Developed golden color. Nose is intense- with honeysuckle, vanilla, pine cones, some molasses, earl grey tea and just a touch of creaminess.
Palate is fresh and vibrant even though it is definitely developed and oxidized (but in a good way). Very complex palate with medium+ acidity, stone fruit, granny smith apples, menthol, very slight lactic notes, but wine is still clean and delicious. This is damn good stuff, likely at it’s peak. Drink up in the next 5 years. Wow.
2014 Clotilde et René-Noël Legrand “La Chaintrée” Saumur-Champigny
The vintage speaketh!
Dried herbs, meat broth, firm and not over-ripe berries, solid balance.
2004 Chateau Musar
Just opened this, about 1PM my time. Decanted for sediment. I’ll let it aerate in the decanter, tasting every once in a while and when it seems to be in a nice place, I’ll pour it back into the rinsed bottle. Showtime is about 7 PM. Let the voyage begin . . .
. . . I aerated this wine in the carafe for about 5 hours. Put it back in the bottle with a stopper and served it with dinner of beef tenderloin. Extremely enjoyable wine. Graphite and leather on the nose. Fruit and spice. I would use the word “elegant” if that is permitted for a Musar. Thanks to @Otto_Forsberg for some advice on this wine. Life is good.
Opened an 1989 Canon (St Emilion) last night to celebrate winning 6 more recently at auction. Here’s how it showed:
A beauty, silky and fresh, dry yet deep, volcanic and rocky, filled with mint and an exotic hint of licorice. Lighter and brighter overall but with enough body and layering to cover all the bases. Still, this does the job mostly through intensity rather than extract, giving it an ethereal transparency, an octane. There’s a divine savory, mineral note in the finish. Terrific. 93+ pts.
Those Stony Hill wines are hitting so well right now!
2012 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste
Gave it three hours in the carafe before consuming. Lovely wine! Aromas of plums, spices and wood. Slightly developed palate, plums, tannins starting to melt, good length. A triumph for GPL, superb match with a fine cut of meat.
2013 Marc Sorrel Hermitage
I’d describe this bottle as an elegant Cote Rotie, old school style - rustic, savory, floral, mid-toned acidity, great fresh raspberry fruit profile, tar, graphite, elegant in transition and lightly silky on the palate. Really nice, tremendous value for Hermitage, though not (obviously) Chave-level precision and polish.
Bit of a deep cut. A fantastic @Oliver_McCrum selection
Opened it a little late tonight. Looks like from the Cellartracker I’m not gonna be able to start enjoying it for 2 hours… Not ideal given the early start for the Mountains tomorrow morning. Oh well, should have looked up further in advance 
Two St Joseph bought years ago EP.
That decanter looks superb! How are you liking it?
I decided to start opening up some of my 2001 Auslese. I wasn’t sure about this one because of significant leakage. But, it was delicious! Deep, deep golden color that sparkled in the glass. Not too much of a nose - tropical fruit. But an intense palate of peaches and honey. Yum! Enough acidity to keep the sweetness from being cloying. I did have to fine - I was surprised to find some sediment (not crystals). Excellent bottle! My husband even had a glass - he hardly drinks
Thank you. It was a gift from my (soon to be) mother in law. I love it.
I only use it when I am confident I am going to finish the bottle, and when the mood takes me; otherwise I just use a Wine Enthusiast every day (re)canter.
You can find it here
Pale straw/yellow color. Nose is slightly muted and dare-I-say-it almost disappointing with cream, oak, basic citrus and some minerality.
But palate, oh boy. This thing is amazing. Fresh, complex, medium+ acidity. Definitely has seen oak, but then lemon peel, citrus, flint, stone fruit, peach, apple pie, anise/ginger and at the end some matchstick, very long finish. This bottle is still a baby and can easily hold for another 10 years. Damn delicious stuff.
This. Big fan of her wines, and Fixin in general. A lot of easy pleasure there.
Maybe one of the last “value” play in Côtes-de-Nuits (I tend to enjoy Fixin more than Marsannay).
Phil…glad you like Fixin.and prefer it than to Marsannay.
In Quebec, Fixin and Marsansay are priced similar.
For years I was a big fun for Marsannays by charles Audoin ( crafted by his son Cyril sine 2005 ).
They produced many Marsannays and drafted each cuves differently for the retaining portion of the stems - for example : Les Charme aux Pretres is 100% with stem and it is the only cuvee which they did so as the others are less.
If I was lucky enough to have a chance to buy Audoin-Marsannay-La Charme aux Prêtres ( with an annual production of 600 bottles), I borrowed money from my wife and buy as many bottles as possible. For example when vintage 2005 arrived here, I bought 90% of the whole allocation for Quebec - about 120 bottles), I still have a few bottles left from vintage 2005, 2008 and 2010 in my cellar.
Sadly the importer did not receive his allocation of La Charme aux Pretres for Quebec after vintage 2010.
That is the end of my story with Marsannay.
Now for Fixin : the 2021 Berthaukt-Gerbet Fixin just arrived in Quebec and it is $56.25 -same as 2020. The 2019 was at : (880-500 $50.75).
For current drinking ( I mean : now ), I much prefer to open Berthaut-Gerbet - HCdNuits 19 (1495-4518 $40.25) and will keep the Fixin 2019 at least a few more years…
For entry level red…if you have a chance,please try : Gabin et Felix Richoux - Irancy.
They are at CA $ 37 for the non lieu-diet cuvee and CA $49 for the lieu-diet cuvee, .
Style-wise and also price-wise, I much prefer the Iran - Richoux family - than Fixin and Marsannay by any producers.
Sorry for the long, long post.
Great to hear from you Peter!
You don’t have to tell me twice when it’s a recommendation from you, I just ordered the following:
Richoux IRANCY 2018
Richoux IRANCY Les cailles 2015
Richoux IRANCY Veaupessiot 2017
I’ll try them as soon as they’re delivered. I couldn’t find anything in more recent vintages.
I might fly back for a short trip to Montreal in 2024. If I do, I’ll let you know and we can organize a lunch at Tian Fu.
All the best!
Certainly will.
Love to see you in 2024 …for sure.
