Gamay

Two gamays, similar price but wildly different levels of quality. The Deboeuf was really thin, even for a gamay. No nose to speak of, very high acidity.

The village is a also in fact a Deboeuf under the Chateau des Vierries label. Couldn't be more different. Some pencil lead like nose with ripe (baked?) raspberry. High acidity but in a balanced way that seemed really refreshing to me. £10.50 LaVino. 

Domaine de Florianne Fleurie 2009

All is forgiven! It may be the several glasses of pinot noir I had prior to tasting it but this gamay seems to have improved massively since last time (approx a year ago?). Clean, dry back cherry fruity, underpinned by a dry, faint peppery finish. Light, supple and refreshing. Everything I'd want from a Cru Beaujolais in this price bracket.

What does this tell us? Beaujolais from this vintage benefits from extended aging? Or is it just the context I drank it in. Luckily there are 2 bottles left for further experimentation.

Christmas wines, part 1

The Morgon was part of the contraband case. The Montus was part of a in bond case. The later is still not ready. I shall leave the remainder for at least a couple of years if possible. Perhaps it was just the contrast with the Morgon but the tannins felt furry and somewhat ragged. The Morgon itself was much thinner than I'd expected, agreeable though.

Clos de la Roilette, Flurie, 2010

A birthday wine from MC. This forms the first 2010 cru Beaujolais out of the traps.
Very fine indeed. Has all the sappy juicy-ness I like in a Beaujolais but also a pleasing savoury edge. It's interesting that I often don't associate these wines with any obviously discernable fruit (appart from the occasional black cherry).
Very solid, well rounded wine that is great without overtly trying to be so.
I wonder where it came from?

Southwold wines

The L'Hermitage de Chasse Spleen was the last of the case I think. It may well be my first serious attempt to by good claret by the case. For the first few years it was stored in atrocious conditions (upright, in wildly fluctuating temperatures). At least one bottle had it's cork protruding which didn't bode well. I recall many of these bottles being somewhat thin but this was a cracker. Very smooth, harmonious. Lacking the power of a high end claret but still enough fruit to do it justice.

The Julienas (Adnams) was incredibly good value at £10. Really juicy, light and refreshing.

The Sesti was the reason why I first came into contact with Adnams. It was part of a mixed case put together by The Bunch and released by The Telegraph. Earthy, deep savoury edge to it. I know nothing of the grape or the region. Still can't decide how I feel about Italian reds. All too often they seem rather ragged/rustic yet the price tags don't reflect this.

I was too far gone to recall anything useful about the Rioja. Pity, I think MH paid a fair whack for it.

The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2009

A well structured Villages which bears up well against its 7 quid price tag. This would be a good glugger.

Still, next to the ultra-bargainous Gamay it struggles.

Beaujolais-Villages, Château de Lacarelle, 2009

At £6.95 (WS) this is a big disappointment. Thin and somewhat sharp. This is the kind of stuff that gives Beaujolais a bad name.

Moulin-à-Vent 2008 Château de la Terrière

As if to prove the point (see last post) I present this shockingly good value Beaujolais:

Majestic yet again prove they can bring home the bacon when it comes to fairly priced, perfectly acceptable Beaujolais. Not sure it merits it's RRP of £9.99 (takes it dangerously close to Thivin country - a different flavour league) but at the multibuy price of £5.99 is absurdly good value. Some black cherry on the nose followed by a very well rounded attack and a hint of pepper on the finish.

If this kind of product really does fly with the British public (and why else would Majestic devote so much effort to them) surely somebody could market Loire reds in a similar fashion? Perhaps there just isn't the supply of such wines at the right price?

Chateau Dubrand & Domaine du Point du Jour's Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

A pulsating North London derby last night: Spurs fist win for 11 years! What would it have looked like in 3D I wonder - Neil must be jumping...

Two reds were also sampled.

1st up was a 2006 Chateau Dubrand. I bought three of these in the final, fateful order from wineandco. One which was handled with such spectacular ineptness that I vowed to avoid them evermore.

The wine is still young and I think it may be possible to attribute it's somewhat disappointing taste to this feature. I say that because, whilst there was some initial fruit (I'm not able to say what exactly), the experience was dominated by rather strong rough tannins. I read that these should soften with age and that softening process will change the overall flavour into something more harmonious. However, given that I couldn't detect much identifiable fruit (pleasant or otherwise) at this stage, I'm not convinced it will improve a great deal. It may end up like some the the aged Chateau Beaumont's I've drank with my Old Man - smooth but characterless with little discernible fruit. At £9 p/bottle it doesn't disgrace itself. It will be interesting to come back to it in a couple of years (I now have two remaining).

2nd up was an Fleurie of notable distinction: Domaine du Point du Jour's Cuvée Vieilles Vignes (2006) which came in at £12.61 per bottle. Massive depth of flavour here. Could this be the Vieilles Vignes effect at last? Violets and raspberries up front with a oaky, complex finish. Very high quality in every sense and must be considered a real contender to the straight Thivin - certianly as good in terms of value. This a a world away from the Deuboeuf Fleuuries I've had this year, far far more harmonious and interesting. I think the Duboeuf was about £9 a bottle (or maybe £8 on a multibuy from Majestic?) so it it worth the extra £3-4? I would say so.

Beaujolais Nouveau

I gather that this is rather late to enjoy 2009 Nouveau. According to Wikipedia, it's at it's best within 2-3 months of bottling.

The Duboeuf website tell us that 'Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine that is particularly lightweight, even by the standards of Beaujolais.' Well, not this one by a long stretch. It's tastes very different from expected. Much darker (inky colour I associate with heavy stuff like Costieres de Nimes) and heavier (quite a robust, dry fruity flavour). Bizarre.

Interesting article in Slate about the perils of Noveau:

http://www.slate.com/id/2074387/

...although things may have improved since it was written in 2002.

Apparently Germany and the USA are the major recipients of exported Nouveau which may explain it's rarity on UK shelves.

Cuve La Capelle

To another of Dobsons Chatueau Thivin's: Cuve Lc Chapelle.

Much lighter than the straight Thivin with less earthy curranty fuit. Has more of a peppery finish. Seems much more like a typical Cru Beaujolais. Very plesant but I can't see why it costs 15-odd quid.

Saint Amour

Two St Amour offerings from Nick Dobson that both come in at around £12.

First up is Domaine des Champs Grilles:



A visually stunning bottle that I'm happy to report had the substance to match the style. Plently of pleasing sappy gammay fruit burst and a elegant finish. Overall, a very harmonious wine. Well worth the 12 quid. Can it be differentiated in style from The Brouillys such as Chatuea Thivin? It seems to have less weight, less dry finish and more subtle fruit. I reminds me of the first St. Amour we ever tried - a Debouf offering which famously ended up costing 70p a bottle thanks to a balls-up at the till in Sainsburys - vegetal and violet-ish and very elegant.

Still, given the next example, I'm not sure how typical either are of the cru.


The Dominae Matray couldn't be more different. Much heavier attack with notes of plum/damson. To me it felt much more like a straight pinot noir. I would not have guessed it was a Gammy. Much minerality but it seemed less interesting than the Champs Grilles. It does tell me that pure Gammay can taste very different in different hands.

Interesting to note that Saint Amour is a stones throw from St. Veran where we have had such success with well priced white burgundy. I read that the granite gives way to limestone accross this boundary. I wonder if there is any cross over between Chardonnay and Gammy producers?

Morgon

An interesting Beuajolais in Oddbins is a rare thing. A keenly priced one is rarer still. Sadly Domanie Laurent Gauthier's Morgon Grand Cras Villes-Vignes only qulifies for the former. Plenty of pepper on the finish and some pleasant fruit (strawberry?) prior to that but at £12 is must be compared to the Chateau Thivin and it would do well not to stand too close - Thivin wins hands down.

What is it with 'old vines'? I've yet to be impressed by this addition to the label. It smacks of attempts to add mystique to a wine but I'm sure there are many out there that would disagree vehemently. It would be interesting to try a old and new vine bottling where the grape, production process, terroir was identical.

Beaujolais, Haut-Medoc and Sicilly

Three more to report on. First up is a staple in the form of George Deboeuf's Fleurie. It was considered good value at around £8 (majestic) but it's often closer to a tenner which take it perilously close to Chatuea Thivin country (see earlier post). For me it is not in the same league for depth of flavour. Still, it's a moderately good Beaujolais which could be worse. I just don't feel the value is there anymore. Funny how a better wine changes the scale bu which we view others.

Second up is one from a case of 12 I bought not long after moving into this house:


The motivation being the Heron connection with the Chateau's first wine and curiosity over whether second wines would bear any resemblance to fist. It has to be said they were stored upright for at least a couple of years and even when flat the conditions were pretty poor, so it's likely this wine hasn't had a fair chance. When I opened it it had plenty of forest fruit on the nose and seemed promising. On the palette there was 'nothing wrong' with the taste - no rough edges ect - but it didn't have any complexity to speak of and you couldn't say it was in any way memorable. Smooth but slightly thin? I think I paid £10 a bottle for these in 2002 so it may well be more pricey now. I see from The Wine Dr's pages that there is another second (third?) wine called L'Oratoire de Chasse Spleen.

Finally comes a wine I bought out of fondness for Sicilly. I honestly thought it was a red but it was only when I got it home and looked at it through the light that I realised it was white! I can't say I've ever done that before.....yet to try it but I read that the grape (grillo) is usually used in Marsala production!

Festive wines

Three wines to report on that I enjoyed over the festive season.














1st up was a Chinon: Charles Jouget's Les Varennes du Grand Clos. It was 100% Cabernet Franc. Had a pleasant stawbery-ish nose with meaty, dry finish. The label advised serving lightly chilled and the combination of the taste and the temperature reminded me a of some of the more weighty of the cru Beaujolais. It was a really interesting wine. New flavours and a new area to think about. However, it £15 a go (Majestic) is it worth it? Not sure.

Keeping with the cru Beaujolais theme, the send wine of note was Chatuea Thivin from Cote de Brouilly. This has an outstandingly fruity nose and initial flavour: violets, raspberries galore. The finish shows a real weightiness that I have not experienced from a Beaujolais before. I could drink this wine all day. A real find. At £11 a go this is a contended for the best wine I've had all year.

Last and certainly the most memorable was a 2000 Chateau Haut-Bages Averous from Pulliac. Apparently it is the second wine of Lynch-Bages which commands absurdly high prices. After reading about wines from this part of the Medoc, it seems that St Jullien (and to a lesser extent neighbouring Pulliac) produces wines in a style favoured by the UK market's desire for a certain type of claret that tastes 'as claret should'. This style is further described as having 'pencil shaving, cedary nose with deep complex fruit'. If so then I guess I'm in line with this particular UK preference. It was an outstanding wine and one I shall not forget in a hurry. I won't be able to do it justice here but it cretainly had the aforementioned characteristics in abundance. I think Beccy bought me this and I suspect it cost the best part of £40. It can be bought in bond at £15/bottle (wineandco.com) which would probably work out at more like £20 after VAT, duty and delivery. Still worth it for me? I think it probably is. Still, January is no the time for major outlays. Perhaps Cleon could be persuaded to go halves on a case......