Notes and thoughts

[Florida Jim]

2004 Pepière, Muscadet:

As usual, refreshing, delicious and gone too quickly.

About $9; I’d buy it again.

2005 Thévenet, Morgon VV:

My second bottle of this and it was as equally intense and beautiful as the first. But I talked with a friend who tried a bottle that was slightly frizzante and off. I have often had those kinds of troubles with Thévenet and Lapierre wines in the past and very occasionally with Foillard’s – I think I’m pretty much over buying the “gang of four” Beaujolais. Good bottles can be terrific but the number of off bottles makes them unreliable, IMO.

About $23; I’d not buy it again for the reasons mentioned.

1994 Mondavi, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve:

Standard grade, CA cabernet with no obvious flaws and nothing to distinguish it from any other wine of the same variety. Bought on sale near release at $66; I’d not buy it again.

I attended an off-line this past weekend and can share brief comments about some of the wines:

1996 Ogier, Cote-Rotie; pretty nose, attenuated palate.

1995 Chave, Hermitage; reticent nose, good but not great palate.

1999 Dom. Belle Louis Belle Rouge, Crozes-Hermitage; started out simple and sweet but got much better and really complex with airing – hold.

1995 Drouhin, Griotte-Chambertin; took the entire night to show much of anything – hold.

1996 deMontille, Taille-Pieds; rock hard but good with food – hold.

1992 Rion, Vosne-Romanee; classy, developed, lightweight and quite complex; once again this vintage produces an overachiever. Ready.

1990 Ponzi, Pinot Anniversary bottling; full, structured, layered and delicious; really outstanding wine.

1994 Thomas, Pinot; took a little time to open but was typical for the producer – meaning delicious but idiosyncratic. Could stand a few more years.

Lots of others and a bunch of whites; unfortunately, I wrote nothing down and my memory is, well, less than adequate. But one wine really got my attention: Dom. Aigueliere, Montpeyroux Cuvee Doree. I tasted both the 1999 and 1995 vintages. This wine is from gravel vineyards and is mostly syrah. It gets 8 months in new wood.

The ’99 was too young to assess, but certainly packed with fruit and structure. The 1995 is nowhere near ready to drink (probably another 15 years in the cellar), but it showed a depth and fineness that are hard to put in words but instantly recognizable as the beginnings of greatness. I understand that these are in the $35-$45 range and I would certainly buy them at that price.

Best, Jim