La Millière Châteauneuf-du-Pape

I tasted the 2004 La Millière Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhone Valley. A complex wine with aromas of red currant and strawberry with some peat. The flavors of red fruits comes through right away with red cherries on the mid palate. This wine has a nice focussed acidity that goes well with the fruit. Rated 92 pts by Steve Tanzer and I agree with that.

2007 Sauvion Vouvray

I tasted this vouvray recently and thought highly of it. I love the zesty pineapple that comes through on the nose and on the palate. I was very impressed with the super long finish on this wine. I have to say this was significantly diminished when I tasted the wine chilled. I adore this wine when it is close to room temperature. The mouth feel was smooth and satiny. I would give it 89 points. You can see more in the video.

Another 2005 Bordeaux

I ordered this 2005 Bordeaux from Wine Library way back in January as a presale. It was supposed to come in some time last June but it didn't arrive until just yesterday. I've been dying to taste it. Some of the tasting notes on cellartracker for this wine are mixed. One guy even gives it 74 points because it has tannins! Not sure what to think of that review. Well, tonight I opened a bottle and I'll give you my opinion.

2005 Chateau Marjosse

Color: Deep, deep inky purple color. Looks young and will probably taste young.

Nose: Dark blackberries and black raspberries hit the nose. There is almost a sweet smell that reminds me of chocolate and coconut. It has some earthy notes with alot of complexity going on there.

Palate: Solid firm tannins that are gripping! It is definitely too young to drink and I can understand why people turn off to this. The tannins overwhelm the palate. However, this wine is full of vegetables mingling with those dark fruits. It has a nice balance of acidity. The alcohol is a little out of balance providing for a hotness that exacerbates the tannins. The earthy peaty fruit fills your mouth, though, with big robust flavor that lasts for days on the palate. I think there is a lot there and can't wait to taste this 5-10 years from now.

This wine has a lot of potential to evolve into something quite nice. It could, however, fall flat after aging if the fruit doesn't stand up to the high 14% alcohol. I can see this wine pairing very well with mushrooms and truffles. I should mention that I just popped the cork and tasted this one. I'll give it some time in the decanter and see if it improves. Given it's potential, I would probably give this one 90 points. That may change in a few years. Time will tell.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape

2006 Alain Corcia Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Crème de la Crème"

Our AWS chapter will be tasting Rhone wines next week and I picked up this Chat du Pape for the tasting. I thought I would give it a go before the get together to see how it is.

The color is a gorgeous deep ruby red with purple tinges. Hints of youngness are apparent in the color. It is dark and you cannot see through it.

The nose is unusual with some very subtle hints of red cherries mixed with herbs, vegetables and eucalyptus.

On the palate there is a nice body and heaviness that wraps around the mouth. Very complex with flavors of mint, red raspberries and green peppers. It has a nice balance of tannin and acidity. It is nicely structured and rock solid. This is a delicious wine that should improve over the next 5 years.

I would rate it 90 points.

Languedoc

2003 Mas de la Barben syrah blend from Languedoc. This was a bit of a disappointment. I expected better from this wine. I could tell straight away when I poured it in the glass that it would not live up to expectations. It had a red brick color that was a little on the light side. The nose was vegetative with spice and a strange chemical component. Someone described insecticide for this wine and I think it does remind me of an ant spry we used to use. It was funky on the palate as well with barnyard and leather flavors. It had a good acidity and a pretty nice up front attack but the good flavors disappeared rather quickly leaving you with the taste like licking a saddle. Certainly an unusual wine. It is just ok. I don't think I would buy it again.

A Grand Cru

I don't often drink grand crus but this one came as a good deal from Wine Library. For $20 I think I got a good bargain. This was a very nice wine. As you can see from the back label, it is composed of 80% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon, and 10% cabernet franc; a classical Bordeaux blend if I've ever seen one.

First of all I was blown away by the color. You can see below it was a deep, rich, dark, purple/red color. You definitely could not see through it. On the nose I was presented with earthy musty notes mingling with ripe red cherries. Solid tannins, big fruit and hints of smoke greeted you on the palate. It also had a slight greenness to it. After a couple hours in the decanter the wine opened up beautifully.

Saint Émilion

Popped open a bottle of the 2005 Christian Moueix Saint Émilion tonight. This one is made from 85% merlot and 15% cabernet franc. I liked it very much even if it was a little bit light. It had a nice medium purple red color that you could easily see through, so it was obvious this would not be a heavy wine. On the nose I was presented with subtle ripe cherries and aromas of sweet tart candy. Very interesting to say the least. On the palate, however, there was nothing fruit or sweet about it. It was oh so vegetative. I enjoy that. It had a medium body, solid acidity and smooth tannins. Red fruits came across so very subtly however it was the roasted beets, cooked carrots and tomato sauce that dominated the flavors. It was a little bit chalky and a tiny bit disjointed on the finish but overall it was a nice Bordeaux red. I bought it for $14 on sale which was an ok price. I don't think I'd pay the $30 or so full price for it.

A hit and a miss

I've been a little lax about posting lately. You know, life gets in the way sometimes of the fun. It's not that I haven't been tasting. I have lots of tasting notes to share. I just haven't got around to putting them up here. So let me tell you about a couple of wines I had recently.

First let's talk about the miss.

I had high hopes for this Artesa 2003 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. A $40 bottle of wine on sale for $30. Not a bad deal, I thought. And it might have been good. It had a gorgeous deep dark color. On the nose aromas of dark red fruits and caramel wafted in. It almost reminded me of rollo candies. It also smelle of dusty wood. On the palate it had initial big red fruits and beautiful cherries, firm tannins, and a nice acidity. The big fruit dissipated quickly leaving a rather thin mid to end palate. However, it did linger for quite a while teasing you. I rate this wine a little bit lower because the alcohol was out of balance. It was noticeably hot. The label says 14.5% but it tasted like it was even higher. For $40, or even $30, I expect a balanced wine. I don't think I would spend that money again for this wine.

Now, for the hit I had to go across the pond to France.

The 2005 Domaine Grand Veneur Côte du Rhône Village I found to be extraordinary! Just what I like in a French wine. It had a really nice, dark, ruby red/purple color. The nose was amazing to me. On my first sniff my mind thought - "Hmmm, chokecherries!" It had bright red fruits, chokecherries, red licorice and raspberries on the nose. It was even better when I tasted it. Super balance of the red fruits, raspberries, cherries, licorice, and hints of like roasted green vegetables. It had smooth but firm tannins, a balanced acidity and a lingering long finish. Just delicious! It didn't taste hot at all, though the alcohol was the same 14.5% as the previous wine. This was one excellent bottle!