TN Paddy's weekend quaffing

  • 2010 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Bourgogne - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne (18/03/2023)
    Last 2/3 of a coravined bottle. Used in and drunk while cooking the Mothering Sunday sauces. Colour - garnet but no bricking. On the nose, a little earth, a little fruit but not super expressive. On the palate - savoury and sour, there’s some fruit there, but not of the kind that you’d recognise in any new world Pinot. A refreshing 12% ABV - this is by no means grand - I’m not sure this type of wine was ever made anywhere other than burgundy, and I don’t think one can get it there anymore.
Posted from CellarTracker
 
The 2012 Bionic Frog is an expensive wine, at first release and more so on the secondary. I wondered if it’s really worth the money as I drunk it and concluded not.
Once finished I poured the last of the K Vintners which is from the same region and is in the £100 bracket, and is a very good wine indeed.
It really stood out as very much an inferior wine to the frog which is frustrating upon balance,
 
The weekend started well with the first of my Mark Haisma’s 2018 Chassagne-Montrachet. Pithy acidity led to a full and satisfying finish. Continued today and it is improving all the time. A few more that I will hang onto for a while.

My post-rugby blues were assuaged with a great 2014 Barbera D’Alba from Renato Corino. One of my favourites and this is singing like it is appearing on the voice. Much happier now.

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Franchetto Soave La Capelina 2021 - 12,5% abv; 18€; 100% Garganega; Roncà-Monte Calvarina
I do like a neutral oak Soave. I even occasionally like the Pieropan with oak in it (even though I can't remember its name right now; not Calvarino) once it gets enough age for it not to dominate. Actually, even the more modest Soaves tend to have that mix of refreshing acidity married to interesting neutrality of fruit that I tend to like them. But I don't drink them often. It's practically summer at +5 Celsius so no better time than now to open a summery Soave from a producer I've never heard of.

Nose: Good, interesting take on neutrality with hay and "mineral" aromas. With air and warming up in the glass it turns less neutral with a bit of almost Alsace PG -like spice creeping in! That's interesting! The hay-like neutrality also turns more floral. Not strongly floral though so I guess this can still be considered an interesting take on neutrality with just whiffs of non-neutral things going on. It's actually a very pretty scent. Much to my taste. I approve.

Palate: Quite rich. Richer than I expected from the scent. Balanced still, but it seems a bit gentle, a bit too rounded, a bit too sunny (no idea if '21 was a sunny, ripe year though it tastes like it was). Once it warmed up I even googled if it has RS - it does, but only 3 g/l so not really something one can taste. But it still has this slightly rounded character that I wish wasn't there. It's still clean and acidic so this is complaining about something being good when it could be a tiny bit better. Splitting hairs over something pointless? Yeah, isn't that what all wine geekery is about.

Buy again? Nah. It's a nice Soave but I can get an even better one in Alko at a couple € cheaper. I enjoyed drinking it. It's not so interesting that it deserves this kind of long note but in my defense I'm autistic so I'll write it anyway. It's not worth seeking out but if e.g. you see it on a list and you need a neutral but rich-ish wine without new oak, go for it! It won't disappoint. Neither will it thrill.
 
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Clos De Trias 2014

From Mont Ventoux, Mecca for cyclists and made by Even Bakke, a Coloradian-Norwegian giant,…I wanted to love this but could not, not because the wine is weak or flawed but because it has some of southern Rhone traits that I find challenging - the sweet, sappy high-toned counoise overtones, which sort of overwhelm the Mediterranean garriguey and Jurassic notes - though not even sure it has that variety in the mix. An interesting terroir-driven wine nonetheless it is still very young - drunk over 5-6 days. Second bottle of a six pack I might let the other four go if anyone is interested…but maybe I should just revisit in 2-3 years… though life is short…87/88

Erbulana Langhe Nebbiolo 2020

Good, but not as spectacular as the one Oliver, Peter and I drank in La Morra back in October but followed a quite superb and fully mature Castello Di Nieve Barbaresco Santo Stefano 2010 not pictured…89/90

SHL Rouge 2004

Medium-full bodied, full throttle….”full on”….a lot of grunt for a 2004, perhaps not the last word in elegance and finesse but at the same time a multi-faceted mature Graves experience and with all the signature Pessac traits dialled up to nine. While the delivery is not as seamless as it could be, the palate is detailed with scorched earth, camphor, graphite, cedar and plums, among many other pleasures. A wine in a very good place and firing on all cylinders. I don’t think it will benefit from further aging…92/93

Hubert Lamy Derrière Chez Edouard 2016

I really love burgundy wines with the word ‘derrière’ on the label. Exhilarating intensity, focus, acidity and minerality…93

Hubert Lignier Morey Tres Girard 2015

Drop dead delicious out of the blocks, already developing complexity and such good wine making for a villages wine….93

Ducru Beaucaillou 1996

First bottle from a case purchased on release from BBR. Double decanted 90 minutes ago it is still coming out of its shell…so far cigar ash, lead pencil and density on the mid palate…plenty of moving parts….has a regal quality to it, but the entry is nowhere near as spectacular as the one we tried in our 1996 horizontal 16 months ago, but that had the benefit of being open a lot longer…too early to rate this, but promising
 
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Giacosa Barbaresco Asili 2012

Another outstanding B&B that is already a pleasure to drink. A nose of dried flowers, bonfires and that trademark Asili elegance and charm even in the warm 2012 vintage. 14.5% alc. A refined, velvety palate and exquisite tannins that keep you coming back for more. White label Giacosa back to its best. Currently available at c £92 pb ib.
 
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Lorne for dinner last night. Great as ever. Food and service spot on.

Ordered a few nice low level things off the list as we were with another couple;

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This was in a great spot, especially the second glass when it warmed a touch. Really great for the money. £54 on the list.

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Ordered this as I wanted something with some age and the rest of the options were pretty young. Had this before and really like it, but the beetroot medley with the venison dish overpowered it a bit. £72

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This was very serviceable with cheese. Have heard great things about this producer as a potential source of value but on this showing it wasn’t that exciting. £65

Had a glass on the vin doux naturels 1976 with dessert which is always a treat.
What vintage the Didier Fornerol? They do need a bit of age.
 
Contino Reserva 2005
Another swipe from TWS recently, good to go on opening, nicely integrated, zingy acid to start, perhaps its finish was on the short side and no fireworks, but it disappeared relatively quickly and it all points to good, if not great
A recent purchase? Annoying if so as they ‘lost’ six of my bottles two years ago! Useful note though, thanks.
 
Contino Reserva 2005
Another swipe from TWS recently, good to go on opening, nicely integrated, zingy acid to start, perhaps its finish was on the short side and no fireworks, but it disappeared relatively quickly and it all points to good, if not great
Last night we had the Contino Reserva 2007. Big and full of fruit and Earth with nicely integrated oak and the just the beginnings of secondary meatiness and gravel starting to show. Excellent now of for another couple of decades.
 
Another rioja here in the form of Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia 2010. Such a lovely wine with exquisite balance and that LdH lightness of touch. There are oodles of acidity beneath the fruit which suggests a long life ahead. 13.5% but it tastes half a point lower. The fruit is already fully secondary, so it is not a crime to drink this now. Sometimes the Bosconia seems to lack a little something compared with the Tondonia, but this Bosconia is out of the top drawer. A traditionalist's delight.
 
I share your pain Keith ,
The langhe though is a different place today with technology and investment,the place has changed so much in the last 10 years
Add into the fact the extra heat , vintages are not requiring the patience of old.
The gerenic wines are good to go on release whereas the crus do need time to blossom.I do like the traditional wine making of the past but the market wants instant theses days.
If the wine were to take 40 years to be any good then anyone who can afford it is likely to 40+ then you would be in your 80's - if indeed you lived that long - before the wine would be any good. Thank goodness things have changed for the better
 
If the wine were to take 40 years to be any good then anyone who can afford it is likely to 40+ then you would be in your 80's - if indeed you lived that long - before the wine would be any good. Thank goodness things have changed for the better
DB, you have articulated so well why it is nonsensical to produce a wine that requires 40 years to reach maturity. I'll leave it there as I have ranted on this subject once before. Or more.
 
A recent purchase? Annoying if so as they ‘lost’ six of my bottles two years ago! Useful note though, thanks.
funny you should say that, as I searched on here and saw you'd mentioned that!
It was recent, couple of weeks ago, just ordered the one, and it went OOS pretty quickly, so while I couldn't say yours have been "found" I can't say otherwise either.
I'm new to TWS but it's quite good how random back catalogue seems to turn up on there, albeit you have to be quick and it tends not to be in high quantities. I just presumed people's life circumstances change (death or taxes?!) and they sold stuff off, but maybe stuff does just get found, as we've discovered in the other thread, their itinery management isn't always A1
 
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The Samur 2019 was possible one of the loveliest 100% Cab franc wines I've had. Strong plum and raspberry flavour with a cool finish. The 1981 Barton was a delight snatch from the jaws death. The corked had dropped. Not even the Durand could save it. Decanted for about an hour. Unpleasant wiff on opening, but that blew off. Tabacco and cedar, good colour and a lovely long finish. Never had these two Lanson side by side. I like both, but discovered I prefer the rosé.
 
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