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Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru 2003 – Gagnard

July 5, 2009 in Burgundy, White by Stephen | 1 comment

chassagne-montrachet

A month or so ago I ordered a couple of mixed cases from the Wine Society.  I thought it would be a good way to get some interesting varied wines for everyday drinking, but I didn’t look much into what was actually in the cases.  When they arrived though, I realised that they were not everyday drinking wines; most of them were rather good.  So of course we then had to order a separate case of everyday drinking wines but that hasn’t arrived yet.

Wondering what to drink when we were having a barbecue on Friday, and not having much in the way of everyday drinking wine lying around, I had a look through the aforementioned mixed case and picked out this one which looked like it would be ready to drink.

The colour was a lovely clear, medium gold, but what hit you immediately after pouring was the intensity of the nose, which was full of citrus, a bit of peach and a rich buttery vanilla with minerality in the backround.  The palate was similar, quite full in the mouth with the buttery richness balancing well with the fruit and minerality and a hint of spice – both the vanilla and a mellow oakiness.  It had a long length and although it didn’t need much air after pouring, it did open up a bit further, revealing more complexity.  Very good indeed.  This is the sort of wine that I dream about getting in a tasting exam because there is just so much to say about it.

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Bourgogne “Les Sétilles” 2007 – Olivier Leflaive

June 14, 2009 in Burgundy, White by Stephen | No comments

We ordered a case of this en primeur from the Wine Society and when we opened the first few bottles, it seemed a little closed still; as if it needed a little more time.  A few months seem to have made all the difference though and it’s opening up nicely.

Bright and pale gold, it has fairly high acidity which carries rich lemon, peach and mineral flavours with a touch of butter and vanilla and a whiff of toast on the nose.  The finish is moderately long, with the acidity and fruit lasting, ending with a hint of the buttery toast.

les_setilles_closure

A curious thing about this wine was the unusual closure.  It is plastic, but not one solid piece.  It seems to be a sort of capsule of expanded plastic, with a ring of harder black plastic inside and a transparent, harder piece of plastic around the end of the closure that’s in contact with the wine.  Putting a corkscrew into it is a little strange; trying to aim it into the middle of the black circle.  Apart from that though, it does seem to behave pretty much exactly the same as a more conventional cork.

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Coursodon St Joseph “Le Paradis Saint Pierre” 2005

June 12, 2009 in Northern Rhone, White by Stephen | No comments

st_joseph

Something of a low key start to my new Drink Diary blog, but might as well get started somewhere.  I’ll post a proper introduction soon.

Tonight we drank a 2005 St Joseph white.  A short while ago I ordered a mixed “mystery case” of whites from The Wine Society.  I did it in a hurry and planned to get some wines for everyday drinking.  When they arrived though, they were all Rhone whites, most of which were not “everyday”.

This was one of them, and we opened it this evening due to lack of much else.  It had a very buttery, peachy, orangey, floral nose.  For a while I contemplated whether or not St Joseph could include Viognier due to the nose as the peach and floral notes were very strong.  However, after a bit of air the butter and vanilla came through more, changing the character.

Interesting photograph, with the magnolia of the rather modern (especially for somewhere such as St Joseph) label matching the magnolia of the wall behind it.

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