At Terroir SF: Several "half glasses," including a Lapierre Morgon 2007 that just did not excite me. The highlight, however, was the fantastic 2007 Puzelat Pineau D'Aunise (Sp?), which had that delicious spicy white pepper character, plenty of cranberry fruit, etc-which I would "expect." What blew me away was the delicious "warmth" of the wine-I'm not talking about heat as in alcohol, but I reallty enjoyed the mouth feel and I am reaching for a descriptor, and the word "warmth" keeps coming to mind. Delicious. They had also just received the Overnoy Poulsard for the first time (the bottles were still in boxes on the floor)! Guillaume note that they were going to be meeting M. Overnoy this winter! So...in a few weeks this will be something new to try~! Vive l'Arbois!
At Rachel's party:
A great Italian sparkling charonnay whose name I did not catch. This was an old world themed wine night:
2006 Pascal Granger Juliennas. Second bottle I've tried, and quite different than the previous. Re: the previous bottle, which was somewhat fruitless: I am not TCA sensitve at all, but? THIS bottle was quite different-it allows me to understand what people mean when they use the term "grapey" to describe Beaujo. But, there was also wonderful earthyness and a fantastic dash of acidity. Very, very nice food wine.
2004 Domaine Confuron Conteditot Nuits-Saint Georges. This needed air, but not closed down in any way shape or form. Big, somewhat ripe Cali Pinot nose. In the glass, though, this was lovely in an earthy Burgundy way, and as the evening wore on it became smoother and more elegant. Just a whisper of green tannins, but not obtrusive in any way. I know almost nothing about Burgundy, but I liked this wine quite a lot.
2005 Eric Texier Brezeme Cotes du Rhone. Wow. This was a very pleasant surprise. Amazing blast of white pepper and Southern Rhone garrigue. Refreshing acidity, but it was not harsh or out of hand in any way. Great raspberry fruit. This appeared to be WOTN for many people, including non wine-geeks. I guess I should not be saying "surprise," as Otto and others have enthused about Texier CdR. This is under $25.
At Joe and Donna's
2003 Cliff Lede "Dr. Crane's Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon. Quite tight and tannic at the beginning of the night. definitely the licorice/anise and black currant fruit side. At the end of the evening, we revisited the Cab and found that it had opened up, showing an almost creamy smooth finish and some pretty noticeable savory notes. Alas, my only bottle, and it could have gone for another two to five years.
2004 Luigi Bosca Reserve Single Vineyard Lucan de Cuyon? This is their "brown label" single vineyard "reserve" Malbec. I consider myself very oakaphobic, and I know others have found Bosca Malbecs oaky. Maybe the fruit, which is described as coming from 70-year old vines, is powerful enough to handle the oak (14 months, I believe), as I did not find this oaky in an offensive way at all. Instead we got a very nice blast of plum fruit, some decent acidity, and quite delicious savory and long finish. I wish I had written down where I picked this up-I don't think it was over $25, and I liked it quite a lot!