2014 Domaine Latour-Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Charmes- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (10/6/2021)
Very reductive on opening and smelled of burnt rubber. With some time it became more open-knit to show the roundness of Meursault and tasted like a proper old-school white Burgundy. Just had a little something missing in the mid-palate, and a nagging sense that the wine has yet to reach its full potential. Will leave my other 2014 1er crus alone for a while longer.
2015 Giulia Negri Barolo La Tartufaia- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (10/6/2021)
New style Barolo that doesn’t need 20 years to come around, she worked with Liger-Belair before I think and it shows. Lacy and elegant wine, high-toned red-fruited nose but on the palate it still retained the firm tannins of Nebbiolo. Very good for its level, and doesn’t show the warmth and overt ripeness. Approachable now, and no point waiting.
2018 Cesar Marquez Bierzo Pico Ferreira- Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo (10/6/2021)
Agree with the previous comment that this had some greenness to it and that it resembled a serious Bojo. This had darker fruits than the entry-level Firmas that I really liked, but the wine didn’t feel as clean or well-delineated at the moment.
2018 Michel Autran Vouvray Les Enfers Tranquilles- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (10/6/2021)
Very round and ripe both smell and taste-wise, this is a wine that is really dominated by flavours of exotic fruits. Clean natural wine, good backbone and acidity, creamy and full texture from long elevage I think. Not my preferred style as it was a little full-on and aggressive but no denying that it is a well-made wine.
FWIW, I’m a fan of the Autran. There’s a lot of depth and “minerality” there. I preferred 2017–2018 is an atypical, fat year for a lot of loire chenin, but I still like the wine a lot.
Hi John, thanks for your thoughts! I think my friends enjoyed it a lot more than I did but I haven’t been a fan of too many 2018 Loire whites unfortunately including this one. Will seek out out other vintages to try!
Normally noticeable reduction doesn’t have to do anything with heavy SO2 use. You could suspect heavy use of SO2 if it smelled of SO2, but if it smells just sulfurous (for example DMS, mercaptans), it’s just the result of reductive winemaking or the wine turning reductive for other reasons. I’ve had tons of heavily reduced wines that have been vinified without any SO2.
