Weekend Bouteilles
Domaine des Huards Cour-Cheverny Cuvée Français 1er Vieilles Vignes 2002 Totally out there wine made in Touraine region of the Loire. The grape variety is Romorantin! On the nose it is kind of like an oxidative Alsacian riesling. On the palate, very acidic and tropical, chenin blanc like. Peculiar botrytis flavours. tily texture yet quite acid. Strange. Worth trying… once.
Delas Frères Marquise de la Tourette rouge 1999 Proper wine. Lifted white pepper, leather and earth on the nose. Got chocolaty with a few hours in the decanter. Excellent weight to the palate, dense but not overwhelming. With beef, perfect. Drinking well now, will go 5 more easily though.
Grossot Chablis 1er Cru 2002 Better than an earlier bottle. Evidence of some oak treatment, creamy texture, some peach and nectarine but … boring.
Also just had a Domaine Antugnac Limoux Gravas 2004. This is a blend of Chardonnay, Mauzac and Chenin Blanc. Limoux is in the south and is considered one of the birth places of sparkling wine. This wine, however, is still.
I’ve loved the 2005 from this producer — and it’s pretty much my house white. I was interested to see what a little age would do. I’ve concluded that, although this was a nice wine, the freshness and beautifully soft primary character of the 2005 is more attractive.
That is not to say that Limoux cannot age. As yet, I do not know. But on this showing, young bottles seem to give more pleasure.
The wine itself has a soft, nose of lemon, rose petal and tropical fruit. It is hard to pine down the alluring quality the nose has. It reminds me of when mangoes are just coming in to season. You’re 10 foot away from the fruit store and you get the softest smell of ripe, delicious mango. In the moment between smelling this and consciously registering that it is mango and wondering how much they’ll cost this year, your mouth is salivating, remembering the first time you really understood the pleasure of eating a mango. And the 2005 is even better!
The palate has superb balance. The winemarkers behind this are from Burgundy, it is no surprise. With gruyere, this was superb.
The amazing thing is, this is a very inexpensive wine. It is about 14 euros and could likely be bought for less than 10 direct. Parfait!
