Mark Lipton > wrote in
:
>
> And I'll split the difference, loving both. The one difference that
> I'll note is the number of cuvées offered by L-P: Pierre de la Grange,
> L d'Or, Clos des Noëlles 'Semper Excelsior' and Clos des Allees.

The range of Luneau Papin is deeper than that:

- Domaine Pierre de la Grange
- Domaine Pierre de la Grange Vielles Vignes
- Hermine d'Or (Les Pierres Blanches VV)
- Le L d'Or
- Clos des Allées
- Semper Excelsior: Clos du Poyet (terroir micaschistes) up to 2002
(won't be released further). Clos des Noelles (terroir schistes) with
last vintage released 2004.

And there is yet another cuvée coming from a particular parcel called
"La Butte sur la Roche" which will be managed by Pierre's son.

I thought I had one bottle of Clos des Noelles 2002 but I was wrong, it
was a 2004. I had a 2002 Clos du Poyet that I opened for dinner and I
found it very approachable at 18 degrees celsius (which is a red wine
sort of temperature). Then I chilled it down to 13 and it was a bit less
expresive but good drinking. I specially appreciate that it is opulent
in the nose but really dry in the mouth, which I think is very
interesting and not very commonly seen. I'd enjoy it very much with some
iberic ham.

In
> contrast, the redoubtable M. Ollivier has the basic Pepiere, the Clos
> des Briords and the Cuvée Eden/Gras Mouton. At the basic level, I
> think that the Pepiere has a bit more character, but at the more
> exalted level it's hard to choose between the lovely L d'Or and the
> fantastic Clos des Briords (I haven't had enough of the single vyd
> wines to draw many conclusions). It's also true that I've had more
> aged L d'Or than aged Briords, so it's not a fair comparison. I've
> got several of each from '04 (Andrew's birth year) so more on this
> later.

I have had three verticals of L d'Or wines and it is amazing how a ten
years old cheap wine such as L d'Or 1997 or 1999 is drinking now. I have
been lucky enough to taste 1982 a couple of times and it is really a
worthwile experience.

s.