Decided to start opening some 2017 Chablis. I had earlier this month a Louis Michel Grenouilles and Butteaux as well as the Piuze Butteaux. All were very lovely wines. I don’t post many tasting notes but I decided to on this one. I enjoyed this over two days. Beautiful nose on first day showed a lot of lemons and oyster shell to me. On second day I got peaches! Palate was very different nose. High acidity but with a ton of green apple fruit. Extremely long finish. Will easily last another 10 years. Double yum!
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Thanks that’s helpful Brian. I have Montmains, Preuses, Bourgros and Clos Bougeret from '17…somehow:)
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2021 Henri Magnien Cazetiers
A very enjoyable showing. Spicy, a little oaky nose. Such great mouthfeel, like a torrent of fresh small red berries and a very good length. Very impressive I thought.
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Another lovely 2007. This is perfectly mature and ready to go. The tannins are very fine and the fruit is bursting out of the glass. Has lots of floral notes and some earthy, spicy bits.
I continue to absolutely adore drinking the 2007s. It is a vintage that offers so much immediate pleasure and joy. Can’t think of a single bottle that was not delicious. May not be a great vintage but man it is a lot of fun to drink.
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Nice work buddy! How was this? Was debating between maybe opening this or an 08 this weekend.
Nice! I also drank the 2016 last weekend and loved it. Great minds think a like! Agree that it needs a few more years, but Fourrier drinks so well young it’s hard to resist.
The Dauvissat was in the zone at the beginning of a long drinking window. Just gobs of crushed oyster and limestone goodness that continued to gain focus with oxygen. Dauvissat really nailed 2012
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Nice, I really enjoyed a couple bottles of the 19 Les Champs Martin as well—this was my first foray beyond that bottling. I’ve got a 20 Le Mont Laurent on deck. Pièce 15 is on the list!
2020 Dureuil-Janthial Rully Mazières
A floral nose, white peaches. On the palate apples, tart acid, good use of oak—present but unobtrusive. Good concentration, dense across the mid palate. Finish medium and saline. I’d buy it again.
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Had a bottle of the ‘09 in May and it was excellent with a double decant and about three hours open before service.
I drank a lot of the Clos du Breuil in my 20s. A lot. It was hands down the best wine I could buy for $20 and it drank well on release. The idea of aging it never crossed my mind. I did age the demi-sec bottlings, and decided they didn’t do very well after about eight years post vintage. A bottle of the ‘10 Les Tuffeaux a few weeks ago reinforced that opinion. Though still nice, it was a shadow of what it was. I I have no idea how representative this bottle is, I am curious to see how my other bottle compares, but it is in fine, fine shape. I would never have guessed the driest, least expensive wine in the lineup would be the long distance runner.
This wine is full of waxy Chenin goodness - a bit like drinking a cinnamon scented candle - with apple, quince paste, lemon balm, and chamomile tea notes. There is a solid spine of acidity, no longer bracing, but still aggressive. The texture is lovely; it has good length; there is salinity and chalk; and it evokes a fresh rain, as high quality Touraine Chenin usually does for me. It’s not profound, but it is quietly contemplative. Thank you @Warren_Taranow for letting me rob you again.
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Having been disappointed by one of these recently I have tried again. Pleased to report that there is some bottle variation.
The previous one was 90-91 and felt awkward and disjointed in the mouth.
This bottle was 92-93+ with a good depth of cedar and mulberry, ripe supportive tannin and a real sense of optimism. Hopefully there will be more like this one.
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Fully mature and ready to drink. Decanted for an hour. Smooth with lots of fruit. A great Hillside!
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Mine are still tucked away, glad to see this note
I like Williams Selyem, but this bottle was just ok, seemed a bit monolithic. It was outclassed by a ‘clean’ bottle of '90 Beaucastel.
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Been behind posting some bottle notes
Opened a 16 Carlisle James Berry Vineyard last week, forgot to take pics. Decanted around 1 PM and didnt start drinking until around 8 PM. Tremendous fruit even with the long decant. Mike likes to use lip smacking in his descriptions for wine; this was definitely that but of course as a syrah and not a zin. No more 16s, have some 17s and may just try one to see where it is at.
2019 La Gravette de Certan. Opened this last night; its still young and I decanted it for 6 hours before drinking. The fruit is absolutely gorgeous. Each sip fills your mouth with expressive fruit. We did not pair this with food so we just got to enjoy this by itself over around 90 minutes. Wish there was more of Gravette available CONUS. Going to have to buy some cases overseas and ship.
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In general, I find CDP doesn’t age as well as most people think it does. There are some exceptions….Rayas and Bonneau come to mind first and foremost. This was no exception! Garrigue, spice cake and a silky texture made this a classic!
Those were hard to give up. I love the waxy lanolin notes they get with age.
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Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Champin Le Seigneur 2020
Yesterday with lunch. I didn’t expect much but this drinks very well! Super expressive nose: dark and red berries, lots of violets and spices and some earthy herbal aromas to close it all off. Lots of fruit on the palate with medium acidity, powdery tannins and a decent finish with a slight black pepper kick. Worth it considering the price on the list.
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JL Chave Selection - Silene 2021
Safe to say Chave holds a special place on this board. So does Jamet, Reynaud and Balthazar, and they all have that in common that they produce an ‘everyday drinker’ — that’s if you’re lucky enough to get allocated enough Des Tours for that…
This JL Chave I hadn’t tried. The others were chunky at 15,5% alcohol, or the Saint Joseph which was beautifully composed but never really unwound, and it seems to never really open up, according to the tasting notes I’ve seen. This is the only one so far besides the top wines that has smelled like it’s supposed to; bacon, black olive tapenade, and blackcurrants. However it’s way over the top acidic, and I mean it might just be too young, but this is 4 days in and it’s only mellowed out. Down the line, it’ll probably settle and be quite good.
This seems to be priced just a little below Jamets CdR, but I’d much rather be drinking that.
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A tasting of critics poor reviews.
No detailed notes, the 2006 La Lagune was quite substantially my favourite, which wasn’t much of a surprise to me as I also really like the 2006 Cantemerle which is just up the road. The 1996 Carruades was also very nice, the 2007 Providence showed well and the 1982 Clos Fourtet was fine, but without any wow.
Wine of the night for the group was the 1991 Mouton - it was instantly recognisable (it was blind in flights of 3) immediately from the nose and was ‘purer’ on the palate then its partners (Carruades and Carbonnieux 2008) but for me was strangely acidic and while not unpleasant a bit ‘meh’.
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