Lioco 2007 Chardonnay "Durell"
This sees no oak but undergoes extended lees contact. I tasted this wine some six hours after opening (it was a sample used by a sales rep friend). Yellow fruits and white flowers on the nose as well as lanolin. The palate is rich and glossy, with dominant flavors of apricot nectar and creamsicle. Manages to finish with decent acidic cut, but also with a surge of booze. 14.1% stated alcohol.
L'Oratoire St. Martin 2007 Cairanne Blanc "Haut-Coustias"
50% Marsanne, 40% Roussanne, 10% Viognier per the producer's website. Wonderfully fresh aromatics of chalk and citrus. On the palate, orange blossom, white peach, and a hint of green limey-citrus. Then the Marsanne spice kicks in, contributing a prickle on the finish. As the wine warms, that Marsanne-spice tingle is accentuated by a faint but unmistakeable alcoholic twinge. 13.5% stated alcohol.
Both these wines would have been at least a fair pleasure at the table if drunk with mildly spiced, European/Contemporary American fare. But instead we drank them with Northern Thai food that often just yearned for RS. And probably, lower alcohol. In both cases that touch of warmth, a minor nuisance when taken alone, became obtrusive when combined with chili spice and in the case of the Lioco, prohibitive to enjoyment.
Folks, don't make the same mistake we did. When having Thai or similar fare drink Riesling, and nothing drier (and higher in abv) than a feinherb. Otherwise, stick to Singha.
This sees no oak but undergoes extended lees contact. I tasted this wine some six hours after opening (it was a sample used by a sales rep friend). Yellow fruits and white flowers on the nose as well as lanolin. The palate is rich and glossy, with dominant flavors of apricot nectar and creamsicle. Manages to finish with decent acidic cut, but also with a surge of booze. 14.1% stated alcohol.
L'Oratoire St. Martin 2007 Cairanne Blanc "Haut-Coustias"
50% Marsanne, 40% Roussanne, 10% Viognier per the producer's website. Wonderfully fresh aromatics of chalk and citrus. On the palate, orange blossom, white peach, and a hint of green limey-citrus. Then the Marsanne spice kicks in, contributing a prickle on the finish. As the wine warms, that Marsanne-spice tingle is accentuated by a faint but unmistakeable alcoholic twinge. 13.5% stated alcohol.
Both these wines would have been at least a fair pleasure at the table if drunk with mildly spiced, European/Contemporary American fare. But instead we drank them with Northern Thai food that often just yearned for RS. And probably, lower alcohol. In both cases that touch of warmth, a minor nuisance when taken alone, became obtrusive when combined with chili spice and in the case of the Lioco, prohibitive to enjoyment.
Folks, don't make the same mistake we did. When having Thai or similar fare drink Riesling, and nothing drier (and higher in abv) than a feinherb. Otherwise, stick to Singha.