C&P Breton 1996 Bourgueil Galichets (Loire) – Dusty, finely-honed structure. Graphite powder clouds. Black, sullen strips of flesh-torn berries. Still solid, though the tannin is getting a bit abrasive, and I think most folks will want to think about drinking this. Optimistic necrophiles can wait; the fruit’s not yet mature. (5/11)
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les galichets
My Galichets Friday
C&P Breton 2004 Bourgueil Les Galichets (Loire) – Green fruit…ripe but edged with herbs, stems, seeds, and skins…and dark, almost gritty soil. There are already mature notes floating about, and given the closure I wouldn’t hold the wine any longer anyway. (6/10)
C&P Breton 2004 Bourgueil Les Galichets (Loire) – Virtually identical to the previous bottle, with a bit more dark soil and intensity, plus more surviving structure. Despite this, the wine actually shows more maturity (in the form of tertiary spice/soil notes) than the previous. In any case, the advice to drink up holds. (6/10)
Galichets stadium
C&P Breton 2004 Bourgueil Les Galichets (Loire) – With age, the fruit here has moved somewhere into the magenta/mahogany range…not in color, but in character…though the aerated layers of grey minerality have not diminished. The structure is very slightly resolved, and while there’s no emergency need to drink this, short-term is the guiding principle. (8/09)
Galley slave
C&P Breton 2004 Bourgueil Les Galichets (Loire) – The initial impression is one of dominant brett, but this initial bloom is soon overcome by dark, scowling fruit seeping its juices into a brown, muddy soil. Despite the still-fair structure, the overall effect of the wine is a little soupy, or perhaps more accurately stew-like. Lingering tannin pairs with the Band-Aid brett to provide an edge right through to the finish. Given the current state and the closure, I’m not sure this is something I’d hold much longer, unless one is exceedingly optimistic about winning the synthetic cork lottery…despite the odds. (6/09)