Joel Stewart
Joel Stewart
2008 Le P'tit Blanc du Tue - Boeuf. Polite aromatics (for Puzelat standards) - grassy and limey sb notes mostly. Don't be fooled tho...the palate is a shocking citric firework display. Lemon and ripe pit fruit unleashed over a funky core underneath, then all is flash coated in mint, tobacco and lime juice. Finish extends and extends. This gives the romorantin a run for the acid test money. Deep, lively and maybe just a tad too damn friendly? I do not understand how TP makes all this stuff. $15..composite cork.
2004 Framboise Boon Lambic, Belgium - (6.5%, sparkling wine bottle/cork). Unfiltered blood orange color in glass with a thin layer of white foam above. Aromatic top notes of raspberries, pine and orange rind, then darker, funkier leather and boot polish. Trippy shit....not sweet, not beer, not wine, but in-between, and great with pan-seared pork strips and kiwi salsa. My only quibble is the frizz is a bit simple....which is minor when quaffed with food. $15....a great addition to the Donati-esque corner of the cellar.
1992 Domaine aux Moines - Roche aux Moines, Savennieres - My first aged cb., so bear with me. Gold/yellow and even chilled the nose is huge; green apple is dominant, honey, some candied fruit, petrol etc. Palate is initially tight, comes across as nearly watery at first, though the finish gives hints of more to come - it extends way out. Needs some air to uncoil. 4 hrs later and it's all electric acid and grapefruit length and nashi pear on the nose. Soft entry, but flavors spray outward and vaporize like Disney dust leaving memories of grapefruit, honey, lime, even hints of tropical fruit. I should say that the real beauty here is the wine giving the poetic sensation rather than the real thing: the dust memories are fleeting and more like tracers, retinal images on the palate, phosphenes or even cave drawings than actual perceived flavors. It's a near miracle. I've never had a chenin b. like this, nor have I ever experienced such a sensation. I think I get it now. This was supposed to be a vintage (according to one Loire writer) to be appreciated by Savennieres freaks only. Thank heaven for subjectivity.
NV Gratien and Meyer, Cuvee Flamme, Brut. This is a slumming it sparkler, and only worth mention mainly because the other day, in a crowd, it dragged several bottles of Veuve Clicquot around by the hair (not that that's hard to do, but tag team sparkler battles are fun). Crowd roar was nearly deafening. This mofo was way more nuanced than Mickey Rourke and all about high toned lemon lines streaking overhead, pulling musk underneath, and taut lime rind notes on the finish slapping chalk off it's hands. Fine bead for the price too. After the brutality of the other night, I had to pick up another bottle and test it again. It does work on it's own....and dare I say it accomplishes a few things that chard and pinot can't? Blend of cb, cab franc and chard (54/33/13%). Bottle makes a great club too.
2004 Framboise Boon Lambic, Belgium - (6.5%, sparkling wine bottle/cork). Unfiltered blood orange color in glass with a thin layer of white foam above. Aromatic top notes of raspberries, pine and orange rind, then darker, funkier leather and boot polish. Trippy shit....not sweet, not beer, not wine, but in-between, and great with pan-seared pork strips and kiwi salsa. My only quibble is the frizz is a bit simple....which is minor when quaffed with food. $15....a great addition to the Donati-esque corner of the cellar.
1992 Domaine aux Moines - Roche aux Moines, Savennieres - My first aged cb., so bear with me. Gold/yellow and even chilled the nose is huge; green apple is dominant, honey, some candied fruit, petrol etc. Palate is initially tight, comes across as nearly watery at first, though the finish gives hints of more to come - it extends way out. Needs some air to uncoil. 4 hrs later and it's all electric acid and grapefruit length and nashi pear on the nose. Soft entry, but flavors spray outward and vaporize like Disney dust leaving memories of grapefruit, honey, lime, even hints of tropical fruit. I should say that the real beauty here is the wine giving the poetic sensation rather than the real thing: the dust memories are fleeting and more like tracers, retinal images on the palate, phosphenes or even cave drawings than actual perceived flavors. It's a near miracle. I've never had a chenin b. like this, nor have I ever experienced such a sensation. I think I get it now. This was supposed to be a vintage (according to one Loire writer) to be appreciated by Savennieres freaks only. Thank heaven for subjectivity.
NV Gratien and Meyer, Cuvee Flamme, Brut. This is a slumming it sparkler, and only worth mention mainly because the other day, in a crowd, it dragged several bottles of Veuve Clicquot around by the hair (not that that's hard to do, but tag team sparkler battles are fun). Crowd roar was nearly deafening. This mofo was way more nuanced than Mickey Rourke and all about high toned lemon lines streaking overhead, pulling musk underneath, and taut lime rind notes on the finish slapping chalk off it's hands. Fine bead for the price too. After the brutality of the other night, I had to pick up another bottle and test it again. It does work on it's own....and dare I say it accomplishes a few things that chard and pinot can't? Blend of cb, cab franc and chard (54/33/13%). Bottle makes a great club too.
