Browse Tag

saumur

Treau & fru

Filliatreau 2005 Saumur (Loire) – The last of a mistakenly-held batch (synthetic corks), and more or less exemplary of the mistake: the fruit has developed in a leathery, meaty, blueberry-infused fashion that would, given proper structural support, actually be quite pleasant. But the acid is razory and the tannin desiccated, and each sip – there aren’t many before the rest goes down the drain – is like a pleasant vinous interlude followed by a vigorous tongue sanding. Well, it’s gone. (3/12)

Treau & fru

Filliatreau 2005 Saumur (Loire) – The usual crapshoot of a wine under plastic. This one’s OK, which is an improvement on most. Chewy, dirty, herbal, dark, with a hint of cough drop and that nasty, scraping, abrasive tannin that is almost a signature of synthetic cork failure (though the particular chemistry involved eludes me; it’s not how oxidation usually works). (1/12)

Saumur’s end

Filliatreau 2005 Saumur (Loire) – Barely surviving, maybe 10% of what it was., and drinkable only through a lack of any actual characteristics worth noting. I should remove the capsules from any bottle I might possibly suspect of harboring a plastic cork, though I’d not actually have predicted that this would be one of them. Oh well, only four more bottles to pour down the drain… (Yes, yes, I know I should just make vinegar.) (10/11)

Filliatreau 2005 Saumur (Loire) – Stewed tar and razors on a bed of coal. There’s a little bit of lingering, oxidized black currant. But the “cork” killed this bottle. (10/11)

Redhead

Reynouard “Manoir de la Tête Rouge” Saumur Rosé “Tête à claques” (Loire) – A little fizzy (by design), perhaps not entirely dry, and mostly about poppish strawberry fruit. It’s liquid laughter, and as such far more appealing than Angeli’s grossly overrated version of the same thing. (7/10)

Saumur’s here, and the time is right

[cave]Cave de Saumur 2005 Saumur “Réserve des Vignerons” (Loire) – Hums along at about 50% volume, showing some dirt, some herbs, some dark fruit skins, some this, some that. It never really rises above or falls below some-ness. Amiably drinkable. (6/08)

TN: Screw the Pouches

Cave de Saumur 2005 Saumur Lieut-dit Les Pouches (Loire) – Slightly spritzy, showing limestone, apple and lime with a light grace note of volatile acidity. The finish is crisp. It’s a simple wine with good balance, and it’s not trying to be anything more than that. (3/07)

TN: Saumur love

[bottle]Filliatreau 2005 Saumur (Loire) – Grassy earth, thyme and dusty dark berries. It gives the impression that it’s going to be green and somewhat acrid, but in fact the texture is beautifully particulate, and there’s a surprising smoothness. This tastes completely “natural,” for those to whom that term means something, and it dances delightfully with a pretty wide variety of foods. Delicious. And ageable? Perhaps, for a while. (3/07)