Two bottles of white and a surprise showing

A week or so ago I had a bottle each of two wines that had been opened a couple of days earlier. One was a 2009 Domaine de la Louvetrie Fief du Breil Muscadet and the other a 2002 Chateau Coustaut Graves Blanc. The muscadet is Jo Landron's top bottling, and the Graves is a humble wine, just tank aged, I believe, which probably would retail these days for $12-$15. Guess which one showed better? Sauvignon blanc and/or Bordeaux hater or not, sometimes you just have to acknowledge the reality in the bottle and tip your hat to a tasty wine, regardless of its production methods, pedigree, snob/geek appeal and so on.

On a more complimentary note for the typically terrific wines that Jo Landron produces, the 2010 Domaine de la Louvetrie Amphibolite is delicious. You should drink some.

Fallen Glass Soldiers

Happy December.

Some very quick notes on what has been in the glass over the past week, primarily during the Thanksgiving break.

2009 Trabanco Sidra
Delicious as always

2009 Domaine de la Pepieres Clos de Briords (1.5L)
Ripe but mineral, forward, juicy and still complex. Awesome.

2009 Vinya San Felieu Rosat
Sans soufre trepat grape tastiness. Cornelissen Contadino with more upfront fruit. No more available in CA until 2010 - damn!

2007 Pedralonga Vendetta
Fancy albariño with a fancy price. Better than I remember it. Great texture, richness and minerality.

2000 Peciña Crianza Rioja (1.5L)
Beautifully mature Rioja. Soft, delicious fruit with some earthy/meaty savory development. Texture and balance define this wine. I'm glad we purchased 120 for the store.

2000 Monje "Monje de Autor" Tacaronte Acentejo
Intriguing, smoky/ashy dark fruit from Tenerife in Canary Islands.

2009 Michel Delhommeau Clos Armand Muscadet Sevre et Maine (1.5L)
A very decent drink, but when the bar was recently set by Briords this definitely falls short.

2009 Pierre Chermette Beaujolais Village
Supremely disappointing, this tasted too much like a good grower nouveau shipped to the States - not my cup. I've never had Nouveau in its natural habitat, so I can't make a blanket judgement about all nouveau, but the better ones I've had here don't do it for me. Based on my recent experience with this Beaujolais Village, 09 Chermette doesn't cut it either. I had one delicious bottle 2 months ago purchased from Chambers St. Maybe I just wanted to like the wine that night and my palate enabled me to do so?

2001 Luis Rodriguez Vazquez Viña Martin "Escolma" Ribeiro

Lots of words in that wine's name...anyway my mixed emotions about godello continue, even with this - one of the best growers. Initially, it is very ripe tasting, with lots of starfruit and an appley quality as well. Almost a sweet, orangey caramel candy quality. Think bulk caramel, not that butttery toffee-ish Werther's stuff. With a few days of fridge time, though, the intensity of flavors and minerality reveal themselves. Ruby red grapefruit and a cutting acidity that takes a while to reveal itself on the mid palate. Though I'm still on the fence with godello, the potential for greatness is clearly there. Would be curious to see the result of less stainless steel, less "sobre lias" (extended time on lees) and maybe some more experimentation in the realm of fermentation and aging vessels and possible extended skin contact (even if just a few days) to name a few possibilities.

Drunk at The Ten Bells

"Drunk," I should note, refers to the past tense of the verb "to drink." Not to a state of intoxication, as I rarely drink to excess while hanging out at one of my favorite wine drinking spots during vacation.

No notes were taken as I have a tough time being the guy with the notebook in a social gathering. Enough of an impression was formed with these wines to describe them in general, if occasionally abstract, terms. If some nuances go without mention as a result of my lack of notes, then so be it.

2007 Houillon/Overnoy Chardonnay Arbois

A bit reductive, salty jurassic chard fruit without the piercing beam of acidity of his Savagnin, nor the richness and depth of flavor that I was hoping for in a chard. In other words, this was something of a disappointment.

2009 Frank Cornelissen Contadino

Vibrant red fruit, up front acidity and a bit of a spritz of CO2, made this bottle a real palate refresher and a joy to drink. If memory serves, I was ready to call it quits after this second bottle of wine (split 3 ways) during night one of The Ten Bells visits. However, its deliciousness encouraged us to go for one more bottle and close out.the bar

2008 Les Champs Libres Foufoune Crozes Hermitage

This was the "one more bottle" referred to in the note above. A drink young Crozes that was certainly tasty, a bit smoky and spicy, if not quite as much of a vin de soif as the Etnaean beauty above.

2009 Domaine de la Pepiere Gras Mouton (1.5)

This is a bottling from Ollivier's recently purchased parcel on the Gras Mouton, a vineyard composed of gneiss, clay and a scattering of "amphibolite" (thank you, David Lillie). It is not as rich, dense and fruity as the Clos de Briords, instead a bit lighter, softer, more lemony. It has a gentler sense of minerality than the Briords. It was a great way to ease into an evening of lots of wine.

Frank Cornelissen Munjebel 5

Deep cherry and red plum fruits showed more of a tannic edge, certainly more extract, than the lighter Contadino bottling. Though I respected it, I enjoyed it less and therefore drank it less. Of course, we were also splitting the bottle with more imbibers, as well. Since I have minimal experience with this wine, I do not pretend to know where it is heading, though I suspect that there is enough of a core of fruit and balance to improve over several years before it heads south.

2006 Cos Pithos (1.5)

Ah, this one I'm glad we had a magnum to linger over a while. There is a combination of immediate succulence and weighty intensity, freshness and earthy savor, that makes Cos wines (when they are on) so good. Though this bottle is young, I found it to be on. It should be fun to follow over a decade.

1995 Francois Cazin Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance

If I recall correctly, most people really enjoyed this bottle, though there were some dissenters who found it to be over the hill. Creamy and appley aromas reminded me of middle aged Mosel riesling, though the sugar/acid/fruit/mineral balance did not seem to be as pitch perfect as it can be in those wines. While I enjoyed drinking this and learning a bit about where the '95 is in its evolution, the '02 vintage of the same wine (the only other Cazin CCCR I know) seems to be a superior wine at this point.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and partaking in the fun: Pam, John, Chris, gypsy jazz guitar Ben, Desor, even JP aka 'El Diablo de Tiburon.' It was good fun to meet many of you for the first time and to hang out to do what we do best....

The Mos Mighty Muscadet

Photo courtesy of The Ten Bells, New York City

There is something just so incredibly likeable and exciting about Muscadet; once you find it you're not likely to ever shed the excitement you have while craving it and then downing a glass (or more) of it. There is nothing pretentious about the wine, there is plenty of it available, and everyone from the most jaded of wine drinkers to someone who enjoys wine uncritically will agree that Muscadet quenches thirst and flatters a variety of foods. When made well from top vineyard sites, Muscadet is both deeply satisfying and intellectually stimulating in a way that few wines can be. In the case of the true grand cru vineyard sites of the AOC, I do not think I stand alone in arguing that there probably is no better white wine value in the world. Here are two such wines I have been slowly following over the past two days, and will continue to do so over the next several.

2007 Pierre Luneau-Papin L d'Or Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie
Their top cuvee. Any info on the domaine and wine that you might need are readily available on Joe Dressner's site. 30 hectares is a lot of land, but in these hands I trust how that land is used. There is an effortless, seamless balance in this wine that is tough to verbalize and simply should be experienced. Having had examples of this wine - not often, but on a few occasions - going back to 1989, and seeing how well and consistently it tends to age, it's worth mentioning that while metrics such as acidity, tannin and residual sugar are important indicators of a wine's development, ultimately a young balanced wine from great terroir will age a long time. We are not sure how this happens but invariably it does. There is no better indicator of wine ageability than a solid track record.

2007 Domaine de l'Ecu Expression de Orthogneiss Muscadet & Maine Sur Lie
While the Luneau Papin L d'Or is muscadet minerality and typicité personified, this particular bottling from Guy Bossard always seems something quite other. Bossard's vines are located in Le Landreau the same as Pierre Luneau-Papin. Shortly after I first opened this, it was rich, comparably fat, and seeming to lack in the type of acidity and rocky minerality that I come to expect in most Muscadet. A few days of sitting in the fridge after opening, however, and the singularity of this bottling really comes through. This may seem strange (it certainly does to me) but the aromas and flavors suggest more red fruit than white, and I even get a sort of Pinot Noir like character out of it, albeit with white wine acidity and texture. Richer and fleshier than the norm for Muscadet, to be sure, the Expression de Orthogneiss still has loads of finesse, a Burgundian sensibility as well as gravitas that sets it apart. Domaine de l'Ecu has been farmed biodynamically since 1986.

For less than $25 for each of these, I will likely pony up for at least 6 bottles of each, and ideally a case so that should I be tempted to drink a few, I will still have some bottles remaining.

My man Jo Landron is in effect mode. Domaine Bart too!

Obligatory ATCQ reference there, sorry I couldn't resist. Anyway, it is a very happy week when a new container of French wines, including such reliable, consistently good values as the Muscadets of Jo Landron and the Marsannays of Martin Bart, arrives at our warehouse. I haven't had the '06 Bart wines yet as I would like to wait several weeks for them to settle in and recover from their journey. However, I did recently drink a large portion of a bottle of Jo Landron's '07 Amphibolite, which is simply delicious. It is his one wine that is not aged sur lies for an extended period, and as such is not quite as mineral, compact, and intensely flavored as wines such as his Fief du Breils, Marc Ollivier's Clos de Briords, Guy Bossard's 'orthogneiss', and other more serious bottlings of Muscadet. It is, however, soft, pure, and incredibly tasty. Loads of gentle peach and melon rind flavor, with good length and an enormously high thirst quenching factor. Not one to forget about for a while, though. My last few bottles of '06, while enjoyable, are noticeably darker in color and, while gaining in weight, losing the pure, delicate fruit flavors that make this wine so attractive.

In these trying, uncertain financial times, I plan on drinking lots of Muscadet, even more than usual. It's good for you, invigorating and refreshing stuff. Having all but sworn off my credit cards after clearing my debt earlier in the year, I will pay for all of this Muscadet with cash or a debit card.

Wednesday night LOIRE Degustement

Some colleagues and I, along with a few other imbibers, met up at 18 Reasons gallery tonight to taste a wide variety of Loire wines: natural wines and high chemical wines, cult wines and modest bistro wines, current releases and 15 year olds, everything from the Atlantic coast all the way to Sancerre. Overall a terrific variety. Thanks to Josh for organizing and Morgan for providing tasty snacks to munch on.

2006 Henri Bourgeois 'Petit Bourgeois' VdP du Jardin de France

A simple SB affair, with the usual citrus flavors, but lacking in purity and intensity. Many better Loire VdP SB and Touraine sauvignon exist at this price point. Most recently I'm really enjoying the '07 JF Merieau Touraine imported by JD Headrick.

2006 Henri Bourgeois Sancerre 'Mont Damnes'

Of course this is a step up: stronger citrus, rounded stone fruit flavors and a touch of mineral. Even so, it lacks the tension and intense minerality of a good Mont Damnes. Not knowing the price (probably $20-25) I would take a pass on this one.

2005 Didier Dagueneau 'Pur Sang' Pouilly Fume

I was excited to try another vintage of this wine, one that I would more than likely enjoy a lot more than the super ripe '03 tasted a few months ago. Currently not offering much on the nose, and nearly as shut down on the palate, the wine is still clearly a powerful example of Pouilly Fume that should show more of its personality in a few years. Intense, broad, mouth filling citrus flavors, with some lemongrass as well as creamy lees flavors. Though it's shut down, you can still taste the intensity of flavors and note the amazing persistence of the finish.

2004 Courtois 'Originel'

Truly an original, this Jenny & Francois import is aptly named. 100% Meunier from near Cheverny. I have had this wine before, and it was consistent in its funky character. A faded golden color, with amber tints and a bit of an oxidative character to the aroma, this wine seems as unstable as I remember it. In fact last time I decided to let it sit in the fridge over night and it turned golden brown. Aromas are at first funky and green, but with pretty cherries and biscuit dough beyond the initial stank. On the palate the wine is very dry, with a pronounced hazlenut character, freshly baked biscuits and a hint of coriander on the finish. Some people mentioned a cidery quality, which I did not catch this time around but certainly did the last time I tried the wine, after it had been open for a day. Interesting wine, not one for the masses though.

2006 Janvier Jasnieres Cuvee de Silex

Very pleasant dry chenin, with creamy nectarine flavors, a bit of Chenin tuffeau chew, and nice grip.

2001 Prince Poniatowski 'Clos Baudoin' Vouvray

Of course this princely estate is now defunct, its vineyards bought by Francois Chidaine. This wine turned out being classified as 'sec' in '01, while in other years ('90 for example) it was moelleux. The style of wine depended on vintage conditions, it was not consistent year to year. Though I thought that the initial mustiness was mere Poniatowski diry cellar stink, others pronounced the wine corked. Either way, it was clearly not the best bottle from this now defunct winery known for its pretty good Vouvray and dirty cellar.

1993 Jo Landron Domaine de la Louvetrie 'Fief du Breil' Muscadet

Just beginning to show signs of maderizing on the nose, this wine is still tasty, with broad lemon flavors, minerals galore and a boiled oat quality as well. This was a near consensus pick for one of the wines of the night. It's further proof that top-notch muscadet ages remarkably well.

2001 La Poussie Sancerre Rouge

My experience with non-current release Sancerre rouge is minimal, so this was a fun bottle to taste. Super light red color with subtle orange tints at the edge, the wine had a real wet rock character, with some gentle, aged French pinot style savory cherry flavor. A touch of violet as well. Subtle, earthy and light. Tasty but frail, and probably a tough one to pair with food.

2006 Bobinet 'Amateus' Saumur Champigny

Another Jenny & Francois import, this cab franc is delicious. Deep black cab franc fruits on the nose, leading to more of the same on the palate, with a floral quality, lavender like. Great intensity and fruit purity here. Another consensus pick for top three of the night.

2006 Phillipe Alliet Chinon

This is the entry level Chinon, and while it is good wine that just needs some time to shed some undesirable aromas, it was really outclassed by the Bobinet, which I unfortunately tasted immediately prior. Funky, reductive, and bretty on the nose (can't say you didn't warn me, Jeff). Dark fruit. Chewy dark cherry and currants on the palate. If you're drinking this now, maybe open it a day before to disperse some of the sulphurous, bretty funk on the nose.