I wonder why I bought Rully “En Guesnes” 2004 – Vincent Dureuil-Janthial – Alc. 13% - (€18) at a tasting a couple of years ago. Medium/light bodied with lively acidity and fruit with sour cherry on entry and mid-palate; so far so good but the finish was disfigured by rather raw drying tannins which I don’t see receding quickly; 14/20.
Coteaux du Languedoc Pic-Saint-Loup “L’Olivette” 2006 – Clos Marie – Alc. 13.5% - (€12), made from Syrah and Grenache with a touch of Cinsault and Mourvèdre, was a different matter; medium/full bodied with lovely dark fruit enhanced by minerals, Languedoc herbs and tobacco notes; 16/20+ QPR.
Saumur-Champigny 2007 – Langlois-Château – Alc.13% - (€9) was the third disappointment with entry level still wines from this Bollinger owned firm. Quite fresh with some stimulating red fruit but somewhat undernourished, not very interesting and over-priced; there is much better to be had at this price level; hardly 14/20.
L’Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen - Moulis - 2004 – Alc. 13% - (€11), approx. 55% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Petit Verdot, had the qualities which were missing from the previous; indeed Germaine mistook it for a Saumur-Champigny from René-Noël Legrand; it was robustly bodied with lively acidity, minerality and dark savoury fruit, touches of wet leather and firm tannins and the overall impression was one of stimulating austerity, for me not unlike some Cahors; 15.5/20+.
Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Alte Reben trocken 2008 – C. von Schubert’schen Schlosskellerei – Alc.11% - (c. €13, I think) was bone dry with medium body showing the usual lovely fragrance and minerality with very crisp but non-astringent acidity allied with quite dense substance and a firm finish with a surprising degree of salinity. How will trockens like this develop? The sweeter wines of this estate are extraordinarily long lived and become very complex; 16/20+ with ? potential.
Domaine de Couteillac Bordeaux Supérieur 2004 – Dominique Méneret – Alc. 13% - (€10), Merlot dominated, is in most years, an extremely reliable Saint-Émilion ringer but, with previous bottles of 04, I have found an excessively green touch. This time the usual rich round fruit was more present and the green touch seemed to have receded into an attractive stalkiness on the finish without which the opulent 2003 was close to cloying; 15.5/20++ QPR.
I don’t normally comment on wines served at events like last night’s village fête but the first two wines go to show the unreliability of synthetic plastic stoppers.
The first bottle of Château Lagrange Les Tours - Bordeaux Supérieur - ?2006? had a most unpleasant bouquet of striking matches which I at first thought was sulphur but the second and third bottles were robust and much cleaner in aroma with some nice quaffable savoury fruit; 13.5/20.
Others complained that the first bottle of Château ? Entre-deux-Mers 2008 (W) was corked but the organisers politely said that was impossible with a synthetic closure; nevertheless everybody agreed that the second bottle was better and I thought it excellent for the type; fragrant, lively and mineral; 15/20++. Regrettably I can’t remember the estate’s name.
Finally a local hobby farmer presented a wine, Vin de Lasne ?2008? (red), grown hardly more than a stone’s throw from the village church. I heard a lot of disparaging remarks around me (Belgians are strangely reluctant to praise their own cultural products) but I found it well coloured, gutsy and honestly enjoyable in an acidic and somewhat rustic vein; 13/20.