A couple of quick notes on some recent posh Languedoc.

L’esprit de Font Caude 1996

Alain Chabanon http://www.domainechabanon.com/106/My_Wines/English/L'Esprit_de_Font_Caude.html

This was tasted at the Nottingham wine circle which has a lot of very experienced tasters and everybody thought this was not older than 5 years old.I think it’s the way Mr Chabanon makes his wines (impenetrable).I tasted his range at Vinisud and found all the wines really hard, dry and tough(unsalable in my books).

The 1996 was huge and still very closed,possibly needs another 5 years to open.

His wines go to a lot of *** Michelin Restaurants and I can't think how the poor sommelier sells this to his customers.

Domaine de Ravanès Le Prime Verd 1995

Good profile and notes from the wine doctor here. http://www.thewinedoctor.com/languedoc/ravanes.shtml

This is what I think.

This is 100% Petit Verdot ,dark and deep in the glass.

The nose is opening up a little bit and there is dark fruit and meatiness there.

Lots of acidity on the palate and nice grip from the tannins, not a lot of complexity yet and I feel this needs to be given a bit of breathing space in a decanter.

It feels posh but it also feels a bit like Bordeaux, that’s not a bad thing. I just think that if tasted blind I would never have put it in the Languedoc.

Last Night's wine

Sotanum MMI, Les Vins de Vienne

This had a bit of a shity nose to start with. it felt a bit like Côte Rôtie and Burgundy at the same time. Now almost 9 years old it feels much younger than this and has a few years to go still.

It appears to be a bit more modern than traditional Northern Rhône, but still has all the appeal.

Superb wine.

Tasted 14-08-2010

Some good wines this week!

Really good wine circle this week.
Wines tasted 07-07-2010


The first wine was a Crémant de Bourgogne from Domaine Davanture in the  Côte chalonnaise.
this was really fine and exciting, there was some good fruit depth and sensuality in the fine mousse.
very good indeed for about 7 euros in France I think.

Next Wine was posh indeed.
it was Palacio de Fefinanes Albarino.Blind I picked this out as a good Vinho Verde,well I wasn't too far.It was probably the fattest Albarino I've had but it was really classy and will age if wanted.
the price for current vintage is £17 which isn't cheap!

Domaine Du Closel la jalousie, Savennieres 2000


This wine was really very hard indeed.
I love Chenin Blanc,but this was very tight and closed.
there was some of the obvious Chenin aromas on the nose and the palate was bone dry and mineral.
I have to say the wine was very cold when we tasted it,as the temperature rose it became a bit more open and revealed some incredible length on the palate.
very good indeed.
I would want to try it again in another 5 years.

Domaine Denis Bachelet Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 1996
WOW
There was initially some really shitty(farmyard) Pinot aromas coming through,this quickly blew away to reveal some really sexy,soft red fruits.
The elegance and power of this wine were amazing,so much intensity.
On the palate it was velvety meatiness with some fruit and tannins but very savoury.
Very good indeed, what a fantastic wine.
Not a lot of info on the net about Mr Bachelet but these vineyards were planted between 1932 and 1937  
current vintage Prices about £30
The 1996 would be hard to find and might retail at between £70 and £100







The last wine is:
Noel Verset Cornas 1996
Lovely gentle nose,a touch meaty with some tones of white lilies.
A very light touch palate,flowers again and white pepper.
Amazing acidity balance,very long and understated power.
there was a huge presence in this wine but it was delivered in such a gentle way that for me it beats the Burg above for Wine Of The Night.
Truly brilliant stuff.

Here is a link from The Wine Doctor  who tasted this wine in 2004.
Current prices Just under £30.
from our friend Leon Stolarski

Sunny week-end ahead,I will be tasting some wines from Terre Inconnue that Leon is thinking of stocking.
hopefully a small group of us to share the wines and a bit of food I hope.

Celebration

My daughter finally passed her driving test, so something sparkling was needed.

Raymond Boulard 1998

Nice light gold colour, classic Boulard pear drops and green apple flavours.

You can feel the maturity of the grapes on the palate, Francis always used to pick quite late.

This is lovely champagne with depth and charm.

The Raymond Boulard house now doesn’t exist anymore as the family has split the business.

Francis Boulard and his daughter Delphine are now making their own wines under the name Francis Boulard Champagne.

The direction they are taking is very exciting and I’m glad they decided to go this way.

They are focusing on Biodynamic, natural and low dosage winemaking which they’d already started with cuvees like Petraea and les Rachais.

I feel this is a very good move for them and the wines will be very popular no doubt.

For More info: Francis Boulard Champagne

Tasted 25-06-2010

Blog Virgin

This is my first post.

It’s more of a test than anything else.

I’ll be posting mostly about wine, but also about food as I do love to cook.

My Moto is; keep it short and simple. So no dissertations from me.

The first wine I want to review here is.

Domaine Huet Vouvray, Le Mont sec, 2005

I brought this at the Nottingham wine circle meeting Wednesday 23^rd.

All the wines we have are tasted blind by the group.

On the nose this was unmistakably Chenin Blanc, wet wool, stone fruit (peaches) and a bit of citrus too.

The wine was discovered within 10 seconds!

On the palate there was a lot of minerality, but also a lovely generous roundness with some of the peachy stone fruit accents.

This has everything. It’s classy, interesting and utterly drinkable.

And it will age well for over 10 years.

For me Chenin Blanc is probably the best white grape variety out there, it seems to age better than Chardonnay and can be made in steely dry style to super sweet botrytised honey monsters.

What’s really good is that this top notch Vouvray will cost 1/3 of what Burgundy or Chablis equivalent will cost you.

Current Price £17.50

Tasted 24-06-2010