Wine Jadot St. Veran 2005
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 13.0%
It is explained that St. Veran is the Burgundy AC next door to Pouilly-Fuisse, which immediately leads to some skeptical conversation about the Burgundian worship of terroir: somebody insensitively comments that bragging about your neighbor like this is a bit like claiming the player with the locker next door to Sidney Crosby for your fantasy hockey team; fortunately, the rep doesn't really understand the reference and we move on. Biggish Chardonnay nose without the oaky/buttery notes you'd get from a new-world style; the rep helpfully suggests notes of grapefruit, which the rest of us unfortunately can't get out of our minds. Fearless Leader likes its restraint; other comments range from an appreciation of its single-mindedness and lack of winemaker hanky-panky, to finding it a bit anonymous. People look around the table for the oysters that will complete the experience and are chagrined to find that this week, they aren't there.
Wine Jadot Couvet des Jacobins 2004
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 13.0%
Somebody notices that we've tried this wine a few weeks before, but only the Boss can remember chapter and verse about it; and he's not talking. To most of the rest in the peanut gallery, this shares a lot with the first wine, except that you could taste the intervention of the winemaker: you could smell and taste the oak (very nice) and there was more... flexibility; sophistication. You could taste the winemaker---although that may not be the best way to put it. Sprightly acid and fruit aftertaste; some latitudinally-challenged tasters accuse those who think it's worth the extra bucks of cultish behavior.
Wine Domaine Clair-Dau Rosé de Marsanne 2006
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 12.5%
Attempts to bait the rep about rosé in general ("don't you guys make this kind of stuff when there's a crop failure...?") fall on stony ground; although he admits this to be a rosé made from Pinot Noir grapes. Smells like Pinot, too: minty-peppery---almost peppermint. Some shuffling of feet---European restraint in a rosé is a diminutive of a diminutive; this is sort of like going to the Paris Prèt a Porter the day that they're modeling winter raincoats. Underwhelming.
Wine Jadot Cotes de Nuits Villages "Le Vaucrain" 2001
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 13.0%
There is a sense that we're moving up in the world now: this has a nice, slightly gamy nose; light and balanced on the palate; tastes just the way you'd expect a basic Burgundy from a legit producer to taste. No huge depth, but a pleasant, longish aftertaste. The Boss: "It's all downhill from here."
Wine Jadot Combe aux Jacques Beaujolais-Villages
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 12.5%
...Or not. Fruity nose... yup, it's Beaujolais all right. But it also has structure, which pushes some tasters back into their seats in confusion---structure in a Beaujolais is like structure in peanut butter; a sign that something's not quite right. This is a little less fun than you usually hope for; a serious younger brother to the prodigal Beaujolais son---and who tries to score A's in grade 2? Categorical confusion that nevertheless tastes pretty good.
Wine Jadot Couvent des Jacobins Bourgogne 2004
From Burgundy, France
Alcohol Content 12.5%
The nose is very much like the white---shows signs of both the barrel and the winemaker. But the fruit is muted---at this point, uncomfortably so; this wine is stylistically austere and acid to boot---too acid for the hemispherically challenged in the crowd. As is often the case with better wines tasted under these just-opened conditions, it's quite possible that it just needs to open up a bit---and with that optimistic thought, the Boss bundles the bottle up and heads out into the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment