Community Tasting Notes 10

• bevetroppo Likes this wine: 89 points

  March 26, 2018 - If you read a lot about wine (when instead you should be drinking it), you can't miss the passionate and intensely stupid war being fought by pundits over natural wine-ie, what is it and is it good or bad? It's second only to arguments in the US over gun control or maybe global warming. Just shut up, drink whatever you want and make up your own mind.
  
  Call me a sucker, I don't care, but I go out of my way to look for wines where there's at least a modicum of sincerity about sustainability, if not naturalness. And if I have a complaint about wines like this one, it's not how it's made one way or another but how it's labeled, as in you might as well be trying to interpret Finnegan's Wake as guess what's going on based on the label. Feel free to comment if you know where in France Thulon is, I'm too lazy to look it up.
  
  Now I know I've had this before, although I can't remember the vintage, but I can't remember my own phone number some days let alone the composition of a random bottle that gives absolutely NO CLUE on the label about its identity except the vintage and alcohol (12.5%).
  
  The color is an attractive dark ruby. Nose unmistakably "natural," which to me means it has an attractive unfinished character that combines dark red fruits, slaty, graphite-laden minerals and earth. Medium bodied at best, pronounced berry fruit and graphite in the mouth, finishing with light tannins and almost a sweet, tart wink at the end. If you made me guess, which based on the fact I know I've had this before is not a real guess, I'd say it's cab franc and gamay in that order. Which probably means Loire somewhere near Thulon and winding road. I'll come back and confirm right or wrong when I'm done.
  
  In sum, when you're in the mood for something interesting and unstructured, this is a choice.
  
  LOL What a putz I am. Thulon is in Beaujolais, so I guess this in all Gamay, coaxed into a different expression by the extremes of being biodynamic since 1985 or maybe because it's a root day. Apparently this wine used to be labeled Regnie at one time before taking a walk on the wild side, at least according to the Chambers Street website.

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• J&Acellar Likes this wine:

  June 2, 2017 - A delicate balance of tart, red fruit, with distinct earthiness. Sour cherry on the nose gives way to wet soil on the palate. Fresh with high acidity.

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• barolo300 Likes this wine: 92 points

  April 17, 2017 - A very well structure Regnie (declassified) with a touch of Brett - not unwelcome. It was slight and added complexity. Overall this is a bit young, even with a little co2 in it. It should be perfect in a year or two.

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• retired_and_roving Likes this wine:

  February 25, 2017 - Our friend brought this one to dinner and poured without telling us what is was. From the color in the glass my guess was beaujolais as it is that distinctive deep ruby color. On the nose lots of bright red fruit. Tastes of tart red cherry and bright acidity with earthiness and minerality. A very clean bright natural wine. Delivers great QPR and enjoyable drinking.

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• blakel Likes this wine: 91 points

  January 26, 2017 - Fantastic, complex, sauvage - but quite acidic, so best with some food.

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Wine Definition

• Vintage 2015
• Type Red
• Producer Domaine Christian Ducroux
• Varietal Gamay
• Designation Exspectatia
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region France
• SubRegion n/a
• Appellation Vin de France

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 27 (16%)
• Consumed 146 (84%)

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