2007 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo

Marchesi di Barolo has a long and rich history, including being the first estate in Italy to produce a red wine in a dry style. They are located in the small town named Barolo in the Piedmont region.

They are a large producer producing both Nebbiolo based Barolo and Barbaresco wines, together with some Barbera, Dolcetto, Roero, Arneis, Moscato etc. based wines (all typical grapes in Piedmont). The grapes are gathered from their more than 100 hectares of vineyards.

Personally I don't rank Marckesi di Barolo as one of the top producers in Piedmont, but they do make stellar wines.

Tasting note on the 2007 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo

The wine has a meaty nose with some underlying tar. Meaty body, with red fruit, floral notes and some underlying tar. The finnish lets loose some great sour cherries, acidity and the tar gets more concentrated. You get some 2007 ripe fruit, which is typical for the vintage, but it's balanced. 89 points

This is not a Barolo you need to cellar for decades. It showed well right out of the bottle and has soft tannins. It has the characteristics that i look for in a Barolo, but just in a basic way. To me, this is a good standard Barolo. Not mind blowing, but very enjoyable.

2009 Gonon Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph is a wine appellation within the Northern Rhone region of France. In terms of area covered by vines, the Saint Joseph appellation is the second largest appellation in Northern Rhone, Crozes-Hermitage being the largest. Saint Joseph primarily produce red wine based on the syrah grape, but according to the AOC laws there can be up to 10% white wine grapes in the blend (Roussanne and Marsanne).

Tasting note on the 2009 Gonon Saint Joseph

The colour is dark red, almost blue/purple  on the edges. The nose is a bit aromatically challenged.

The fruit is lean. The wine has a very nice acidity. Blueberries, black currants and sour cherries. There is also some of the typical Syrah pepper notes. Jammy fruit, but the fruit is still lean and fresh, thus keeping a nice balance.

Sour cherries on the finnish with a decent amount of tannins that are firm, but approachable. Some dirt and herbs there as well. Good length. 91 points

This is very good Syrah juice. It's primary, but it's deliciuos.

2001 Lopez de Heredia Rioja Vina Tondonia Reserva

Lopez de Heredia is one of the legendary producers from Rioja in Spain. They are known for their traditional Rioja wine making style. The winery has a total of 170 hectares of vineyards in Rioja, divided into 4 different vineyars; Tondonia, Cubillo, Bosconia and Gravonia. The largest and also the most famous is the Tondonia vineyard, The vineyard is 70 hectares.

The 2001 Vina Tondonia is from a legendary vintage in Rioja. After 2000, this is by far the best vintage. In my opinion the next best is the 2004. The 2001 wine consists of a blend of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacho, 10% Graciano and Mazuelo.The alcohol level on this wine is 13%.

Tasting note on the 2001 Lopez de Heredia Rioja Vina Tondonia Reserva

The nose offers strawberries, vanilla and spices. The palate follows up the nose. Strawberries, vanilla, spices. The finnish offers some additional sour cherries. The palate is meaty and juicy. 89 points

This is a good wine, but I was underwhelmed. It disappointed me a bit. It was very pleasent, but bored me a bit, thus the short tasting note. It's hard to explain, but the best way is probably that there wasn't any wow factor there.

2009 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

Joh. Jos. Prüm is one of the stars of the Mosel region in Germany. The estate was split up in 1920 when the S.A. Prüm winery was established. Today the winery holds 14 acres of vineyards in Mosel. The vineyards in their portfoloi are; Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich, Bernkasteler Lay, Bernkasteler Badstube and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. Depending on the vintage, the winery produces between 10,000 and 13,000 cases of wine each year. All wines are 100% Riesling based.

I find German Rieslings facinating. The kabinett wines from J.J. Prüm are ment to be on the lower end of the quality range, but this is a wine from probably the best vineyard in all of Mosel. It is also a wine from one of the best producers in Mosel. You can get all this, from a good vintage, for only $25. I find it amazing.

Tasting note on the 2009 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

A very fruity palate on this wine. Their is just peaches for days on the palate, mixed in with some white flowers. (I do not know that well what white flowers taste like but it has a floral taste and it feels more white than red, if that makes any sense) There is also some petrol notes on the palate, but not over the top. The wine is very  focused and has good transitions all the way through.

It does not have the 2010 type of acidity, but that is fine. It has acidity enough to balance things out and it is nicely integrated. I should also comment that the wine is a bit spritzy, and that works quite well for this wine. 91 points

This is a perfect "summer on the porch" kind of wine. If you, as me, prefer the petrol notes to be subtle I would recommend drinking it within the first 2-3 hours after opening the bottle. After that the petrol notes took over too much for my palate.

2008 Produttori del Barebaresco Barbaresco

It's not long ago i posten a tasting note on the 2007 Produttori del Barebaresco Mucagota Riserva. That was one of the single vineyard riservas from the coop. This time i decided to taste the standard Barbaresco from 2008, which I have read good thins about. PdB did also produce Riserva's in 2008, but the standard Barbaresco usually offers some good value even in these vintages.

Tasting note on the 2008 Produttori del Barebaresco Barbaresco

I'll divide this tasting note into 3 stages:
1. After 2 hours of decanting
2. After 4 hours of decanting
3. Half of the bottle left in the fridge over night with the cork

Stage 1:
Floral, plum, dried fruit. The fruit and florality is a bit massive. The notes continue on to the finnish, but now with an underlying tar component that I only get on the finnish. Dry, pretty big tannins. The wine is approachable, but should benefit from more air.

Stage 2:
Initial attack of red fruit, then overtaken by florality before a nice potion of sour cherries. The fruit is a bit more balanced and leaner than in stage 1. Again the finnish is floral with the underlying tar component.

Stage 3:
Even more leaner fruit and more sour cherries. It's facinating to see how the sour cherry notes need air to show. Still dry tannins, but rounder than on the first day. There is also a nutty component on the finnish now. 90 points

2005 Chateau Musar

I've posted a TN on a Musar earlier, but then it was the 2004 Chateau Musar Hochar Père et Fils. Now it was time to try the big brother, the Chateau Musar.

Tasting note on the 2005 Chateau Musar

Straight out of the bottle the nose shows strawberry, cigar and plum on the nose. The palate is dominated by cigar and leather, with some undelying flavours of fruit.

After 2 hours of decanting this wine starts to really show. The palate has changes from being dominated by the cigar and leather to being dominated by fruit and floral notes. The cigar, leather and earth is now the underlying notes, which is the way i prefer it. To me, this comes cross as a Nebbiolo at times. Dried fruit, rose pedals, cigar and leather. 91 points

This is a wine with good complexity. It needs some time in a decanter to really shine, but given that, it is approachable now. Given the price point that this wine can be found at, I would say it's a really good QPR.

2010 Joseph Drouhin Gevrey Chambertin

It's been way too long since I posted the last tasting note on here. I'm so sorry for that. My wine consuption goes up and down, meaning that I don't always taste a lot of wine each week. In addition to that, work and other stuff can also get in the way. All those factors combined, do cause me to not updating this blog as often as I want to.

I thought I'd start my "comeback" right where I left off, with a 2010 Joseph Drouhin. Last time we went for the 2010 Joseph Drouhin Santenay, this time I took it a step ut to the Gevrey Chambertin village. I've read somwhere that this has some 1er cru juice in it, so my expectations where kindof on the high side.

Tasting note on the 2010 Joseph Drouhin Gevrey Chambertin

The first couple zips: More ripe fruit than expected. Sweet strawberry, floral notes and minerality.The mid palate is a bit on the flabby side. Ends with some good soureness, plum and minerality. Quite long.

After some air the soureness takes over. The fruit gets leaner and the baby fat has blown away, but the soureness of the finnish is way over the top and unbalaned for me.

With even more air the body fleshes out. It gets more meaty. The finnish is still a bit overthetop sour and some stilky tannins.

After a day in the fridge the wine has developed further. It's is now very jammy, both red and dark fruit. The soureness is better integrated. It's very smooth. Perhaps a tad on the jammy side for me, but very deliciuos. Lacks some charachter though. 89 pionts

2010 Joseph Drouhin Santenay

I keep digging into the Burgundy wines from 2009 and 2010. This time, I found a cheap bottle of 2010 Pinot at my local store from Joseph Drouhin. Joseph Drouhin is one of the largest producers of red wine in Burgundy. The estate has a total of 73 hectares of vineyards. The breakdown is as follows:

• Chablis: 38 hectares
• Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune: 32 hectares
• Côte Chalonnaise: 3 hactares

For some of their village and regional wines, Drouhin buys grapes from other producers.

Tasting note on the 2010 Joseph Drouhin Santenay

Some ripe plum and cardboard on the nose. The first attack brings some sour raspberries and cherries. Ripe fruit, some minerality and iron feel. Plum and cherries on the finnish. There is also some unbalanced sourness and greeness on the back end.  
It is not a bad wine, it's just not very exciting. The mid palate is hollow, the fruit is a bit too ripe for me and their isn't much complexity to talk about. The wine though is very servicable, has some of the Pinot characteristics and has a nice acidity. A decent weekday wine.
86 points

2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Muncagota Riserva

Produttori del Barbaresco is one of the few great cooperatives in the wine world. It has 56 members and a total of 250 acres of Nebbiolo planted vineyards in Barbaresco. The coop produces only wines from the Nebbiolo grape, and the average total number of bottles produced each year is 420,000. In good vintages the wines are divided into the standard Barbaresco (40%), single vineyard Barbaresco riservas (40%) and the Nebbiolo Langhe (20%). In off vintages they only produce the standard Barbaresco and the Nebbiolo Langhe.The nine single vineyards produced in good vintages are: Asili, Rabaja, Pora, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajé, Montefico, Muncagota (Moccagata) and Rio Sordo.

Tasting note on the 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Muncagota Riserva

The colour is light red. The nose is really singing. Huge amount of cherries, but there is also some floral notes, dirt and licquorice. Very promising nose.

On the palate; strawberries, rocks soily and plum. I use the soily description from time to time, but this is real dirt. Not in a bad way though. Very interesting. Feels like I took a handfull of soil and put it in my mouth, and I love it.  The finnish is dry, starting off with sour cherries, then a leather component is added before it get's more mineral. At the end it gets dark. The wine has a very good acidity

This wine is very good, but I get the feeling it's holding a bit back. This should have potential to get better. It might be that it's getting into a dumb phase. 92 points

2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec

Domaine Huet is the star of Vouvray, and for me even the star of white Loire. The domaine was established in 1928 by Voctor Huet and his son Gaston. Today they have a total of 35 hectares of vineyards within the Vouvray appellation. The three major vinyeards account for 23 hectares, the vineyards being Le Haut Lieu, Le Clos de Bourg and Le Mont.

The Le Mont vineyard was acqured by Gaston Huet in 1957 and consists today of 6 hectares of vines. The vineyard is stony with green clay and much slicium. This tends to give an elegant wine with floral notes.

Tasting note on the 2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec

It's not often I comment the colour, but this wine has such a beautiful golden, but not too dark yellow colour. The nose is very aromatic with lemon, frass, dusty minerality and floral notes.
Very good mouthfeel. A perfect balance between weight and freshness. I get apples, citrus, minerality and peaches. The finnish is very long and starts off with a heavy amount of minerality, then the finnish creams out into creamy fruit and honey balanced out with a beautiful acidity. It feels a bit sweet but while being dry. On the tail i pick up some baked apples and cinamon. 94 points

This is by far the best white wine I have posted a tasting note for on this blog. It has such a good weight, complexity and balance. It's drinking so nicely right now, but can probably last for another 20 to 30 years. Given the price, this is a great QPR and a must have for anyone who likes wine.

2007 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino is a DOCG appellation within the Italian wine region of Tuscany. The vineyards of the appellation surrounds the town of Montalcino. Geographically, Montalcino lies about 120 km south of Tuscany. In the early days it was believed that the grapes produced within the appelation was a individual grape variety called Brunello, but in 1879 it was determined that the grapes were in fact Sangiovese. To be able to call the wine a Brunello di Montalcino today, the wine must consist of 100% Sangiovese grapes and all grapes must be grown in the Brunello di Montalcino appellation.

Castello Banfi is one of the big producers of Brunello di Montalcino wines. They have a wide distribution, so there is a good chance you'll see a Banfi at your local wine shop. They produce a total of 15 different wines. The Brunello di Montalcino is their basic Brunello. THey have 170 hectares of vineyards devoted to the wine.

Tasting note on the 2007 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino

The nose shows lot's of florality, cherries and some licquorice.  Blackcurrants, cherries, earthiness, chocolate on the palate. A medium plus palate where the fruit is quite ripe. Blueberry, some stemmy tannins and dry finnish. Decent length. With little air, the wine opens up and the florality takes over. The wine is so floral. Big floral notes. The fruit gets more dried out as well. It is young, ripe and big. Lacks some balance and freshness. 89 points

Saved 1/3 of the wine in the decanter and let it stay in room temprature for 3 days. The wine has now calmed down, but it's not gone. Red and dark berries on the nose. More light to medium bodied. Some cherries, cigar and dried plum on the finnish. Quite long. A more wine for my palate at this stage, but still 89 points if I was to score it at this stage and in an objective manner.

This wine has scored big with some of the wine critics. Sucking gave it 94, Wine Enthusiast 92 and TWA gave it 91 points. It's not that suprising. I think these critics tend to like the bigger, riper style more than I do.

2011 Desvignes Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre

I read a thread on the Wine Berserkers forum with the topic being "Which vineyard do you like so much that you will buy irrespective of producer?". Someone their suggested the Montée de Tonnerre, a premier cru vineyard in Chablis.

It is an interesting suggestion. The Montée de Tonnerre is a vineyard with the potential of producing grand cru quality wines. The vineyard lies southeast of all the grand cru vineyards in Chablis and shares much of the same soil.

I thought it would be interesting to take it to the test. So I went to my local wine shop and bought the cheapest Montée de Tonnerre I could find. The result, a Montée de Tonnerre produced by Desvignes Aine & Fils. I have little knowledge about the producer, and it's hard to find much on the world wide web. So this wine must just speak for itself.

Tasting note on the 2011 Desvignes Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre

The wine was opened and then put in the fridge for about an hour. The first glass showed a a mouthwatering and pleasent mouthfeel with apple, pear and citrus. The finnish had nice minerality (chalky) and acidity. Good length. After a while, when the wine got a bit warmer, the wine showed more of it's true colours. The crispness goes away and the oak shows. The wine looses some of it's pleasure factor, and becomes a decent wine with a bit too much oak showing. 86 points 

This was an interesting experiment. It is so easy to get fooled by a cold white wine. The temprature masks over all the flaws and just increases the pleasure. This isn't a great wine, but it works very well if served cold.

Going back to the reason why I bought the wine, are all wines from Montée de Tonnerre worth buying? My answer, after trying this, would be no. The wine from Desvignes is on the low side of 1er cru's from Chablis in terms of price, but you do not have to pay much more for better 1er cru wines.

2008 Schug Carneros Pinot Noir

Picked up this bottle from my local wine store yesterday. I love picking up random American wine. It's like rolling the dice. It could either be a great wine or it could be a fake, overoaked fruit bomb. Reading the back label before opening the wine was very promising. It says " The Schug familly is dedicated to producing wine in the European style".

Don't get me wrong, I am all for terroir. I do not want California wines to taste like Bordeaux. But to me, over oaked and over extracted wines is not the terroir from California.

Tasting note on the 2008 Schug Carneros Pinot Noir

The nose shows oak, ripe fruit and a note that to me can best be described as a soapy character. One thing is to say about this wine, and that is that the palate sure follows up on the nose. It's to me very oaky, soapy and with ripe fruit. The finnish is quite long, but has some green cherries and burnt rubber. This is Soap Wood City USA. 81 points

After tasting a wine I don't like I am always excited to look on cellartracker to see what other think of it. This wine has a 87.4 average score, one has even scored this wine 93. There is one who has scored it 75 though, I think my palate is more in line with her/him. So, this is just one of those wines you either hate or love. I didn't like it at all. Not the worst wine ever, but there is so much wine out there that tastes better.

2008 Domaine Cyrot Buthiau Volnay

This is a wine I can't remember buying. I have never heard of the producer before, and buying a village Volnay from an unknown producer is risky. But it is also a lot of fun.

The domaine has 35.6 hectares of vineyards in Burgundy. They produce 11 different wines:Cremant de Bourgogne, Meursault, Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Volnay, Pommard, Pommard le 19Vingt, Santenay 1er Cru Clos Rousseau, Maranges 1er Cru les Clos Roussots, Pommard 1er cru les Charmots, Pommard 1er cru la Chaniere and Pommard 1er cru les Arvelets.

 Tasting note on the 2008 Domaine Cyrot Buthiau Volnay

The nose gives signs that the wine is open for business. Not extremely complex nose, but there are som red fruit notes. Also a int of swimming pool.

After little air: The mid palate is thin. There are som floral notes along with some watered out raspberry / strawberry flavours. The finnish offers some plum, dry tannins and sour cherries. The sturcture is decent, except from the hollow mid palate, but it's a bit thin and lacking complexity.

With more air it gains a bit weight, but the mid palate continues to be thin and having some hollow points. The finnish has stemmy tannins and sourness, but also some leather and earthiness. 87 points

I like lean fruit and balance, but there is a difference between lean and thin. This is a decent wine and very drinkable / serviceable. It wouldn't bother me to drink this wine a bit chilled on a summer evening. Actually, I could see that working well. That said, you can find better wine than this outside Burgundy for a lower price.

2010 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Silberlack Erstes Gewächs

Schloss Johannisberg is one of the most famous producers of Riesling in Germany. I haven't been interested in wine for so long so I wasn't into wine at the time where Schloss Johannisberg ruled the Riesling world. In recent years, the winery has been passed both in terms of quality and attention by several other Riesling producers.

The Erstes Gewächs is a designation only used in Rheingau for top level dry Riesling. It is the same as the Grosses Gewächs that other regions in Germany usen, and is the equivalent of first growth.

Tasting note on the 2010 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Silberlack Erstes Gewächs

The nose shows orange peel, citrus, tropical fruit and rubber. On the initial attack and the mid palate I feel a touch of residual sugar, even though this is a dry wine. I get som pineapple and some green apples. The finnish is dry with a nice acidity, minerality and some greeness, but there are some hollow points in the finnish. 89 points

For a Erstes Gewächs, this is a bit disappointing. It's a good wine, but not that much better than a standard trocken from many producers in Germany. It lacks some concentration.

2007 Burlotto Barolo Movigliero

Comm. G. B. Burlotto has 30 acres of vineyards in Piedmont, 24 acreas in Verduno and the remaining 6 acres in Barolo and Roddi. The vines vary from 45 years old in the Monvigliero vineyard to the youngest being planted in 2003. Half of the 30 acres are planted with Nebbiolo while the rest Cannubi. Barbera, Dolcetto, Pelverga piccolo, Sauvignon blanc and Freisa. In total, Burlotto produces 60 000 bottles of wine per year.

The Barolo Monvigliero from Burlotto is one of their star bottlings. They produce 5 to 6 000 bottles of this wine each year. It is a single vineyard Barolo from the Monvigliero vineyard in Verduno. Burlotto has a 2 acre plot in this vineyard.

Tasting note on the 2007 Burlotto Barolo Movigliero:

A very pleasent and elegant nose with strawberies, floral notes and cherries. Ripe fruit.

The palate shows strawberry jam, rose pedals, cherries. A floral finnish with some cherries, soil, leather and licquorice. Firm tannins. The finnish has good length with the sour cherries kingering on the palate for a long time.

This is a typical 2007. It drinks so well right now and didn't need much decanting either. The fruit is ripe, but not over ripe. There is balance and elegance all the way in this wine.
93 points

2009 Seresin Leah Pinot Noir

I have been in a Burgundy Pinot zone lately, and I've been loving it. But it's always fun to mix it up a little so I started researching what wine I would like to try a new world Pinot. I've heard good things about what New Zealand does with the Pinot grape, so that was the region I focused on. The result of search was the 2009 Seresin Leah Pinot Noir.

On paper this looks like an incredible qpr. Jamie Goode from the wineanorak.com gave it 94 points, Wine Spectator gave it 93, Stephen Tanzer 91 and Lisa Perotti-Brown from the Wine Advocate gave it 89 points. These scores combined with the wine being a Pinot Noir and a price tag below $30 is something you rarely see.

Micheal Seresin moved to Italy in the 1960's. There he developed an interest for food and wine. In the 1990's he started to look for opportunities to start a winery in Italy, but became aware of the wine making development in his home country New Zealand, and decided to move to Marlborough and start a winery. The first vintage for Seresin was in 2000.

Today, Seresin produces 19 different wines. The Seresin website says this about the vineyard where the Leah Pinot Noir is made: "The fruit comes from our clay rich hillside Raupo Creek vineyard, the alluvial shingles of our Tatou vineyard and the Home vineyard, which is made up of a variety of Waimakariri type soils of alluvial origin. Eight different parcels were hand-picked between April 2 and April 19."

 Tasting note on the 2009 Seresin Leah Pinot Noir

This is a fruit forward wine with ripe raspberry jam, sour cherries, plum and spices. The finnish has fruit jam and spices mixed with sour cherries, but lack a bit length. The fruit is ripe and sweet, but the wine is kept in balance with some very nice sour cherries. Too me, the sourness of this wine is the best part. 88 points

This is a nice new world Pinot Noir. It has the Pinot fruit that I love. It doesn't have the Burgundy elegance or complexity, but that is fine. The fruit is a bit on too much on the ripe side for me, it gets a hair sweet for my palate. But the sour cherries really save and make this wine. For the price, this is a really nice Tuesday wine.

2010 Chasse Spleen Blanc

This is a rarity that I've been able to get 3 bootles of. Chasse Spleen is a well knowned Bordeaux producer, but that is for their red wines. But they do produce a very small amount of white as well. To put things in perspective, of the 113 ha vineyards that Chasse Splees controll, only 2 ha is used for its white wines.

Tasting note on the 2010 Chasse Spleen Blanc

Good nose with goog intensity. Green apples, minerality and some oak notes. The palate is so crisp and clean and bone dry. Lovely citrus flavours dominated by lemon. There is also some tropical fruits here. But if the citrus is one of the major flavours here, the other one is the minerality. It's not only on the finnish, it's from start to end, but changing its profile along the way from start to finnish.
There is some oak, but the oak in this wine works in the way that oak should do on wine. It adds some weight and complexity without making the wine too fat or too oaky. The acidity plays a major part in balancing the wine out in a lovely way. Beautiful acidity.
I pick up a very interesting flavour profile on the end as well. Where I come from, we have a Candy called Lakrisal, which is a candy with tastes of licquorice and ammonium chloride. The tail of the finnish tastes very much like this candy.
91 points

2008 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco

I did a tasting note on the 2007 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco not that long ago which I liked very much. The great thing about that wine was how accessible and elegant it was even at its young age. That is not always the case for Barolos, but is one of the things that I like about the 2007 vintage in Piedmont. Given my experience with the 07 I was superexcited to try the 08 version.

Tasting note on the 2008 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco

Promising nose with floral notes, liquorice, dry plum and some oak On the palate, after little air, it shows a darker side than the 2007 version. There is leather, tar, rosepedals, dry plum. The tannins are big and dry and not too well integrated. Good length

I had to give the rest of the wine a couple of hours in decanter and the mouthfel got better. Roses, dried fruit and minerality. Finishes with roses and chocolate. It opens up a bit, shows more fruit and elegance. The tannins are still big, but havee gotten a bit smoother. If you have some of these wines in the cellar I would wait until 2017 before I open the next one. 90 points after some air

Given time to develop, I do think this wine can come up to the level of the 2007. I do not agree with Antonio Galloni who says this about the 2008 "The 2008 Barolo Marcenasco is a pretty, up-front Barolo that is best enjoyed for its exuberant, open personality." "With time in the glass the wine shows signs of increasing finesse, but I would still suggest drinking it sooner rather than later. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2018". I have to say I agree more with The International Wine Cellar which writes "Distinctly younger today than the 2007 version and tighter on the back end, with somewhat tougher tannins. This will need patience."

My recent wine purchases 3.0

So, now it's time for a new update on recent wines I have bought. These lists does not include daily drinkers that I buy for immediate consumption. Last time I did the list I had bught several Bordeaux's and some Burgundy. Since then I've been drinking alot of Burgundy from the 2009 and 2010 vintage, and I'm loving it. My wine purchases recently is a reflection of this.

•  2010 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru les Vaucrains (4 btls)
• 2009 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes (4 btls)
• 2008 J.F. Mugnier Nuits St. Georges Clos des Fourches (5 btls)
• 2010 Domaine Taupenot Merme Gevrey Chambertin (3 btls)
• 2009 Chasse Spleen Blanc (3 btls)

I still feel the need to fill my celler with more Burgundy from 2009 and 2010. They are so good and will give me pleasure in many years to come. I'm also excited to try the Chasse Spleen Blanc. Have limited experience with white Bordeaux. I hope I can post a tasting note on that wine soon.

2010 Charles Audoin Gevrey Chambertin

I have previously posted a tasting note on the 2009 Charles Audoin Marsannay Clos du Roy.Now it was time for the same producer, but new vintage and new appellation, the Gevrey Chambertin.

The domaine is most knowned for its Marsannay wines. Of the total of 9 red wines that Audoin makes, 6 of them are Marsannay, 2 are Fixin and just one is Gevrey Chambertin.

Tasting note on the 2010 Charles Audoin Gevrey Chambertin

The wine has a typical Pinot colour and the same goes for the nose, where I find floral notes, raspberries and minerality. A very pleasent nose.
While the nose is red fruit, the palate is more on the darker side. I get plum, soil but also some red cherries. The finnish has a very clean cut acidity, smal red cherries, pepper and a flinty minerality.

With more air the initial mouthfeel changes. I get nice strawberry and raspberry jam. Not the artificial kind, but the home made style. The finnish stays the same, but adds perhaps an even more gripping acidity. 90 points

 

2008 Mugnier Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Fourches

The Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier has a very long history in Burgundy, but at the same time it is relatively young. In 1950 the domaine decided to contract out the vineyeards in Chambolle to Faiveley (to 1977) and later selling the vines in bulk to Bruno Clair (to 1984). In 1985 Frédéric Mugnier took over and started focusing on producing its own wines from the Chambolle vineyards.

In 2004 the domaine also took back its Nuits St Georges Clos de la Maréchale vineyard, which had been on lease to Faiveley since 1950. This is actually the vineyard from where the Clos des Fourches is produced. The name is actually the old name for the Clos de la Maréchale vineyard. In certain vintages Domaine Mugnier produces the Fourches from the young vines.

The wine is labeled as a village wine, but since the grapes comes from the premier cru vineyard of Clos de la Maréchale this is actually a premier cru wine.

Tasting note on the 2008 Mugnier Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Fourches

The nose is not giving much away. The wine shows some dark. but subtle fruit on the palate. There is also some nice, chalky minerality. The finnish has some red cherries, plum and dirt. Not rated 

The wine has good structure and a nice mouthfell, but it just lack fruit. There is very little fruit at all. From the texture of the wine I really hope that this wine is in a phase of shut down. If you have some bottles in your cellar, my recommendation is that you let them be there for some years and hope it opens up again.

2010 Ridge Estate Chardonnay

I tasted a Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon not that long ago and I posted the tasting note on this blog. Due to the fact that I really liked the cab, I kindof had some hope for their Chardonnay as well. In general, I have not had a lot of California Chardonnays that I have really liked. They do tend to be a bit heavy on the palate for me in general, and don't get me started on the masochistic use  of new oak.

In 2010, Ridge did not make a Monte Bello Chardonnay as well. This means that all the good juice went into their redular Chardonnay. According to their website, the wine has seen 10% new, 11% one year old, 15% two year old, 64% three and four year old oak. 88% air dried american oak, 12% french oak.

 Tasting note for the 2010 Ridge Estate Chardonnay

 The nose is somewhat toned down and I don't get much. This might be more due to the fact that I gave it little air before tasting the wine than this wine really being aromatically challenged. On the palate I get apples, spicy flavours, citrus and vanilla. The wine has almost an oily texture on the palate. Heavy. The finnish has almost a red Burgundy component to it. There are som red cherry flavours here. Then the finnish turns into minerals and apples. Nice length and good acidity. The oak is there, but it's nicely integrated. 89 points

This Chardonnay is a bit too far on the heavy side for my palate. I like them a bit crispen and leaner. That said, I can really see some people loving it. It has some cool fruit flavours and nice acidity.

2010 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel

 After drinking and posting a lot of old world, and specifically Burgundy wines, I thought it was time again to try a wine that is a bit out of my comfort zone. Zinfandel is not my go to wine grape variatal because they tend to be a bit over the top for my palate, but I've had some that pleases me.

Tasting note on the 2010 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel:

The nose is loaded with fruit candy and chocolate. The fruit goes towards blackberries, blueberries, but there is also some red cherries here. Actually a better nose than expected. Quite attractive. The wine is full bodied. There is dark fruit and blueberry, leather, chocolate on the palate. The fruit on the palate has a good, fresh feel to it. This is for me important to balance the wine out. It isn't as ripe as many Zinfandels tend to be. On the finnish though, the alcohol starts to show and is bothering me. It's not integrated at all. I also do feel some oak here, but the alcohol is the one thing that stands out on the finnish. 84 points 

This wine really had much going for it. It's got deliciuos fresh fruit and it has a good front and mid palate. It is so sad that the alcohol comes and ruins this experience on the end.

I really had a har time scoring this wine. If I would score this wine based on the nose, the front and mid palate I would have been in the 88-90 point range. If I'd score this based on the finnish it would have been in the 75-78 point range. So I ended up scoring the wine somewhere in between.

The interesting thin here is that when i do some research on the wine I find different alcohol percentages listed. On the back of my bottle it said 15.2%, on my local wine stores website it's listed with 15.5% and on wine.com they say 14%. Perhaps there are different bottlings of the wine. I do believe that in the bottle I had, there alchol must have been 15%+. If it had been at 14%, I think the score would have been much higher.

if you have a higher tolerance for alcohol than me, this is probably a wine you could like. I would though recommend you put it a way in your cellar for at least 3-5 year for optimal drinking. There is some roughness to the tannins on the back end here.

2009 Bruno Clair Marsannay

Bruno Clair founded his domaine in 1979. Back then the domaine had plots in Marsannay, Fixin, Savigny-les-Beaune and Morey-St-Denis. The domaine has grown since then and added plots in Clos de Bèze, Cazetiers, Clos St-Jacques, Vosne-Romanée, Clos du Fonteny and Chambolle-Musigny, Corton-Charlemagne, Pernand-Vergelesses,Aloxe-Corton and Gevrey-Chambertin Petite Chapelle.

Today Domaine Bruno Clair has 23 hectares of vineyards, making a total of 22 different wines.

According to the Domaine's website, Les Roseys, les Boivins, les Étalles and some small plots are vinified together to produce the domaine's red Marsannay.

Tasting note on the 2009 Bruno Clair Marsannay

The bottle was popped and poured straight from the cellar, thus this wine was a bit too cold wine was a bit cold in the beginning.

With litttle air I got a very nice, typical Pinot nose. Even I would've probably been able to gues that this was a Pinot just from the nose. You get florals and the typical ripeness of the red fruit that you will often find in the 2009s, but not too ripe. The mouthfeel is fresh and light. I get strawberries, flaroals and some steeliness. Crisp.

With some air, and the temprature rising, the fruit turns more dark. I get more plum, but there is also some cranberries and forrest floor components. Good tannins on the back end, but well integrated. The finnish is a bit short. One of the best things about this wine is the acidity. It is mouthwatering and keeping this wine in good balance. 89+ points

When i read my own notes, I kindof don't understand why I didn't score this more than 89 points. But even though I pick up different flavours and there is a good acidity to this wine, there is just something lacking. Don't get me wrong, this is a very pleasent and delicious wine, but it is a bit basic. It isn't overly complex and the finnish is a bit short.

That said, given the price of this wine, and that it is a Bourgogne, this is a great value. I think you can give it can have the potential to develop for 3 more years, but it's not a crime drinking this right now.

2010 Weingut Keller Riesling von der Fels

Klaus Peter Keller is a Riesling superstar. He produces some of the best German Rieslings, and by that, some of the best Rieslings in the world.

The Keller wine making history dates back to the 18th century, Their estate is located in the small town of Flörsheim-Dalsheim outside Frankfurt in the Rheinhessen region.Klaus Peter took over as head of Weingut Keller in 2001. He soon started shifting the focus from sweeter wines to dry wines. Today, the Grosses Gewächs wines from Weingut Keller is some of the most sought after dry Rieslings in the world.

The von der Fels wine is based on grapes primarily from young vines from the different Grosses  Gewächs vineyards.

Tasting note on the 2010 Weingut Keller Riesling von der Fels

On the nose I get aplles, lemon and banana. The palate is full of fruit, green apples, honeydew and some banana. The finnish starts of with yellow apples. After a while it turns into a very strong mineral component, flinty. The length is good, but what really makes this wine is the citrus driven acidity. There is some residual sugar in this wine, but the acidity is so clear and keeps this wine in perfect balance.

The negative thing here is that i do get some notes of rotten fruit on the finnish. It's interesting, but not extremely attractive. I'm not sure, but this might not have been an optimal bottle.  It isn't overly complex either, but it is a very good Rieling. 90 points

2009 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage

Crozes Hermitage is an AOC appelation in the Northern Rhone wine region of France, and it is the largest appelation in the Northern Rhone. back in the days it had a very questionable reputation due to the fact that they produced large quantities of bulk wine, but in recent years new winemakers to the appelation has brought quality focus to the region.

Syrah is the only red grape allowed in the wines from Crozes Hermitage, but up to 15% of the wine can be the white grapes Marsanne and Rousanne.

Alain Graillot founded the domaine in 1985. Today he owns 50 acres of vineyeards in Crozes Hermitage, consisting of 30 year old vines. He also has 2 small parcels in St. Joseph. From the grapes in Crozes Hermitage he makes 1 or 2 wines. The basic Crozes Hermitage is produced every year. In good vintages he also produces a small quantity of La Guiraude.

Tasting note on the 2009 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage

Once again I popped and poured this wine, not giving it much time to breathe. As a consequence, and do to the fact that the wine was a bit cold, the nose gave away little. On the palate though, I got pepper, blueberries and blackberries. The palate is very primary. A typical Syrah palate.the fruit is ripe, but contained. The finnish has a good attack of spices and smal red, sour berries. The tannins are dry and a bit stilky. 88 points

I would wait 2-3 years for optimal drinking. It is approachable now, but the tannins aren't totally integrated yet. The wine is powerfull and lack some finesse, but is it to some extent balanced.

Amazing red Burgundy QPR: 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes

I just have to get this wine out to you. On my way back from work yesterday I stopped by my local wine shop and bought a bottle of the 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes. I haven't had it before and haven't heard much about the producer. All I saw was a very reasonable priced 1er cru from Beaune from the amazing 2010 vintage.

There are currently 4 Gros domaines in Burgundy. This is a result of retirement of one generation and dividing the vineyards up so that every child gets a vineyard. The Domaine A.F. Gros today makes wine from Pommard, Beaune, Vosne Romane and Chambolle Musigny.

Tasting note on the 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes

It is a bit closed on the nose not giving that much, but that is probably only due to the lack of air this was given. The notes I pick up are red berries in form of raspberries and strawberries.

On the palate you get hit by delicious red berries, with the raspberries continuing from the nose on to the palate. There is a floral component there as well and mineralty. The finnish again has great fruit, florality and the minerality gets more focused. With air, redcurrants get more obvious and really brings the wine to the next level.

The wine has a great acidity, a smooth feel and great transitions from beginning to end. There is good length on the finnish. 92+ points

I need you to go out and find this wine. I got it at $50 and I bet you can find it at even better prices. This wine is just so yummy. Is it the most complex wine ever? No. Is a great wine that gives ou a lot of pleasure? Yes! Seek it out!

2007 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

Domaine Christian Moreau has it's history going back to 1814, but it wasn't until the 2002 vintage that Christian Moreau's family gained the right to exploit own vineyards and make and market the wines belonging to their domaine.

The Domaine has a total of 12 hectares of vineyards in the Chablis area of Burgundy. It holds areas within the following vineyards:

• Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Clos des Hospices
• Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
• Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
• Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir
• Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot
• Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon
• Chablis
• Petit Chablis

Christian Moreau has about 100 acres of land within the Grand Cru vineyard of Valmur with the average vine age being 50 years. The wine is aged in 55% stainless vats and 45% in barrels.

Tasting note for the 2007 Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

I get ocean, minerality and citrus. The wine has the weight you expect from a grand cru. The mouthfeel is mooth with green apples and a nice citrus driven acidity. There's good length on the finnish with salt water, minerality and tropical flavours. 90+ points

This is a good wine. It has the weight and the length that you expect from a grand cru Chablis, but there is really not that much more. It delivers, but it does not blow me away.

2004 Chateau Musar Hochar Pere et Fils

I've been facinated by Chateau Musar since the beginning of my wine interest for three reasons: The fact that it is from Lebanon and the QPR. The Chateau Musar was established 80 years ago by Gaston Hochar. The estate was established in a castle from th 19th century in Ghazir, about 20 miles north of Beirut.

The estate makes both red and white wines. The red wine grape variatals in the vineyards are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvedre og Carignan. The 2004 Hochar is a blend of 50% cinsault, 25% cabernet sauvignon, 25% carignan. The alcohol level is 13.5%.

Tasting note for the 2004 Chateau Musar Hochar Pere et Fils


On the nose: some alcohol, dry plum. On the palate: some strawberries, plum and pepper. Juicy plum finnish. Good length. Actually quite balanced. Southern Rhone style, but the balanced kind. 89 points

 This is for me a very Southern Rhone style of wine. But while I tend to find many Southern Rhone wines to be a bit too ripe, lacking freshness and have unbalanced alcohol, this is not the case for this wine. It has fresh fruit and good balance.

If you are in to this style of wine I highly recommend that you try to seek it out. Chateau Musar has a pretty good distribution so it should be possible to find.