Browse Month

September 2007

Iché fingers

Iché “Château d’Oupia” 2005 Minervois (Languedoc) – More tightly-wound than its heretical brother, and a bit difficult to discern; there’s a dark, brooking surliness to the wine that repels the inquisitive. Layers of thick tannin seem to be the vintage’s signature (8/07)

Burn them!

Iché 2004 Vin de Pays de l’Hérault “Les Hérétiques” (Languedoc) – Rough and fine at the same time, showing a dark, earthy and slightly herbal meatiness with chewy, dark fruit. But it’s not heavy; it makes few demands, and rewards simple enjoyment with…well, simple enjoyment. (8/07)

Rives gauches

Val d’Orbieu “Les Deux Rives” 1999 Corbières (Languedoc) – Stewed and horrid. Possibly heat-damaged, but that’s far from all that’s wrong here. (8/07)

A striking Brézèmblance

[grapes]Texier 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône Brézème Roussanne (Rhône) – This suggests rather than delivers extreme weight, and in fact turns out rather well-balanced. Nut oils and stone fruit residues are in evidence, along with some spice and a fetid peachiness. A nice wine, crisper than many of its ilk, but with the flavors one expects. (7/07)

Roussanne, you don’t have to turn on the red light

[label]Tablas Creek 2002 Roussanne (Paso Robles) – Gauzy and almost, but not quite, oxidative; I have some doubts about the provenance of this bottle. Despite that, the straw and apricot fruit remain, with fair balance and a textural context between a dense forepalate and a crispy finish is developing. There’s much to like here, and the wine expands in the presence of aggressive food, but I’ve had better bottles. (8/07)

The little mermaid

Barruol “Oriel” 2003 Côtes-du-Rhône (Rhône) – Simplistic and far too gentle for its own good; there’s garrigue and bubblegum, herb and earth, but mostly there’s a lack of intensity. It improves a bit with air, but not enough to be more than pleasantly innocuous. (9/07)

Cosme-over

Barruol “Château de Saint Cosme” 1995 Gigondas “Valbelle” (Rhône) – Heavy, sludgy raspberry with dense mocha oak, which eventually overwhelms even the intense fruit and leaves the wine somewhat void of character despite all its intense volume. It might improve with more aging, but at this point I doubt that the fruit will ever outlive the wood. (7/07)

Some people call me Maurice

[grapes]Clos du Paradis “Domaine Viret” 1999 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Saint-Maurice “Cosmic” (Rhône) – This may be the best bottle I’ve had, but it’s also the last. Oh well. Perfectly-integrated and developed earth, spice and old, animal-brushed fruit baked by sun and dried by wind, with a long, utterly pleasant finish. Terrific. (7/07)

Côtes du Ventoux and Tyler, too

[vineyard]Brusset 2005 Côtes du Ventoux (Rhône) – A fine New World syrah, with big, dark, moody black and purple fruit so dense and thick one needs a scythe to cut through its density. It feels like it should be oaky, but I don’t think it is. Though at this point, it could hardly hurt. (7/07)