Browse Month

February 2010

Not Fonné

Michel Fonné Crémant d’Alsace (Alsace) – Not as good as my previous bottle, with a wallpapered exterior and not much intensity or generosity of flavor in the middle. Bottle variation at work. (2/10)

TraditiOOOOOON…tradition!

Muré 2004 Gewurztraminer “Tradition” (Alsace) – Simple, spicy goodness. Peach, cashew, lychee. Not so much rose or bacon, but the latter isn’t really expected in a young wine anyway. Just barely acidic enough, though it’s a near thing. (2/10)

Breakin’ the loi, breakin’ the loi

[logo]Kreydenweiss 2006 Riesling Andlau “Au dessus de la loi” (Alsace) – Firm, freezing-point riesling driven over a road glistening with crystalline spikes and deformations. Absolutely overwhelmed by its minerality, and for me this is a good thing, yet in a more primary way than is typical for wines exhibiting such a character. Very, very long for what is, after all, essentially an entry-level riesling from this producer (even though it’s not priced like one). Striking. (2/10)

Justine énas

Granger 2002 Juliénas (Beaujolais) – Softening, for sure, and starting to cast glances in the direction of softer, smoother pinot noir as it attempts to leave its brighter, lighter gamayness behind. It’s still mostly what it was, however, showing brownish-grey earth and soft red berries, and its an open question whether or not it will achieve its pinot noirish destiny. I do think it would be somewhat improved by a little more of either its past or its future. (2/10)

Win someone’s money

Knappstein 2006 Riesling (Clare Valley) – The prevailing “wisdom” that Australia = goop is relentlessly questioned by Clare Valley rieslings, which (if anything) bite, slash, and rend far more than their Germanic brethren. To the extent that they have acid balance issues, it’s almost always too much (or too aggressive), rather than too little, acidity. Here, too, the acid is almost lurid in its intensity, and while there’s a pretty solid layer of greenish-yellow fruit and apple skin pressing down upon it, this really is all about the vibrant spike of sharpness driving right through the wine’s center. (2/10)

Mosca on the Hudson

Sella & Mosca 2005 Cannonau di Sardegna (Sardinia) – A normally-reliable crowd-pleaser, here tasted from two bottles and found wanting from each. The strawberry bubblegum with a little more grate to it is present, as expected, but it cannot escape the two-ton lead weight pressing down on it. It’s not that the wine is overly heavy, it’s that it’s squashed. If both bottles are corked, it’s imperceptible and they’re identically-infected, which seems low-probability. Maybe a bad batch, or damaged, or just not very good. (2/10)

The rock

[label]Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – This is the “S” (sulfured) cuvee. The aromas say Morgon, but there’s such an ethereality to this wine. It’s not muted, and while it could be accused of being “light,” that doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter either. Both fruit and texture float like dust, the wine’s character is delivered in feathery layers of the finest tissue, and I think it would be possible to drink this in one long, enticing gulp without realizing one had done so. A great Lapierre Morgon? No, not in the sense one usually hears that phrase. It’s too different. But it has its own charms. (2/10)

Lapierre 2002 Morgon (Beaujolais) – VV 02, for those tracking lot numbers. Surprisingly immature. Berries are still tart and primary, soil notes are still broad-shouldered, and there’s a fair bit of tannin (for gamay), with no apparent fraying of the weave between fruit and structure, and none of the mature elements I seek in this wine. Leave it alone, I guess. (2/10)

Ribeau & Zooty

Trimbach 2004 Pinot Gris Ribeauvillé “Réserve” (Alsace) – Metal-jacketed pear, light on the spice of richer years, and probably better for it. There’s plenty of acidity – always crucial with Alsatian pinot gris – and a long, bright finish. Heralding a long, bright future? In the context of this wine, I think so, given a sufficiently short definition of “long.” Certainly five more years won’t hurt it, and in fact might bring out a little more of that spice. (2/10)