Browse Month

May 2007

TN: Waipara the slate clean

[wine-stained hands]Donaldson Family “Pegasus Bay” 2000 Pinot Noir (Waipara) – Licorice, strawberry seed and orange pith slashed by vibrant acidity and a black layer of tannin. There are smoky elements to the aroma (punctuated by black and pink peppercorns, plus a rocky texture) that hint at pinot-as-syrah, but the structure’s completely different. This bottle is much less well-knit than others have been, and I wonder if the wine might not be in the very early stages of crack-up. (5/07)

TN: Wine & Roses

J. Lassalle Champagne Chigny-les-Roses “1er Cru” Brut Rosé “Reserve des Grandes Années” (Champagne) – Extremely floral and very earthy, with cinnamon cap mushroom, cooked apple, and over-matured, baked strawberry dusted with clove. Flecks of metal swim about. This is brooding, long, lush and full, with a slushy froth. Every bit a red wine, despite the pink color and the bubbles, it’s fabulously complex and a solemn joy to drink. (5/07)

TN: White pope

Perrin “Château de Beaucastel” 1993 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc “Vieilles Vignes” (Rhône) – Dark bronze. Stunningly creamy and concentrated. Cinnamon and nutmeg-sprinkled blood oranges, tarragon and lavender honey. It feels almost sugary, but it’s not; instead, the utterly gorgeous smoothness turns to enveloping velvet, which then softly fades away. Insistent despite its initial apparent feebleness, it nevertheless needs to be consumed soonish.. Truth be told, it’s not all that far removed from a fine oloroso, once you subtract the alcohol. (5/07)

TN: Ancient & old

JP Brun “Terres Dorées” 2001 Beaujolais “L’Ancien Vieilles Vignes” (Beaujolais) – Spiky, red cherry-dominated and acidic, with a seedy, brittle finish. I think this one has gone as long as it can. It’s tasty and vivid, but unquestionably thinning around the perimeter. (5/07)

Domaine Chassagne 2005 Morgon Côtes de Ruillères (Beaujolais) – The ghost of Beaujolais passed; spiky, juicy, somewhat hollow and semi-candied redfruit like that of the carbonic maceration Beaujolais I used to drink when I was first getting into wine. As befits a Morgon of this vintage, there’s some serious tannin, and all around is structure, but the core of fruit in its midst is exceedingly unserious. This is the first 2005 I’ve tasted that I believe I’ll avoid in the future. (5/07)

TN: Sénat chamber

JB Sénat “Domaine Saint Sernin” 1999 Minervois Le Bois des Merveilles (Languedoc) – Corked. A shame, too, as this was a gift from the winemaker, carried all the way home from Sénat’s cellar in Trausse-Minervois. (5/07)

TN: Maréchal law

[vineyard]Maréchal 2004 Chorey-les-Beaune (Burgundy) – Crisp, salivatory red cherry and raspberry with sanded-down edges of cereal-brown earth and well-integrated tarragon and thyme aromas. Quite engaging. (4/07)

TN: Py in the sky

JM Burgaud 2005 Morgon Côte du Py “Vieilles Vignes” (Beaujolais) – Very muscular and tough; not showing much, but grudgingly giving up some chewy, dark berry fruit and crushed violets. Mostly, though, it’s earthy and tannic, with firm acidity not helping to smooth matters. Leave it alone for a long while. (4/07)

TN: Two-dollar Cahors (not really)

[label]Gayraud “Château Lamartine” 2002 Cahors (Southwest France) – Wet, hard-ridden leather with hints of tar, black fruit residue, and a jerky, whip-snap structure dominated by violent lashes of sharp tannin and blocky acidity. The wine has a certain appeal, and not just from a sadomasochistic point of view; the elements are in that funky sort of Southwestern French balance, and while the wine is quite drinkable (albeit with food) now, I think aging is key. It will never be refined, however. (4/07)

TN: Mon dieu, mondeuse

Peillot 2003 Bugey Mondeuse (Ain) – Bracing blackfruit with licorice spice and a freshening, Altoid-like verve to the palate. The aromatics ride the line between gamay and something darker and more menacing, but for all the wine’s threatened fierceness, it’s lovably approachable and extremely affable with food (thanks to bright acidity, even in this vintage). Very nice. (5/07)