SFWC February tasting.
Hosted by Peter, with a theme of "pairs"

Blind as usual.

A welcoming wine
Leflaive Mersault 2005
Bright straw with a buttery chard nose, soft entry with good fruit but a
little flabby, needs acidity, I thought a Catena chard. Most plumped for
France and Pouilly Fuisse was mentioned. I have a case so I hope it
improves. Not bad for a village wine.

First Pair
Pinot Grigio, Waihopai River, The Ned, Marlborough 2008.
A definite pink blush, cherryade and grapefruit nose and then a soft entry
of fruit juice and a long sweetness(unfortunatley), I thought an SB from CA,
worst wine of the night.

Pinot Gris Grand Cru, Spiegel, Dom Schlumberger, Alsace 2005
Bright viscous deep straw, apples and woodsmoke, almost perry nose, good
entry and a suprise to find it demi-sec. Quite full bodied with orchard
fruit, long. Most pleasant and good value at GBP 12.50

Second Pair
Morgenster Lorens River Valley Stellenbosch SA 2000
Deep red with tingling brightness, a meaty cigar box, mixed spice, soft
entry with some tannins crude and unbalanced, flabby, not agood showing at
GBP16.50 and the nose died in 30 mins.

Ch Senejac,Haut Medoc 2000
Thats more like it, deep with a hint of purple, classic claret, smoke spice
forest floor, the nose opened up over 30mins as the SA above died.Soft
entry, ggod spicy fruit and firm tannins, good bite, a little bitter finish,
but my kind of claret.

Third pair
Penfolds Bin 707 Cab Sauv, 1989,
very deep with hint of age, what a strange nose, metallic minty sherbet
pepper, (? Italian), not unpleasant but very odd for a CB, I thought
Sangiovese. Better on the palate, with ripe berry fruit and spice, very long
and finished a tad cloying. Is it and odd bottle, because on previous
occasions I have had 707, its appeal was its almost Pauillac likeness.

Ch Leoville Barton 1989, St Julien 1989
Appearance identical to the 707, what a nose of merde and farmyards, leather
and spice, blackcurrants, layer after layer, still big tannins, but good
berry fruit and spice, finished a tad short. Very nice.

Fourth Pair
Ch LL LascasesSt Julien 1970
Brick red with hint of orange rim, extract++, a wonderful ethereal nose of
old pipe tobacco, tomatoes and spice,soft entry with tannins gone, but still
fruit and woody berries. A wonderful old lady. On the slide but still
drinking well

Ch Giscours, Margaux 1970
Deeper than LLC mature, definite orange rim, again my new marker for
Margaux, salty seaweed and iodine, farmyard floor and spice, wonderful, a
sweet magical mouthful, tannins resolved, yet still fruit and cinnamaon.
OTT, but like LLC, a good drink.

and finally an extra
Moulin Touchais, Anjou, 1959
Liquid pale gold, bright as a button, a nose of honey bix coated with apple
sauce, wonderful, a soft balaced apple mouthful with sweetness and acidity
all in harmony, long and a real treat, even better I nailed it, and the
year.WOTN

The last three wines were a trip down memory lane. Peter and I had just
started our trip in all things wine. We were young professionals with big
mortgages etc, but our local saleroom had an auction of stock of a local
wine merchant. It was our first adventure, I had drunk my LLC and Giscours a
few years ago, but last night we had nostalgic swig.

As for the Moulin Touchais, it was bit of a cult wine in the late 70's, and
shows that a good Anjou from a great year can live a very long time.

JT

On Feb 11, 7:05�am, "JT" > wrote:
> SFWC February tasting.
> Hosted by Peter, with a theme of "pairs"
>
> Blind as usual.
>
> A welcoming wine
> Leflaive Mersault 2005
> Bright straw with a buttery chard nose, soft entry with good fruit but a
> little flabby, needs acidity, I thought a Catena chard. Most plumped for
> France and Pouilly Fuisse was mentioned. I have a case so I hope it
> improves. Not bad for a village wine.
>

Olivier, I assume, don't think Domaine Leflaive has a Meursault?

> Fourth Pair
> Ch LL LascasesSt Julien 1970
> Brick red with hint of orange rim, extract++, a wonderful ethereal nose of
> old pipe tobacco, tomatoes and spice,soft entry with tannins gone, but still
> fruit and woody berries. A wonderful old lady. On the slide but still
> drinking well

thanks, I have one of these. I think Mark L's opinion was similar to
yours
>
> and finally an extra
> Moulin Touchais, Anjou, 1959
> Liquid pale gold, bright as a button, a nose of honey bix coated with apple
> sauce, wonderful, a soft balaced apple mouthful with sweetness and acidity
> all in harmony, long and a real treat, even better I nailed it, and the
> year.WOTN

Thanks for note on this one. Sounds very promising. I have a single
bottle, for Betsy's 50th this December. I also have a Sauternes and a
dessert Primitivo (!?!!) for the occasion, but no dry reds. Just lost
out on a CVNE this week,

Olivier, I assume, don't think Domaine Leflaive has a Meursault?

oops yes, Olivier

Thanks for note on this one. Sounds very promising. I have a single
bottle, for Betsy's 50th this December.

Dale
should be plenty of 59 claret still around at a price, an excellent year.
The moulin touchais was splendid

JT

On Feb 11, 6:05*am, "JT" > wrote:

> and finally an extra
> Moulin Touchais, Anjou, 1959
> Liquid pale gold, bright as a button, a nose of honey bix coated with apple
> sauce, wonderful, a soft balaced apple mouthful with sweetness and acidity
> all in harmony, long and a real treat, even better I nailed it, and the
> year.WOTN
>
> The last three wines were a trip down memory lane. Peter and I had just
> started our trip in all things wine. We were young professionals with big
> mortgages etc, but our local saleroom had an auction of stock of a local
> wine merchant. It was our first adventure, I had drunk my LLC and Giscours a
> few years ago, but last night we had *nostalgic swig.
>
> As for the Moulin Touchais, it was bit of a cult wine in the late 70's, and
> shows that a good Anjou from a great year can live a very long time.

I recently posted a TN on the 1959 Moulin Touchais and found mine
apparently as good as you found the one you opened. I would consider
mine one of the top few wines of all that I have tasted in the last 2
years. Hopefully Dale Williams will find his bottle saved for a
special occasion equally good to what we had.

On Feb 11, 9:28�am, "John T" > wrote:
> Olivier, I assume, don't think Domaine Leflaive has a Meursault?
>
> oops yes, Olivier
>
> Thanks for note on this one. Sounds very promising. I have a single
> bottle, for Betsy's 50th this December.
>
> Dale
> should be plenty of 59 claret still around at a price, an excellent year.
> The moulin touchais was splendid
>
> JT

Oh, there's plenty of '59 red Bordeaux around, but even things like
Cantermerle and Meyney are pretty dear. We'll probably have a dinner
with some of Betsy's closest friends (non winegeeks), and I don't
relish paying $200 for a 2 oz pour of Cru Bourgeois or 5th growth. The
advantage of the sweet wines is a little goes a long way (plus Betsy
loves them). So current plan is a couple of magnums of midlevel wines
from 70s and 80s, followed by the 3 dessert wines.

With notes from you and CWDJRXYZ, I predict the Moulin Touchais will
be WOTN if sound.

DaleW wrote:

> Oh, there's plenty of '59 red Bordeaux around, but even things like
> Cantermerle and Meyney are pretty dear. We'll probably have a dinner
> with some of Betsy's closest friends (non winegeeks), and I don't
> relish paying $200 for a 2 oz pour of Cru Bourgeois or 5th growth. The
> advantage of the sweet wines is a little goes a long way (plus Betsy
> loves them). So current plan is a couple of magnums of midlevel wines
> from 70s and 80s, followed by the 3 dessert wines.
>

Having had the '59 Meyney on two occasions ('89 and '99, go figger) I
can say that I wouldn't take the chance on it now. In '89, it was
fresh, vibrant and youthful; in '99 it was on the way downward, still
enjoyable but showing signs of its age. 10 years later it'd have to be
a pristine bottle from a very cool cellar to stand much of a chance of
bringing much pleasure IMO. And since Meyney normally punches well
above its weight, I'd be leery of taking a flier on any but the most
backward of '59s from "lesser" terroirs.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in message
...
On Feb 11, 6:05 am, "JT" > wrote:

> and finally an extra
> Moulin Touchais, Anjou, 1959
> Liquid pale gold, bright as a button, a nose of honey bix coated with
> apple
> sauce, wonderful, a soft balaced apple mouthful with sweetness and acidity
> all in harmony, long and a real treat, even better I nailed it, and the
> year.WOTN
>
> The last three wines were a trip down memory lane. Peter and I had just
> started our trip in all things wine. We were young professionals with big
> mortgages etc, but our local saleroom had an auction of stock of a local
> wine merchant. It was our first adventure, I had drunk my LLC and Giscours
> a
> few years ago, but last night we had nostalgic swig.
>
> As for the Moulin Touchais, it was bit of a cult wine in the late 70's,
> and
> shows that a good Anjou from a great year can live a very long time.

I recently posted a TN on the 1959 Moulin Touchais and found mine
apparently as good as you found the one you opened. I would consider
mine one of the top few wines of all that I have tasted in the last 2
years. Hopefully Dale Williams will find his bottle saved for a
special occasion equally good to what we had.

Moulin Touchais notes, and what a diiner
Last night's tasting............

Maybe we opened the 1959 Moulin Touchais too soon !!

see:

http://www.nicks.com.au/Index.aspx?link_id=76.938

An American wine merchant
http://www.classicwines.com/wine/mou...nc-anjou-loire

has it on sale for $475 if anyone is interested !!

I bought the bottle in November 1980 for......... wait for it
................. £4.99

Happy days !

Peter

John - some nice wines (although you will persist in drinking good
ones in my absence).

Thanks in particular for the note on the 89 Barton - I have some
sitting there wondering when I should start in on it.

I have been lucky enough to taste quite a few vintages of Moulin
Touchais and they have always been very good (the 1949 was
particularly so).

On Feb 12, 11:00*am, "Bill S." > wrote:

> I have been lucky enough to taste quite a few vintages of Moulin
> Touchais and they have always been very good (the 1949 was
> particularly so).

I am glad to hear that you found the 1949 Moulin Touchais very good,
since I have 2 bottles of it and have not tasted it yet. The other
vintages I have are 3 bottles of the 1959 and 5 bottles of the 1976. A
top Moulin Touchais might taste fairly good when very young, but then
it may require up to a few decades to peak. I have seen decent tasting
notes from Broadbent and others going back to the early 1900s. If
bought shortly after release, many of the top vintages of this wine
will outlive their owner if stored properly. You do need to pay
attention to the corks in older bottles such as the 1949. I mark the
level in older bottles and check it once a year. If it decreases much,
I dip the bottle neck, completely covering the capsule and a little
below, in a sealing wax a few times rather than re-cork.