Notes from a bistro dinner with a Southern French theme.

2002 Guigal Condrieu - pretty good melon/apricot nose here, a medium bodied
wine that was a tad light right in the middle, and tailed off a bit with a hint
of astringency and an impression of a bit of residual sugar. Started stronger
than it finished.

2000 Dom. de Clovallon Les Aurieges (VdP d'Oc) - a blend of Viognier,
Chardonnay, Clairette, Sauvignon and "other whites". Not as immediately
expressive in the nose as the Condrieu, but better balanced with decent acidity
- a pleasant drinker to sip while contemplating the menu.

1995 Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Dom. Thalabert - I have a long and fond
association with Thalabert, but I've been 'off' it a bit in the 90s. Perhaps
recent performance just doesn't compare well with vintages like the outstanding
1978 we had at lunch last month. Bright colour, excellent Rhone nose of blood
and pepper, the latter continuing on palate. Smooth, the tannins there but
largely resolved. It is now drinking near the plateau, where it should stay for
some years.

1995 Graillot Crozes Hermitage La Guiraude - an interesting contrast to the
Thalabert. Leather and pepper in the nose, with a bit more tannin showing and
slightly sweeter fruit, with good length. The Graillot was both attractive and
slightly more rustic than the Jaboulet, which was ultimately judged to be the
better wine with more class. We all kept coming back to the Graillot and going
'That's pretty good, though".

1999 Brusset Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail - We had the chance to compare
Brusset's top wine in two vintages with a similar Santa Duc - a Southern French
tasting and amazingly, no Chateauneufs to be seen! This one was not as
forthcoming in the nose as the 98, but showed vanilla and dark fruit. Sweeter
but a bit simpler in the mouth with good feel.

1998 Brusset Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail - more vanilla and smoky plumy
fruit, soft tannin and a nice sweetness at the end. Drinks very well now. Note
to self - I have both regular and Les Hauts in this vintage - it would be
interesting to taste them side by side, perhaps against the 2000 Les Hauts,
which is perhaps even better. Things to do in the garden this summer€¦€¦

1998 Dom. Santa Duc Gigondas Haut Garrigues - I think that the purveyor
(purveyoress?) of this one had qualms about whether it was too early to drink
it, but it was great fun to try it against the Brusset wines. I had opened my
first bottle of the excellent 1995 HG last weekend as a sort of setting up
exercise to get in tune with our theme, so it was doubly interesting for me to
compare. A deeper nose with spice and maturing fruit (that is, no longer simple
- it showed blackberry and anise). It also had somewhat superior length to the
98 Brusset. No rush to drink this, but it would be hard to stay away from.

2000 Mas de Daumas Gassac - this wine came from nowhere to be touted by the
critics with resultant skyrocketing prices. I enjoyed it right from the start
when it was all cabernet - it now includes other varietals. I loved the 1985,
which I forced into such unlikely pairings as between a 1984 and a 1987 Mouton.
And oddly enough also enjoyed the 1992 quiet a bit, although that certainly
wasn't the best vintage for the wine. This example surprised me a bit - this
wine has always had fairly tough young tannins as a hallmark, yet the 2000
showed a sweet vanilla nose, fairly soft tannin (although the company it was
tasted with must be taken into consideration) and good acidity. It does need a
bit of time, but it drank pretty well now.

1994 Bousecasse Madiran Vielles Vignes - I thought that I would bring a wine
few people would have tasted, and I thought that with more than a decade, this
would be at least almost ready to drink. Wrong on the second count. Tasted
blind, I daresay most people would have picked this as the younger wine, based
on colour and tannin structure. It reminded me a bit of a 1975 Bordeaux in
terms of structure - big oak, sweet spicy vanilla nose, and then you taste it
and the tannins clamp down. These guys must like to flaunt it - the Tannat
grape makes firmly tannic wines, and I believe that this one (the Vielles
Vignes) is 100% Tannat, while the regular wine is 'only' about 60-65%, with cab
and/or cab franc for the balance. This wine needs more time than the 2000 Mas
de Daumas does. I am not sure how much fruit will remain when the tannins
finally moderate. 1975 Bordeaux all over again. I probably won't open another
one of these brutes for 5 years.

Gonzalez Byass 'Noe' Pedro Jimenez Muy Viejo (30 years) - Very sweet raisiny
nose, and overwhelmingly sweet on palate - so much so that there wasn't much
readily discernable flavour differentiation. To me, this wine is overkill, and
although it will never fail to make an impression, as someone else at the table
suggested, this producer's Matusalem has most of the impact and more interest.

Thanks for the interesting and useful notes. Your mention of Southern
France brought Palette and Chateau de Simone to mind. I find I have not
had Ch. Simone since the 1966 red many years ago. It was not exactly my
idea of a fine wine, but was full of herb and spice character and an
interesting change of pace. I also tasted their white long ago, but
found it a bit heavy for my taste. I wonder if you have tasted Ch.
Simone in recent years and how you liked it.

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Nice notes, Bill. A few thoughts:
1. Most '99 Gigondases that I've had have been very impressive, often
moreso than the '98s. Interesting that you don't find this in your tasting.

2. In our market, the Graillot sells for about 60% of what the
Thalabert does, so comparing them is a bit unfair. True where you are?

Mark Lipton