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Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
2006 Don Giovanni Cabernet Franc Pinto Bandeira 12.8%
Cherry, leather, tar, olives, with a hint of brett. Sharp acidity, overwhelms fruit before food, becomes more balanced with. Not delicious, but good and honest, with an old-fashioned acid/sweet profile.

2007 Finca La Daniela Malbec Mendoza 13.5%
Ripe plums and caramelly oak. Some alcohol burn, acid somewhat detached from the fruit. Fairly typical of the style, correct, and not in any way over the top. My mind was telling me not to like it, but I did. It was a flower day

2008 Terrazas de los Andes Torronts Reserva Unoaked Salta 13.0%
Citrus, white flowers and rieslingesque minerality. Good mouth weight, turning a bit hollow on the mid palate and ending short. Acidity was just sufficient before food, but insufficient to handle food, especially as it warmed. Friendly, like an eager to please puppy wagging its tail, but lacks bite. Have yet to find a Torronts that I would call balanced. Kudos for screwcap and zero oak.

2004 Jean-Michel Gerin Cte-Rtie Le Seigneur 13.0%
Red berries, eucalyptus and a hint of dishrag. Excellent acid/sweet balance, lively and fresh, light tannins, satisfying body, the oak and alcohol so discreet as to be nearly imperceptible. Elegant and refined. Was afraid it would show too young, but found it really lovely.
 
Wonder how people here see Gerin. He seems to inhabit some kind of intermediate ground, without the flak that the big negociant houses get or the notice that the hipper, naturally oriented producers get.
 
While Jeff is right that shmattas is the normal spelling in English for the Yiddish word, since Yiddish began as written with the Hebrew alphabet, this is a transliteration and all transliterations are up for grabs. I myself would grab Jeff's, but Oswaldo's might have advantages of which I am unaware.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Wonder how people here see Gerin.
Click to expand...
The only TN in my notes is this uninspiring one from Dec. 2008:
Gerin 1998 Cote Rotie "Les Grandes Places" - perhaps they were good grapes but this wine is tired from its oak treatment (i.e., it's a little sweet and a little porky but it's also low acid and generic red-winey)
 
By way of contrast:

Gerin 1999 Cte-Rtie Champin Le Seigneur (Rhne) Dense, chewy leather, and earth studded with peppercorns. No fruit as such, but who needs it? Basically, you either like this sort of thing or you dont. I do, despite believing apparently mistakenly that Im not a Gerin fan. (9/08)

This could be a vintage thing.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Wonder how people here see Gerin. He seems to inhabit some kind of intermediate ground, without the flak that the big negociant houses get or the notice that the hipper, naturally oriented producers get.
Click to expand...
I've had a few wines from him, mostly the Champin Le Seigneur and Junior bottlings. What I've had has been pleasant, tasty but not particularly exciting or worth raving about. Middle of the road.
 
I've had two from Gerin, both from the decade of the 90's, and thought they were 'correct', 'moderate' wines. One showed a little more oak than the other.
To me, they were a cross between Guigal and Ogier.
 
I used to love the Les Grandes Places. Haven't tasted it since 2001 or so and I was over it then, but did swoon over the '99 in my fiery youth.
 
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