Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
Chidaine Vouvray Boiuchert 2008
Color has evolved to sunflower petal yellow. A little cotton candy on the nose, but not gross. Peach-pear in the mouth. A vague reminiscence of sweetness past, very nicely balanced against firm, fiery acidity. Flurries of little tertiary notes confer a sense of complexity on a modest scale. This wine is surprisingly delicate on entry, considering its body and abv. If good MSR Riesling came in at 13%, it would be something like this. Not old, but my personal instinct would be to drink up over the coming year or two, had this not been my last bottle.
Coudert Griffe du Marquis 2011
I didn’t care for this the day I opened it, it seemed thick, almost sludgy, with a ghostly after-image of degraded of Beaujolais fruit. Drinking it glass by glass, a half bottle every two days, it cleaned up nicely the second day, presenting heavy tannins but otherwise slimmed down with intriguing flavor sprinkles seeping out under the tannin curtain, and has not lost vigor yet. Aroma evokes model glue (slightly) and shoe polish. This is a substantial wine with no residue of youthful Gamay fruit (at least after the day of opening).
At this point, very much a knife-and-fork wine and would be shine brightly, I think, with a rich cut of beef or braised lamb shank and beans.
I’ve wondered what the cellaring potential of the Griffe is and, judging from this sample, it’s potentially substantial. I have enough bottes still to see if the tannins recede upstage before the fruit gets too tired to lead.
Color has evolved to sunflower petal yellow. A little cotton candy on the nose, but not gross. Peach-pear in the mouth. A vague reminiscence of sweetness past, very nicely balanced against firm, fiery acidity. Flurries of little tertiary notes confer a sense of complexity on a modest scale. This wine is surprisingly delicate on entry, considering its body and abv. If good MSR Riesling came in at 13%, it would be something like this. Not old, but my personal instinct would be to drink up over the coming year or two, had this not been my last bottle.
Coudert Griffe du Marquis 2011
I didn’t care for this the day I opened it, it seemed thick, almost sludgy, with a ghostly after-image of degraded of Beaujolais fruit. Drinking it glass by glass, a half bottle every two days, it cleaned up nicely the second day, presenting heavy tannins but otherwise slimmed down with intriguing flavor sprinkles seeping out under the tannin curtain, and has not lost vigor yet. Aroma evokes model glue (slightly) and shoe polish. This is a substantial wine with no residue of youthful Gamay fruit (at least after the day of opening).
At this point, very much a knife-and-fork wine and would be shine brightly, I think, with a rich cut of beef or braised lamb shank and beans.
I’ve wondered what the cellaring potential of the Griffe is and, judging from this sample, it’s potentially substantial. I have enough bottes still to see if the tannins recede upstage before the fruit gets too tired to lead.