Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
As things drift back to normal, though permanently modified, the wines placed on the catafalque are improving.
2007 Domaine de Bellivière (Eric Nicolas) Rouge-Gorge Coteaux du Loir 13.5%
Red berries, iron, iodine, herbs & rose petals. Savory, with pleasant tannins and attractive acidity. Alcohol nominally high, yet could use a touch of sweetness (must have been fermented all the way dry). Aromas were arresting, but whenever nose trumps mouth, a lingering sense of bait ‘n switch mars the finish in the retropsycholfaction.
2009 Marcel Lapierre Raisins Gaulois VdF* 12.5%
Survived this long because mislaid in the vast Serengeti of my (food) fridge. The cherry Slurpee aroma with a yogurt lactic note was not so hot to trot, but immensely pleasing chemistry coalesced in the mouth. The weight sat ergonomically and the acidity, aided by a CO2 grace note, tasered the body electric. Uncontrollable glouglouness ensued. The Sticky Fingers mouth augmented by Warhol’s Marilyn lips and Simmonds’s darting tongue. Perhaps I exaggerate, propelled by the skimpy, GATT-defying, WTO-approved tariff. Well, here, mouth trumped nose, but I didn’t mind that nearly so. Maybe because an uptick is always better than a downtick, even if the net’s the same. Or maybe because young wine, like maidens, is made to be guzzled, not snorted.
2009 Domaine Tissot Arbois Poulsard V.V. 12.5%
Simple, pleasing sour cherry, talcum powder and iron rust aromas. Hefty fruit, with chalky tannins and an appealing pencil lead/graphite flavor; the enological equivalent of the white cliffs of Dover, which are striated with flint. Fortune favors Poulsard in riper vintages, when the grape’s aquiline morphology keeps it from turning porcine. Marcia’s favorite of the four, the harmonious nose/mouth combo forming an axis bold as love.
2009 Ganevat J’en Veux Côtes du Jura 11.5%
According to Bertrand Celce, a 1,000 liter cuvée made with "17 forgotten varieties with weird names." Purchased because you guys raved about it earlier in the year and opened because you guys cast aspersions about its longevity earlier in the week. On day one, burnt matchstick reduction made me put the bottle, minus two pours, back in the fridge. The aromas were mostly red fruits laced with puppy poop. Mouth vibrantly flavorful, with fine acidity, but body a tad dilute, perhaps a function of serving at 15C. Too featherweight, as if, I dunno, they had accidentally misplaced a degree of alcohol (I regularly rail against too much, so it’s only fair to carp about too little). On day two, almost no matchstick, and less dilute because served at 18C. Smoked meat flavors, and yummy, with a dark streak.
*Vin des Frugaux
2007 Domaine de Bellivière (Eric Nicolas) Rouge-Gorge Coteaux du Loir 13.5%
Red berries, iron, iodine, herbs & rose petals. Savory, with pleasant tannins and attractive acidity. Alcohol nominally high, yet could use a touch of sweetness (must have been fermented all the way dry). Aromas were arresting, but whenever nose trumps mouth, a lingering sense of bait ‘n switch mars the finish in the retropsycholfaction.
2009 Marcel Lapierre Raisins Gaulois VdF* 12.5%
Survived this long because mislaid in the vast Serengeti of my (food) fridge. The cherry Slurpee aroma with a yogurt lactic note was not so hot to trot, but immensely pleasing chemistry coalesced in the mouth. The weight sat ergonomically and the acidity, aided by a CO2 grace note, tasered the body electric. Uncontrollable glouglouness ensued. The Sticky Fingers mouth augmented by Warhol’s Marilyn lips and Simmonds’s darting tongue. Perhaps I exaggerate, propelled by the skimpy, GATT-defying, WTO-approved tariff. Well, here, mouth trumped nose, but I didn’t mind that nearly so. Maybe because an uptick is always better than a downtick, even if the net’s the same. Or maybe because young wine, like maidens, is made to be guzzled, not snorted.
2009 Domaine Tissot Arbois Poulsard V.V. 12.5%
Simple, pleasing sour cherry, talcum powder and iron rust aromas. Hefty fruit, with chalky tannins and an appealing pencil lead/graphite flavor; the enological equivalent of the white cliffs of Dover, which are striated with flint. Fortune favors Poulsard in riper vintages, when the grape’s aquiline morphology keeps it from turning porcine. Marcia’s favorite of the four, the harmonious nose/mouth combo forming an axis bold as love.
2009 Ganevat J’en Veux Côtes du Jura 11.5%
According to Bertrand Celce, a 1,000 liter cuvée made with "17 forgotten varieties with weird names." Purchased because you guys raved about it earlier in the year and opened because you guys cast aspersions about its longevity earlier in the week. On day one, burnt matchstick reduction made me put the bottle, minus two pours, back in the fridge. The aromas were mostly red fruits laced with puppy poop. Mouth vibrantly flavorful, with fine acidity, but body a tad dilute, perhaps a function of serving at 15C. Too featherweight, as if, I dunno, they had accidentally misplaced a degree of alcohol (I regularly rail against too much, so it’s only fair to carp about too little). On day two, almost no matchstick, and less dilute because served at 18C. Smoked meat flavors, and yummy, with a dark streak.
*Vin des Frugaux
