Browse Month

August 2008

Nana, visitor

Chaussard (Briseau) “Nana, vins et cie” 2005 Vin de Table “La Pangée” (Loire) – The actual producer here is Briseau, but that appears nowhere on the label, so you just have to know, I guess. It’s got that fizzy, biting, razor burn texture, plus a musty raw paper aroma, that says pineau d’aunis to me (and in fact that’s here, along with gamay), and it’s the very reason I’ve always been cool towards the grape. Its sweet, almost keening melody – some sort of ancient woodwind on a misty hillside – is something I want to be more appealing than it is, but I suspect what I like about this wine (the pretty, light red fruit with a zesty zip of acidity) is mostly about the gamay and the lack of winemaking. Unfortunately, what I like about this wine is a very low percentage of its totality. (8/08)

Feeling Bouzy

[bottle]Bara Champagne Bouzy “Grand Cru” Brut “Grand” Rosé (Champagne) – From 375 ml. Piercing x-rays of raspberry, crisp apple, and essence of mountain wildflower over a gravel bed. Complex and yearning, but painfully youthful; even if this won’t age (which I think it will), it needs some time to settle into itself. (8/08)

Eleven tenths

Château St-Jean de Lavaud 2004 Pomerol “1.1” (Bordeaux) – Big, muscular, and volume-enhanced; while it’s quite drinkable and seems to pant and plead for appeal, it’s just not that interesting. It lacks length, depth, and complexity. Maybe those will come with time, but I’m dubious. (8/08)

Saumur loving

[estate]Vatan “Château du Hureau” 2005 Saumur-Champigny (Loire) – Poised and aromatically enticing. Flowers crushed in a loose fist of black earth, with a fine-leafed chervil texture and the suggestion, rather than the actuality, of black fruit. Supple despite an aggressive front. Delicious. (8/08)

Moore in a moment

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Demi-Sec (Champagne) – As long as you don’t think of it as Champagne, it’s appealing (with the right food; in this case, prune-stuffed gnocchi with a foie gras-based sauce) and clean, seeming like coalesced sunshine in jar of sweet syrup that rests on a midsummer windowsill. (8/08)

Grenache in the time of Traginer

Domaine du Traginer 2006 Banyuls “Rimage” (Roussillon) – To be honest, I’d prefer this wine without the slight oxidation; the dirty/gravelly red fruit and sticky-sweet texture braced by sharp acidity would be more appealing were they fresher. But this is the style, and so it is what it is. (8/08)

Alan

Corte Sant-Alda 2005 Soave Vigne di Mezzane (Veneto) – Sandy, dusty, lithe, cute…and a little boring. Soave needs something – either Pieropan-style minerality or Anselmi-style richness – that this wine doesn’t deliver, in order to be other than wan. (8/08)

Testa results

[label]Coturri 2005 Carignane Testa (Mendocino County) – Ripe, a bit hot, and full of gummy pink-purple fruit. Even when these wines are clean – and they sometimes aren’t – I don’t really understand the appeal; they seem simplistic and obvious. (8/08)

Cat scratch grüner

[bottles]Loimer 2007 Grüner Veltliner “Cuvée Cat for B&G Oysters” (Langenlois) – Peppery to the point of overt spiciness, with the momentary sensation of a prickly fizz and an angular mouthfeel. Though I prefer a richer, more mineralistic style of grüner, this is fine and authentic in its own style, and a very appealing companion with food. (8/08)

Birdies & pars

Bisson 2007 Golfo del Tigullio Rosato Ciliegiolo (Liguria) – Leafy strawberry with a good dose of grey sea salt and a flat, papery wrapping that somewhat mutes the wine. Tasteful but somewhat indifferent. (8/08)