Browse Tag

france

Pressel

Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – Tense. It’s really a very attractive wine, but there’s an overt nervosity beyond the usual Lapierre liveliness…so much so that I’d consider drinking it sooner rather than later, because it seems like it’s about to fall from its tipping point. I could easily be wrong, of course, and since I’m still holding bottles of this from the much-earlier 2000s that are doing fine, history suggests that I am. (8/12)

Per

Barrault “Château Tire Pé” 2010 Bordeaux “Diem” (Bordeaux) – Such a pretty, elegant interpretation of Bordeaux. Not, I think, one you’d want to age (but who knows?), but it manages the trick that so few early-drinking Bordeaux manage: a perfect poise between cedary dark fruit and just enough structure. I could drink this by the case while I wait for my (diminishing) stocks of more aspirational Bordeaux on their long journey towards maturity), and am beginning to wonder why I don’t. (8/12)

d’folie of youth

JP Brun 2011 Beaujolas Rosé “Rosé d’folie” (Beaujolais) – Candied redfruit, both crisp and gummy. It’s prettier than that, and more floral, but it’s not the best example of this wine I’ve tasted. Possibly slightly heat-tinged? There are no obvious signs, yet the freshness that usually accompanies the wine is lacking here. (8/12)

Ajaccio number on the wall

Comte Abbatucci 2011 Ajaccio “Faustine” (Corsica) – 100% vermentino. Sticky citrus of the yellow/green/pink variety, with somewhat swampy herbs. I like it OK, but it’s a bit more tactile than I prefer. (8/12)

Biancu Reeves

Leccia 2011 Ile de Beauté Biancu Gentile (Corsica) – Lemongrass, grapefruit, makrut lime, Granny Smith apple, and salt. Untamed and utterly delicious, though it pretty much begs for the fruit of the sea. (8/12)

Bourg invasion

Blanck 2002 Altenbourg Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Singing right now, and as this has been consistent over the last few bottles I’m thinking of drinking through mine at this stage…maybe leaving one or two orphans for latter-day experimentation. The fruit, always more peach than lychee, and with a significant contribution from cashew, has coppered in a very pretty way, and the minerality has started to reveal itself in ruddy glints and reflections. (8/12)

Stretched out on the côt

Morantin 2009 “Côt à Côt” (Loire) – Varietally correct, albeit on the very light side of the greenish-black herbality the grape can show in the Loire, and ultimately thin and not all that interesting. (8/12)

Throaty

Pelletier 2008 Saint Chinian “l’engoulevent” (Languedoc) – The lightest Saint Chinian I’ve ever tasted, which is more or less suggested by the name, and there’s a certain leveling of its grape and site identifiers due to its appeal to easy drinkability. But it’s hard to deny how good it is. Soft, graphite-like structure dissolves in a fine mist of medium-toned fruit skins and apple-toned berries. I really like this. Really, really like this. Does it taste like Saint-Chinian? Well… (8/12)

Language lessons

Magnon “Rozeta” 2009 Corbières (Languedoc) – Ripe strawberry and rose hip with a more insistent, denser fruit than its otherwise bright, fresh-faced appeal might indicate. And it gets darker as it finishes, even adding a touch of wild fierceness to the departure. A very appealing wine. (8/12)