Nikolaj, how does her brother’s Champagnes compare to hers?
They are a bit different in style and Virginie has been going solo for more years than her (little) brother, and he had to also follow the family style for his first bottles due to being the son, getting a name starting with an F like his father, grand father and so on to carry on the legacy.
I will say though the recent releases from Fabien are absolutely stunning, and especially his new Blanc de Noirs with zero dosage is a home run as well as his different Coteaux… They both use the same terroir and philosophy in their farming and winemaking, so there are some clear similarities though.
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1995 Château Lanessan
3 bottles at auction, first off the bunch.
What kind of capsule is this? There’s plastic shrink wrap on it with the French tax sticker? First time I see this:
The nose displays cassis, tobacco, damp earth and some slate. No TCA on the nose but the palate is rather thin/dilute without fruit but with astringent ultra fine tannins. This just ain’t right. It’s my first 1995 Lanessan but it’s got to be affected by age. I don’t find any TCA markets other than the lack of fruit and tannic finish. I’ll let it breath until meal time and hope it improves. Looks like a Fail.
Edit: never woke up. I deglazed the bavette with it and the rest will remain for cooking.
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Opened a 12’ J Davies Diamond Mountain cab last night, decanted for 2 hours and followed another 3 hours after that. Still fresh, primary fruit but tannins have faded for the most part. Being mountain fruit; I probably opened this a tad too young. Will hold my remaining bottle another 2-3 years. Paired with Flannery 60 day dry aged porterhouses. I kind of liked the wine separate from the steaks as these steaks had a bit more funk than normal.
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" 1998 Clos Yon Figeac
You win some, you lose some. Drastic defeat. 3 purchased, 3 dead. Not oxidized just death by old age. Thin, some VA on the nose, memories of red berries and thoughts of better times. RIP.
1989 La Rose Pauillac
Some bottles are more dead than others. This was just putrid. Weird nose of damp closet and lamb wool. Air and time brings out sewer water and rotten fruit. Begone. Vade Retro Satana.
1996 Lilian Ladouys
Ah! Properly aged Bordeaux. Finally. Upon opening, the tannins were so forward that I thought it might be corked. Double decanted + 3 hours of air after it was back in bottle. Nose: old saddle leather, tobacco, ripe raspberry, cherry, earth and forest floor. Nice medium+ body with medium acidity and tanins that went from aggressive to supporting cast after proper handling. There is a savoury streak from leather to almost saline/mineral finish that is just heart warming. A lovely middling class bottle. Score."
*Late followup - how the @ do you decide when to give up. The Ladouys you thought was gone but you gave three further hours of air? Did you keep coming back and notice it was coming right? Now you’ve got me worried about chucking prematurely, to coin a phrase…
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The Ladouys didn’t seem dead it was just a tannic bomb when opened. Giving it air seemed like the best (only) thing to do.
When I open bottles ahead of time and feel like they can benefit from air, I often pour myself a decent glass when opened and see how it evolves over time. So yes, coming back over time and checking on it is pretty much the only way I’ve found!
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2016 Markus Molitor WS auslese** white label
Amazing acidity. A little shut down but quite enjoyable. Very creamy, white flowers.
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Really nice. The ZS bottling from the same vintage is what turned me on to dry riesling.
Another ode to @Kent_Comley and @Jeremy_Holmes apparently.
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Opened a Berserker Day purchase - T Berkley 2021 Cab Franc Rose. The CT review is posted below but context is fun here (well I think so).
I picked up about 11 cases of wines from Manhattan Wine Co* on Wednesday — btw, their storage services are awesome, will be happy to provide a personal recommendation upon request — and today was shaping up as a delightful evening in the mid 70s F. The deliveries include a great number of Berserker Day purchases, so I decided my task was to find a rosé on what might be the Last Good Day of the Year (cue Costeau https://youtu.be/66W0D7HMD0E?si=RhXcMTFAZgCzJQ4A ).
I opened boxes until I found a rosé - and the lottery winner was T Berkley’s 2021 Cab Franc.
The CT review:
My first T Berkley wine and this was impressive. Needs air: it was very tight upon opening, with a very prominent spine of acid and chalk dominating the strawberry / cherry fruit. But only about a half hour of air mellowed that out and this revealed a nice mix of red berries , lavender (?) — some sort of Mediterranean floral — and granite. A serious rose and no less enjoyable for being serious. Classically proportioned, no flaws, would put many a Provençal rose to shame. A definite rebuy.
Score: 93. Relative to expectations: ++
The review leaves out the astonishing color of this on opening - not a usual salmon pink but a deep and magical red color — if the Wizard of Oz offered you a drink it would look as technicolor as this. With air (>1 hr) the color changed and drifted into a more typical color. There is a sweet spot about 45 minutes after popping the cork where this still has a Star Trek color to it but the flavors have stared to assemble themselves properly. I was enjoying this too much to photograph outside while it was still light out and by the time I thought of recording this it was already getting dark.
Now i had of all things tacos for dinner— and while I don’t make very spicy tacos they are pretty spicy by the velveeta standards of northeastern NJ. I had planned to save some of this excellent wine for later but was just loving it too much. So I tried some with the tacos expecting to recoil and then be able to put the last 1.5 glasses away to see what happened with some air. Well, the tacos of course obliterated some of the base notes of this wine. It that also accentuated this delightful springlike sweet side that was hard to pick out earlier.
This is a serious rose. Really happy I went out on a limb on T Berkley wines (in the sense that I knew nothing about them before BD XIV. Definitely a rebuy. Bravo!
- addendum - I am no longer sure if these came from Manhattan Wine Co storage or from Horse Ridge Cellars in CT. I use both and can heartily recommend both.
Looks a little worse for wear?
Honestly, color aside, which lighting isn’t helping it’s delicious. Has a little pithy quality that detracts from it, but no bruised fruits or nutty flavors or aromas. Reminds me of aged Chassagne Montrachet 1ers from the past when the wines were made with less attention to a silky approachable texture and pressed to actually have some phenols and natural preservatives vs. added sulfur.
Not quite as good as 1999 Marcassin Chard, but impressive at 25 years of age.
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Domaine de la Roche Aigue Meursault Les Clous 2021
Know nothing about the domaine. Bought simply because it’s an affordable meursault lieu dit.
Standard meursault style. Round. Mid acidity. Just okay.
2019 Racines Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Its good this. Might just lay some down and try again in a few years.
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Damn fine Jamet-esque Cote Rotie look-a-like from Languedoc. Meaty smoky cracked black pepper, vibrant red fruits, Just excellent, too bad it was my last bottle
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By rights, I should have struck off the 2006 Alessandro e Gian Matale Fantino Barolo Bussia Cascina Dardi for having too many words in its name, but I owned the bottle so I opened it. Its dried up and wiry. Seems too young to die at 17. Oh well.
2015 Chidaine Les Argiles. Just right in the zone , perfect for current drinking. Nice depth and concentration with a lot of depth. Yummy and ready now.
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Nice. My LWS has the 2018: I have planned to age a couple of bottles (not too long for 2018 IMO, but a few years) — but they just seem to disappear. Very tasty wine.
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I let these sleep for a year after release.
The 2020 is ready now. So perfumed, peppery and mineral. Beautiful deep dark cool fruit.
Jamet’s CDR has been my yearly purchase for everyday Syrah, but I prefer these and started buying them instead with the 2020 vintage.
I have tasted them since the 2015 vintage, but always drank all of them right after release. So never understood they needed just a bit of time 
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Good for you! When Chidaine is ‘on’ it can be a really special expression of Chenin Blanc.