhat front-palate. On drinking half an hour later, the aroma and flavours have somewhat merged and simplified - a negative response to air - with the foxiness (by which I mean a bitter, near-rancid manifestation of animal fur) still present. The wine has spread back into the mouth a little: air has helped there. Overall, the structural balance is extremely good, implying lots of time left, but the negative flavours flowing from the inferiority of Gamay and from air, suggest that future may lack beauty. If you have several, I'd move to drink up now, via pop and pour. I have one left, so will probably leave it three years to experiment. The lovely visible acidity is behind my still rating a point more than last time.

5/11/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

On opening, the wine is far from its original blackcurrant evidenced on the cork. It’s mean and structured, with limited, red drought-raspberry the main fruit. Nose is a slightly ditch-watery Brett character. Tannin stings the tongue a little; but is at least some perky acidity, and a hint of Fine Wine extension. Didn’t decant. Three hours later, the nose has taken steps along a path: now the drought raspberry, chalky earth, a little musk and some of the watery Brett. Aroma is delivered classily, though: width and burgeoning soft density. The palate is on the way back to its origins in its brown blackberry to blackcurrant. Still some prickliness, which is reasonably stimulating and satisfying. 88 to 89 pts of pleasure now. A quarter of the bottle the next day was surprisingly saturating in delivery, with quietened fruit, but nice hints of bacon and leather. Natural (as well as oxidative) sweetness, depth, and attractive, sound length. Overall, a wine made for ageing, which needs a lot of air at the moment (would have been at its best with 4-5 hours of double-decanting); and I certainly prefer the combination of acidity and ‘less ripe’ extracted phenolics to the dire, dull and smooth-soft modern Bordeaux I’ve tasted too much of recently. Scope for c92+ in 4+ years.

2/23/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Re a friend's advice from estate's '07 N-S-G this week, I didn't give air, bar for opening an hour before and having one tiny taste. High, quite exciting aromatics, leading with a flicker of mint, then plenty of brown-skinned cherry. Some new brown leather, gunflint and a hint of Marmite; and just the faintest oaky modernity via choc liqueur and vanilla. The latter weren't significant enough to be offensive to my 'make-up' sensitivity/aversion. Fairly mouth-filling, but quickly extended (so not even faintly fat) there's serious clean elegance in a slightly solid idiom; before a tangy finish, featuring more-purple cherry (to mulberry) and blood-oranges. The acidity isn't quite of the cartwheeling style I usually associate with Michel Gros, but it does tang away nicely. Fruit sweetness. However, the slight excess of weight and intensity at this age both reduce intrigue and the ultimate time I'm compelled to spend with the wine. I slightly query the strangely solid, pure yet uninspirational, unexpected-purple character of the palate and finish. Have delicacy and vitality (precision-acidity) been sacrificed in favour of holding on for ripeness in a tricky vintage, then concentrating the result? I shouldn't really quibble: it's v impressive for their sub-1er-Cru Vosne from a weak vintage. There isn't electric magic here; it's more a big, pure, slightly modern wine, despite the quantity of acidity. That's confirmed the next day: pleasant, but no magic revealed; there aren't the concentrated layers to do so from this vintage. Still, I think it should lighten and yield; the flavour to quieten down and the aromatics to break up. That won't be later than year-ten in this vintage, though. Drink then! 90 to 91 on first night; 90.

2/21/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Looked bad at a MaV tasting last year. "Root-veg covered in old chocolate" was a memorable put-down. The winners (surprise-surprise) were those with high fruit, alcohol and new oak - things which stand out to a blunted palate. Air tonight = a sip 25 mins before meal. One tiny note of noble cassis in the nose, and that was it for fruit in this wine. Aroma mostly a restrained melange of aniseed, lamb gravy, old wood, old dried flowers. Underneath, the wine is fresh, delicately-firm and clean. That combination will support further aromatic development. Nose in 2-3 years should be a big pile of leaf-mulch! Palate will stay clean and refreshing: a nice, useful drink. Indeed, this was refreshing and effective with mild curry tonight. Ironically it might have been the lack of fruit that kept me wanting to rate this 87. Structural class tweaked to 88. Will probably stay at this level of pleasure with further maturity; although there's a chance it'll break through to contemplative heights.

2/19/2013 - campingfleurie Does not like this wine:

Nose hints at dark plums, liqueur and stones, but that's it. A v full, fuzzed package; with a distressing lack of acidity, despite searching hard for it. That was manifest in S's v ltd drinking, even though she claimed to like the wine. Burn apparent in upper stomache (almost unprecedented). Night 2 repeated all of the above (ouch); no evolution. A focus on cleanliness, ripeness and puffy tannins has killed complexity and refreshment. I managed a few glasses because of favourable pizza. Just 86. What a horrible direction this old favourite has gone in over the last two vintages.

10/24/2012 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

At Domaine. Popped and poured. Waves of gentle, pink-red fruit! Pale blood; burnt yet clean strawberry; hint of tea. Cool and reasonably compressed, but velvety; then dries well into the back of the mouth, followed by a little explosion of sweetness. Smells of sunshine (on a cool day)! A beautiful, feminine swish into all of lower cheeks. Cool, saturating; very fine. Not a wine for the 'American palate'. Drink 2017-2027 says Federica. I'll be drinking some a.s.a.p. though, because I like structure, and because this wine has stunning balance; bullseye gentle, natural flavour-extraction; and a consequent perfume which stars now and definitely will again in its mature form. Terroir, vintage and winemaking: an especial success. 94+.

1/23/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

I first had this in a rapid tasting at Vajra a few months ago. It stood out for its expansive aroma, with actual red-roses content. Therefore I was pleased to catch it in a little more detail as part of AL's Langhe Nebbiolo tasting. He'd double-d.ed 4 hrs before. Nose: classy, minty, tarry; with background light purple fruit… or, actually, that's dried purple rose petals… plus tobacco! That is a quite exciting nose! It was wine 8 (of 12) in the tasting, and the first to show that modern weightless puff in the mid-palate. I take that as micro-oxygenated tannins; although joined in this case by nicely integrated alcohol. Minor, lingering, nicely-narrow fruit. Ooh, and really good acidity - this is racey! Still comes across as a 'lesser' wine, compared to good Barolo, in that the serious core of concentration isn't there. So this won't be for the long term. However, that is a complex, classy nose, and the structure is there for excellent, vital drinking (with air) over the next 6 years. Some tasters preferred the '09 which followed; but, to me, that merely highlighted the '10. Vajra are on the edge of being overly-modern; and the hot-vintage '09 was more mulled, more liqueur, lower acid, rounder, and more international in flavour - no delicate-tar and roses in sight! Anyway, the '10 showed as 91-92… 92?! Marginal WOTN ahead of also-impressive Produttori, GB Burlotto, Castello di Verduno and Colla.

1/10/2013 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

En-P tasting: i.e. NB that such are never quite finished wines. Red minerality! Tight, fresh red strawberry and bright mid-red cherry. Tiny aromatic hints of orange and soy. Real drive and extension - linear and energetic. Twisting, sweet-sour grip. Fine, smooth; yet lingering sweet-sour. 2011 in general is pink-purple, soft, round and relatively simple; so this is delightfully outside of the mainstream - beautiful red fruit, plus structure to satisfy the mouth and to deliver complexity and longevity. I so love what Lamarche consistently get from their patches of C-d-Vougeot. [Edit: from 93, to 94. This is a great, terroir wine, which on reflection I realised I slightly underrated compared to all else I drink/taste.]

12/5/2012 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Don't drink this without air or time. A sip on opening showed Port and light purple fruit; quite front-palate, with a puff of soft tannin and a wateriness of loose acidity. Decanted off sediment and back into bottle. With meal two hours later it had improved, but wasn't at all showing its full hand. Hints of negatives in small notes of the Port, brown sugar and jam, but those are then suffused by salt/iodine; the palate is more extended, does finish pleasantly dry and there's a hint of tighter Provencal fruit and herbs in the finish. I also checked the next morning and evening. The morning was by far the peak. Fine purple fruit, herbal, Christmas cake. Then a strikingly classy puff in the mid-palate: changing the scene, filling the mouth, introducing weightlessness and setting the stage for a finish which extended and lingered with the essence of dark raspberry, cool herbs, faint mocha chocolate and liquorice. Just a little sweetness and warmth of liqueur, but bound together with a little firm tannin and with delicate acidity which cleanses. That's a great manifestation - really exciting. By the evening sip it had oxidised away to be neutral and tarry. Drink now with 5 hours of conventional airing, or leave 4 more years and drink over the following c8. Will always need some air because it has structure and it has over-ripe edges which need to blow off. Rating 89 for first night; but I'd say can be 94-95 with optimal treatment.

12/1/2012 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

I've been a fan of '09 red Burgs. Last month Nicolas Potel told me that the serious ones are closing down. My opening this proved that (surprise-surprise) he's right, I'm wrong. Warm red cherry, straw. A slightly dilute cherry to long-kept purple raspberry. Metal. Heat. Old milk chocolate. A big herbal tone. Sawdust. Faintest farmyard. Smoke. These per-sniff different impressions at least proved the class of the wine, but they're not pretty right now: a ripely-flavoured vintage losing its beauty as its blunting tannin rears above its receding flesh. There is some acidity, but not enough to offset the preceding factors at this age. That classic closed-period tasting note phenomenon of 'dilution' is 'apparent' in the palate too. I double-decanted to give it more of a chance, and it did drink better with the meal two hours later. A v limited aroma at that stage (adding a deeper boiled-sweet character), and the palate seemed a little more solid and effective. Improved to 88pts with the meal. Regardless of the now-undeniable closed-period issue (the flavours of this wine will refine and integrate, and it will have notable fruit in maturity), I still find myself craving brighter fruit flavours, stoniness and zippier acidity; reconsidering the better 2008s!

11/10/2012 - campingfleurie Likes this wine:

Bottle stink mostly gone after 3 mins. A quick pour shows a very-Lamarche, bright, pale, red colour, with hint of orange. No brown. Not much nose yet, bar a little Lamarche cinnamon and maybe vanilla. In the mouth a striking, immediate impression of fruit-sweetness and acidity bound together. Delightfully medium-scale and energetic: tautness with fizzing edges. Excellence meant that I decided against double-decanting - didn't want to risk blunting the class; and the injection of air from the small pour has an effect. Sniffing the bottle occasionally over the next two hours I got: burnt wood and vital spices; a rounder hint of a dark boiled sweet; darkly fruited undergrowth, which was thick, textured and lively; good purple cherries; a flicker of beetroot. Half an hour in I got a little burnt-toffee in glass dregs: poss oxidisation; reinforcing the non-decanting decision. Then again, on drinking 2 hrs after opening, nose wasn't very formed: a rather muddled, subdued purple-cherries and undergrowth affair. However the palate was simply brilliant: sweet-sour sans parallele. A weighty, explosively-tingly finish, with crunchy, sour, dark fruit, oranges, and the merest hint of volatility. When sipping later without food, mouth left pretty dry but very happy. 93-94, 94. If the nose had been more giving (in the exponential way Burg can), this might have jumped forward towards utopia.

10/23/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Tasted at the estate with Fabio, one of the more thoughtful (and I think, ultimately, inspired) winemakers I have met. Nose is 'pondy' to faint farmyard in initial character, in a huge, round ball of soft summer fruit. That's obviously whole-cluster, and is rather simple/singular at this age. In the mouth, slightly front-palate - it closes off - but that's immaturity too. A light feel, but it's a firm material within. Soft edges to that… it's liquid silk. Quite saturating; perhaps less so that the previous wines… but overall it's more harmonious - the components are significant but transparently together. Mouth is less dry than before. Some darker aspects linger - liquorice+. We had a deadline for our next appointment, so my slow brain wasn't able to bring my thoughts together in time to buy more than a bottle of this. The thing that struck me when reviewing my notes was that useful wine tasting is often about assessing what a wine will become. This one has so much class that it should be quite complete with time: a billowing nose and a no-holes, medium-bodied, weightless-yet-important palate. It should be an inherently haunting wine. In class (if not in completely in style) it's right up there with the better Dujac wines we tasted at the end of the trip. If I don't manage to secure some of this back at home, all toys will be out of pram! 96-97, 96...+.

9/24/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Cork had leaked in 3 places; although not in great quantity as fill level OK. Double-decanted 45 mins. Rather translucent and pale, with brown tones. Really eye-opening amount of lift to the aroma. I quite like the fully savoured-up mouthfeel. Great acidic bite too. Almost no fruit in the aroma. Brown bacon, burnt beef, maybe dried old raspberry. Is some fruit-sweetness as part of the super-lively finish. Aroma developed over the hour, although never reached the perfume of the maturity of a better vintage. Brown plum to redcurrant. Rinsed red earth, spring water; freshness. Dissolved old red wood, a hint of brown-red leather; faintest raisin and pencil lead. Constantly vibrant, fresh. The aroma bristles; almost some heat included. The palate is more sour, beefy, watery, simple. If there are veg, then maybe aubergine, and conceivably crisp green pepper; but the flavours of this wine are fundamentally more brown than green. A few consecutive sips without food have the quantity and character of acidity starting to burn the throat. The aggression eventually started to put me off: as if had had enough glasses of this particular wine. However, a third of the bottle remained the next day, and despite all that air, it still got the same immediate thumbs-up from S. High acid is such a preservative! Aroma now more singular. The brown now more truffle-like. The wine slightly softer, and a deliciously refreshing, vitalising drink. This is clearly a real terroir, exploited in serious fashion. Barolo-like in origin, approach and result. 90-91 now, 90. Next bottle needs c3 hour double-decant - could show better.

9/21/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Cellar-cool, aromas nonetheless erupted from the bottle: red-fruit; breathtakingly intense, tight, parallel, clean, energetic. That continued nearly two hours (re-inspection was provoked), before (sadly) quietening, softening and becoming more purple. Double-decanted to aid body. First impressions on tasting two hours later was that that might have been a mistake - some rather soft material - but it quickly became apparent that this was actually to do with rounded little tannins. I cooled the wine to try and get some angularity and redness back, which had a degree of success. Main flavours then firm-red-cherry to soft pale-purple cherry. Occasional guests included boiled sweets and slate. Always oak derivatives: cinnamon, pale-earth, and a milk chocolate which added a slightly unwelcome soft end to the red fruit delivery. The best aspect of the flavours though was an interlacing of classy restrained muskiness; which came as the main flavour within a compacted, layered feel to every mouthful. Some tangy energy. This Burg is a velvet glove, but one contained of a small and straightened lady's hand rather than an iron fist: as an '08 it lacks mouth-filling scale, occluding dark fruit and actual loudness of flavour. It may be irrational of me to be lamenting the lack of more rigid tannin and darker, deeper flavours: the ripe little tannins may mean that this wine is always the svelte, indulgent luxury product that much of the market demands. It will open with time of course (and certain flavours hopefully integrate), but will never be big. It may always need serving on the cooler side. Aspects of this wine were wonderful at this age (say, 96-97 pts), but there were things I didn't much like. So overall, 91-93 now, 91?

9/9/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Stood, then I double-d.ed I think an hour before. Quite strong fruit right from bottle - it grabbed and impressed S (a rare achievement). Oil. Dark blackcurrant to Fruits-Of-The-Forest to stony cherry, in a slightly liqueury style. A note of something on the edge: dark moss, sweat? Cranberry and liquorice. Savoury, dry palate saturates and pulses back at you. Nose soon becomes more of dusty red fruit, bursting berries, and always that oiliness. Mouth-filling width-wise (tannin still keeping the shape relatively flat). Fine material with a dry finish. Slightly hot-dry. The wine is somewhat extracted, rough; even it this age. It lacks the ethereal aromatics and elegance of great Burg, but compensates with impressive concentration and scale. Flavours start to include a kind of purple-marmite and road tar. The by now primarily FOTF aroma gained faint negatives in iron and raisin. Overall still a striking and v enjoyable drink of distinct class. 92.

8/4/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Popped and poured. A fat nose of hearty farmyard, plus minor yeast extract and purple fruit. Serious fruit-sweetness, and (for the vintage and its age) v surprisingly dense, quite fine material; if ending with a little grip within the richness. Red sloes, occasionally running to blackcurrant. A flicker of cedar, but a distinct lack of pencil-lead; indeed this is generic, old-vines, modern wine, with brett on top; rather than speaking of the Loire at all. Bright, balanced, supple and intense, it will clearly age (evolve); but its anonymity and excess brett put me off, so rating it for my pleasure now at 86 to 87, 87; and I won't keep any.

8/8/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Decanted c1.5 hrs. Closed, quiet; so some will dismiss. A perfume though; a melange of components; depth. Burnt strawberry, pink-purple plum, spring water over stones and slate, older red leather. Heat in there too. Shades to raspberry. Maybe gun-smoke and faint black olive?! Some would see some dilution in the palate (that spring water again), but it's dramatically persistent. Can just about, 30 secs later, notice the mouth is dried (maybe with a woody aspect). That mostly means satisfied: this is good. A slightly looseness which is either the wine falling apart or is plenty of acidity currently in evidence before the flavours are let out once the structures fade. A bit of both, I think, so I'll ensure that it's not decanted too long once mature. I'm fairly excited for a 2014 to 2019 window. 89 to 90 now; 89.

7/17/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Pumping from the bottle, the sweet, damp, poss loose licorice, which is slightly worrying as a possibly over-ripe characteristic. Coal smoke then calms. Minor blackcurrant pastille. Yes, a hint of that medicine mentioned on CT. Faintest hint of wet fur. With meal, three hours later... blackberry jam, red-purple oily mineral; with firey heat and some grip. Incipient pepperoni and sun-dried tomato. The original darker fruit now on the aromatic edges. I am, for the first time in a decade or more, transported to Gigondas: this wine speaks of the place and the archetype. Rustic, brutish, wild; a crazed boar, with its heart pounding. Quite a contrast to the finesse of many a Chateauneuf of this vintage. Exciting now, I think I'll keep it 6+ more years, when it should show its natural beauty again, and be just a little softer. Not that softness is the point: it compels extra mouthfuls right now. A really impressive showing as this semi-closed age. 89 to 90 now; 90 now.

6/26/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Is it a pity that this wine has flaws, or are those part of what makes it wonderful? I’ll probably need another bottle to conclude. This bottle, only consumed in a tasting environment, excited me considerably. Popped and poured. Surprisingly pale and translucent. Before even raising the glass, a dense gust of blackcurrant! Nearing it: torrefaction, and medicine. Burnt redcurrant, and barley. Smudgy. Plastercine? Sawdust; cellars; oxidised red wine. A penetrating alcohol note, within a nose that is thick and complex. Red-brown cherry. Dried flowers. Into the mouth, quite a thick flow. V front-palate. Dry. Burnt aspects. A second taste: good sweetness, in a glycerine sense; and now I’m really perked by acidity! Some graininess of tannin to roll around the mouth 30 seconds later! Loving it! Farmyard tones now in aroma. My mouth feels good. This is great, classic, rustic, evocative Moulin-a-Vent! Such substance, with acidity and tannin too. Gentle, light-red, earthy fruit: reminds now of Morey-St-Denis! 93 now. Re-corked, and tried at a diverse tasting, three hours later…

Much darker now! That’s freaky – rather unprecedented. Fine sediment now mixed in? Fuzzy, concentrated dark raspberry to blackcurrant. Hint of mouldiness, and a flicker of sherry. Muddy. A little oily. A glue note. Faint red apples. In the mouth though, the group are taken aback: “a fortified note in nose, which doesn’t come across in palate at all!” Meaty. Old jam; deep blueberry and blackberry. Real concentration. Guesses went around the table, with the main theme being grand, old Syrah. Quite a lot of shock at what it was: photos taken, etc.

The structures, substance and concentration are all fabulous. VA, Ethyl acetate, oxidisation and brett all present; yet maybe at just low enough levels to only add complexity. I’m sure this can be made great by a good serving regime. Stand for a couple of days. Decant carefully, then back. Drink half an hour later to round out and clear a few flavours. Serve slightly cool – 15C. Longer term v much TBC!

5/12/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

The most enjoyable '09 S Rhone I've had, but also the last straw - even this old-vine, usually-thoughtful cuvee contains too many over-ripe flavours. Black cherry to mulberry jam, seaweed (always present in this cuvee - v nice), raisins, honey, sausage-meat and Port in the aroma. Enters with a real rush - sweet and slippery; glycerine a go go. Serious Port in the finish; in terms of all of weight, flavour and flow. The flavours were distinctly bright, so there was faint freshness somehow built in. [Edit: a few weeks later it came to me that the 'somehow' of the fruit vitality was probably more about v low sulphur, rather than acidity.] But overall merely a bundle of laughs - nothing too serious. Half the bottle left 'til next day was much quieter, with a distinct brown-sugar note of over-ripe decline. 90-91 on day 1. 90.

4/29/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

(From auction, so a chance of over-warm storage or some such issue.) Two hours of air. Nose is of wet tobacco, leather, raisins, bacony brett - a v different expression of classicism to the '96 St Pierre consumed recently. It's also less mature / integrated; so less compelling. In the mouth, prominent acidity initially makes the wine feel light. Relatively resolve tannin and questionable concentration makes it feel loose. However, the acidity continues to curl around, assert and promise more. The largely non-fruit flavour profile has good persistence. After lots more air, the wine feels more rounded and a little more mouth filling, but most importantly the acidity is now crackling and delicious, and it melds v well with the oxidative sweetness. Rather lovely: to many tastes I'd be underrating it at 90-91, 90. It'll age on this acidity, so will live a long time - another 10-15 years. The absence of fruit is a negative to me; but I realise it's quite possible that this wine will do more for me if the nose comes to integrate and fuzz-out; and there's clearly a chance of that. It's also possible that it'll decline to my tastes from here: as with the '95 Haut Bailly, this wine makes me favour the relative modernity of the Wilmers-ownership era at this estate.

5/2/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

One sip on opening: some rather fluffed up modern tannins gave a surprisingly light feel. Low temperature also emphasised unattractive modern makeup in aroma: burnt wood, dark cherry liqueur, nuts, toast, rich damson jam. In the middle of a diverse tasting, 2.5 hours later (i.e. after some air for the wine and some palate-numbing from older wines for me) the tannins now more taut, with just a little acidity bound in. Nose only showing small notes: mint, flowers, minor wood, sweet raisin, burnt berries, smoke, coffee. Palate displaying the near-Californian sweetness of that damson jam; although there is the above structural compensation for that. Chocolate liqueur notes in the finish. Pleasant grip. Apparently taut and ungenerous; nobody especially rated it. Disappointing, because I was planning to put some of these away. Therefore, I checked back in on it the next morning. A full, heady, yet somehow also restrained nose of mulberry to damson, with minor sweet-cherry undertones, and occasional pulses of chocolate and coffee. Now the finish is frankly rather wonderful, with a gorgeous, relatively savoury, dark tobacco quality, and just a little of that chocolate liqueur, plus promising, relatively velvety grip, and rare length. Rather compacted; with potential to open into generous indulgence and to offer additional flavour notes of complexity. In summary, via its warm fruit, smoke and chocolate, this wine is reminiscent of past ripely-styled Poujeaux' like '89, 90, 93, 95, 97. However, there's marginally more concentration, refinement, presence and hence likely eventual complexity. 91 to 92 its now; potential for up to 95. Key point for drinking now = I'd give this a five hour decant.

4/11/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

At DM's tasting of '01 CdPs. Rather singular, perhaps too solid and young. Not much peeling off. Suggestions of seaweed, cola, salt; old, dark, cherry jam. Mouthfilling; initially v fresh; then weight collapses onto palate, to offer real grip. Very long. Just a little red mineral coming through. c88 for drinking now. Unlike any of the other wines on show, I'm certain will improve, possibly to be quite special - perhaps 94-95, from 2016 to 2023.

2/26/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Outlier WOTN out of 15, easily besting a premium-cuvee '09 Cote Rotie and an '07 Gevrey for example. Popped and poured, cool. V pale, but packed with utterly superior intensity which occasionally exploded in the aromatics; almost sending me into a trance. Then (and only then) were Asian spices and mocha seen amidst the (then-expressed-as thick) light-red fruit. Other than that I was relieved with how little oak it showed - I'd worried that (since I tasted a barrel sample in London last January) it could have taken on too much dairy oak. I shouldn't have worried, because the class here is clearly about producer: they made the right judgement. It surely can't be terroir, because this is the 'lowest' of their reds. Maybe the relevance of terroir here is that the producer has such a long history of evidence about what techniques work best for their patch of land. A similar story, I guess, for the (very differently styled, and undoubtedly very differently grown and made) '08 Dujacs I tasted last week. These producers have experience, intelligence, confidence. Confidence to pay no attention to the entry-level reasoning of maximum ripeness, maximum extraction - a doctrine which has rendered so many no-name '09 Burgs dark, soft, dull, jammy. Instead here we have little cartwheels of acidity (and lesser, fine tannin) playing with the inner cheeks. Concentration, intensity, freshness, vitality, extension, persistence. Many tastes will still find this a little too intense for now, preferring a five year wait for the graceful ageing - calming and opening - which this wine will definitely undertake. To me though, this is such a complete and pretty wine that I'd drink at any time in the next 15 years. It has such balance that it may calmly sail far beyond that. 93 to 94, 94.

2/18/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

So it has improved! Double-decanted 3 hours. Pungent depths from bottle top: rather than any thought of what that aroma was, my first/immediate reaction was that I must seek more grand, traditional, aged Left Bank. On drinking, the key difference was how it had filled out compared to the last bottle. The acidity has yielded somewhat; and the tannins softened, such that they're contributing to the now-fleshy, fuller mouthfeel. There's still an occasional rich-sour tang. That's an extra feature of complexity and pleasure, and it's a guarantee of a healthy further 5+ years, during which time I'd guess that the aromatics - let me call it a bouquet, because that feels more like the language of the social class that this wine is from - will keep gaining. 91 to 93, 92.

2/13/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

Double decanted 2 hours, then distinctly needed warmth to show its thing. Petrol, raisins, nutmeg, mocha, marmite, red cherry, red leather, tobacco leaf. Just slightly hot and sour. Remaining (reasonable fine) tannins pool pleasantly. Beginning, though. 2005! Expensive, appropriately toasted oak. Next year, with air, will be its absolute peak. May flash a lot higher then. 89 now. Won't hold beyond that because of brown-aspect to raisin flavour element and inelegant (non-linear) style of acidity.

2/8/2012 - campingfleurie wrote:

At a tasting of grand Australian and S French reds from the 1990s. Apparently double-decanted c4 hours before. Nose immediately alive, bright, red, earthy. Red raisin and dried orange skin. Hint of rare beef. Trace mushroom. Palate contains the lovely, perking acidity promised by the nose, and it comes as a beautiful line in the middle of the wine. Orange, meaty, warm, bright. Complex blood-orange and mineral finish. A positive sour note. Subtle, nuanced, rounded-out tannins. Refined, together, poised. Patent natural substance slowing thinning; but warmth and power here. Presumably needed all this time - DB said he's found previous (younger) top-cuvee Tempiers more stolid/gloopy. So, finally long enough age + a cooler vintage giving vitality = 94-95, 95?!

12/23/2011 - campingfleurie wrote:

Initial nose is mainly an unusual and positive dark shoe-leather character. Minor black tobacco and licorice. In the mouth, currently more brown-spectrum – brown tobacco, firm brown leather, barrels, faint loam. Limited fruitiness right now. What fruit there is has rare, unique Gigondas character in the hairiness of the purple-black blackberries. Minor blue plum. An initial fluffed fur coat density, but then the mouthfeel shoots in different directions, via raised, intense, acid-involved delivery of those ‘brown’ flavours, and compacted, vertical tannins, some of which are surely old-oak-derived. The fruit is only shown in the finish, which lingers and changes, and unfortunately becomes seriously alcohol dominated. I wouldn’t call it ‘hot’ in the usual sense of a sharp, brief, primitive burn. Rather, it’s lingering, citric, barrelly and spirituous; rather like a big Armagnac.

All of the above was a brief inspection on opening. A sniff 1.5 hrs later showed the much-purported blue pen ink. On drinking a further 2 hours later, the wine had closed down more if anything. Unexpressive aromatically, and with a corset of a mid-palate, it really wasn’t v giving. Even with v sympathetic food we only drank half the bottle. Some drops left in the glass hinted at garrigue and stoniness. Overall, this wine is really taut compared to most ‘07s. The mid-palate ought to fill out again, but it will take a decade. Will that mask and/or balance the alcohol? A significant risk there. 89 now.

12/16/2011 - campingfleurie wrote:

From bottle, that pale-green leaf of many '04s. Double-decanted 4 hrs. Light oil, cedar, iron. None loud. One flick of doggy brett. At end of meal, in finish, notes of burnt berry and cream. Not out of its closed period yet - limited flavours, and hasn't developed the detailed, changing aromas of maturity yet. A wide core of agreeable, moderately-sour acidity says that the wine will be well preserved until such things are inevitable. Relatively silky tannins are still keeping the wine fairly flat, but are becoming integrated. Satisfying to drink for now, espec with rare meats. 89 now. For its proper potential, drink 2014-19. I'm pleased to have some for that.