Coquelet 2009 Beaujolais (Beaujolais) – The razory, sharp sort of “house style” at Coquelet is here mitigated by the corpulence of the vintage, creating something neither razory nor corpulent, but in fact much more recognizable amongst its peers…albeit from different vintages, because in this one said peers do somewhat frequently veer into rotunditry. So: bursting mixed berries, a bit darker than the norm, a dusting of soil that’s almost-but-not-quite peppery, and a fulsome finish still nicely crisped by acidity. I could drink a lot of this. In fact, I have. But I think this was the last bottle. (8/12)
Browse Month
August 2012
For the ankle, too
Fournier 2009 Vin de Pays du Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc (Loire) – Bold without being fat, its strong diagonal lines of quartz-lined lemon bring sauvignon’s (usual) trademark aggression to the glass without the showy frippery of XXX-treme chile pepperiness. Gluggable. (8/12)
Jougla the handle
Domaine des Jougla 2011 Saint-Chinian Rosé “Initiale” (Languedoc) – Restrained and a bit tremble-y, yet with a sticky pedal tone of strawberry that doesn’t really mesh with the rest. While this lacks the usual southern French rosé balance issues, it’s just kinda…there. Pretty but ultimately insubstantial. Others with trustworthy palates have seen more from this house, so I await a second try for confirmation. (8/12)
On a pony she named Wildfire
Firesteed 2008 Pinot Noir (Oregon) – Charred berries, a quality that seems to afflict the vast majority of cheap pinot noir from this country. There’s really not much else worth saying. (8/12)
Cigarette Smoking Man
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2010 Riesling (Columbia Valley) – Almost-riesling. It actually doesn’t taste much like riesling, nor does it have riesling’s nerve, but it’s not unpleasant either. (8/12)
Fifty Cent (x2)
Druet 1997 Bourgueil “Les Cent Boisselées” (Loire) – There is a spectacular classed-growth 1975 Bordeaux on the table, yet this wine makes an aggressive bid to steal the show. It’s a ’97, yes, and thus a showy vintage that’s mostly in full flight or slight decline by now, but wow does this make a spectacular attempt at brilliance. Mixed pepper dusts with a lavish velour texture, plus an intense, humid, almost sweaty aspect; I feel transported to some remote Zulu hut during the intensity of a war council. Yes, ridiculous analogies are the bane of tasting notes, but a wine this good deserves only the most abstruse flights of fancy. In the end, it’s like drinking dryness, but the most exciting dryness you’ve ever experienced. Wow. Just: wow. Purchased at the property. (7/12)
Just in Cases
Léoville Las Cases 1975 Saint-Julien (Bordeaux) – Cedar leaves (I know, I know) and silk. Beautiful, elegant, and long. Magisterial. Bordeaux’s actual soul, rather than the all-too-common Las Vegas version, on display. This is a very short note for a truly beautiful wine, but I don’t think an avalanche of verbiage is needed. (7/12)
Here today, Gonnet tomorrow
Gonnet “Domaine Font de Michelle” 1995 Châteauneuf-du-Pape “Cuvée Etienne Gonnet” (Rhône) – Softened in its age, no doubt thanks to the still-sweet, almost malty oak notes, though there’s a lovely, herbal Châteauneuf-du-Pape somewhere inside the makeup, yearning to be free. Alas, though, if Tiki drinks could age, this might be what they’d taste like.
I don’t want to over-condemn. This is a good wine. A very good wine, in fact. I just don’t like the wallpaper. (7/12)
Savary & sweet
Savary 2008 Chablis (Chablis) – Pristine. Shells and stones, rocks and bones, with a white-noise intensity that muscles through the calcified debris. Quite striking. This is my kind of chardonnay…though admittedly there’s not much competition for my affections, outside the bubbly realms. (7/12)
Aqui-ous
Albola 2010 Aquileia Pinot Grigio (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) – This “wine” achieves the remarkable feat of tasting like nothing. Most water has more flavor. Vodka has more flavor. Air has more flavor. This tastes like absolutely nothing, and I can’t imagine it to be an accident. (7/12)
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