Tasting in France 2010. Part 2, Touraine and Nantais
Other threads in this series are here:
Part 4, Dive Bouteille
Part 3, Chenin & Co.
Part 1, Beaujolais
Catherine and Didier from Clos Roche Blanche came to the Valaire tasting as they werent showing at the Angers Salon. Since they have leased a bunch of their vines to Noella Morantin they have much less wine and dont really need to work to sell it. They also lost crop to hail and some mildew during the summer and wound up with only 9 or 10 hl/ha.
This estate is well known to many of you so I wont belabor the history or terroir except to say that the sites are exceptional and that Didier is widely worshipped by his peers, even the toughest customers.
In 2009 the SB #2 is a vigorous big boy. Still a little rough-edged, I expect it to grow up to be easier, but it will always carry the weight of its 14.5% alcohol. In contrast, the reds are all about 12.5%.
The 2009 gamay is splendid. With bright medium color, it has great flavor, balance and length. It surprises Didier and everyone else with its easy flattering nature so early. The wine often takes a year in bottle to show its friendly colors.
The cab in 2009 is also open and pretty. Perfectly ripe, great length and flavor with excellent acid and judicious tanning, Didier calls it serious.
The 2009 Cot is a keeper. Deep cot color, but great acid and balance. Years to go.
A shame only to be able to see these guys briefly, as they light up the room when they are around.
Marc Ollivier
After short crops in 2007 and 2008, Marc finally has some wine to sell in 2009, with yields of 51-52 hl/ha, levels he hasnt seen since 2004. The AOC boosted the allowed yield from 52 to 57 hl/ha for the 2009 harvest. But this is funny business, since they only do it at the harvest, so viticultural decisions that might affect the quality of the crop have been taken long since.
Some 2009 Pepiere is already in the market in NYC at least, since Marc had to maintain some continuity from the 2008. The wine is classic and on the rich side for Pepiere with natural alcohols in the mid-high 11% range and total acids of 5.1-5.7 (sulfuric). Marc prefers 2009 to 2005 for its higher acidity.
Marc is in the middle of converting his vineyards to organic viticulture and is more than half done. He should be done in a couple of years. He has let go of one 3 ha parcel that he thought was too wet to farm organically so that he can have the entire estate organic.
2009 gave us a great Clos des Briords. The various parcels are excellently ripe with great acids. The flavors are mostly classic Briords with rocks and flowers. Some of the alcohols are pushing 13%, which Marc finds too high, but the blend should be in a good place.
Marc remarked that when he was starting out people in the region expected in a decent year to get 10%, a very good year would give 11%, and once in a career you would make wine with natural 12%. He now often gets 12%, although other things have also changed, like lower yields.
Marc has a new cuvee in 2008 and 2009, the Granite de Chateau Thebaut. The Clos des Briords is in this unusual Granite terroir, but this wine will be made from a recently purchased parcel of old vines. He picked pretty late in 09, not until September 27 and 28. The wine is remarkable, with great savory minerality. Its very long, with great balancing acidity. It carries its 12.5% well. This wine will stay on its lees for 2 years, with bottling in the fall of 2011. This is another one of the new small terroirs that has a small growers association to set methods and standards.
Marc didnt pick the old vines in the Pepiere vineyard that go into the Granite de Clisson until early October in 2009, a crazy late harvest for the Muscadet. It currently shows richer and plusher with less vigorous minerality than the Granite de Chateau Thebaut. It might even be thought slightly hot and maybe a tiny bit fat, with crazy 13.3% alcohol and 4.9 g acid. Do I look fat in magnums?
Ive described the different granites and terroirs of Clisson and Thebaut elsewhere.
Marc has his reds in 2009. The Cabernet Franc has a big tasty CF nose, just gorgeous. Its a light wine, refreshing and tasty. Glug glug.
The 09 cot has a darker streak and more tannin, but also has excellent ripeness and open flavors.
The Pepie (Cab sauvignon, Cab franc, cot, merlot) is less expressive on the nose, but is great in the mouth and has a nice finish. A very good vintage of this.
There is also a rose of CF and cot in 2009. Zippy fruit, quite dry, finishes with bright acidity.
Some quick notes on the vertical of older wines served through the afternoon as we ate extremely well and enjoyed ourselves quite thoroughly. This is usually the best party I attend during the year.
The 2008 Briords is still comparatively lean but showing well.
The 2007 Granite de Clisson is fab, rich balanced with plenty of acidity. A couple of days later I stopped by Marcs booth at the Salon for a healing glass of this at the end of the day. His buddy who runs a hotel in Brittany was there and we fell into conversation. As we parted, he said, If you want to drink Marcs wines from magnum, come stay in my hotel. I replied, if you want to drink Marcs wines from Jeroboam, come visit me in NYC. Im mighty glad to have this wine in big format.
Marc has a funny old vines cuvee in 2005 that has been 3 years on its lees and nonetheless retains 2.5 g of residual sugar. Its odd stuff, but very interesting. A nice leesy Muscadet nose, but very umami on the palate with a very long finish. My first sip found the fruit a little roasted, but the 2nd left me quite content. He still hasnt bottled this, and wont have much of it.
The 2006 Briords is a bit lean, but has classic acid and minerality. Its not the best ever, but you could do a lot worse.
The 2003 Briords shows pretty well for the vintage, its aging into a good place. Still relatively soft, with the hot vintage roasted skin Melon character.
That roasty character is also prominent in the 1999, which is still aging quite well. Not at all delicious when it first reached the US, it has only gotten better with time. Marc is very fond of it, but I still prefer other vintages. I am hedging my bet in the cellar with a few of these, however.
For historical perspectives on the '99, see here:
and when first imported to the US, see:
I still don't understand it.
The unique 97 still carries its botrytis well, but as Ive noted for a couple of years the fruit is retreating, leaving the botrytis in the forefront. Its still good but IMO its time to drink up.
The 89 shows real maturity with all sorts of developed characters on the nose, its just brilliant.
The 88 Briords is a grand wine. Better acid than the 89, complex and full. No rush, but awfully delicious now.
The 84 Pepiere (Marcs first vintage) remains a delicious wine, though there is a bit more caramel on the nose. Still has good structure and length.
The 84 from Marcs uncle still has some SO2 in the nose and is much less evolved but is nonetheless nice stuff. Marc reports that this wine had exactly 50 mg of free SO2 when it was bottled, an interesting calibration.
Luneau-Papin
Pierre-Marie Luneau, the young heir, led us through the tasting at the Salon. Hes just turned 30 and is taking a very active role in the estate. He was also very pleased with the 2009s. They had a warm sunny harvest and could take their time. He likes the balance in the wines. These guys are a much more established operation than Pepiere and have more capacity to take some chances and make some crazy things. Its always a fun tasting with them.
There is a VV blend of various parcels in 2009, I dont think it will reach the US. It has ripe skin flavors, moderate acidity (their clay/schist/mica-schist parcels dont usually achieve the acidity of granite sites, but are perhaps more representative of the AOC), a nice finish. It gives the clear impression of a warm vintage in the Muscadet. Its 11.1% or so, but they will boost it.
The Clos des Allees (a monopole! He reminds us) also gives the memory of a hot summer, but it has good acid. Its 11.6%, he will chaptalize to 12. I challenged him a bit on why, since the wine seemed to be in good balance to me. He gave a long answer in French that I only partially followed, but it seemed to come down to something like thats how they always do it. Being just a visiting jerk and not commercially involved, I could annoy him with such questions. I think its important that they consider the issue, anyway. He didnt seem totally happy, though. He didnt meet my eyes for the next half hour. Florida Jim will like this vintage.
The Pierres Blanches is 1.5 ha of old vines, and they produced a pretty rich wine in 2009, up to 11.8% natural. Its very typical, but just a little fat for my taste.
The L dOr is quite good in 2009. This site has somewhat complex geology, with friable gneiss on top, but granite below. Its a fine vintage, with tasty ripe flavors and decent acidity.
As mentioned in this report a couple of years ago, Luneau-Papin has acquired a new 4 ha site in unusual geology. The site is called the Terres des Pierres to maximize confusion with their other bottlings. It is on a hill called the Butte de la Roche, which is composed of the state rock of California, serpentine. Serpentine is a fabulously cool rock formed in the deep ocean at spreading centers like the mid-Atlantic ridge. It can only be produced from magma at very high pressure with lots of water around. Its undergone quite an adventure to find itself in the Muscadetthe spreading center must fail to keep up with a subduction zone and the whole thing gets pulled under a continent, then eventually uplifted. The covering rock and surrounding landscape must then all be eroded away to produce such a hill. Well, I think its cool, anyway. As you will have followed, serpentine is a pretty hard rock (as required to make a hill as the rest of an igneous landscape is eroded away), but it has good drainage. Its pretty acidic. In the coastal mountains of California, where Im more used to seeing it, the forest shifts to a less diverse population of dwarf scrub plants when serpentine is the surface rock, so it will all be interesting to follow. (I should note that Pierre-Marie has a somewhat different account of the origin of serpentine and I havent had time to check any references, but Im pretty sure Im right. You will be shocked to hear.)
Pierre-Marie raced us through the tasting a bit, but the Terres des Pierres has an interesting, distinct quality of minerality and a curious texture. It will take me a bit more time with a glass to see what I think of it, but I look forward to the occasion. P-M was unable to report having tasted any older bottles from previous producers in the terroir, so we dont have a clear idea how it will age.
We also went through the lineup of 2008s.
The 2008 Pierre de la Grange VV was quite lean and not very cheerful. I didnt care for it.
The 2008 Clos des Alles is a very good effort from a tough year. Its not rich on the nose or the palate, and has somewhat elevated acidity, but it has a very clean and pretty mineral finish with good length.
The Pierres Blanches VV is bright and deep and very nice in 2008.
L dOr puzzled me in 2008. There was a funny oily/sweaty thing on the nose that I couldnt make sense of. The wine is good on the palate with good acidity, but the odd nose thing persisted in the finish. Dont know if it was just this bottle, but I should retaste this.
The serpentine site Terres des Pierres gave an interesting wine in 2008, L-Ps first vintage on this site. The wine again has a curious texture and I found it hard to read. I look forward to spending an evening with a bottle.
The 2007 L dOr reminds me a bit of the 2004 or 2001. Its not brilliant, but in a classic mode. Attractive fruit, good zip, moderate depth, good stuff.
We then went through some older vintages.
The 2005 L dOr has never been my favorite since Ive felt that it lacked structure and acidity. It still does, but it has come a long way. Florida Jim probably disagrees with me.
The 2003 L dOr is very much of the vintage, big and fat and crazy ripe, with roasted skin flavors and low acid. Quite atypical. With all that said, it is maturing into a very interesting wine and I even vaguely wish I had a few in the cellar but I dont.
The 99 was also from a hot vintage and it shows a little heat, but it is maturing, showing some development and a nice granitic minerality.
In 2006, Pierre-Marie forgot to blend one vat of wine into the other 2005 cuvees. In 2007 it underwent MLF and tasted weird, so they left it alone. They bottled it in 2009 after 42 months on the lees. Its golden-yellow with a bit of a green tinge and has a crazy leesy aromatic profile. Its a little plush on the palate with 3 g of residual sugar and 13* of alcohol, but an interesting aperitif. I miss the acidity. Anyhow, there are no plans to sell any. If you see it, its called Pueri Solis.
The 1995 L dOr has a fair dose of botrytis and I dont love it. I find it too soft.
We had a great bottle of the 89 L dOr that is well known to many of you. The wine showed fabulously. Great balance, great maturing flavors. Ill have to pull a bottle soon.
P-M opened a rarity for us, the 1982 L dOr. They left it 6 years on the lees. It has much more color than the 89, a brilliant pale gold. More caramel and butterscotch of age mixed into the rocks and fruit and lees, but it has grand harmony and complexity. Very umami on the palate, but excellent minerality and acidity on the long finish. The very, very long finish. Super bon, as a friend might say.
We then tried some of the younger extended lees contact wines. These are in the Schiste de Goulaine micro AOC or producers association or whatever you might call it. As you might guess, the site is all schist. These are the Semper Excelsior Terre de Noelles. (they only made the Poyet in one vintage, and I didnt catch exactly why).
The 2006 Semper Excelsior was 36 months on the lees before bottling. It is big and ripe and slightly plush, but it is very fine and pretty and should mature into something remarkable.
The 2005 is a bit closed, but is really lovely. Quite rich, quite long, I expect it to mature very well.
The 2002 is showing a little maturity, some secondary development. It has increased in complexity and aroma and has at least as much umami as it ever did. It doesnt have totally fabulous acid, but should do well anyway.
These guys are doing very good work and some interesting things. A really fun tasting.
Other threads in this series are here:
Part 4, Dive Bouteille
Part 3, Chenin & Co.
Part 1, Beaujolais
Catherine and Didier from Clos Roche Blanche came to the Valaire tasting as they werent showing at the Angers Salon. Since they have leased a bunch of their vines to Noella Morantin they have much less wine and dont really need to work to sell it. They also lost crop to hail and some mildew during the summer and wound up with only 9 or 10 hl/ha.
This estate is well known to many of you so I wont belabor the history or terroir except to say that the sites are exceptional and that Didier is widely worshipped by his peers, even the toughest customers.
In 2009 the SB #2 is a vigorous big boy. Still a little rough-edged, I expect it to grow up to be easier, but it will always carry the weight of its 14.5% alcohol. In contrast, the reds are all about 12.5%.
The 2009 gamay is splendid. With bright medium color, it has great flavor, balance and length. It surprises Didier and everyone else with its easy flattering nature so early. The wine often takes a year in bottle to show its friendly colors.
The cab in 2009 is also open and pretty. Perfectly ripe, great length and flavor with excellent acid and judicious tanning, Didier calls it serious.
The 2009 Cot is a keeper. Deep cot color, but great acid and balance. Years to go.
A shame only to be able to see these guys briefly, as they light up the room when they are around.
Marc Ollivier
After short crops in 2007 and 2008, Marc finally has some wine to sell in 2009, with yields of 51-52 hl/ha, levels he hasnt seen since 2004. The AOC boosted the allowed yield from 52 to 57 hl/ha for the 2009 harvest. But this is funny business, since they only do it at the harvest, so viticultural decisions that might affect the quality of the crop have been taken long since.
Some 2009 Pepiere is already in the market in NYC at least, since Marc had to maintain some continuity from the 2008. The wine is classic and on the rich side for Pepiere with natural alcohols in the mid-high 11% range and total acids of 5.1-5.7 (sulfuric). Marc prefers 2009 to 2005 for its higher acidity.
Marc is in the middle of converting his vineyards to organic viticulture and is more than half done. He should be done in a couple of years. He has let go of one 3 ha parcel that he thought was too wet to farm organically so that he can have the entire estate organic.
2009 gave us a great Clos des Briords. The various parcels are excellently ripe with great acids. The flavors are mostly classic Briords with rocks and flowers. Some of the alcohols are pushing 13%, which Marc finds too high, but the blend should be in a good place.
Marc remarked that when he was starting out people in the region expected in a decent year to get 10%, a very good year would give 11%, and once in a career you would make wine with natural 12%. He now often gets 12%, although other things have also changed, like lower yields.
Marc has a new cuvee in 2008 and 2009, the Granite de Chateau Thebaut. The Clos des Briords is in this unusual Granite terroir, but this wine will be made from a recently purchased parcel of old vines. He picked pretty late in 09, not until September 27 and 28. The wine is remarkable, with great savory minerality. Its very long, with great balancing acidity. It carries its 12.5% well. This wine will stay on its lees for 2 years, with bottling in the fall of 2011. This is another one of the new small terroirs that has a small growers association to set methods and standards.
Marc didnt pick the old vines in the Pepiere vineyard that go into the Granite de Clisson until early October in 2009, a crazy late harvest for the Muscadet. It currently shows richer and plusher with less vigorous minerality than the Granite de Chateau Thebaut. It might even be thought slightly hot and maybe a tiny bit fat, with crazy 13.3% alcohol and 4.9 g acid. Do I look fat in magnums?
Ive described the different granites and terroirs of Clisson and Thebaut elsewhere.
Marc has his reds in 2009. The Cabernet Franc has a big tasty CF nose, just gorgeous. Its a light wine, refreshing and tasty. Glug glug.
The 09 cot has a darker streak and more tannin, but also has excellent ripeness and open flavors.
The Pepie (Cab sauvignon, Cab franc, cot, merlot) is less expressive on the nose, but is great in the mouth and has a nice finish. A very good vintage of this.
There is also a rose of CF and cot in 2009. Zippy fruit, quite dry, finishes with bright acidity.
Some quick notes on the vertical of older wines served through the afternoon as we ate extremely well and enjoyed ourselves quite thoroughly. This is usually the best party I attend during the year.
The 2008 Briords is still comparatively lean but showing well.
The 2007 Granite de Clisson is fab, rich balanced with plenty of acidity. A couple of days later I stopped by Marcs booth at the Salon for a healing glass of this at the end of the day. His buddy who runs a hotel in Brittany was there and we fell into conversation. As we parted, he said, If you want to drink Marcs wines from magnum, come stay in my hotel. I replied, if you want to drink Marcs wines from Jeroboam, come visit me in NYC. Im mighty glad to have this wine in big format.
Marc has a funny old vines cuvee in 2005 that has been 3 years on its lees and nonetheless retains 2.5 g of residual sugar. Its odd stuff, but very interesting. A nice leesy Muscadet nose, but very umami on the palate with a very long finish. My first sip found the fruit a little roasted, but the 2nd left me quite content. He still hasnt bottled this, and wont have much of it.
The 2006 Briords is a bit lean, but has classic acid and minerality. Its not the best ever, but you could do a lot worse.
The 2003 Briords shows pretty well for the vintage, its aging into a good place. Still relatively soft, with the hot vintage roasted skin Melon character.
That roasty character is also prominent in the 1999, which is still aging quite well. Not at all delicious when it first reached the US, it has only gotten better with time. Marc is very fond of it, but I still prefer other vintages. I am hedging my bet in the cellar with a few of these, however.
For historical perspectives on the '99, see here:
Loading…
winedisorder.com
and when first imported to the US, see:
Loading…
winedisorder.com
I still don't understand it.
The unique 97 still carries its botrytis well, but as Ive noted for a couple of years the fruit is retreating, leaving the botrytis in the forefront. Its still good but IMO its time to drink up.
The 89 shows real maturity with all sorts of developed characters on the nose, its just brilliant.
The 88 Briords is a grand wine. Better acid than the 89, complex and full. No rush, but awfully delicious now.
The 84 Pepiere (Marcs first vintage) remains a delicious wine, though there is a bit more caramel on the nose. Still has good structure and length.
The 84 from Marcs uncle still has some SO2 in the nose and is much less evolved but is nonetheless nice stuff. Marc reports that this wine had exactly 50 mg of free SO2 when it was bottled, an interesting calibration.
Luneau-Papin
Pierre-Marie Luneau, the young heir, led us through the tasting at the Salon. Hes just turned 30 and is taking a very active role in the estate. He was also very pleased with the 2009s. They had a warm sunny harvest and could take their time. He likes the balance in the wines. These guys are a much more established operation than Pepiere and have more capacity to take some chances and make some crazy things. Its always a fun tasting with them.
There is a VV blend of various parcels in 2009, I dont think it will reach the US. It has ripe skin flavors, moderate acidity (their clay/schist/mica-schist parcels dont usually achieve the acidity of granite sites, but are perhaps more representative of the AOC), a nice finish. It gives the clear impression of a warm vintage in the Muscadet. Its 11.1% or so, but they will boost it.
The Clos des Allees (a monopole! He reminds us) also gives the memory of a hot summer, but it has good acid. Its 11.6%, he will chaptalize to 12. I challenged him a bit on why, since the wine seemed to be in good balance to me. He gave a long answer in French that I only partially followed, but it seemed to come down to something like thats how they always do it. Being just a visiting jerk and not commercially involved, I could annoy him with such questions. I think its important that they consider the issue, anyway. He didnt seem totally happy, though. He didnt meet my eyes for the next half hour. Florida Jim will like this vintage.
The Pierres Blanches is 1.5 ha of old vines, and they produced a pretty rich wine in 2009, up to 11.8% natural. Its very typical, but just a little fat for my taste.
The L dOr is quite good in 2009. This site has somewhat complex geology, with friable gneiss on top, but granite below. Its a fine vintage, with tasty ripe flavors and decent acidity.
As mentioned in this report a couple of years ago, Luneau-Papin has acquired a new 4 ha site in unusual geology. The site is called the Terres des Pierres to maximize confusion with their other bottlings. It is on a hill called the Butte de la Roche, which is composed of the state rock of California, serpentine. Serpentine is a fabulously cool rock formed in the deep ocean at spreading centers like the mid-Atlantic ridge. It can only be produced from magma at very high pressure with lots of water around. Its undergone quite an adventure to find itself in the Muscadetthe spreading center must fail to keep up with a subduction zone and the whole thing gets pulled under a continent, then eventually uplifted. The covering rock and surrounding landscape must then all be eroded away to produce such a hill. Well, I think its cool, anyway. As you will have followed, serpentine is a pretty hard rock (as required to make a hill as the rest of an igneous landscape is eroded away), but it has good drainage. Its pretty acidic. In the coastal mountains of California, where Im more used to seeing it, the forest shifts to a less diverse population of dwarf scrub plants when serpentine is the surface rock, so it will all be interesting to follow. (I should note that Pierre-Marie has a somewhat different account of the origin of serpentine and I havent had time to check any references, but Im pretty sure Im right. You will be shocked to hear.)
Pierre-Marie raced us through the tasting a bit, but the Terres des Pierres has an interesting, distinct quality of minerality and a curious texture. It will take me a bit more time with a glass to see what I think of it, but I look forward to the occasion. P-M was unable to report having tasted any older bottles from previous producers in the terroir, so we dont have a clear idea how it will age.
We also went through the lineup of 2008s.
The 2008 Pierre de la Grange VV was quite lean and not very cheerful. I didnt care for it.
The 2008 Clos des Alles is a very good effort from a tough year. Its not rich on the nose or the palate, and has somewhat elevated acidity, but it has a very clean and pretty mineral finish with good length.
The Pierres Blanches VV is bright and deep and very nice in 2008.
L dOr puzzled me in 2008. There was a funny oily/sweaty thing on the nose that I couldnt make sense of. The wine is good on the palate with good acidity, but the odd nose thing persisted in the finish. Dont know if it was just this bottle, but I should retaste this.
The serpentine site Terres des Pierres gave an interesting wine in 2008, L-Ps first vintage on this site. The wine again has a curious texture and I found it hard to read. I look forward to spending an evening with a bottle.
The 2007 L dOr reminds me a bit of the 2004 or 2001. Its not brilliant, but in a classic mode. Attractive fruit, good zip, moderate depth, good stuff.
We then went through some older vintages.
The 2005 L dOr has never been my favorite since Ive felt that it lacked structure and acidity. It still does, but it has come a long way. Florida Jim probably disagrees with me.
The 2003 L dOr is very much of the vintage, big and fat and crazy ripe, with roasted skin flavors and low acid. Quite atypical. With all that said, it is maturing into a very interesting wine and I even vaguely wish I had a few in the cellar but I dont.
The 99 was also from a hot vintage and it shows a little heat, but it is maturing, showing some development and a nice granitic minerality.
In 2006, Pierre-Marie forgot to blend one vat of wine into the other 2005 cuvees. In 2007 it underwent MLF and tasted weird, so they left it alone. They bottled it in 2009 after 42 months on the lees. Its golden-yellow with a bit of a green tinge and has a crazy leesy aromatic profile. Its a little plush on the palate with 3 g of residual sugar and 13* of alcohol, but an interesting aperitif. I miss the acidity. Anyhow, there are no plans to sell any. If you see it, its called Pueri Solis.
The 1995 L dOr has a fair dose of botrytis and I dont love it. I find it too soft.
We had a great bottle of the 89 L dOr that is well known to many of you. The wine showed fabulously. Great balance, great maturing flavors. Ill have to pull a bottle soon.
P-M opened a rarity for us, the 1982 L dOr. They left it 6 years on the lees. It has much more color than the 89, a brilliant pale gold. More caramel and butterscotch of age mixed into the rocks and fruit and lees, but it has grand harmony and complexity. Very umami on the palate, but excellent minerality and acidity on the long finish. The very, very long finish. Super bon, as a friend might say.
We then tried some of the younger extended lees contact wines. These are in the Schiste de Goulaine micro AOC or producers association or whatever you might call it. As you might guess, the site is all schist. These are the Semper Excelsior Terre de Noelles. (they only made the Poyet in one vintage, and I didnt catch exactly why).
The 2006 Semper Excelsior was 36 months on the lees before bottling. It is big and ripe and slightly plush, but it is very fine and pretty and should mature into something remarkable.
The 2005 is a bit closed, but is really lovely. Quite rich, quite long, I expect it to mature very well.
The 2002 is showing a little maturity, some secondary development. It has increased in complexity and aroma and has at least as much umami as it ever did. It doesnt have totally fabulous acid, but should do well anyway.
These guys are doing very good work and some interesting things. A really fun tasting.
