August lunch notes.
1995 Henriot Brut – this bubbly seemed more mature than we expected, with a elmon and slight library paste nose, bit of colour and lots of acidity.
2003 Vergelegen – this white wine, a blend of sauv blanc and Semillon, is always a stand out in terms of quality. Really nice nose of caramel and vanilla, not tons of fruit on palate, and lots of acid, with a lengthy finish.
2001 Tirecul La Graviere – the dry wine from this Monbazillac producer, interestingly labelled as Perigord AC. Typical blend of 60/20/20 Semillon, sauvignon, muscadelle, the Semillon was certainly to the fore in terms of the character of the fruit. Medium weight, good length, finishing tasty and dry.
2007 In Cot We Trust (Thierry Puzealat) - this wine is made from the Cot grape, better known as Malbec, though this wine was far from the iteration made in Cahors. Fairly dark, with a slightly sopay white pepper and fruit nose it was pleasant and simple. It is an AOC Touraine.
1999 Chapoutier CNduP La Bernardine – this one startled me a bit because I thought I had pulled the 1990 (which was standing right behind this one in the cellar) and it didn’t fall in with the last tasting of the 1990 wee had done. Slightly warm sweet nose, complex, showing anise, cherry and a little pepper, smooth on palate and good length.
2000 Tardieu Laurent Rasteau Vielles Vignes - dark wine with raspberry nose, weighty in the mouth with a rather chalky mouth feel, and a fair bit of tannin. Finishes quite dry. I liked this.
1999 Ch. St. Cosme Cote Rotie – a distinctly sour nose eventually cleared up to show more typical cherry violet notes, but on palate it was quite acidic (probably a result of insufficient fruit to mask the natural acidity) and astringent in the finish. What should have been a delightful wine was off, and all we could think of was possible heat damage at s me point. Hope the bottles in my cellar didn’t come from the same source (but they probably did!)
1996 Dominus – a dark wine with a nose that initially showed a bit of burnt rubber, but that quickly blew off and then I got plums with a hint of nutmeg. A tad hot and spirity with good mid palate fruit and excellent length.
2004 Behrens & Hitchcock Cabernet – big purple wine with a sweet nose of dill and herbs, also sweet on palate wit good integration of flavours at this age, and medium length. Much more pleasant than the weird B&H wine we last had, the odd 1999 Ode to Picasso.
2004 Van Zellers Douro – warm blackberry nose, soft ans sweet in the mouth and obviously intended for fairly early drinking.
1995 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino – browning edges surprised me a bit, as did the high terminal acidity, a step above the norm. I found this wine to be a bit lean for my taste.