TN: Corbieres, Soave, and 01/02 Bordeaux
 

With a simple but delicious meat lasagna, the 1998 Dom. de Fontsainte "Reserve
la Demoiselle" Corbières. Jammy red fruit, some spice and pepper, a little
vanilla, soft round red with decent finish. A little strange to get raspberry
flavors without any tang, but a pleasant enough inexpensive red. B/B-

Tonight, alone with the Basset and assorted leftovers, the 2002 Pieropan Soave
Classico. Lately been reading nice notes about Soaves (Anselmi, Pieropan's
Rocca, etc) , but have had trouble getting myself to buy- I think I was
permanently scarred by the Soave Swill that I drank in college and just after,
when I should have just stuck to wine. But between those notes, the tasty
Cantina del Castello "Monte Pressoni" I tried at the Gambero Rossi tasting last
year, and the fact I needed a casefiller, I recently pulled the trigger and got
a couple of these. Hey, not bad. Not bad at all. Sweet pear fruit with a hint
of lemon, maybe a touch offdry (and maybe a little wood?), a little mineral
edge and an almond twist at the finish. Reasonably food-friendly wine, not bad
for $10. B with aspirations to B/B+ (dear God, I might as well switch to a
100pt scale and use decimal points- sorry!).

Earlier in the day, a tasting at Zachy's of 2001 & 2002 Bordeaux. In addition
to my usual handicaps (pedestrian tastebuds, etc.) I'll add a disclaimer that
I'm always especially unsure when judging barrel samples (all the 2002s). I'm
listing in order on sheet, though after first few I switched to tasting the
2002s before the 2001s.

2001 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc -deep flavors of citrus & pear,minerally,
balanced, very long finish. A/A-
2001 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - rounder, simpler. B
2001 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge - medium-bodied, refined, a little earth and
cigarbox. Nice. B+
2002 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge - I just have a "so-so" mark. B-?
2001 Pontet Canet -tannic, earthy, fragrant nose, quite nice actually B++
2002 Pontet Canet- also tannic, not much on nose, big cassis fruit on palate.B
2001 Brane Cantenac - smooth, easy, herby, ultimately a little dull. B-
2002 Brane Cantenac- only one I really preferred 2002, ok, B
2001 Chasse Spleen- ripe red fruit, earthy, nice. B/B+
2002 Chasse Spleen- not as ripe, still red fruit, not bad. B
2001 Phelan Segur- ripe blackcurrant fruit, not much showing B
2002 Phelan Segur -green, herby, not too fun B-/C+
2001 Branaire Ducru - not a blockbuster, but well-balanced medium-weight
claret, nice acidity, should be a very nice food wine (especially in 10 years).
A-
2002 Branaire Ducru- a little rounder, flowery nose,thinner palate.B/B+
2001 La Fleur de Bouard - dense, ripe cassis, plenty of oak. Tobacco. Quite
nice, actually (but $26 puts it more expensive than the '98 & '99 LFdBs, which
I liked as much). B+/A-
2002 La Fleur de Bouard - soft, oak-dominated. B-
2001 Angelus - lots of cedary oak, but plenty of luscious fruit to match it. B+
2002 Angelus- ok, but not showing much for a $80 wine. B
2001 Destieux - a very ripe, sweet St. Emilion. B?
I skipped the 2002 as I was getting palate fatigue, wanted to try the Pomerols
more
2001 La Clemence - lots of oak, lots of tannin, but lots of fruit. Not my
style, but very impressive B+
2002 La Clemence- a little more subdued, but still an in your face Pomerol. B
2001Vieux Chateau Certan -overripe, overdone, overpriced. B-
2002 Vieux Chateau Certan - I didn't make a note

Nice tasting, and I enjoyed talked to Covert Harris and his wife Lynn, who had
driven down from Albany(I had met them at an offline last year). Kind of amazed
a white Bordeaux was my favorite of tasting. Will almost certainly buy the
Branaire Durcu and Chasse Spleen at least. This time I held myself to some
GrüVe, a Dauvissat Chablis from the closeout bin, and a Trimbach SdR Gewurz.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a pretty easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B
a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party
where it was only choice.
Dale

Dale Williams
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