Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
Recent wines, starting with a flight of (for us) atypically fancy red Burgundy, dedicated to fellow soulless Yankees.
F. Magnien Chambolle Musigny 1er Bournique 2003
Big mouthful of tasty cherries, good acids, but four-square and not really well integrated. Good potential, too young. Fine with Chicken chilie (no peppers).
Girardin Clos St. Denis Grand Cru 1999
Tart and sappy, cherries again. Very nice but no epiphany. Lacks depth and heft. Seems ready to drink.
Tardy Vosne-Romanee 1er les Chaumes 1999
Nice again, chalkier cherries, not tart; balanced, discreet, needs time. Good with egg-grilled steak.
Pascal Grange Moulin-a-vent 2005
Day one cheerful fruit but rather thin. Day 2, acid structure makes a showing, the wine is balanced and classy. Restrained but very good, much to my taste. You go, Neal.
Vissoux Beaujolais Traditionelle 2005
Cheerful and crunchy but self-possessed gamay fruit. A scrubby lutfah of acid. Depth not apparent probably too young. Drinking this makes you feel like a teenager.
Bois de Boursan Chateauneuf du Pape 2001
Working through my old residual S. Rhone purchases. This is heartening wine, with heft and nice, round fruit; no kirsch. A comforting glassful at the end of a long day.
St. Cosme Gigondas 2001
Intense, loud volume, figgy fruit. Day 2, fig gives over to kirsch. Always in balance, but big. Impressive, but not my glass of wine. Liked this better young, tannic and full of promise.
Ch. Fombrauge 2000
Last bottle, drinking well; previous bottle dull and charmless but this was bright and good with food. Surprisingly light-feeling for 13.5 abv.
Ch. Branaire Ducru 2000
Decent Bx, but too young, I would say. No real depth or complexity. Hope for more to come.
Ch. Grand-Puy Lacoste 2001
With a short decant, delightful, deep cassis and violettes; classic for the genre. But they are gone by the end of the bottle. Too young, too old? Fine with Steak.
Fevre Bougrots Bouguerots 2000
After two early-oxidized bottles, a good one. Searing mineral intensity, but still with finesse. Wonderful Chablis nose. Impressive and intriguing; pity we wont get to try these with the age they want. Probably great wine.
De Moor Chablis Rosette 2005
Well-advanced from a year ago; funny Chardonnay quality I can only think of as smeared burnt rubber: extremely good. Still, I think, just the tip of the iceberg.
Bernard Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 2005
Unimpressive early, this wine is developing very nicely into a good, classic 1er Chablis. A bargain at under $20 purchase price
Branger Muscadet Gras Moutons 2005
Delicious: fresh, stony mountain brook water with a residual mineral dusting, like something from Tolkien. You can almost feel your hair curling. Undemonstrative, but the sensation of drinking it stayed with me for days. Paired perfectly with dahl.
A. et P. Villaine Clous 2007
Undramatic, but one of the best chard-based wines of my experience. Limpid, light on its feet with levitating mineral dust. A beautiful wine. Henceforth I am a Villaine subscriber.
Gunderloch 2001 Auslese
Also exceptional: tremendous balance of sweetness and rope-like acid structure, filtered through tropical fruit. I prefer MSR-style clarity, but appreciate the very fine quality of this wine. Thanks to David from Switzerland for his notes on this many years ago.
Mller-Catoir Haardter Herrenletten Riesling Sptlese trocken 2003
Soaked, leaky cork. Good body and heft; flavors either gone to flaw or shut down. My wife liked it, which is something!
F. Magnien Chambolle Musigny 1er Bournique 2003
Big mouthful of tasty cherries, good acids, but four-square and not really well integrated. Good potential, too young. Fine with Chicken chilie (no peppers).
Girardin Clos St. Denis Grand Cru 1999
Tart and sappy, cherries again. Very nice but no epiphany. Lacks depth and heft. Seems ready to drink.
Tardy Vosne-Romanee 1er les Chaumes 1999
Nice again, chalkier cherries, not tart; balanced, discreet, needs time. Good with egg-grilled steak.
Pascal Grange Moulin-a-vent 2005
Day one cheerful fruit but rather thin. Day 2, acid structure makes a showing, the wine is balanced and classy. Restrained but very good, much to my taste. You go, Neal.
Vissoux Beaujolais Traditionelle 2005
Cheerful and crunchy but self-possessed gamay fruit. A scrubby lutfah of acid. Depth not apparent probably too young. Drinking this makes you feel like a teenager.
Bois de Boursan Chateauneuf du Pape 2001
Working through my old residual S. Rhone purchases. This is heartening wine, with heft and nice, round fruit; no kirsch. A comforting glassful at the end of a long day.
St. Cosme Gigondas 2001
Intense, loud volume, figgy fruit. Day 2, fig gives over to kirsch. Always in balance, but big. Impressive, but not my glass of wine. Liked this better young, tannic and full of promise.
Ch. Fombrauge 2000
Last bottle, drinking well; previous bottle dull and charmless but this was bright and good with food. Surprisingly light-feeling for 13.5 abv.
Ch. Branaire Ducru 2000
Decent Bx, but too young, I would say. No real depth or complexity. Hope for more to come.
Ch. Grand-Puy Lacoste 2001
With a short decant, delightful, deep cassis and violettes; classic for the genre. But they are gone by the end of the bottle. Too young, too old? Fine with Steak.
Fevre Bougrots Bouguerots 2000
After two early-oxidized bottles, a good one. Searing mineral intensity, but still with finesse. Wonderful Chablis nose. Impressive and intriguing; pity we wont get to try these with the age they want. Probably great wine.
De Moor Chablis Rosette 2005
Well-advanced from a year ago; funny Chardonnay quality I can only think of as smeared burnt rubber: extremely good. Still, I think, just the tip of the iceberg.
Bernard Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 2005
Unimpressive early, this wine is developing very nicely into a good, classic 1er Chablis. A bargain at under $20 purchase price
Branger Muscadet Gras Moutons 2005
Delicious: fresh, stony mountain brook water with a residual mineral dusting, like something from Tolkien. You can almost feel your hair curling. Undemonstrative, but the sensation of drinking it stayed with me for days. Paired perfectly with dahl.
A. et P. Villaine Clous 2007
Undramatic, but one of the best chard-based wines of my experience. Limpid, light on its feet with levitating mineral dust. A beautiful wine. Henceforth I am a Villaine subscriber.
Gunderloch 2001 Auslese
Also exceptional: tremendous balance of sweetness and rope-like acid structure, filtered through tropical fruit. I prefer MSR-style clarity, but appreciate the very fine quality of this wine. Thanks to David from Switzerland for his notes on this many years ago.
Mller-Catoir Haardter Herrenletten Riesling Sptlese trocken 2003
Soaked, leaky cork. Good body and heft; flavors either gone to flaw or shut down. My wife liked it, which is something!
