Two from 2002, left in the fridge

You can't keep a good man down. And with wine, sometimes you can't keep a good bottle down. Especially if you give the bottle some extra time to develop.

Such was the case with a bottle of 2002 Domaine de la Bongran Cuvee Tradition Viré Clessé produced by Jean Thevenet. The style is rich. Late harvested Chardonnay grapes (a small percentage botrytised?) grown in the northern Maconnais are pressed and then fermented for a much longer period of time than the norm. Then, aging in older oak barrels. Please excuse the vagueness, here. See Organic Wine Journal for an interesting Jean Thevenet post, and if anyone cares to fill in any gaps please go ahead and comment.

Initially, this wine bordered on blowsy to me: dense and rich, yes, but with some botrytis honey notes and not enough acid to balance. Minerality, hidden. As I suspected, a week of deep sleep in the fridge was needed to wake this wine up. It's still a bit outside of my usual taste preferences, but the difference in the freshness of the aromas, precision of structure, and emerging minerality is dramatic. I have one more bottle (I had originally purchased three, the first one was corked) which I will not be opening for another 5 years or more.

Another '02 French white wine which I enjoyed recently performed out the gate, a wonderful bottle of 2002 Domaine Cazin Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance. 100% Romorantin, also produced from late harvest grapes. There is an intensity to the interplay between this wine's crackling acidity, honeyed botrytised qualities and residual sugar that is quite thrilling. It's everything I always hope for, but seldom experience, in demi-sec Loire Chenin. I've two more bottles which will invariably improve for a while, but as delicious as they are now I might greedily guzzle them while listening to a Kraftwerk record, or watching a Criterion collection French film, or something geeky like that.

Please, don't beat me up. Otherwise, Ray Lewis will be waiting to tackle you at your work.

Typicité in Cour-Cheverny; another Tessier CC experience

How would you describe Romorantin? The ancient grape variety which composes the Cour-Cheverny appellation, Romorantin is definitely a varietal near and dear to the heart of the Loire valley wine lover.

Somehow I've yet to experience a bottle made by the master of Romorantin, Francois Cazin, though I do have a few bottles of '02 Cuvee Renaissance (a demi-sec which includes some botrytised grapes) currently en route from New York City. The only romo I know-know would be that of Philippe Tessier. I am drinking another bottle of his 2004, and I would describe it as intensely pithy and citric. Bitter oranges and lots of pith. But also distinctly mineral and showing this weird root vegetable aspect towards the finish that his Cheverny Rouge also shows.

I know it sounds like I'm luke-warm towards the wine, but I do rather enjoy it. It makes me think about what I'm drinking, and I've probably drunk this wine half a dozen times in the past year.

Addendum

My girlfriend just asked me if any of my co-workers would ever describe a wine as 'fun.' I said that yes, I occasionally have used such a vague, promissory, lame descriptor as 'fun.' Seeking something more inventive and descriptive to redeem myself, I offered that the wine I was currently drinking (i.e. the 04 Tessier Cour-Cheverny) was a real mind fuck of a wine. To which she replied, "No, it's a skull fucking wine!"

That'll work for me. You should try it sometime - the Cour-Cheverny, that is.

Best under $10 bottle of the year thus far

A photo of Phillipe Tessier's Cour-Cheverny. Please note, the bottle pictured is 2006 vintage; the post is about the 2004.

Let's start the week off right with a genuine, bona fide post about honest, tasty, affordable wine. A wine blogging back to basics post if you will. Tonight I opened my second to last bottle of 2004 Phillipe Tessier Cour-Cheverny to go with a quick, light, thrown together at the last minute vegetarian dinner of perciatelli a la trapanese (i.e. pureed, uncooked roma tomatoes with garlic, salt, olive oil and almonds) accompanied by sides of swiss chard sauteed with bacon, and baked zucchini. While the food was fresh, tasty, and competently prepaired, and the pairing worked fairly well, I must admit that the highlight was the 100% Romorantin wine I had opened.

Tessier makes wines that typically have minimal fat and little immediate appeal. They are usually a bit taut and mineral, in fact there is this tough to describe pungency to his wines (both red and white) which may be off-putting to some. For this particular bottle, on this evening, however, the pungency took a back seat to incredibly pure, focused, well-delineated flavors. Citrus oil, pink grapefruit, a hint of grapefruit pith. Not NZ sauvignon blanc grapefruit here. As an aside, what an unfortunate thing that some people associate grapefruit like flavors with obnoxious, manufactured New Zealand sauvignon blanc. That's like confusing a perfect, in season grapefruit for Minute Maid grapefruit juice from concentrate. Away from grapefruit and back to Tessier, his '04 Cour-Cheverny is pure, perfectly balanced and quite persistent. I paid a mere $6 per bottle on this wine (solid closeout purchase) and I wish that I had at least another case.

May everyone out there drink at least one bottle this tasty over the next week.