CWD: recent wines (2024-04)

[mark e]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by VLM:


2021 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (4/10/2024)
This is the best Felsina regular CC I can remember. Fresh and lively, but with some deep fruit and leather notes. There is a mélange of some savory herb and spice note and a slight floral whiff. Not blocky like these wines can sometimes be, but more stolid than our go-to CCs from Radda. I think this vintage will go in the rotation. (91 points)

I, too, like this vintage of Fèlsina, but when you say "more stolid than our go-to CCs," which are you referring to? Istine? They are in Radda, 'course.

I also drink a fair amount of CC and 90% of it comes from Istine. You have to be patient with the single-vineyard bottlings but the reg is generally great.

Mark, can you elaborate on the difference between Istine and Radda (if it's possible to generalize)?

VLM (and I hope he chimes in) mentioned other estates in the town of "Radda in Chianti" that were more elegant (aka less stolid) than Fèlsina. I was wondering which ones. I suggested one of those estates that makes elegant wines in the same town might be Istine. Does that make sense?

 

[Marc D]

It might not be in Radda, maybe Castelnuovo Berardenga, but I’ve been drinking Podere Le Boncie and it passes the elegant criteria for me. The cinque is still reasonably priced.

 

[Claude Kolm]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by Claude Kolm:
Re Chérisey, I love the wines. They are expensive in Paris; in fact, looking at wine-searcher, Paris may be the most expensive place in the world to buy them, an astonishing situation, if true.

Ha, the French may not have a word for entrepreneur, but perhaps they have one for arbitrage.

I don't know what's going on here, but generally you get French wines in Paris restaurants for the same or less (including tax and tip) that you would pay at retail in the US. Indeed, if you're wise, you can find Raveneau 1er Cru Chablis for about 80 euros and grand cru for 100-110 eurs in a restaurant (although there are fewer where that's the case than there used to be). Coche-Dury and a few others have advanced to (much) higher-than-standard markups in restaurants, but are still generally cheaper (and sometimes much cheaper) than US retail. But there can be great variation; one example: 2018 Rousseau Chambertin at 900 euros in one restaurant, 8000 in another.

 

[Bill Lundstrom]

originally posted by Marc D:
It might not be in Radda, maybe Castelnuovo Berardenga, but I’ve been drinking Podere Le Boncie and it passes the elegant criteria for me. The cinque is still reasonably priced.

I really like Boncie's. wines. The whole line up is terrific. The single crus are expensive but worth it.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:

originally posted by Marc D:
It might not be in Radda, maybe Castelnuovo Berardenga, but I’ve been drinking Podere Le Boncie and it passes the elegant criteria for me. The cinque is still reasonably priced.

I really like Boncie's. wines. The whole line up is terrific. The single crus are expensive but worth it.

Agree on those. They are pretty pricy, though. Le Trame is about $60 per bottle where I am. I skipped the 2020 as it was 14% ABV or more. Cinque is harder to find as it sells out, and the Le Trame takes time before drinking.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by VLM:


2021 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (4/10/2024)
This is the best Felsina regular CC I can remember. Fresh and lively, but with some deep fruit and leather notes. There is a mélange of some savory herb and spice note and a slight floral whiff. Not blocky like these wines can sometimes be, but more stolid than our go-to CCs from Radda. I think this vintage will go in the rotation. (91 points)

I, too, like this vintage of Fèlsina, but when you say "more stolid than our go-to CCs," which are you referring to? Istine? They are in Radda, 'course.

I also drink a fair amount of CC and 90% of it comes from Istine. You have to be patient with the single-vineyard bottlings but the reg is generally great.

Mark, can you elaborate on the difference between Istine and Radda (if it's possible to generalize)?

VLM (and I hope he chimes in) mentioned other estates in the town of "Radda in Chianti" that were more elegant (aka less stolid) than Fèlsina. I was wondering which ones. I suggested one of those estates that makes elegant wines in the same town might be Istine. Does that make sense?

Gotcha. I misunderstood Istine to be a different town, not producer.

 

[VLM]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by VLM:


2021 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (4/10/2024)
This is the best Felsina regular CC I can remember. Fresh and lively, but with some deep fruit and leather notes. There is a mélange of some savory herb and spice note and a slight floral whiff. Not blocky like these wines can sometimes be, but more stolid than our go-to CCs from Radda. I think this vintage will go in the rotation. (91 points)

I, too, like this vintage of Fèlsina, but when you say "more stolid than our go-to CCs," which are you referring to? Istine? They are in Radda, 'course.

I also drink a fair amount of CC and 90% of it comes from Istine. You have to be patient with the single-vineyard bottlings but the reg is generally great.

Strangely, Istine CC is pretty pricey locally (50% more than Felsina) and I drink it from time to time but not regularly. I do have some single vineyard wines in the cellar (just opened a corked Riserva Levigne 2016 last nigth with Noel and Marie, bummer) but our go to wines are Caparsa and Monteraponi, both from Radda. I'm hoping that 2021 is a sign of things to come at Felsina and not a one-off. Caparsa is starting to be allocated and I've soured a little bit on Monteraponi.

The Boncie wines are great but expensive, as noted. It's a real shame because they are so delightful to drink. Personally, I don't think they need a ton of time, but I wouldn't.

 

[VLM]

originally posted by Claude Kolm:
Re Chérisey, I love the wines. They are expensive in Paris; in fact, looking at wine-searcher, Paris may be the most expensive place in the world to buy them, an astonishing situation, if true.

I noticed that as I've been doing research for an upcoming trip. The wines have undergone a Kermit price acceleration here in the states. I wonder if it will be sustainable. I'm probably priced out if 2022 doesn't come back to 2019 pricing.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by VLM:

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by VLM:


2021 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (4/10/2024)
This is the best Felsina regular CC I can remember. Fresh and lively, but with some deep fruit and leather notes. There is a mélange of some savory herb and spice note and a slight floral whiff. Not blocky like these wines can sometimes be, but more stolid than our go-to CCs from Radda. I think this vintage will go in the rotation. (91 points)

I, too, like this vintage of Fèlsina, but when you say "more stolid than our go-to CCs," which are you referring to? Istine? They are in Radda, 'course.

I also drink a fair amount of CC and 90% of it comes from Istine. You have to be patient with the single-vineyard bottlings but the reg is generally great.

Strangely, Istine CC is pretty pricey locally (50% more than Felsina) and I drink it from time to time but not regularly. I do have some single vineyard wines in the cellar (just opened a corked Riserva Levigne 2016 last nigth with Noel and Marie, bummer) but our go to wines are Caparsa and Monteraponi, both from Radda. I'm hoping that 2021 is a sign of things to come at Felsina and not a one-off. Caparsa is starting to be allocated and I've soured a little bit on Monteraponi.

The Boncie wines are great but expensive, as noted. It's a real shame because they are so delightful to drink. Personally, I don't think they need a ton of time, but I wouldn't.

Same here on the price diff. Fèlsina is about $21, while Istine is around $32. Might well be the estate rather than an importer taking a higher markup.

I don't drink Carparsa much, but I find Monteraponi a bit tannic and chunky, unlike the 2021 Fèlsina. Yeah, most people agree on Le Boncie. But it just is not for everyday drinking.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
p.s. as a psa , and not entirely off topic given the monkey's affinity for chianti, those of you with a similar predilection should try I Fabbri CC that Chambers Street is carrying now.
you'll thank me later

Yes, thank you. Drank a bottle over two nights. No wood. Crisp and cool, textbook chianti from a good textbook. Might need more of that.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
p.s. as a psa , and not entirely off topic given the monkey's affinity for chianti, those of you with a similar predilection should try I Fabbri CC that Chambers Street is carrying now.
you'll thank me later

Yes, thank you. Drank a bottle over two nights. No wood. Crisp and cool, textbook chianti from a good textbook. Might need more of that.

Agree. Enjoyed a bottle of that last week. Low extraction = CC joy.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

a different animal for sure, but 2016 villa di geggiano CC was kind of awesome on day 2 (a bit rough around the edges on day 1)

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Claude Kolm:
Re Chérisey, I love the wines. They are expensive in Paris; in fact, looking at wine-searcher, Paris may be the most expensive place in the world to buy them, an astonishing situation, if true.

Agree. The 2020 Meursault Bois de Blagny I recently tried was quite lovely. It had great minerality and seemed neutral barrel-aged (no perceptible oak aroma or flavor), if that makes sense. It's not cheap, though. About $120 retail (VAT incl.) where I am.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by mark e:
Agree. The 2020 Meursault Bois de Blagny I recently tried was quite lovely. It had great minerality and seemed neutral barrel-aged (no perceptible oak aroma or flavor), if that makes sense. It's not cheap, though. About $120 retail (VAT incl.) where I am.

also greatly appreciate that martelet, unlike his famous counterpart in meursault, has not replanted his pinot vines in blagny with chardonnay

it remains a most intriguing expression of the variety

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
p.s. as a psa , and not entirely off topic given the monkey's affinity for chianti, those of you with a similar predilection should try I Fabbri CC that Chambers Street is carrying now.
you'll thank me later

Yes, thank you. Drank a bottle over two nights. No wood. Crisp and cool, textbook chianti from a good textbook. Might need more of that.

Agree. Enjoyed a bottle of that last week. Low extraction = CC joy.

had another go at the 21 last night - so pure!

 

[Tristan Welles]

Had a 1/2 bottle of Weinbach Schlossberg, Riesling, Clos des Capucins, '16. Typically great wine, excellent with chicken fricassee. Wound up asking myself why I don't drink more Alsatian riesling.