Paul Goerg 2000 Champagne Brut Cuve Millsime R. Lady (Champagne) Mandarin and strawberry hull. Can that be right? I find it difficult to embrace this wine or maybe its the other way round and Im not sure it ever achieves cohesion. The bubbles are a little clumsy, as well. Even middling Champagne tends to be appealing enough, but this is something Im not particularly eager to retry. (12/08)
Mot & Chandon Champagne Nectar Imprial (Champagne) Fruit-sweet, with only the barest suggestion of Champagne-ness. I suppose this appeals to label drinkers, but why not just choose moscato dAsti, which is more flavorful, more fun, and much cheaper? (12/08)
Ollivier 2002 Muscadet Svre & Maine Sue Lie Clos des Briords Cuve Vieilles Vignes (Loire) Tastes of paper, bones, and erosionfirst whitewashed, then turning completely transparent with time in the glass. These ends the wine pursues with unwavering focus, and various attempts to dislodge it from its position with food achieve nothing. The finish is a bit of a white dwarf at the moment, but I expect broadening down the road. Well down the road. (12/08)
JP Brun 2006 Beaujolais Ros dfolie (Beaujolais) Sunlit berries with squirts of ripe blood orange. The wine pulses rather than flows, but its quite engaging amidst the peaks and troughs. (12/08)
Jean Albrecht 2006 Pinot Blanc Rserve (Alsace) Starts better than it finishes. Basic apricot and spiced cream, with nothing rising above a minimal volume. Pleasant for a few moments, but the finish is essentially absent. (12/08)
Trimbach 2000 Riesling (Alsace) Fully mature, with a cold, iron-flake minerality paired with creamy apricot skin. I suspect the latter is an artifact of a riper vintage, because this wines usually a little more stark with age. (12/08)
Josmeyer 2001 Fondation Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes (Alsace) Steel-jacketed pear. Teutonic in construction and attitude, with a lot of ferric mineralityespecially as the wine drifts away on a steel breeze. If theres a quibble, its the usual one in Alsace: more sugar than the wine really needs. The wines likely to firm with age, so in the future this might not be as much of a problem. (12/08)
Sparr 2002 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) Dark and fairly advanced; well-spiced goop with darkly leaden shards of minerality. Goes with pretty much nothing, food-wise, but useful as a heady aperitif. Drink up, though. (12/08)
C&P Breton 2005 Bourgueil trinch! (Loire) For about a half-hour, theres an is-this-corked? mustiness and ungenerosity to the nose that Ive found is more than occasionally the aromatic signature of ultra-natural wines. But it cant be corked under this particular closure, and so theres nothing to do but wait it out. Eventually, the mist and shroud turns to something earthier, though it never quite stops obscuring the rest of the aromatics. OK, then, how about the palate? Well, its full of black dirt and freshly-plowed anger, slashed with fine acidity and shreddings of tobacco. I suppose its hard to tell from this note, but other than the difficult nose I quite like the wine, and its absolutely enticing with food. But Id choose my drinking companions with some care. (12/08)
Lurton Chteau de Rochemorin 2005 Pessac-Lognan (Bordeaux) Totally innocuous. Everything heres big, but to little effect. (12/08)
Costires & Soleil Slection Laurence Fraud 2005 Sguret (Rhne) Is this closing, or drying out? Its certainly not as tasty as it was this summer. The dark fruit, chewy and brush-infused, has receded a bit, leaving bare a intrusive bubblegum and candy that dont work to the wines benefit, plus a bit of soy on the finish. Theres still a certain muscularity, and the balance hasnt suffered, but I have no idea if this wine was designed to age like a proper top-line Sguret or was always intended for youthful swilling. Its worth keeping an eye (or nose) on, either way. (12/08)
Bott-Geyl 2001 Pinot Gris Sonnenglanz Vendanges Tardives (Alsace) Delicious. Very sweet pear, but full of the exotic aromatics and textures of a freshly-picked heirloom variety, rather than some rock-hard supermarket ball of blandness. Not all that spicy, but burnished in bronze and a measure of darkness and smoked obscurity (which is, in my experience, a signature of Sonnenglanz pinot gris). Ive never been overly convinced by the ability of this grape from this site to age in a complexity-heightening way, so drinking it now might not be a bad idea. (12/08)
Mot & Chandon Champagne Nectar Imprial (Champagne) Fruit-sweet, with only the barest suggestion of Champagne-ness. I suppose this appeals to label drinkers, but why not just choose moscato dAsti, which is more flavorful, more fun, and much cheaper? (12/08)
Ollivier 2002 Muscadet Svre & Maine Sue Lie Clos des Briords Cuve Vieilles Vignes (Loire) Tastes of paper, bones, and erosionfirst whitewashed, then turning completely transparent with time in the glass. These ends the wine pursues with unwavering focus, and various attempts to dislodge it from its position with food achieve nothing. The finish is a bit of a white dwarf at the moment, but I expect broadening down the road. Well down the road. (12/08)
JP Brun 2006 Beaujolais Ros dfolie (Beaujolais) Sunlit berries with squirts of ripe blood orange. The wine pulses rather than flows, but its quite engaging amidst the peaks and troughs. (12/08)
Jean Albrecht 2006 Pinot Blanc Rserve (Alsace) Starts better than it finishes. Basic apricot and spiced cream, with nothing rising above a minimal volume. Pleasant for a few moments, but the finish is essentially absent. (12/08)
Trimbach 2000 Riesling (Alsace) Fully mature, with a cold, iron-flake minerality paired with creamy apricot skin. I suspect the latter is an artifact of a riper vintage, because this wines usually a little more stark with age. (12/08)
Josmeyer 2001 Fondation Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes (Alsace) Steel-jacketed pear. Teutonic in construction and attitude, with a lot of ferric mineralityespecially as the wine drifts away on a steel breeze. If theres a quibble, its the usual one in Alsace: more sugar than the wine really needs. The wines likely to firm with age, so in the future this might not be as much of a problem. (12/08)
Sparr 2002 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) Dark and fairly advanced; well-spiced goop with darkly leaden shards of minerality. Goes with pretty much nothing, food-wise, but useful as a heady aperitif. Drink up, though. (12/08)
C&P Breton 2005 Bourgueil trinch! (Loire) For about a half-hour, theres an is-this-corked? mustiness and ungenerosity to the nose that Ive found is more than occasionally the aromatic signature of ultra-natural wines. But it cant be corked under this particular closure, and so theres nothing to do but wait it out. Eventually, the mist and shroud turns to something earthier, though it never quite stops obscuring the rest of the aromatics. OK, then, how about the palate? Well, its full of black dirt and freshly-plowed anger, slashed with fine acidity and shreddings of tobacco. I suppose its hard to tell from this note, but other than the difficult nose I quite like the wine, and its absolutely enticing with food. But Id choose my drinking companions with some care. (12/08)
Lurton Chteau de Rochemorin 2005 Pessac-Lognan (Bordeaux) Totally innocuous. Everything heres big, but to little effect. (12/08)
Costires & Soleil Slection Laurence Fraud 2005 Sguret (Rhne) Is this closing, or drying out? Its certainly not as tasty as it was this summer. The dark fruit, chewy and brush-infused, has receded a bit, leaving bare a intrusive bubblegum and candy that dont work to the wines benefit, plus a bit of soy on the finish. Theres still a certain muscularity, and the balance hasnt suffered, but I have no idea if this wine was designed to age like a proper top-line Sguret or was always intended for youthful swilling. Its worth keeping an eye (or nose) on, either way. (12/08)
Bott-Geyl 2001 Pinot Gris Sonnenglanz Vendanges Tardives (Alsace) Delicious. Very sweet pear, but full of the exotic aromatics and textures of a freshly-picked heirloom variety, rather than some rock-hard supermarket ball of blandness. Not all that spicy, but burnished in bronze and a measure of darkness and smoked obscurity (which is, in my experience, a signature of Sonnenglanz pinot gris). Ive never been overly convinced by the ability of this grape from this site to age in a complexity-heightening way, so drinking it now might not be a bad idea. (12/08)