2005 Domaine Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Guettes

Savigny-les-Beaune lies within the Cote du Beaune part of Burgundy. The AOC may be used for both white (Chardonnay) and red wines (Pinot Noir), but about 85% of the wine made here is red. It is an area with 860 acres of vineyards and the appelation produces 1.8 million bottles of wine each year. There are no Grand Cru climats in Savigny-les-Beaune, but there are 22 Premier Cru vineyards.

Domaine Pavelot is one of the better producers in Savigny-les-Beaune. Historically they were negociant producers, meaning they sold their grapes on to bigger negociants who produced the wine. Today, all grapes stay within the domaine. From the around 12 hectares of vineyards the domaine produces on average about 60,000 bottles of wine each year divided into 8 different wines. They make on average about 8,200 bottles of the Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Guettes.

Earlier this year I posted a tasting note on the 2009 Domaine Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Gravains.

Tasting note on the 2005 Domaine Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Guettes

The nose is pretty tight even after a the bottle has been open for a couple of hours. I get some forrest floot and black cherries. The wine is medium bodies with cherries, sour red berries and some floral notes on the finnish. There are also some dirt notes. With even more air I get some strawberry flavours. Good, firm tannins on the back end. 90 points

This wine is probably not in an optimal drinking stage right now. It is a bit shut down, but it still brings a good amount of drinking pleasure. I have some more bottles of this wine and think I will wait opening the next bottle until 2015.

2011 Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling

I've actually never had an American Riesling before, so it was about time. The 2011 Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling is a single vineyard riesling where all grapes are from the Evergreen vineyard in Washington. It has 10 g/l sugar and acidity of 7.8 g/l. I've seen different information on the alcohol in this wine, all from 11% to 12.5%.

Tasting note on the 2011 Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling:

On the nose I get apples, some star fruit and some cardboard. The acidity hits in from the beginning in the mouth which is nice. You feel there is some residual sugar there. Apples and ripe tropical fruit with some hints of minerality. 85 points

It's hard to pinpoint what makes me not like this wine that much. There is something about the fruit flavour, but it is also a tad boring. That said, I expected a lot worse. I was worried it would be overripe and lacking acidity, but that wasn't the case. It is a well made wine, but as mentioned, a bit boring.

2010 Innocent Bystander Chardonnay

Innocent Bystander is a winery established in 2004. The winery does not have its own vineyards but sources the grapes mainly from vineyards throughout the Yarra Valley in Australia. Yarra Valley refers to the upper regions surrounding the Yarra river in Victoria Australia. It is known to have a cooler climate than many of the other wine producing regions in Australia.

The 2010 Innocent Bystander Chardonnay has 13% alcohol and 1.5 g/l sugar. It has been stored 8 months on french oak barrels.

Tasting note for the 2010 Innocent Bystander Chardonnay:

Disclaimer: This wine was tasted at 7.30 am, so there is a chance that my palate was a bit oversensitive.

I get apples, butter popcorn and a bit alcohol on the back end of the nose. The mouthfeel is ok with green apples and citrus. The finnish is not ok with oak and bitterness. 82 points

The finnish is what I really don't like about this wine. The oak is there, but it's not what's bothering me the most, although it isn't very well integrated. The problem is that there is such bitterness to the finnish. The acidity has been replaced with a very bitter finnish.

2008 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

If somebody forced me to choose a desert island wine right now, I'd choose Riesling. On friday I had sushi, and to me, the wine is then given => Riesling with some residual sugar.

Markus Molitor is one of my go-to producers when it comes to sweet Riesling wines. This is a Mosel producer (although 4.5 hectares of 38 hectares of vineyards are in the Saar region) with wines with great quality and very reasonable prices. Molitor focuses on Riesling (95%), but also has 3% Spätburgunder and 2% Weißburgunder.

The grapes from the 2008 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett comes partly from over 80 years old ungrafted vines. The grapes were harvested in the beginning of November. The residual sugar in this wine is 64.5 g/l, the acidity is 7.3 g/l and the alcohol is 7.5%.

Tasting note for the 2008 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett:

On the nose I get some green apples and tropical fruit, but it is a bit aromatically challanged. On the palate I get pear and apples. The minerality dominates the fininsh and it has ok length. The wine is balanced out with good acidity. 89 points

This is a great wine considering the price point. It delivers nice fruit and good acidity and was a great match with sushi. I popped and poured it. It is worth mentioning that after a couple of hours after opening the bottle, the petrol characters took over the show. I think this wine is a drink now if you are not a big fan of petrol notes in Riesling. 

My recent wine purchases 2.0

So, last time i did this post I wrote that I wanted to buy more wine from Burgundy, Bordeaux and California. I thought it would be fun now to see if I have been able to follow my plan. It sounds like it should be no problem, but it's actually a bit tricky. Because when you follow all releases and what all blogger and wine critics wright about, wines show up that I really feel I need to buy even though there not what I had planned on buying.

The wines I list are only the wines that are meant to be put away in my cellar. I buy wine all the time, but many of them are opened within a week after purchase. So here are my most recent wine purchases:

• 2011 Weingut Keller Westhofener Kirchspiel Riesling Grosses Gewächs (3 btls)
• 2005 Chateau La Fleur Petrus (3 btls)
• 2007 Vieux Chateaux Certan La Gravette de Certan (4 btls)
• 2010 Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Champans (3 btls)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my recent purchases. 2 wines from Bordeaux, 1 from Germany and 1 from Burgundy. I'd like to buy more that 3-4 bottles of each wine, but these recent ones have been pretty expensive wines for my bank account, so I've had to moderate my self.





If you who read this have any wines i need to buy, please leave a comment. I appreciate any tips I can get.

2009 Charles Audoin Marsannay Clos du Roy

The 2009 vintage in Burgundy is to some degree a vintage that divides the Burgundy fans. For those who like the more fruit forward, riper style Burgs, the 2009 is a great vintage. For those who like the more classical Burgs, the 2010 is a classic vintage. Personally, I have found some great wines in 2009, but believe the 2010 is more my cup of tea.

The Marsannay wines from Charles Audoin is a bit of a value play. There are no premier or grand cru's in Marsannay and that is perhaps one of the reasons why the prices are very attractive. There are some rumours that the best vineyards in Marsannay will get premier cru status. This would surely increase the prices, so you better buy these wines before that happens.

Tasting note for the 2009 Charles Audoin Marsannay Clos du Roy

Powerfull nose with ripe, red fruit and some earth tones. Very good , ripe raspberries on the palate with some floral notes. Clean. The raspberries continue on the finnish but is joined by some earthy notes and a nice, crisp acidity. Balanced wine, and approachable tannins. 90+ points

This is such a great wine. It is not overly complex, but it's so delicious. This is a textbook 90 point wine on paper. The delicious factor though makes it push the 91 point mark. The wine will probably last for some more year, but it is drinking so well right now that I'll have a hard time not pounding the rest of the bottles in my celllar in the months to come.

2006 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf du Pape

Chateauneuf du Pape is a wine region within the Southern Rhone in France. There is prouced both white and red wines in the area, but the majority of wines are red. In total, the wines from this region can be based on a total of 18 different grape varietals, although the predominant grape is Grenache. Personally, I tend to find the reds from Chateauneuf du Pape to be a bit unbalanced with over ripened fruit and to high alcohol. But when you find the good ones, they can trully be great.

The 2006 vintage in Chateauneuf du Pape is by Robert Parker ranked as a 90 point vintage, which is not as high as the 2005, 2007 and 2010 cintage. When it comes to this area, that may not be a bad sign. Parker scores the ripe, hot vintages high, but when it comes to Chateauneuf du Pape with their big, alcoholic wines, those are the vintages that I actually want to stay away from.

Tasting note for the 2006 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf du Pape

Nice red fruit, pepper and plum on the palate. I also get some mandarine and dirt flavours. The initial mouthfeel is promising, but the finish just ruins this wine. To me, the alcohol is so unbalanced on the finnish. It tastes like a vodka & wine drink. 83 points

I have always thougth I was pretty tolerant when it comes to alcohol in wines, but this was just too much. It looks as though I'm in a major minority though. Stephen Tanzer gave this a 94 points, Wine Spectator a 93 and Robert Parker 91 points. No scores on cellartracker are below 88 points. It might have been that the bottle wasn't an optimal one, but I don't think it was flawed.

2009 Chateau Mercier Cuvée Traditionnelle

It's autumn and it's getting colder and darker. You can't find a better excuse from drinking some red vino. The chosen one for the occasion is a cheap Bordeaux from the 2009 vintage. Chateau Mercier is an estate on the right bank, situated in the Côtes de Bourg appelation. The 2009 Chateau Mercier Cuvée Traditionnelle is a blend of 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. The label on the bottle says there is 14,5% alcohol.

Tasting note for the 2009 Chateau Mercier Cuvée Traditionnelle

The nose is dominated by dark cherries and blackberries. I also feel some alcohol comming through on the nose. The palate offers dark cherries, blackberries and some dry plum. The finnish has a decent length with a very dominate vegetal tone and some heat on the back end. 85 points

This isn't a bad Bordeaux considering the price,  but the vegetal component on the end is what really takes this down from a 88-89 point wine to a 85 point wine for me.

Btw, I threw away the bottle of 2009 Couly-Dutheil la Baronnie Madeleine Chinon last night. It had been standing on my kitchen counter over the night. I took a last sip of the wine and the vegetal notes were more integrated and not bothering.. It had actually developed into a nice wine. I have some more of the wine in my cellar. Maybe I should give them 5 years and see how they turn out?