2006 Damien Lorieux Bourgueil Graviers 12.38%
A new domaine with a young winemaker. Not organic or biodynamic. Spent 12 months in stainless steel. Even after decanting, very muted sour cherry aromas with a touch of acetone. Lively in the mouth, with good acidity, good weight, pleasant tannins and a light and very pleasant bitter finish. Flavors are straightforward dark cherry, simple but satisfying, especially with food. Must have been bottled without filtration, as I have never seen a young wine throw so much sediment in a decanter.
2006 Roger & Didier Raimbault Sancerre Rouge 13.0%
Very pale ruby. Nose also muted, with puzzlingly similar aromas of sour cherry and light acetone (made me wonder if it was the glasses). Lighter tannins than the cabernet franc, but good acidity, good astringency and lovely cherry flavors. Juicy and fruity, makes one understand why Sancerre rouge can be the darling of Parisian bistros. Bottled with light filtration.
Speculation corner: both wines were very pleasant, but aromatically muted. Since neither is organic or bio-dynamic, they probably use "standard" amounts of SO2, and I wonder if that explains their relative closure at this point.
Most wines of this age and kind that I've been drinking lately have little or no SO2 and have seemed quite open. On the other hand, most of the wines with SO2 that I've been drinking have also been open, but they have been older, so, presumably, have absorbed it.
So, I wonder if the toll that SO2 exacts for its good services is a period of muteness once the primary fruit fades and the SO2 has not yet been absorbed. It may have much to do with the (still poorly understood) phenomenon of closing down. Perhaps wines with low or no SO2 never close down, but the price is early expiry unless kept in ideal conditions. As with so much, to gain something, you have to lose something...