Cellar notes

[Florida Jim]

Diane came back from NC with a little piece of our cellar; bless her heart . . .

1999 Alzinger, Riesling Loibenberg Smaragd:
Distinctly Austrian in origin; concentrated and sappy with a tangy acidity and an almond element that is at the outer edge of perception on the nose but clear and present in the mouth and on the finish. Symbiotic with ham and sweet potatoes.

2006 Fillaboa, Albariño Monte Alto:
Medium golden color; expansive nose of cream soda, resin, spice and moss; deep and dense with a balanced and layered delivery that persists. The equal of a Cepas Villas at half the price.

1999 Lafarge, Volnay 1er Cru:
Hard and closed, even with decanting and airing. Difficult to form any impression as to its future although it seems to have plenty of structure. Aging at a glacial pace.

2004 Leroy, Bourgogne:
A nose somewhere between Arbois and Corton and quite complex; somewhat attenuated in the mouth but becomes smoother and more integrated with air. A delight, if an unusual one.

2005 de Villaine, Mercury Les Montots:
Lovely nose that made me think Pommard; articulate and nervy in the mouth with bracing acids and good intensity; moderate length. Needs time but did very nicely with carbonara. Better later.

Best, Jim

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

Thanks. The Montots is a vin de gard, sans doute.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

2004 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne 12.5%
Bought originally because, in that year, Lalou was so unhappy with the crop that she famously declassified all her crus. This "simple" Bourgogne allegedly contains grapes from different classified vineyards, including Pommard Vignots, Savigny Narbantons, Santenots Volnay, Clos de Vougeot, Clos de la Roche and Corton-Renardes. My solitary bottle is so thick that the label was becoming increasingly frayed from scraping the drawer above it every time I pulled the drawer where it lay. This was annoying me more and more until last week, seeing the above comment on the evolutionary status of the beast, it seemed time to end this surfeit of glass. My thanks to Jim, who obviously bought a case, for opening a bottle every now and then and reporting on its progress.

The aroma was awesome, deep essence of pinosity, absolute and unqualified. Spectacular red fruit, slightly metallic, with essence of roses, axiomatically and exotically aromatic. Good body, light tannins, fine acidity, only drawback a bitter finish that disappeared with food. I'm always disappointed when the mouth is less excellent than the nose, but the mouth was excellent indeed, so the complaint seems out of place. But the nose, ah, this could launch a thousand ships (Marcia felt a "hairdresser smell", like sulfur for straightening; thank the firmament I found no such thing).

ps: the back label speaks of (their) biodynamic agriculture with SO much pride that it seems difficult to conceive that they (or anyone in a similar position) would piss sugar or tartaric acid into the must after all this TLC.