Lunch notes

Monmousseau Cuve JM (nv) – this sparkling pink Touraine wine was made
from 70% cab franc and 30% Grenache. The colour was delightfully pink,
without any orange edges, and it had dried apple in the nose, a nice
mousse, with a clean, slightly bitter finish. I liked this.

2008 Mouton Cadet Blanc – clear wine, with a pear sort of nose, clean
taste, not at all bad at a low price. Interesting ringer.

2000 Dalrymple Vds. Chardonnay Pipers Brook – OK, I am an avowed chard
disliker. Not hater, as I appreciate well made wines, but there are
just so few interesting ones that aren’t, (just one example) more oak
juice than wine juice. This was one of the interesting ones. Definite
oak in the nose, but not overdone, and balanced with loads of
fruit.Very tasty, with good length. Steered away from Australia
because of the moderation in oak and crispness in finish. Turned out
to be this Tasmanian producer. Well done.

1991 Pesquera Crianza – medium dark wine with a more or less Rhonish
nose, still has good fruit and some wood the made itself evident at
the end. Aging gracefully.

Valdivieso ‘V’ Pinot Noir – a blend of 4 or 5 different vintages, this
wine was absolutely nothing like any PN I have ever tasted. In fact it
gave away no varietal characteristics at all. A bit of mint in the
nose, medium colour, not faded, some alcohol, enough fruit to balance.

1990 Rainoldi Inferno Riserva (Valtellina Superiore) – a Nebbiolo from
an area that doesn’t come first to mind. Mature nose and bricky
lightening edges were a give away as to age, but the varietal gave
more difficulty. Smooth, long and not overly acidic.

1999 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino – an initially sugary nose
turned with time to an acceptable Italian varietal nose, acid at the
end and some tannin – seemed tight and a bit ungenerous right now.

2006 Dom. de Mignaberry Irouleguy – I guess I should have guessed this
if any of the group could as I spent some time down in the area near
the Pyrenees recently tasting Madiran and Iroulguys, but this one
eluded me. Purple edges on a dark, tannic, full bodied wine, and a
nice bit of spice at the end. Nowhere near optimum drinking range,
these Tannat based wines need time, but this one might turn out quite
well given that time.

1994 Renwood Zinfandel Grandmere Vd. (Amador) – when this was released
you could have frozen it and handed it out to the kids as blackberry
popsicles. I like to hold some wines and see how they turn out with a
bunch of age. With Zins you lose more than you win doing this, but
some are interesting once the fruit of youth has passed. This one
showed a very ripe nose with some iron in it and dried currants and
tobacco. It was very dry in the middle, with good length, but the
spectre of jamminess appeared as an after taste impression.

1997 Casa Ferrerinha Riserva Especial – a traditional Portuguese wine
with some heat, fair length and it later showed some mint. OK, but
nothing special.

1997 Quinta do Crasto Riserva – much more interesting with nice herbal
nose, smooth wine with slightly assertive terminal acidity. Time to
drink up.