Jonathan Loesberg
Jonathan Loesberg
First Charvin. No news there. I liked everything. The 09 reminds me somewhat of the 01, rich and complex at the same time. Laurent also gave us a taste of the 10, a mix of the two parcels. At this point, it showed bright fruit, lots of tannin and a dark fruit nose. I don't know what years to compare it to. It's not the Parker lover's favorite, like the 07, 05 and 03 (though the 05 is drinking beautifully and not at all as one would have guessed these days). But while it has the complexity of the 04, it seems more profound. I'm not great at tasting wines this young so it could be a floozy (which will be OK with me), but it could be a fascinating and different wine. We also tasted the CdPs from 08 and 04. Anyone who has tasted the 08 knows how well it is drinking now. The 04 gets better every year for me.
Then went looking for some whites because it is supposed to be almost summer here, not that you could tell from last week's weather. We tasted 3 at Vindea. Grand Tinel was the kind of white that makes people write these wines off, open, floral, but uninteresting. Pierre Usseglio, 2010, is a little floozier than in past years. Evidently some of it is going through barrique. I didn't get wood or vanilla, just a smokiness that seemed different. The best of the lot was from a Domaine called Saumade (never heard of it) from 2009. Same cepages as Usseglio but much more steely and minerally.
Finally, because the tasting room was across the street from where we parked and because it had a poster with Asterix and Obelix claiming it was a magic potion, we went in to taste at the town storefront for Eddie Feraud. Always follow Asterix and Obelix. We tasted the 06, 08 and 09. The 08 was a nicely spicy CdP. The 06, which had been kept in foudre for 4 years, was absolutely animale. The09 was cut from the same cloth. All three seemed genuine old style CdP. I will look for them in the US.
And now my moment of bad guessing. We were at a tasting of Cairanne wines last Saturday and the wine that stood out was a cuvee of a place called Domaine Roche called La Bousquette. Old vines they said. 2009. At the tasting, we liked it and bought three bottles. Then we opened one to go with dinner a couple of nights later. The alcohol on the nose buried almost everything else. It still had nice fruit on the palate, but it was too big and too alcoholic. If someone told me Cambie was consulting there, I wouldn't be surprised. Why do wines one tastes an ounce of taste better than wines one has a glass of at dinner? Ah, well, live and learn.
Then went looking for some whites because it is supposed to be almost summer here, not that you could tell from last week's weather. We tasted 3 at Vindea. Grand Tinel was the kind of white that makes people write these wines off, open, floral, but uninteresting. Pierre Usseglio, 2010, is a little floozier than in past years. Evidently some of it is going through barrique. I didn't get wood or vanilla, just a smokiness that seemed different. The best of the lot was from a Domaine called Saumade (never heard of it) from 2009. Same cepages as Usseglio but much more steely and minerally.
Finally, because the tasting room was across the street from where we parked and because it had a poster with Asterix and Obelix claiming it was a magic potion, we went in to taste at the town storefront for Eddie Feraud. Always follow Asterix and Obelix. We tasted the 06, 08 and 09. The 08 was a nicely spicy CdP. The 06, which had been kept in foudre for 4 years, was absolutely animale. The09 was cut from the same cloth. All three seemed genuine old style CdP. I will look for them in the US.
And now my moment of bad guessing. We were at a tasting of Cairanne wines last Saturday and the wine that stood out was a cuvee of a place called Domaine Roche called La Bousquette. Old vines they said. 2009. At the tasting, we liked it and bought three bottles. Then we opened one to go with dinner a couple of nights later. The alcohol on the nose buried almost everything else. It still had nice fruit on the palate, but it was too big and too alcoholic. If someone told me Cambie was consulting there, I wouldn't be surprised. Why do wines one tastes an ounce of taste better than wines one has a glass of at dinner? Ah, well, live and learn.