This and That.

A bottle of 2000 BAMA last Wednesday was very good, but not quite as stellar as another from the same batch two years ago. Could it be on the decline?

A 2010 Gripa Saint Joseph Le Berceau was wonderful on Friday and Saturday. Everything I want Syrah to be. Pure, flawless, fruity yet complex, balanced and harmonious. In short, satisfying on every level. Rule of 15 rules.

Last night I opened the first of four of the 2017 Rinaldi Langhe Nebbiolo 14.0%. I avoid these kinds of abvs these days, but they're there and somebody's gotta drink them. It was delish, but the 14 was plain for all to see. So I just drank less of it.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
...14.0%. I avoid these kinds of abvs these days, but they're there and somebody's gotta drink them...
Click to expand...

This is what happens when wine levitates into your accommodations and forces itself to be drunk.
 
Perhaps on topic for Disorder was my pretty straightforward bottle of 2024 Hureau Saumur Argile. For my tastes it was perfect for the dinner party occasion. Sturdy fruit but crisp, bracing and refreshing, with enough chenin character to be of interest. Looking forward to opening some more 2024 chenins in the upcoming weeks.
 
glad to hear their chenin is as described.
would love to get my hands on a bottle given that philippe vatan's franc suits my palate more than anyone else's in the appellation, full stop.
unfortunately i hear they are winding down in some fashion as the next generation isn't interested to continue, but i don't know the details- perhaps folks from polaner reading this can enlighten
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
glad to hear their chenin is as described.
would love to get my hands on a bottle given that philippe vatan's franc suits my palate more than anyone else's in the appellation, full stop.
unfortunately i hear they are winding down in some fashion as the next generation isn't interested to continue, but i don't know the details- perhaps folks from polaner reading this can enlighten
Click to expand...

High praise but also unfortunate to hear about the transition difficulties. I know that happens often.

I used to drink more red Hureau, and remember it leaning 'rustic' in fine ways, but I'm sure it has evolved. Would be curious to taste the more ambitious chenin bottling, but maybe this Argile is just perfect afterall.
 
At a restaurant serving tapas in the style of Le Gallega (halfway between Madrid and Bilbao), a bottle of Fillaboa 2022 Albarino "Monte Alto" is from a single plot at high altitude (150m - I guess that's high for Rias Baixas). Reminded me a little of Saar riesling, not quite so minerally, but green grapes and just barely ripe yellow fruit, raw almonds, green olives, slight herbal bouquet in the mid-palate but finishes long on parsley and savory. Nice stuff.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
At a restaurant serving tapas in the style of Le Gallega (halfway between Madrid and Bilbao), a bottle of Fillaboa 2022 Albarino "Monte Alto" is from a single plot at high altitude (150m - I guess that's high for Rias Baixas). Reminded me a little of Saar riesling, not quite so minerally, but green grapes and just barely ripe yellow fruit, raw almonds, green olives, slight herbal bouquet in the mid-palate but finishes long on parsley and savory. Nice stuff.
Click to expand...

Occasional Albariños can indeed remind one of Riesling, always a curious thing to run into, since Riesling is sooo distinctive.
 
2020 Les Granges Paquenesses Côtes du Jura Le Plou: Surprisingly dense and ripe for a Poulsard, I think the solar-nature of the vintage did this wine no favors. On opening, there is a lot of CO2 and crunchiness on the palate, but that does blow off with time, giving the wine a sleeker, more approachable texture. Interestingly herbal and dark-fruited, with a pleasing, subtle bitter grip on the finish from the tannins, but this seems just a touch too big and high-octane for me. It doesn't have the delicacy and weightlessness I normally expect from a Jura Poulsard.

2019 Marie-Courtin Champagne Presence Acid-driven Blanc de Blancs that is a blend of chardonnay and pinot blanc. Nice flavors of citrus, salt, and green apple on the palate. Expressive nose. Definitely, a leaner, racier style of champagne that is much more about architecture than flesh, and I think the ripeness of the vintage helped to temper the severity of the acid. Really nice balance.

2022 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett #2 Quite easy to drink, but perhaps beginning to shut down a little. While the primary fruit is lovely, it is beginning to come across as a little syrupy and is lacking tension. It may be a product of there not being enough acidity to begin with (I didn't try this on release), but probably will just sit on my other bottles for a couple of years.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett "Kugel Peter" #12 This bottle was surprisingly savory and salty, and seemed less sweet than a true kabinett. Nice acidity, juicy white fruit, and well balanced. Very crushable and easy to drink.

2001 Ch“teau Suduiraut This was wonderful. Firm acidity that comes across electric on the palate, amplifying the tart and bitter orange marmalade, oozing with a piquant spiciness you get from citrus oils. The savory and saline from the tertiary development are supplanting the sweetness at this point in the wine's development. Still a little tight and feral, this has plenty of runway to develop and mature. What a great bottle.
 
Brun J P (Terres Dorees) 2025 Beaujolais Nouveau l'Ancien VV is a great glou-glou bottle. It tastes largely like l'Ancien and not very Nouveau-ish, which is fine by me.

I notice a little mark in one corner that says Domaines Roger Zannier Vineyards. Anybody know what their relationship is to JP?
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Perhaps on topic for Disorder was my pretty straightforward bottle of 2024 Hureau Saumur Argile. For my tastes it was perfect for the dinner party occasion. Sturdy fruit but crisp, bracing and refreshing, with enough chenin character to be of interest. Looking forward to opening some more 2024 chenins in the upcoming weeks.
Click to expand...

Next up was tonight's 2024 Huet Clos du Bourg Sec, which has more ripe succulent fruit in the middle, more depth and more complexity. But despite all of that substance, it is still framed with a nice crisp chalky mineral linear structure, so 2024 is apparent and more digestible than 2023. That said, probably still needs time to evolve. And the simpler 2024 Hureau Argile had a much faster evaporation rate...
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
And the simpler 2024 Hureau Argile had a much faster evaporation rate...
Click to expand...
I have noticed that. Sometimes, when the wines are rich and full and provocative they don't whoosh down the gullet so fast. Hence, I suppose, the glou-glou category.
 
Nathan K. 2021 Cabernet Franc is semi-transparent, which comes as a surprise after so many dark Loire wines, it's barely darker than a good Tavel; nose is light and fragrant of strawberry and green pepper, body is light (12% alky) which makes it go easily with chicken and rice, tannins in the finish suggest terroir but maybe not (the grape is earthy all by itself), a nice drop in the aforementioned glou-glou category, but no urgent reason to buy it other than affordability.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Nathan K. 2021 Cabernet Franc is semi-transparent, which comes as a surprise after so many dark Loire wines, it's barely darker than a good Tavel; nose is light and fragrant of strawberry and green pepper, body is light (12% alky) which makes it go easily with chicken and rice, tannins in the finish suggest terroir but maybe not (the grape is earthy all by itself), a nice drop in the aforementioned glou-glou category, but no urgent reason to buy it other than affordability.
Click to expand...

brother connell or comrade yaniger may be far more qualified to discuss (not to mention pascaline), but let me take a stab

i've been dabbling in both finger lakes and niagara cab franc lately, and me thinks we have to be more careful with vintages there than in the loire

firstly, whereas we generally prefer cooler vintages in the loire lately, things are still somewhat prehistoric around here, so your palate (despite its disorderly inclinations) may find a 2020 from a warm year to be closer to the desired idiom in its balance than an icy 2021.

further, it's harder to judge a cuvee in isolation based on a single vintage than it is among the "many dark Loire wines" [sic], where there is a stronger soil signature that, combined with our understanding of (teh) politburo-issued vintage charts, allows us to extrapolate

that is not to say there is no terroir, but perhaps length of cultivation in a plot will determine how strongly it's felt; if you drink the 2021 collection of franc from forge (which you may have at some point?), you get a better sense of what the wines might be like in *any* vintage, adjusting for conditions

bottom line is, variation among consecutive vintages for some of these bottlings can be wild, but i would not give up on them so quickly; rather, trying two or more vintages may be required to begin understanding what the hell is going on, the way we can with a single bottle in the loire.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Nathan K. 2021 Cabernet Franc is semi-transparent, which comes as a surprise after so many dark Loire wines, it's barely darker than a good Tavel; nose is light and fragrant of strawberry and green pepper, body is light (12% alky) which makes it go easily with chicken and rice, tannins in the finish suggest terroir but maybe not (the grape is earthy all by itself), a nice drop in the aforementioned glou-glou category, but no urgent reason to buy it other than affordability.
Click to expand...

brother connell or comrade yaniger may be far more qualified to discuss (not to mention pascaline), but let me take a stab

i've been dabbling in both finger lakes and niagara cab franc lately, and me thinks we have to be more careful with vintages there than in the loire

firstly, whereas we generally prefer cooler vintages in the loire lately, things are still somewhat prehistoric around here, so your palate (despite its disorderly inclinations) may find a 2020 from a warm year to be closer to the desired idiom in its balance than an icy 2021.

further, it's harder to judge a cuvee in isolation based on a single vintage than it is among the "many dark Loire wines" [sic], where there is a stronger soil signature that, combined with our understanding of (teh) politburo-issued vintage charts, allows us to extrapolate

that is not to say there is no terroir, but perhaps length of cultivation in a plot will determine how strongly it's felt; if you drink the 2021 collection of franc from forge (which you may have at some point?), you get a better sense of what the wines might be like in *any* vintage, adjusting for conditions

bottom line is, variation among consecutive vintages for some of these bottlings can be wild, but i would not give up on them so quickly; rather, trying two or more vintages may be required to begin understanding what the hell is going on, the way we can with a single bottle in the loire.
Click to expand...

Sage words, tovarich.
 
originally posted by mark e:
Sage words, tovarich.
Click to expand...

that clock shows the right time twice a day

while on the subject though, Nathan K 2022 Chardonnay by the glass at Chambers, is really complete and classic to a French-trained palate, bright acids, good length and texture, wholesome yellow-ish floral-laced fruit
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
i've been dabbling in both finger lakes and niagara cab franc lately, and me thinks we have to be more careful with vintages there than in the loire

firstly, whereas we generally prefer cooler vintages in the loire lately, things are still somewhat prehistoric around here, so your palate (despite its disorderly inclinations) may find a 2020 from a warm year to be closer to the desired idiom in its balance than an icy 2021.

further, it's harder to judge a cuvee in isolation based on a single vintage than it is among the "many dark Loire wines" [sic], where there is a stronger soil signature that, combined with our understanding of (teh) politburo-issued vintage charts, allows us to extrapolate

that is not to say there is no terroir, but perhaps length of cultivation in a plot will determine how strongly it's felt; if you drink the 2021 collection of franc from forge (which you may have at some point?), you get a better sense of what the wines might be like in *any* vintage, adjusting for conditions
Click to expand...
This is why you are the Dr. and I am a mere patient.

I have had a few Nathan K wines, esp. while there, but I was not tracking them against the vintage weather.

Nathan has been making wine since 2011 according to his website.

Forge is interesting. I find the wines a little hit or miss, though clearly they are thinking the right thoughts.

bottom line is, variation among consecutive vintages for some of these bottlings can be wild, but i would not give up on them so quickly; rather, trying two or more vintages may be required to begin understanding what the hell is going on, the way we can with a single bottle in the loire.
Click to expand...
I was not going to give up. There is room in my life for easy-to-drink wines. And, if these are better than that, I'm happy to find out.

I only see the 2021 easily available near me; I can mail away for other years; perhaps a vertical is a good idea!

When are you next drinking them?
 
Berthollier 2021 Chignin Bergeron "Saint Anthelme" is roussanne with fabulous acidity: just a little bit of waxiness, maybe a barely-ripe peach, white grapes, almonds, a little tutti-frutti, something herbal that I cannot quite put my finger on, horehound?; rich even lush texture, which is what drew me to this wine in the first place. Yes, it's 14% and it shows as an out-of-place bitterness in the mid-palate; the strong material hides it in the finish.

Denis and Didier have some fun on the back label. It looks a little like the text of Dhalgren with blocks of text in different faces and colors, some going up the page. The main block says that if you want to know more about the wine, you should ask your caviste or the sommelier who had the good sense to suggest their wine in the first place!

There's also a lot of talk about sulfites.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
I notice a little mark in one corner that says Domaines Roger Zannier Vineyards. Anybody know what their relationship is to JP?
Click to expand...
New owner. JPB will stay on for 5 years to provide guidance. Read.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Tonight: Le Piane 2020 Vino Rosso "Mimmo", with rare roast lamb. The wine is heavenly. It has the cran-cherry profile you expect from nebbiolo, mixed with mild earthy/minerality and definitely roses > tar. Lightweight by itself but it's catching with the acid in the lamb marinade and the whole is yum much greater than the sum of the parts.
Click to expand...
Another bottle of Mimmo, drunk over three days. This bottle is from a different shop. It is still excellent but shows more earth/tar and less roses/cinnamon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top