Impressions

Florida Jim

Florida Jim

Florida Jim
Impressions:

2015 Vincent Girardin, Saint-Aubin en Remilly:
Adequate bot no more and a tad oaky.

2018 Clos Cibonne, Tibouren Rose:
The regular version but there is little “regular” about it. Fine, lacy, bright and suave. A dream of summer in thee glass.

2013 Raveneau, Chablis Montee de Tonnerre:
Precise balance and a beautiful expression of the vineyard. What I hope for when someone opens Raveneau.

1988 Lytton Springs, Zinfandel Lytton Springs:
Claret-like but fading. Still pleasant but more for Hommage than delight.

2005 Bruno Clavelier, Les Beaux-Monts:
Vosne 1er needn’t get much better; youthful but full of energy and spice.

2010 Beaucastel, CdP:
Not my favorite AOC but this was sound and representative.

2019 Jadot, Beaujolais Villages:
Excellent value and quite pretty. Happy wine.

2017 Clos Cibonne, Tibouren Cuvée Speciale (red):
Aside from the brett, a delightful, mid-weight and complex wine that holds the interest and is good with dinner.

2018 Vajra, Nebbiolo; Dolcetto; Barbera:
Perfectly sound wines that are just not very interesting.

2018 Vajra, Rosso:
Here we go; bright, lively, tangy and layered; so much better than any of the foregoing.

2016 Fillaboa, Albariño Monte Alto:
Serious wine that needs decanter time or further aging. Concentrated with intense spice and bracing acidity. Yum.

2017 Louis Michel, Chablis:
Lovely wine, good structure and character and maybe a touch more going on than the next wine. Screwcap.

2018 Louis Michel, Chablis:
See above.

2018 Pierre Richard, Poulsard Jura:
Pale red-cinnamon, light but intense, complex, dry, slightly sauvage; happy to drink this anytime.

2017 Tornatore, Etna Bianco:
All Carricante and while focused and structured, bigger than expected. Pretty darn good.

2017 Tornatore, Etna Rosso:
All Norello Mascalese and very dry - tannic grip is what it does best but it does a few other things that I enjoy so, while not something I’ll drink much of, good with the proper food.

2011 Colpetrone, Sagrantino:
Tried a bottle, bought a case (about $20/bottle). Delicious fruit, tamed tannins, good balance and brought back our visit to Umbria in a very nice way. Real good.

2019 Vincent, Pinot Blanc:
(Small producer in OR) Clear, clean wine with a bit more volume than expected. Good with almost anything and quite pleasing.

2018 Vincent, Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge:
This is a yearly buy for me. About $25/bottle on pre-release and certainly the best Pinot at that price I know about. Deep, pure, satin textured but plenty of structure. Will age very well but tastes great now.

2018 Vincent, Pinot Noir, Armstrong Vnyd.:
Takes the Ribbon Ridge bottling to the next level and adds more finesse. Years to go but good now with decanter time.

Diane and I ran out of our own wines earlier in the year but got a shipment recently. All notes below are for Cowan Cellars wines:

2011 Isa:
Skin-fermented SB with 11 months in barrel; tangerine skin and aromas akin to old claret; brothy, underripe pear, mint and some earth tones all fairly well integrated and good length. Still a little young but showing what orange wine can be with age. D’s favorite,

2012 Isa:
Same cepage but 27 months in barrel; similar to the above but with more finesse and truly of whole cloth. A glass 24 hours after opening was stellar. I am very pleased with this.

2011 Syrah, Bennett Valley:
Intense, feral, balanced and showing secondary development. All I could ask at this showing.

2012 Syrah, Bennett Valley:
Thinner than the foregoing and less precise. However, a glass the next day was more impressive.

2015 Syrah, Bennett Valley:
A baby but perfect balance and nice complexity. Great future.

2016 Syrah, BV:
A big, goofy puppy that won’t stay off the furniture. Much more CA in style.

2017 Syrah, BV:
Whoa. I expected this to be way too young but it is savory, complex and powerful. Lots of upside.

2012 Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley:
Really lovely; bottle age has this heading in the light but intense direction with some development. Quite good.

2013 Pinot, AV:
Needs time; good stuffing but pretty firm.

2014 Pinot, AV:
Odd showing; somewhat overripe to my taste and fairly sweet. Tonight I’ll try another glass and see if a day open changes it.
Far better on day two but I doubt this will ever be my fav.

2018 Ribolla Gialla:
Fresh fruit, spot on acids, excellent length; yum.

2012 Ribolla Gialla:
Skin-fermented; orange zest, hay, and tangerine juice; another orange wine that makes me happy.

Best, Jim
 
jim, beaucastel is one of the least representative CdPs of the AOC, due to a much higher percentage mourvedre. in a blind lineup it reliably reveals itself.
 
Robert,
GSM blends, with only occasional exception, are not my preference. There is always the exception but if I never had another GSM or Cab I’d be just fine.
As luck would have it, my wife feels the same.
Lovely that.
Best, Jim
 
I believe Robert was arguing that, given that Beaucastel is usually well over 50% Mourvedre, it is not in any sense a representative CdP. I would go further and say it's not much like most GSM blends. None of this, of course, speaks to your evaluation of meh or I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Robert,
GSM blends, with only occasional exception, are not my preference. There is always the exception but if I never had another GSM or Cab I’d be just fine.
As luck would have it, my wife feels the same.
Lovely that.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

greetings jim--fortunate, and lovely indeed. and has jonathan has pointed out, my comment had to do with what one might expect from an AOC CdP, not GSMs in general.
 
Yes, I see the distinction.
In truth, I think my disdain boils down to Grenache, pure or mixed. And most CdP has some in it.
But I’ll try to keep my acronyms straight.
Best, Jim
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Yes, I see the distinction.
In truth, I think my disdain boils down to Grenache, pure or mixed. And most CdP has some in it.
But I’ll try to keep my acronyms straight.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

where does bandol fit into your like/dislike continuum?
 
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Yes, I see the distinction.
In truth, I think my disdain boils down to Grenache, pure or mixed. And most CdP has some in it.
But I’ll try to keep my acronyms straight.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

where does bandol fit into your like/dislike continuum?
Click to expand...
The more Mourvèdre the better - but in fact, I’m better with Bandol than CdP.
I’m even better with 100% Mourvèdre or Syrah. Despite the long history of blending such grapes, I like them better solo.
You?
 
originally posted by Cole Kendall:
18 Vajra Langhe rosso was really good (after a little time open)
Click to expand...

Indeed. I have already drunk three bottles, push it on everyone wanting wine recommendations, and still own a few. Really delicious.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Yes, I see the distinction.
In truth, I think my disdain boils down to Grenache, pure or mixed. And most CdP has some in it.
But I’ll try to keep my acronyms straight.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

where does bandol fit into your like/dislike continuum?
Click to expand...
The more Mourvèdre the better - but in fact, I’m better with Bandol than CdP.
I’m even better with 100% Mourvèdre or Syrah. Despite the long history of blending such grapes, I like them better solo.
You?
Click to expand...

well, we're poles apart regarding grenache.

but my love for bandol is a great as my fondness for grenache, gsm, etc. bandol by AOC must be at least 50% mourvedre, and many of the very good ones have higher percentages, all the way up to 100%. including grenache in the blend is common in bandol, but perhaps the percentages are low enough to not set off your grenache alarm.
 
originally posted by robert ames: we're poles apart regarding grenache.
Click to expand...

Robert, despite my very high respect for the tasting/reporting prowess of Jim etal, I'm with you on Grenache. I thought about this this evening when we marveled over how wonderful the Ch Beaucastel CNdP '89 was with our Thanksgiving dinner.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

originally posted by robert ames: we're poles apart regarding grenache.
Click to expand...

Robert, despite my very high respect for the tasting/reporting prowess of Jim etal, I'm with you on Grenache. I thought about this this evening when we marveled over how wonderful the Ch Beaucastel CNdP '89 was with our Thanksgiving dinner.

. . . . . Pete
Click to expand...

as discussed earlier in this thread, beaucastel has so much mourvedre that i don't consider it to be in any way a grenache dominant wine. and hence jim liked his.
 
originally posted by robert ames: beaucastel has so much mourvedre that i don't consider it to be in any way a grenache dominant wine.
Click to expand...

Robert, the Ch Beaucastel CNdP '89 is documented, I believe, to be equal parts Grenache and Mourvedre with other varieties in much smaller proportions. A near equality in percentage amounts of Grenache and Mourvedre can be expected in most all vintages.

. . . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

originally posted by robert ames: beaucastel has so much mourvedre that i don't consider it to be in any way a grenache dominant wine.
Click to expand...

Robert, the Ch Beaucastel CNdP '89 is documented, I believe, to be equal parts Grenache and Mourvedre with other varieties in much smaller proportions. A near equality in percentage amounts of Grenache and Mourvedre can be expected in most all vintages.

. . . . . . Pete
Click to expand...

dominant: exercising the most power, control, or influence.

when two things are in equal parts how can you say that one part is dominant, except to misuse the word?
 
Beaucastel is typically 30% grenache, 30% mothervedre and the remaining 40% made up of all the other allowable vareties, white and red. I would not call a wine that is 30% grenache in any way a grenache based wine, not does it taste like one. I was a fan until they cleaned up their cellars, but as I said above, I do not consider it, in any sense, a typical CdP or GSM.
 
If I somewhere suggested that the Grenache is "dominant", then it was not intentional. I was responding to a "so much Mourvedre" comment as I cited the relative percentages of Mourvedre and Grenache (30% each in Beaucastel).

I consider Grenache as a more subtle, laid-back variety.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Yes, I see the distinction.
In truth, I think my disdain boils down to Grenache, pure or mixed. And most CdP has some in it.
But I’ll try to keep my acronyms straight.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...
Jim, I shared your disinterest in Grenache for a long time, as my opinion of it was formed by thin, vague blenders in the Central Valley, or numerous overripe and kirsch-like wines in CdP or Priorato. But in the past five years I've tasted a variety of Grenache/Garnachas, from several regions, that were neither thin and dull nor cloying and overripe; and now I'm a convert. These wines strike a nice balance between jolly quaffable fruit, some complexity, and PN or Gamay-like litheness in a rounder form. If that makes any sense.
 
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