Slow at work so I thought I'd wrap up some recent wine thoughts - Merry Xmas

Maison de Bulliets Regnie Beaujolais Cru 2011 - £12 Park Vintners and some online retailers

My wine of the year unless something emerges over Xmas. The 2009 was overripe and tiresome, 2010 was better but this takes the cake. Has a unique stalky note amongst the berries that haunts the senses. Possibly a marmite kinda wine but if you can find it then try at least one!

Lirac Vignobles Abeille 2010 Mont Redon - £11.99 Majestic

Lovely. Great balance of ripe red fruit and acid. Nothing to complex, doesn’t demand anything except another glass or two. Feels like a great Xmas quaffer.

Waitrose Maury - £8.99

Yum - From someone who thinks fortified wine is great in theory but only really enjoys it in cooking and poured over ice cream then this is great! Lovely dense red berry flavour that is held aloft by the high alcohol. Slight tannins but smooth enough for sweet desserts.

Virgile Joly Languedoc Organic 2011 – Naked wines, £14

We had 2 of these in 2 weeks. The second time decanting it for about 90 mins made a huge difference. Out of the bottle it’s big and cumbersome, really needed some heavy food to make it accessible but after decanting it’s far more delicate and perfumed the way you’d expect a good Languedoc red to be. It’s a bit pricy but if you need organic wine then this is a good one.

Araldica Corsini Barbaresco 2008 – £7.99 Waitrose

Has a nice Burgundy feel to it but some resistant tannins and a little too much tobacco make it a bit difficult. Might age a bit but me thinks it’s for drinking asap.

Rémy Gresser Kritt Pinot Blanc 2008 - 37.5cl - £13.70 Slurp

This demi bottle looked so promising but really did not deliver. Pinot Blanc seems to make a point for been more refined than other Alsace varietals but this is just boring.

Bodegas Escorihuela 1884 Reserve Viognier 2011 Slurp

At 10% aged in French Oak it’s too much. Not enough acid or fruit make this anything interesting. Inoffensive, short and blunt – all the things a Viognier shouldn’t be.

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Viognier Reviews - my blog that does what it says in the title.
http://viognier.posterous.com

Cheers For that Viog,

You have an interesting penchant for greener Gamay ? In that within stalkyness and furryness, some terroir influence may be found....only teasing.
For me though, I have generally favoured the less lean years. I've been treating Jolly beau as a fruity number, rather than anything serious. I'm affraid that at my years, my constitution generally feels a little unbalanced, well before the wine becomes tiresome in the mouth - unfortunate that. Fruity Gamay is for quaffing here. The 11's are deep south, so it is just a case of harvesting at the right time really, rather than the hopeless options further north as the cloud, wind and rains decide that further delay is downhill from all angles

I do particularly like the riper purple'ish ones when they are aged a year or three; overblown though - No.

I liked '09 & '10 Jolly beau. The very forward nouveau '09 was quite drinkable.

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Duncan

yes very much - Really enjoy Loire red, Bourgueil in particular, when there's a subtle green note but this has something a little different. Someone on CT described it as 'Pencil Shavings' (favourably) which is also slightly true. Even the ripe 09 had this but lacked the focus of the preceding years.

Apparently the States are mad for Beaujolais at the moment so prices are getting pushed up all over the board unfortunately.

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Viognier Reviews - my blog that does what it says in the title.
http://viognier.posterous.com

Cheers Viog, thanks for letting me know the finer points of your taste bud appreciation, and What turns you on, "palate wise" of course

I feel pretty certain that this wine will hit the spot, right up your street, so i'm detailing what I know here.

Bourgueil Les Cent Boisselées 2003 Pierre-Jacques Druet - Majestic offer £9.99 now, was £8.99 some time back

From Majestic, not the grand cuvee from Jack Druet, but a very good wine all the same, a marvelous vintage comparable with '89 I believe.
1) Aged elegance now, and will keep
2) That Cab Franc, greener bark and earthy note that you want
3) Some game / farmyard on the nose and mid palate
4) Pencil lead shavings - cab franc style, so a good savoury hit, mingled with ripe fruit.

I received enthusiastic reports from two Bourgueil followers that I know, The Wine Gang also know, & understand the quality of this wine for "that style" which is sought. I've just seen that WG awarded 91 points for this.

Please, Let us know if you get to this one.

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Duncan

Cheers Duncan

I've been meaning to try this but might be a few months until another Maj order.

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Viognier Reviews - my blog that does what it says in the title.
http://viognier.posterous.com