On 12/25/2009 05:37 PM, Mike Tommasi wrote:
> Ed Rasimus wrote:
>> On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:47:21 +0100, Mike Tommasi >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes it is a common notion that, just because for years Bandol wines
>>> were made in dirty barrels far older than the vines, the odor of
>>> barnyard and sweat got an upgrade from "defect" to "typical feature"
>>> not just of Bandol wines but even of the grape variety Mourvèdre
>>> itself...
>>>
>>> Since then, things have thankfully changed and the best Bandol wines
>>> have no hint of brett whatsoever.
>>>
>>> By the same reasoning, I would impute the funny tastes to Beaucastel
>>> barrels, not to the poor grape that did nothing to deserve its funky
>>> reputation.
>>
>> So, that explains it! I tasted three different Bandols within about
>> ten days over ten years ago and they were the foulest sweaty horse and
>> dung mouthful I could imagine. I've never been willing to forgive and
>> forget and find that the absence of Bandol in my life is not
>> significant.
>
> Even aside from the old brett problem, there is still the problem that
> some of the famous names here live on their name alone. Pradeaux still
> is reputed to be the best by many, I do not understand why, it is one of
> the few wines that I consistently strongly dislike, I often use the
> french adjective "infecte" for it. OTOH Tempier, Terrebrune, Lafran
> Veyrolle are great.
>

Had a nice tasting of Ste Anne at the Salon Caves Particulieres (or
whatever they call it now) in Paris early December. The wines were all
clean but less interesting to me than I recalled. Possibly because of
my apparatus.

I do find there is a "Mourvedre funk" outside of brett, which I quite
like, it seems to impart depth on the palate to me. Of course I'm not
against a touch of brett either, if not overdone. Brett isn't unique to
the southern Rhone of course, I've had many a Loire wine that was, uh,
infecte because of it.

-E