Château Petit Fombrauge
St. Emilion Grand Cru
Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Libournais, Bordeaux, France
2000
13.9%
$35.98 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX
Color: Medium to deep ruby
Nose: Pear, mustard, thyme, cherry
Body: Light to medium
Front: Cassis, tobacco
Middle: Chocolate, pickles
Back: Coffee, orange, sage
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
This wine is haunting and delightful. The nose is absolutely stunning; it holds your attention and, I fear, might be better even than the taste. It's good with food (perhaps best with the Stichelton cheese tonight, though with the pate, cornichons, and mustard it was pretty damn fine) and enchants the whole room.
Showing posts with label 2000. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2000. Show all posts
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
J. Vidal Fleury Saint-Joseph
J. Vidal Fleury
Syrah
Saint-Joseph
Ampuis, France
2000
12.5%
$19.98 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Medium garnet
Nose: Violets, caramel, raspberry, thyme
Body: Light to medium
Front: Raspberry jam
Middle: Pepper, Horsey poo
Back: Orange, oak
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
Vidal-Fleury is a French company owned by the Guigal family, and so this wine unsurprisingly has a lot of shared ground with Guigal wines. It's a classic southern Rhone profile, with a floral and earthy nose and a not-huge body with a delightfully diverse palate. Splendid with onion soup, and a complex, thought-inducing wine.
Drink this next to a Marquis Philips if you'd like an extraordinary demonstration of the flavor variations you can get in the Syrah grape.
Syrah
Saint-Joseph
Ampuis, France
2000
12.5%
$19.98 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Medium garnet
Nose: Violets, caramel, raspberry, thyme
Body: Light to medium
Front: Raspberry jam
Middle: Pepper, Horsey poo
Back: Orange, oak
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
Vidal-Fleury is a French company owned by the Guigal family, and so this wine unsurprisingly has a lot of shared ground with Guigal wines. It's a classic southern Rhone profile, with a floral and earthy nose and a not-huge body with a delightfully diverse palate. Splendid with onion soup, and a complex, thought-inducing wine.
Drink this next to a Marquis Philips if you'd like an extraordinary demonstration of the flavor variations you can get in the Syrah grape.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Château Côte Montpezat Cuvee Compostelle
Vignobles Bessineau
Château Côte Montpezat
Cuvee Compostelle
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Côtes de Castillon
Castillon, Bordeaux, France
2000
13%
$18.99 -- Wine Library, Springfield, NJ
Color: Rich dark garnet
Nose: Cassis, cherry, espresso, mint, mustard
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis, mint
Middle: Roasted bell pepper, chocolate
Back: Thyme, graphitic tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
The nose on this wine is fantastic. Leave it open at least an hour before you drink it. The structure of this wine isn't particularly clear, but the flavors and the aroma are superb. It's a good bargain, too, with a lot of fascinating things going on (mustard and mint?!) that keep it interesting as the wine opens up.
I paired this with a chicken, chorizo, and red bell pepper thing to which I have kind of become addicted. It's a freezing night (ok, 42) and something stewed was called for, along with some toasted bread and interesting wine. And tonight I raise a glass to my friend Jace Everett, who's among the musicians on the soundtrack to HBO's hit show True Blood -- a soundtrack just nominated for a Grammy.
Château Côte Montpezat
Cuvee Compostelle
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Côtes de Castillon
Castillon, Bordeaux, France
2000
13%
$18.99 -- Wine Library, Springfield, NJ
Color: Rich dark garnet
Nose: Cassis, cherry, espresso, mint, mustard
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis, mint
Middle: Roasted bell pepper, chocolate
Back: Thyme, graphitic tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
The nose on this wine is fantastic. Leave it open at least an hour before you drink it. The structure of this wine isn't particularly clear, but the flavors and the aroma are superb. It's a good bargain, too, with a lot of fascinating things going on (mustard and mint?!) that keep it interesting as the wine opens up.
I paired this with a chicken, chorizo, and red bell pepper thing to which I have kind of become addicted. It's a freezing night (ok, 42) and something stewed was called for, along with some toasted bread and interesting wine. And tonight I raise a glass to my friend Jace Everett, who's among the musicians on the soundtrack to HBO's hit show True Blood -- a soundtrack just nominated for a Grammy.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Stephan Ridge Red Wine
Stephan Vineyards
Stephan Ridge
Syrah, Cabernet
Paso Robles, California
2000
14.6%
$19.99 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Dark garnet, browning at the edges
Nose: Plum
Body: Full
Front: Roasted figs
Middle: Chocolate
Back: A little heat, cedar
Burns clean?: Hard to say; I only managed one glass
Cap: Cork
This wine caught my attention because I had the L'Aventure Optimus and nearly cried. Apparently I was so impaired by affection that I didn't write a blog entry on it. That will be corrected. At any rate, this is made by the same French dude, out in the boonies of Paso Robles, who made the awesome Optimus. It's a blend that I've been proven to hate, and it's nine years old, which, given that the winery was fairly new at that time, ought to mean it's past its prime.
It may be. But if you like a sweet, beefy wine, this will make you happy. Surprisingly, there's still a bit of heat on the end of the palate, but the rest of the way it's a round, rich wine. It's not the Optimus, but then, I suspect that it's getting a bit intense and perhaps unbalanced with age, and favoring the roasted figgy end of the spectrum.
Note: I drank the 2001 tonight. This one's a little less past prime, but still too sweet for me. But it's much more reserved; chocolate, cranberries on the nose, and raspberry compote and mocha on the palate, with something weirdly spicy in there, too. A bit brown at the edges, though, so it's getting to the end of its tether.
Stephan Ridge
Syrah, Cabernet
Paso Robles, California
2000
14.6%
$19.99 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Dark garnet, browning at the edges
Nose: Plum
Body: Full
Front: Roasted figs
Middle: Chocolate
Back: A little heat, cedar
Burns clean?: Hard to say; I only managed one glass
Cap: Cork
This wine caught my attention because I had the L'Aventure Optimus and nearly cried. Apparently I was so impaired by affection that I didn't write a blog entry on it. That will be corrected. At any rate, this is made by the same French dude, out in the boonies of Paso Robles, who made the awesome Optimus. It's a blend that I've been proven to hate, and it's nine years old, which, given that the winery was fairly new at that time, ought to mean it's past its prime.
It may be. But if you like a sweet, beefy wine, this will make you happy. Surprisingly, there's still a bit of heat on the end of the palate, but the rest of the way it's a round, rich wine. It's not the Optimus, but then, I suspect that it's getting a bit intense and perhaps unbalanced with age, and favoring the roasted figgy end of the spectrum.
Note: I drank the 2001 tonight. This one's a little less past prime, but still too sweet for me. But it's much more reserved; chocolate, cranberries on the nose, and raspberry compote and mocha on the palate, with something weirdly spicy in there, too. A bit brown at the edges, though, so it's getting to the end of its tether.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Prieure Roch Vosne-Romanee Les Clous
Domaine Prieure-Roch
Les Clous
Pinot Noir
Vosne-Romanee
Nuit-Saint-Georges, France
2000
11.5 or 12.5% (front and back labels disagree)
$48.99 [$68.99] -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Light, smoky strawberry peach
Nose: Strawberry, darker fruit, wet gravel, sour [something vegetal]
Body: Light
Front: Rose water, tire iron
Middle: Sour cherry, licorice
Back: Graphite, cedar, thyme
Burns clean?: Perfectly
Cap: Cork
An urging from a dear relative a few days ago sent me to the Grapevine Market, where eighty people on their lunch breaks were loading up carts with vast numbers of bottles of (sometimes) fabulous wine. This location is closing down, apparently, so they're selling off wines at a big discount. Thus it was that I was able to obtain my first, and possibly last, taste of real French Pinot Noir, from the relatively new winery of Domaine Prieure-Roch.
The color of this wine is stunning; it's very light, and in the glass it's like a peachy sunburst, almost going to clear at the edges. I can't quite describe the nose. A quick whiff and it's like most pinots, but less juicy fruity--then you stick your nose in the glass and way more interesting layers of things hit you. The palate is equally difficult to capture, though that's partly because I drink so few pinots. The tannins are incredibly soft, and I really like the sour and spicy mixture of flavors on top of a delightful mineral bed.
Here's what I'd say about this one: don't drink it if you are in a hurry. Don't drink it if your mind is set to accounting, or multitasking, or catching-up, or getting-ahead modes. It won't demand your attention, like this wine will, but it will reward your patience and attention. Also: the brownness in the color may well be evidence that it's moving past its peak--it is hard to find information about Prieure-Roch wines online (I've linked the most useful thing I found to the title above), but it seems equally possible, from the taste, that we are nowhere near its evolutionary end. It is a blend of grapes from several vineyards and, I think, not the top-of-the-line stuff from this house.
Having not done a lot of Pinot pairing, I'm staying safe with slow-cooked chicken, onion, and garlic, and roasted yaller potatoes tonight. Also maybe an avocado. And a Texas sunset, part of which reflects the color of this wine much better than my prose.
Les Clous
Pinot Noir
Vosne-Romanee
Nuit-Saint-Georges, France
2000
11.5 or 12.5% (front and back labels disagree)
$48.99 [$68.99] -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Light, smoky strawberry peach
Nose: Strawberry, darker fruit, wet gravel, sour [something vegetal]
Body: Light
Front: Rose water, tire iron
Middle: Sour cherry, licorice
Back: Graphite, cedar, thyme
Burns clean?: Perfectly
Cap: Cork
An urging from a dear relative a few days ago sent me to the Grapevine Market, where eighty people on their lunch breaks were loading up carts with vast numbers of bottles of (sometimes) fabulous wine. This location is closing down, apparently, so they're selling off wines at a big discount. Thus it was that I was able to obtain my first, and possibly last, taste of real French Pinot Noir, from the relatively new winery of Domaine Prieure-Roch.
The color of this wine is stunning; it's very light, and in the glass it's like a peachy sunburst, almost going to clear at the edges. I can't quite describe the nose. A quick whiff and it's like most pinots, but less juicy fruity--then you stick your nose in the glass and way more interesting layers of things hit you. The palate is equally difficult to capture, though that's partly because I drink so few pinots. The tannins are incredibly soft, and I really like the sour and spicy mixture of flavors on top of a delightful mineral bed.
Here's what I'd say about this one: don't drink it if you are in a hurry. Don't drink it if your mind is set to accounting, or multitasking, or catching-up, or getting-ahead modes. It won't demand your attention, like this wine will, but it will reward your patience and attention. Also: the brownness in the color may well be evidence that it's moving past its peak--it is hard to find information about Prieure-Roch wines online (I've linked the most useful thing I found to the title above), but it seems equally possible, from the taste, that we are nowhere near its evolutionary end. It is a blend of grapes from several vineyards and, I think, not the top-of-the-line stuff from this house.
Having not done a lot of Pinot pairing, I'm staying safe with slow-cooked chicken, onion, and garlic, and roasted yaller potatoes tonight. Also maybe an avocado. And a Texas sunset, part of which reflects the color of this wine much better than my prose.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Castello di Lucignano Chianti Classico Riserva
Castello di Lucignano
Chianti Classico
RiservaSangiovese
Chianti, Italy
2000
14%
$18.99 -- Weaver St. Market, Chapel Hill, NC
Color: Medium red with brown
Nose: Peppery strawberries
Body: Medium
Front: Tart raspberries
Middle: Apricots
Back: Leathery thyme, mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
This is one of those old-world wines that it'll take a miracle to replicate in the U.S. It's subtle; the flavors lurk below the surface and it takes focus to figure out what's going on. I still can't quite tell what's going on in the nose. But check this out: after sniffing for a few minutes, trying to get a read on it, I gave up and went back to the kitchen. A chicken onion garlic thing was roasting in the oven and, thanks to the contrast, it smelled like candy when I first walked in. So: alchemy in the nose, herbs kept in your wallet all day in the glass.
Chianti Classico
RiservaSangiovese
Chianti, Italy
2000
14%
$18.99 -- Weaver St. Market, Chapel Hill, NC
Color: Medium red with brown
Nose: Peppery strawberries
Body: Medium
Front: Tart raspberries
Middle: Apricots
Back: Leathery thyme, mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
This is one of those old-world wines that it'll take a miracle to replicate in the U.S. It's subtle; the flavors lurk below the surface and it takes focus to figure out what's going on. I still can't quite tell what's going on in the nose. But check this out: after sniffing for a few minutes, trying to get a read on it, I gave up and went back to the kitchen. A chicken onion garlic thing was roasting in the oven and, thanks to the contrast, it smelled like candy when I first walked in. So: alchemy in the nose, herbs kept in your wallet all day in the glass.
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