Little clusters of drinks :
Pierre Usseglio, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 'cuvee de Mon Aieul', 1999
What is the appeal in these big-styled Chateauneufs? Perhaps it was the year (not the best for these big strivers), but all I got out of this was a big meaty, beef blood, blackberry and black fruited and garrigue-filled wine. Not to say it wasn't good, because it exceeded the demands I put on it, but I was expecting something a little more grenache like. Instead of Chateauneuf, I felt I could be in the Languedoc or some other up-and-coming region utilizing the latest and greatest technology. Probably B+
Chateau Haut Selve, Graves, 2004
When one drinks a $10/bottle of wine, one doesn't nitpick. This is light-bodied, having fresh redcurrant and Santa Rosa plum flavors, with dusty oak-dust tannins on the finish. Probably better jointed in a year, and tenable for a few years afterward. 12.5% B (serviceable) I hear the whites here are better known than the reds; has anyone tried?
Rene Mure, Alsace, Pinot noir 'V', 2005
Better the second day, so I suspect a little young. Fresh, easy-to-understand style, simple cherry and cranberry, a little tart, with air, more clove and roasted beet. B
Pierre Marie Chermette, Fleurie, 'Poncie', 2005
A darkish still youthful purplish-black cherry red color. Sweet mulberries, slight wintergreen and sassafrass. Nose is muted, so might be in afternoon napland, but the fruit is so scrumptious (truly!) that this makes such a gorgeous drink at the moment. Easy A-
Domaine Georges Chicotot, Nuits-St-Georges, 'les St. Georges', 1999
Maroonish crimson color with some lightening toward the rim. Forest floor and light smoky cheese aromas. Very pure pinot fruit, medium-bodied and smoothed by age. Cherry and some orange-rind toward the end. The whole here is better than the sum of its parts: just the perfect age, the perfect weight, without undue influence of oak, make this a delightful bottle. 13% A-
Terredora Di Paolo, Campania IGT, Aglianico, 2007
I adored the 2005 of this, but that had a little more age on it than this one. This is still a very good wine, especially at the mid-teens price it sells for, but I feel it needs a little smoothing out as it is not quite as complete as the earlier vintage. The color is almost black, very dark black cherry red. Perfumey mastic, tomato, and swamp cabbage shoots on the nose. On the palate one finds black cherry, chewy black fruits, tobacco, smoke, earthy rocks (volcanic veins) with strong, gripping tannins that strip like climbing rope. Big, thick, and ripe, and despite the back label's assurance of 12.5% alcohol, this feels more like 14% to me. B+/A-
Algueira, Ribera Sacra, 2004
Damn Eric Asimov. Every time he gets a notion to popularize some obscure wine region, you can no longer find those wines. Luckily purchased before these wines began selling out at Costco and other discount outlets nationwide, this very perfumed wine of roses and violets is a delight to all the senses. Perfume emanates from the pure nose, roses, light red fruits, and some Indian spices (fenugreek, cardamom) turn out before the lithe and delicate finish hits. 13% Supposedly aged in French oak, but the treatment is transparent) A-