TN: Cotat Bonanza II (July 2, 2017)

attendees: Tim K, Cathleen V, Sasha+Delia, Don+Melissa, Craig, Jayson, Dale, John G, John M, Jeff C, Jeff G

Alas, I missed the first round, earlier this year, but I am present at this second delightful excursion into "wretched excess".

We arrive at John Gilman's comfortable and quirky house where everything is made ready: tables are set, platters of cheese and affetati are stationed strategically thereupon, heavier fare is baking or simmering, fresh crusty breads are sliced, a side table bears a few stems to supplement those we bring, there are spit cups and dump buckets galore, and every place has a flight sheet to guide us through 24 wines of F. Cotat.

STARTERS
Pol Roger 2009 Champagne Brut - good, clean, but non-descript, some suggest there is too much dosage
Boulard 2009 Champagne Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs "Les Rochats" - disg 2014, textbook, better cut and shape than the previous

FLIGHT 1
Cotat, F. 2010 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - leaner yet, simpler than the Culs, nice but unexciting today
Cotat, F. 2010 Sancerre "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - spicy, tarragon note, "Quinine" -Jayson, bit of face-powder, likable
Cotat, F. 2010 Sancerre "La Grande Côte" - too sweet, lacks cut

FLIGHT 2
Cotat, F. 2009 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - more cut, mnore chalk, and more alcohol (label admits 15%!)
Cotat, F. 2009 Sancerre "La Grande Côte" - more fruit, "Blowsy" -Dale, 15% and showing it

FLIGHT 3
Cotat, F. 2008 Sancerre "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - cool vintage and the wine is just underripe with a greenish glint, nice edge of minerality and a faint hint of anise, yum
Cotat, F. 2007 Sancerre "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - fuller nose, lusher, slightly richer in the mouth, vivid flavor, wow wine to me but Tim prefers the tantalizing promise of development in the '08

FLIGHT 4
Cotat, F. 2007 Sancerre "La Grande Côte" - good, shapely, best GC so far, showing some herbal notes, too
Cotat, F. 2007 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - fine, elegant, tart, minerally, apricots and their pits, very long finish and singing a tune all the way

FLIGHT 5
Cotat, F. 2006 Sancerre "La Grande Côte" - meh
Cotat, F. 2006 Sancerre "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - passable
Cotat, F. 2006 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - corked

Jeez Louise, what a flight.

FLIGHT 6
Cotat, F. 2003 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - chartreuse as a white wine, "raging botanicals but no fruit" -John
Cotat, F. 2003 Sancerre "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - spritzy, "fruit cocktail with a little spritz" -Jayson
Cotat, F. 2003 Sancerre "La Grande Côte" - fruit and caramel, kinda like gjetost

The Loire reds have bounced back from this vintage's heat but not the whites.

FLIGHT 7
Cotat, F. 2002 VdT "Les Monts Damnés" - citrus! slightly lower acidity than others, minerally in the finish, a wine of finesse
Cotat, F. 2002 VdT "Les Culs de Beaujeu" - perfect, steely, late-arriving fruit entices
Cotat, F. 2000 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" - very tarragon, lightweight, lilting

"The flight with the best balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness." -Cathleen

FLIGHT 8
Cotat, F. 2011 Chavignol Rosé - austere, "Green" -Craig, displeasing at a visceral level even though nothing is obviously wrong
Cotat, F. 2010 Chavignol Rosé - rich, tingly, umami, great wine
Cotat, F. 2009 Chavignol Rosé - fatter and sweeter, still a twang of bitterness and a scratch of acidic zing

FLIGHT 9
Cotat, F. 2005 Chavignol Rosé - not bad but a good dose of VA and funk, hm
Cotat, F. 2001 Chavignol Rosé - tangy, funky, improves as it airs out

FLIGHT 10
Cotat, F. 1996 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnés" "Cuvée Speciale" - suave and gently sweet, yet more impressive than likable

CLOSERS
Giraud NV Champagne "Code Noir" - disg Nov 2012, very old pinot noir from Ay, distinctive taste though not especially vivid
Giraud NV Champagne "Fut de Chene" - disg 2016, typique
Sterling 1970 Cabernet Sauvignon - a Ric Forman wine, plummy, ashy, a sunset glimpse of fading red fruit, kinda nice
Raymond 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon - corked
Huet 1993 Vouvray "Cuvee Constance"* - 750 ml, this wine was first released in the UK (this is one such bottle) as Cuvee Constance but they thought better of it for the US market and here it was labeled Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 1er Trie; quite sweet, as you might have guessed, and definitely moelleux intensity; obvious sugar on entry but then the acidity catches up to it and it finishes dry; "Tea" -Jayson, "Brown butter" -John

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Many thanks to Tim, whose professional instincts were aroused and so all pours were done beautifully, timely, and in the correct order.

Many thanks to the bakers and cooks: everything was simple and good.

Many thanks to the drivers who ferried the city folk to and from the trains.

Many thanks to SFJoe, Anne, John, and Sasha for making it possible to have this extensive tasting of wonderful wines.

We had a slew of old Cotats that we picked up somehow somewhere along the way about a decade ago, and my overall feeling was, meh. I could see the there there but similar to how I experience Savennieres as a collective, it was sort of like, a lot of work for not a lot of return.

Sorry!

Added a photo.

BJ, I don't think you're entirely wrong. There were good wines at this event but very few that rocked my world and a lot of under-performers.

I read that through your notes.

One point that this tasting in particular solidified for me is that Culs de Beaujeu is probably the most consistently interesting and drinkable cuvée.

Not to mention the significant superiority of the wines from the less ripe and lower alcohol vintages.