Yesterday was gorgeous, and I came home to find Betsy putting a dry
rub on some ribs. Lightly browned and then slow-cooked on grill,
eventually accompanied by baked potatoes, Indian butter-braised
carrots, and salad. While she was cooking we had an apertif, the 2008
Fireblock Watervale Riesling (Clare Valley). Dry but with good fruit,
sweet lime, floral, nice length for the level. Revisited after dinner
there's a little note of petrol, some mineral, yet with that sweet
citrus/Sprite note. Very good for the Cinderella price ($11
delivered). B+/B

The main wine was the 2007 Guion "Cuvee Prestige" Bourgueil. Bright
berry fruit, seems a little lighter/less concentrated than the 2005.
but still a nice light to middle weight Cab Franc. Berries, flowers, a
little earth and leather. Nice acids, some grippy tannins. In light of
recent posts I look for anything that seems bretty, other than the
faint leather note (which can be - or not be- a brett precursor) I'm
not getting. I think of myself as reasonably brett-sensitive (if
fairly brett tolerant). So I put the question to my non-geeky wife
and stepson- do you get any of the following non-fruit aromas- cedar,
leather, moss, manure, pine needles, bandaids, leather,pepper,
sandalwood, poopy diapers, spice (I just tried to come up with a
varied list). Both voted for leather, Dave said maybe pepper. No votes
for manure, diapers, or bandaids (Betsy is fairly brett-sensitive).
But different strains show to different folks ,,,differently. Laube
has found heavy brett in wines that I (and others) found fairly clean.
B/B+
*
Lovely night on the patio.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very 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. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On 5/21/10 10:52 AM, DaleW wrote:

>
> The main wine was the 2007 Guion "Cuvee Prestige" Bourgueil. Bright
> berry fruit, seems a little lighter/less concentrated than the 2005.
> but still a nice light to middle weight Cab Franc. Berries, flowers, a
> little earth and leather. Nice acids, some grippy tannins. In light of
> recent posts I look for anything that seems bretty, other than the
> faint leather note (which can be - or not be- a brett precursor) I'm
> not getting. I think of myself as reasonably brett-sensitive (if
> fairly brett tolerant). So I put the question to my non-geeky wife
> and stepson- do you get any of the following non-fruit aromas- cedar,
> leather, moss, manure, pine needles, bandaids, leather,pepper,
> sandalwood, poopy diapers, spice (I just tried to come up with a
> varied list). Both voted for leather, Dave said maybe pepper. No votes
> for manure, diapers, or bandaids (Betsy is fairly brett-sensitive).
> But different strains show to different folks ,,,differently. Laube
> has found heavy brett in wines that I (and others) found fairly clean.
> B/B+

Thanks for the note, Dale. I'm replying here to avoid running afoul of
the opposing camp, but it's good to know that the two bottles I have of
this wine are not hopelessly tainted with Brett -- not that I seriously
entertained that idea anyway. So, we'll see what happens when I open
one of them ;-)

Mark Lipton



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