2008 Dom Pérignon
First time with the 08. Wow. Beautiful Champagne. Complex nose that starts off mineral and than opens up to rich fruit (exotic, pear, citrus), toasted brioche and some zingy spices (pepper? ginger?). Rich and intense on the palate but with great acidic lift and a long finish on citrus and stones. More please.
1991 Domaine de Trévallon
I had a 1991 Trévallon a few weeks ago and it was halfway in the grave. This one was fully alive. The cork was a mess but I was able to perform cork-gery and get it out without even a speck in the wine. Win! The nose was initally musty and evolved but it didn’t take much air to get it back in shape (épaulé and about 20 minutes in the bottle): red fruited and beautiful florals with a backdrop of dried herbs, brine, sous-bois and crushed stones. The palate had less intensity than I was expecting but it wasn’t weak or dilute rather it was light and elegant. Ripe red berries dancing over the tongue, balanced acidity, fully integrated tannins and a mineral finish. Really enjoyable.
2000 Guigal Château d’Ampuis
Compared to the Trévallon, this was a brute. Still a lot of oak in this and we popped and poured it. Bad decision. Some dark berries and torrefaction up front with a little red meat and a mineral component if you look for it. It lacked any kind of elegance and wasn’t particularly what I look for in a Côte-Rôtie. Will it improve with time? Not sure but maybe time will dim the oak and make the wine a little more expressive. I’ve got another and I’ll let it sleep.
Through 1993 Aix-en-Provence Les Baux
1994-2008 VDP Bouches du Rhône
Since 2009 Alpilles
The issue in 1993 was that a 20% limit on Cabernet Sauvignon was imposed for the original appellation. The wine had always been about 50/50 CS/Syrah, so they declassified rather than change the wine. Then later IGP Alpilles was established.
My guess is that this might have benefitted from a decant. I opened a '98 Brune et Blonde last month and it was clearly better after 90 minutes than it was on opening. I posted a note:
had no idea the appellation used to be Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence.
. Maybe it’s hip since it is so “not hip”?