Tripoz Crémant de Bourgogne Brut “Nature” (Burgundy) – I forget to search for a lot number before this bottle hits the recycling, but based on some hints (the presence of a different, and more modern, label in the same store where I bought this), I think it’s probably the release previous to whatever’s current as of February 2011. In any case, it’s like a dog that quickly lifts its head to see who’s come into the room, realizes it’s no one particularly interesting, and returns it chin to a position of paw-top boredom. I saber this open, and so the first sips are full of froth and rapidly-expelled aromatics. There’s grass, yellowish melon, some tartness. But then, as the bubbles settle down to a more restful stream, the wine turns innocuous. It’s pleasant, agreeable, easily digestible, easily forgotten. The Doris Day of crémants. (2/11)
February 2011
Miss Chétillons
Pierre Peters 2000 Champagne Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru Brut “Cuvée Spéciale” Blanc de Blancs “Les Chétillons” (Champage) – Jeebus, that’s a lot of words. Here’s a bit of info that’s not a word: L.SBAA02, for the interested. And what about the wine? Lurid white flowers that quickly flash into an even more lurid state of decay, white pepper, intense Granny Smith apple. Long. Very long. Incisive and, once some of the overt floral prelude has sorted itself out, focused. Frankly, this is a brilliant wine. (1/11)
The Entertainer
Cédric Bouchard “Inflorescence” Champagne Aube Brut “La Parcelle” Blanc de Noirs (Champagne) – L.01, though I’m told the source material is 2002. I don’t drink so much Cédric Bouchard that I need this level of differentiation, but those who do no doubt will. Very floral and showy, whacking tart strawberry with a plank of tannin, after which the structure firms and the wine’s showiness almost completely disappears. Then, later, it gets all fluffy and intense again, dialing up something puckery in the pomegranate realm for the big finish. Impressively noisy and impossible to ignore. (1/11)
As the Croix flies
Baudry 2007 Chinon La Croix Boissée (Loire) – Limber. Morels and ripe green herbs. Liquid mami encased within a beautiful structure. Full of promise. (1/11)
Stop s’Noréing
Pascal “Domaine du Gros’Noré” 2005 Bandol (Provence) – Gorgeous wine, in the first flush of youth. That flush has a meaty tinge to it, as well as vise-squeezed dark berries (skins still clinging) and a lot of herbal/peppery stuff misted about the environs, but the primary impression here is one of intensity and barely-withheld power. Owning a lot of this would be a good idea. (1/11)
Stanley
Thévenet 2001 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes” (Beaujolais) – Corked. (12/10)
Thévenet 2001 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes” (Beaujolais) – Very light and soft, a slow-flowing river of memories. Minerals and earth are to the fore, with wood ear mushrooms lingering. Gentle and entirely lovely. (1/11)
Hune are you?
Trimbach 2001 Riesling Clos Ste-Hune (Alsace) – Open two days, before which it was described to me as tasting like a Shun knife. After all that aeration? Pine and Rainier cherry skins, white leaves, peonies. Cylindrical and focused, despite a lot of textural generosity – perhaps density is a better word, for this is an intensely gravitic wine – and not without its showy aspects, either. This is going to be a stunner…not that anyone who tasted it at release will be surprised to hear that. (1/11)
Henry
Trimbach 1994 Riesling “Cuvée Frédéric Émile” (Alsace) – Drying. Salted vegetables, nut-infused metals. Round but with tattered edges and borders, and occasionally dallying with a swampy character. Thickens and broadens with air, to the point that – twenty-four hours later, it’s actually better than it was at opening. But it’s still tottering on its last legs. It’s not bad, it’s just prematurely old. (1/11)
The knife
Sipp Mack 2002 Riesling “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) – Not the most vibrant bottle, whether closed or muted. Salty – very salty – and wet, like soaked feet after traipsing through the grass. Some dry-as-a-bone raw iron, but solid rather than flecked and suffusing. I’ve had better examples of this of late. (2/11)
Hairy wig
Zind-Humbrecht 2001 Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim (Alsace) – Medium-density metal-jacketed pear and mineral dust. Fully mature and quite good. Dry as a dried-out bone in the desert. (1/11)