I had forgotten about the Dressner tasting and happened to be walking down the block after leaving Bouley Bakery. I saw a Louis/Dressner sign in an unexpetected place and all of a sudden there was Joe. I’ve been remiss in posting but I figure I’ll give you these three.
2007 Clos Roche Blance Cot - the main reason I’m getting off my a** and posting is because other people might have done what I did which was buy some and toss it into storage without tasting. This is an atypically forward vintage and the first I’d recommend drinking on release since 2003 (though I wish I’d kept some of that to see how it developed). Apparently there was rain which diluted the usual amazing concentration a bit. Delicious now but not one for the ages. I’ll have to pull mine out.
The 2008 Pif was quite young and tight, red fruited with beautiful precision. I’d age this a while if it had real cork and even with the artificial cork I’d give it a year or two before drinking. A bottle I opened later loosened up a bit on the second night. One of the most impressive Pifs of my senile recollection.
The 2008 Gamay was, as I’ve reported before, just gorgeous (though admittedly not on this board). Drink with synthetic cork and hold with real cork.
I had my first Clos Roche wine this past week - the 08 Gamay. For the first few hours it was the most structured, serious gamay I’ve ever tasted. After a few hours in a decanter it started to open up to reveal a focused core of dark fruit and minerality. And it was a great food wine. But throughout the evening it struck me as serious, almost severe, compared to my favorite Morgons.
I agree that it seems like a great candidate to cellar.
That minerality is one of the things I love about the CRB wines. It’s a common theme refracted through the different grapes.
I remember one bottle of Gamay (I think of the '02?) which I drank about a third of, put the bottle down next to the sofa where I didn’t see it and left it there for about a week. It was gorgeous when I tried it a week later, the fruit had exploded without losing any of the minerality. I’ve tried to duplicate that experience in later vintages without success
I tend to wax enthusiastic about their wines as they hit my sweet spot constantly and I can afford to drink them regularly.
Jay, what are your thoughts on the 08 Sauvignon? I am sending my bottles back to the distributor this week. The nose was dominated by flor aromas. IMO, not what I would want to serve my customers expecting a classic Touraine Sauvignon.
I don’t think I’ve tried the '08 yet. As much as I like it I tend to buy it less than the reds for no reason that makes any sense to me. I’ll have to pick up a bottle when I get the chance. Not that, as a Sherry fan, I mind flor aromas.
I love Sherry too. I had a bottle of Lustau Moscatel on Monday but typicity wins out on my list. The wine was interesting but not what I would expect from the region.
Thanks for the heads-up, Jay. I’ve got a case of the '05 Cot sleeping and skipped the '06. Sounds like the '07 Cot may be the new house wine the way you describe it.
