Revisiting:
Chateau Brown, Pessac-Leognan, 2001 (blanc)
Deepening rich gold color. What you expect: lanolin, linseed, and slight butter on the nose. Butterscotched rhum and coconut lime pie in the mouth, with good acidity. Tasting fuller and richer than a previous bottle a couple of years ago. B+
La Gerla, Brunello di Montalcino, 2001
Maturing cherry-maroon color. Aromas od cherry, mushrooms, and anise-seeds. Filling the mouth with cherry-licorice, acai fruit, this is drinking MUCH better than an earlier bottle soon after release, which reeked of oak. Here, the oak is still framing the picture, but the wine is the focus. Surprisingly reaching an early maturity. A-/B+
JP & JF Quenard, Chignin Bergeron, 'les Damoiselles', 2004
Rounder and fuller than a bottle from 2 years ago. Dare i say 'better', too?
Newbies:
Donnhoff, Norheimer Kirscheck, Riesling-S, 2005
Spring flower bouquet nose. Sweetish lemon curd and chalk dust on the short finish, along with fresh mashed apricots and kumquat tea. Although well-made, feels simple and uncomplicated. Would prefer a bit more delineation. For the life of me, I don't see where people are finding 'cherry' in this wine, at all. Power of name suggestion?? Merely B+
JP Brun, aka Terres Dorees, Fleurie, 2005
Bright clean light red. Smoky redcurrants and iodine, along with floral candy pastilles on the nose. Light cherry-red currant-red delicious apple in the mouth, along with that wallop of medcinal iodine that Beaujolais has. Light bodied and fully ready to drink. B+
Chateau Bahans Haut Brion, Pessac-Leognan, 2000
I'm finding so many of these 2000 Bordeaux ready to drink already. Here's another example. Roses and violets on the slightly effusive nose. The floral qualities persist on the palate, along with light peat smoke, fresh orange zest, Black Arkansas apple skin. With air, out comes the cedar and tobacco club. Has a nicely elegant finish. A lovely wine. A-
Domaine du Mas Blanc, Collioure, 'Junquets', 2004
Cherry red colored. Industrial chemical smells, like Newark NJ or Gary IN during their polluting heyday along with fresh oyster brine -- all in a Good way, mind. Surprisingly soft in the mouth, think of a boat moving through industrial effluent moving on to briny-shrimp waters and passing by swampy mud flats along the way. A fascinating wine, and probabaly not something you want to serve to someone new to the wine game. Soft red-fruit finish along with cattails. interesting, and glad I have more to trace its evolution. A-/B+