WTN: Barbeito Verdelho '81, Texier St. Joseph '05

• 1981 Barbeito Madeira Verdelho Frasqueira Reserve - Portugal, Madeira (12/15/2008)
  59€ / 500ml; 20,5% abv; 80g/l RS; 9,2g/l acidity; drunk over a week. To put it briefly, it does what it says on the tin. Upon opening it had rather dominant toffee/coffee scents and since I prefer other aspects of Madeira more, I was happy to see them appear on day two->. I don't have much experience with Verdelho (being in a land with a monopoly is always tough), but from my limited experience I prefer the drier styles of Verdelho and Sercial to Malvazia and Bual. And also in my limited experience, this bottle was typical Verdelho: lifted/VA scent with greenish fruit aromas came more to the fore than the toffee scents. It is sweet but not in such full blown sticky levels as Malvazia - I would perhaps liken it to a Riesling Spätlese with age which also has noticeable sweetness (more than just off-dry) yet isn't a full blown dessert. And like Spätlese, it has wonderful precision, cut and purity; very refreshing acidity. I was perhaps expecting (hoping?) a touch more volatility and sharpness (I want to see some Sercial here...), but this was still a very pleasurable bottle.
• 2005 Éric Texier* St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes La Croix - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (12/15/2008)
  This has opened up beautifully since January '08 when I last tasted it. The scent is pure Syrah, dark toned fruit, some bacon, bright and pure fruit despite it being dark. Full body, some "gras", good structure and refreshing acidity and wonderful overall brightness and transparency for what is a warm year. Long. Though perhaps a fruit forward wine for Texier, it is very moreish and there is none of that heaviness that is so often evident in warm year wines.

2005 Éric Texier* St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes La Croix

I don't think I've heard of this wine. Is 'La Croix' a vineyard?