2010 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Griffe du Marquis
This is drinking really well right now. Polished and deep. Very Vosne for lack of a better comparison.
2010 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive
Hard as nails. I got cocky after the great showing from the Griffe. When this wine is structured, it’s really structured.
2010 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
2010 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes Magnum
Both delicious and in a perfect drinking window for me. Fresh lively fruit with some complications, really fun to drink and great at the table from both formats.
2011 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
Even better than the 2010 and with more stuffing. I think the best is yet to come from this wine although it is still delicious now with food.
2011 Georges Descombes Régnié Vieilles Vignes Magnum
This was excellent as well, more red fruit where the Morgon is blue. Nice spicey brambly nuance. Great balance. 2011 was quite a year for Beaujolais. I made an accounting error and this was my last bottle. Unfortunately, about half of it was wasted on folks who were lucky enough to be at the same bbq I was.
2013 Georges Descombes Brouilly Vieilles Vignes
This is still a bit too young and more tightly coiled than the other Descombes.
2000 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin
Good but not great. Well mannered and polished and in a good level of development for me, just missing a little oomph and drive.
2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale
This was really excellent and showed really well even if it is in the beginning of a first drinking window. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. The fruit has rounded and there are nice woodsy and spice elements and it’s at once Nuits and not. Worth trying now if you have a few.
N.V. Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 736
Several bottles from a lot I bought at auction. In a very good place. Creamy, fine mousse. I find this style delicious, but it is rounded.
2016 Bruno Duchêne Collioure La Pascole
Duchêne was one of our discoveries on our trip to Montreal in the fall but those bottles had some age on them which this could use. All wildness when we opened it, so it got recorked and back to the cellar. The next day it had unfolded a bit to show that lovely Grenache fruit and flowers that are at once cool and smashed against rocks thoroughly heated by the Mediterranean sun. Worth trying if you haven’t even better if it has a couple of years in a good cellar. Very natural so I think I might not buy it from just anywhere.
2014 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson
Developing well. Nice intensity but also the roundness that comes with the long élévage. Drink now for me, hold for others.
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine
Corked. I only mention this because I’ve had an inordinate number of corked bottles of this particular wine.
1996 François Pinon Vouvray 1er Trie
A couple of bottles the best of which are as good as anything I've had recently. I’m going to continue to drink as many bottles of this as I can.
2011 Eric Texier Côtes du Rhône Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban Vieille Serine Domaine de Pergaud
This is in an awesome spot right now. With just a little bit of air it shows really well. Fruit slapped on granite.
2012 Eric Texier Côtes du Rhône Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban Vieille Serine Domaine de Pergaud
More intense and brooding than the 2011 and further away from a peak, but with the right kind of food off the grill, shows very well. I decanted it (sorry Eric) and that seemed to help a bit for the couple hours it lasted.
2015 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) Les Vieilles Vignes des Blanderies
Just awesome. Definitely holding some rs, but real depth of fruit with complexity and a lightness despite the intensity. I'm so happy to have re-discovered these wines.
2016 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) La Lune
Not as complex as the Blanderies, but hits many of the same notes albeit a bit blowsier.
2007 Le Piane Boca
An excellent bottle of this. For me, this hits all the sweet spots of Alpine Piedmontese wines. Real depth of fruit and complexity. Resolved at this point but I expect it will go on for quite a while. The corks on my bottles were soaked half-way up, so pristine bottles may show younger.
2014 Briceland Vineyards Petit Verdot Ishi Pishi Ranch
OK.
2011 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard
Light bodied and OK, a bit underwhelming.
2013 Arnot-Roberts Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch
Still backward and closed. Stay away for years. Very intense. Should be excellent, but who knows as there is no track record just a sense of the balance of this young wine.
This is drinking really well right now. Polished and deep. Very Vosne for lack of a better comparison.
2010 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive
Hard as nails. I got cocky after the great showing from the Griffe. When this wine is structured, it’s really structured.
2010 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
2010 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes Magnum
Both delicious and in a perfect drinking window for me. Fresh lively fruit with some complications, really fun to drink and great at the table from both formats.
2011 Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes
Even better than the 2010 and with more stuffing. I think the best is yet to come from this wine although it is still delicious now with food.
2011 Georges Descombes Régnié Vieilles Vignes Magnum
This was excellent as well, more red fruit where the Morgon is blue. Nice spicey brambly nuance. Great balance. 2011 was quite a year for Beaujolais. I made an accounting error and this was my last bottle. Unfortunately, about half of it was wasted on folks who were lucky enough to be at the same bbq I was.
2013 Georges Descombes Brouilly Vieilles Vignes
This is still a bit too young and more tightly coiled than the other Descombes.
2000 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin
Good but not great. Well mannered and polished and in a good level of development for me, just missing a little oomph and drive.
2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale
This was really excellent and showed really well even if it is in the beginning of a first drinking window. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. The fruit has rounded and there are nice woodsy and spice elements and it’s at once Nuits and not. Worth trying now if you have a few.
N.V. Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 736
Several bottles from a lot I bought at auction. In a very good place. Creamy, fine mousse. I find this style delicious, but it is rounded.
2016 Bruno Duchêne Collioure La Pascole
Duchêne was one of our discoveries on our trip to Montreal in the fall but those bottles had some age on them which this could use. All wildness when we opened it, so it got recorked and back to the cellar. The next day it had unfolded a bit to show that lovely Grenache fruit and flowers that are at once cool and smashed against rocks thoroughly heated by the Mediterranean sun. Worth trying if you haven’t even better if it has a couple of years in a good cellar. Very natural so I think I might not buy it from just anywhere.
2014 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson
Developing well. Nice intensity but also the roundness that comes with the long élévage. Drink now for me, hold for others.
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine
Corked. I only mention this because I’ve had an inordinate number of corked bottles of this particular wine.
1996 François Pinon Vouvray 1er Trie
A couple of bottles the best of which are as good as anything I've had recently. I’m going to continue to drink as many bottles of this as I can.
2011 Eric Texier Côtes du Rhône Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban Vieille Serine Domaine de Pergaud
This is in an awesome spot right now. With just a little bit of air it shows really well. Fruit slapped on granite.
2012 Eric Texier Côtes du Rhône Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban Vieille Serine Domaine de Pergaud
More intense and brooding than the 2011 and further away from a peak, but with the right kind of food off the grill, shows very well. I decanted it (sorry Eric) and that seemed to help a bit for the couple hours it lasted.
2015 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) Les Vieilles Vignes des Blanderies
Just awesome. Definitely holding some rs, but real depth of fruit with complexity and a lightness despite the intensity. I'm so happy to have re-discovered these wines.
2016 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) La Lune
Not as complex as the Blanderies, but hits many of the same notes albeit a bit blowsier.
2007 Le Piane Boca
An excellent bottle of this. For me, this hits all the sweet spots of Alpine Piedmontese wines. Real depth of fruit and complexity. Resolved at this point but I expect it will go on for quite a while. The corks on my bottles were soaked half-way up, so pristine bottles may show younger.
2014 Briceland Vineyards Petit Verdot Ishi Pishi Ranch
OK.
2011 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard
Light bodied and OK, a bit underwhelming.
2013 Arnot-Roberts Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch
Still backward and closed. Stay away for years. Very intense. Should be excellent, but who knows as there is no track record just a sense of the balance of this young wine.