2015 Linden Avenius Vineyard Red Blend (Fauquier County, no AVA noted). Purple core just reaches opacity, helped by a bit of gauziness, brick red rims. Some coffee grind and dark chocolate to the nose, herbaceous snap, the cranberry, cherry, boysenberry scents angular if not rough, dry presence like pulverized stone. Light to medium-bodied, first impression is more acidic than tannic by a good stretch. Bell pepper, leather, beef jerky, iodine, earthy in the same parched manner. Not getting much oak here. Tart red currant, cherry fruit, compact but gets fully to the finish line. Solid wine, avoids underripeness, poor value. 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot. (Composite Cork: Diam10)
2018 Agnès et René Mosse Vin de France Le Gros. Soft gauziness to the plum red, ruby color, fills the glass visually. with a warm glow. You gotta give it air and some shaking to get the funk to blow off, then it’s all red berries, white citrus, and a fresh meadowy mix of grass and dirt. Light-bodied, good grip for what it has, this without feeling overly structured. Spicy upfront, tingly citric middle, more of a sense of stone and earth at the end. Good buoyancy to the strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb fruit. Going out on a limb, it tastes like a blend, familiar at times but zigging when you expect it to zag. Fine wine that creates a good deal of saliva, could probably go with a wide variety of dishes. Personal opinion is that this producer seems to get lost in the LDM book even though their prices are very fair and the wines typically over deliver. 50% Grolleau Noir, 30% Grolleau Gris, 20% Gamay Noir.
2002 Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie. Some residual purple to the core, mostly fiery reds and oranges, fine clarity. More tar, asphalt and stone to the nose than bell pepper or anything herbaceous, maybe damp hay bales, mild smoky quality to the cherry, red currant scents, fruit plenty alive. Medium-bodied, opens well with air, tannin smoothed out, acidity throws a few jabs. Limestone, chalk, no real minerally bite but earthy. Very savory currant, blackberry, Italian plum fruit, the tartness extends things nicely. Grapefruit and licorice notes add punctuation. The ultimate compliment you could offer is that it’s so well-knit together there’s little to say in parsing it out. Pretty much at apex. Wife hated it, hah.
2015 Andre François Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Quinet. Ruby-maroon shifts into violet deeper in, clean throughout, moderate saturation. More textural fullness in the nostrils than actual scents, dense black fruits, violets, forest underbrush, iron, not offensive, just nothing really there. Medium-bodied, takes the mile wide, inch deep approach, covers the palate fully but nothing sinks in. Sour plum, currant fruit stings well. Slips in white grapefruit, ferrous accents, turning meatier towards the finish. Overall, though, trails off at the end. Happy enough to drink it but can’t say I’d seek it out again. (Quinet is a lieu-dit.)
2018 Gilles Robin Crozes Hermitage Papillon. An old favorite throughout the years, rarely see it anymore. Impenetrable and super-saturated purple core, glowing red magenta rims, dense looking. Highly aromatic nose of violets, green olives and white grapefruit, as it opens more cocoa and seemingly oak related tones come out, the cassis, cherry compote scents could be cut with a knife. Ultra-ripe and velvety in the mouth, viscerally pleasurable but thoroughly in a modern way. The plum verges on prune and there’s more sweet cassis. Even more floral here, Indian spices and lavender. Tingly mouth feel, doesn’t come off as tannic per se and no real drying out through the finish, albeit truncated some. Allowing for its baby fat, drink now uncritically. (Composite Cork)
2018 Aurélien Chatagnier Indication Géographique Protégée des Collines Rhodaniennes. Glowing plum red to violet, looks rich and full. There’s a sort of dry grassiness to the nose, like it wants you to sneeze, forestalling the blueberry, cranberry, red currant fruit, plump without much complexity, too much baby fat. Medium-bodied, more nuance here with violets, sour white citrus and a pinch of green olives and grilled meat fat. The tannin comes off as polished and in no mood to cross the ripe plushness of the fruitiness. Mocha crisp bubbles up at the end. The pieces are basically all there yet something about it leaving me unmoved. Maybe just too soon to render a fair judgment.
2005 Terres Dorées (JP Brun) Moulin-à -Vent. Muddy looking the purple eclipsed by red to brown clay and orange rust hues, cloudy. Stinky, volatile nose of merde and damp sous bois, shoe polish, peanut shells, lessens over time but never goes away, hard to get at the fruit. In the mouth it’s more normalized with a considerable earthy, sort of loamy foundation, turns more tarry as it sits. Here the plum, cherry, black currant fruit still sweet, if condensing and losing grip. The acidity has kick and is able to bring out a glimmer of citrus at the end. Based on tasting upon release, kind of expected it to be closer to apex, not dead but on its way there. Bummer.
2004 d’Arenberg Shiraz McLaren Vale The Dead Arm. Purple fighting hard against the fade to black, fully bricked rims with a touch or rust orange. The nose is quite awkward at first and demands aeration, cedar and loamy earth, not that dense, residual spiciness, the mixed black fruit scents come off as on the back nine. Medium-bodied, leaves a thin trail of tannic grit through the mouth. Here the cassis, plum, boysenberry fruit both sweet and sour and there’s little problem lasting into the finish. More cedar, pressed flowers and orange pekoe tea notes, maybe tickle of licorice at the end. If you focus on what’s in the glass it’s a dapper old gentleman of a Shiraz. That said, not really what made the rep of the bottling (and the price).
2018 Famille Montessuit Gringet Haute-Savoie Terroir d’Ayze Jonquille. Washed out yellow straw, closer to a natural brown than green or white, average shine. Honeyed nose with a floral water cornerstone, the apple, apricot, peach fruit never fully sets in, this makes the minty, chalky lift more pronounced. Sturdy mouth feel, honeyed yet more smoky here than the nose suggests. Blunt acidity downplays the citrus element. Green apple, pear, apricot fruit flavors compact, just echoes through the finish. At times seems to step on its own feet. Haven’t really tasted enough Gringet to get a sense of what is offered at differing price points. This seems like an okay value, but just. (Composite Cork: Diam3)
2017 Michèle Luyton Saint-Joseph. Ruby-violet, spotless, if there’s such a thing as understated saturation, this is it. Wiry nose of stone, mountain scrub, firm blackberry, raspberry scents, swirl and swirl, sniff and sniff, and there’s nothing else there than a medicinal cleansing sensation. Light-bodied, throws a netting of tannin and acidity across the palate but doesn’t tug it tight. More floral here, anise, garrigues, maybe incense. Blueberry, raspberry, boysenberry fruit more sour than rich. Toss up if it’s a wine of few words or mute, this said in the most flattering way. Definite food wine, the fattier the better. There’s a clarity of purpose here which is admirable.
2015 Jean-Luc Jamet Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Valine. Blackish purple core, rust red rims, more clean than rich. Somewhat volatile nose of iodine, merde, damp iron, horsehide, sour black fruits, crafted in a kind of backward “vin de garde” style. Medium-bodied, stops short of angularity, however, the high level of acidity and then tannin do not let it soak in and you never feel quite relaxed with it. Much more floral here and citrusy, the volatility smoothed out. High-toned and tart blackberry, cherry fruit, not underfruited but the structure doesn’t allow for full stretching out through the finish. Olive pits, leather, minerally black earth. Respect it more than like it.
2018 Andrea Felici Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore. Bright white hay, great luster, trace of bubble fizz clinging to the glass. The nose blunted some by a whipped cream element, opens into a breezy lemon to tangerine zest, just picked peach, pear scents, at times seems minty, simply an agreeable profile. Firmer than expected and fleshes out as it warms. Moderate acidity, you feel a very light tingly fizz to back up the visible bubbles. Licorice, blanched nuts and mineral water smooth it out so the orchard pit fruit never gets too sweet. The citrus woven in pleasingly. Brings a smile to your face as you sip. Fantastic value. (Screwcap)