89 Font de Michelle, 00 St Bris

Thanks for note. Do you not think the Sauvignon de St. Bris was just tired? I don't know Pichon, but with the exception of a few Bordeaux Blancs (that also include at least some Semillon ) I seldom find that SB improves from cellaring. A lot of people I respect cellar some top Sancerres and maybe NZ wines like Cloudy Bay, but I'm generally happiest with latest vintage. I've never had a SdSB more than 3 years from vintage date.

Chateauneuf sounds great!

Emery Davis wrote:

Hi Dale,

I do think the SSB was tired tasting, but there were other strange components as well. Personally I don't think 6 years is too far over the hill, but then I am a well known oenonecrophilliac.

This said I don't usually age much Sauvignon, but that's probably largely because I don't have a lot of it. I do have some 89 La Louviere kicking around, that's Sauv-Semillon, right? Probably ready even by my standards! :) I think I've also got a couple of bottles of Isabel

This said, St Bris certainly has no reputation as a vin de garde. A couple of years ago I dug up some forgotten St Bris from Sorin de France, around 10 years old it was actually (surprisingly) very good.

The real deal! :)

Does it not depend how they are made? I have found, for isntance, that the Goisot Sauvignons de Saint-Bris are much greener, more obviously cassis and Sauvignon Blanc and more New World in style and do not keep as well as, for example, the Defrance ones which are cold fermented over a longer period of time and do keep their structure and and some SAuvognon Blanc cripsness as they age. I remember discussing this with Madame DEfrance who said that they also liked theirs with bottle age and had actually found a bottle which must have been at least 25 years old, made by the previous generation and lost in a corner, which had tasted more like a Chardonnay than SB but was good in fruit and balance. The oldest I have drunk has been some 1990 about three or four years ago - again an accident -and found that what she had said was beginning to be true at that age.

Tim

Thanks for the notes, Emery. And your last statement couldn't be truer. I still have a few '89s left in the cellar (Beaucastel, Ch. de La Gardine, Clos du Mont-Olivet) but no Font de Michelle. I agree with you about '89s status: the wines have been deeper than the '88s but more structured than the '90s. I find that I've finished my '90s before my '89s (I still have a few '90s left, but not many after opening the Vieux Donjon I recently posted on) for just that reason.

Mark Lipton

Mark, I think everyone but Bill Spohn is starting to find those 89 and

I also have been hitting the 90s first, but also 93 (which wasn't half bad) and even some 95s. I _do_ have a jeroboam of '90 Grand Tinel waiting for the right occasion, though! That one I think will be aging nice and slowly.

About the cellaring issue, every once in a while someone asks, why bother to keep a cellar? It sure is obvious to those of us who do, but somehow the idea is hard to convey. Kinda like Tivo, I guess. :)

cheers,

-E

Hold onto it! It'll be another couple of years before we're brave enough to take him on a trans-Atlantic flight. This weekend's 3-hour train trip from Chicago was enough for us ;-) Jean's been militating for a return to France, and we've never been to the Loire, so you're in our crosshairs.

Yup. I've got a '90 Clos du Mont-Olivet Cuvée du Papet that'll be there for a few years, too. It was a monster in its youth, but also in need of a lot of integration. IIRC, there's a '90 Beaucastel there, too, but Beaucastel breaks all the rules when it comes to CNdP. I've been starting to dip into our '94s, also, while waiting for the '95s to do whatever it is they're going to do. What's been your impression of the '95s you've opened so far? I've heard mixed reviews on the Wine Internet.

Mark Lipton

Looking forward to it! As to Andrew's frequent flyer points, I think you've just got to take the plunge. Our Gillian did her first 13 hour flight at

Anyway if he's eating Bresse chicken fingers, I think you'd better let him start tasting the wine. (Gillian and Paxon liked the CdP too, by the way. )

I'm very skeptical in general of 95 CdP. It got high billing from the locals as being similar to 88, but it clearly lacks the depth of fruit as well as the structure of that year. This was less obvious upon release of the wines.

What's bizarre is that none of my 95s have really gone to sleep in the usual manner. They seem to fade in and out of focus, but remain feminine (by and large if not exclusively) and fruit forward.

I certainly don't think 95 is a year for the long haul, and I really scratch my head thinking about RP saying 20+ years. Some nice wines but no great classics, and a vintage that will be remembered for huge price hikes and internationalization more than terrific quality.

My 0.02¢. What do you think?

-E

I can't say, as the only '95 I had (Pegau) was had shortly after release. I've steadfastly kept my hands off them as is my wont for CNdP until year 13 or so. From what I've heard, though, I may have erred. Certainly, it'll be interesting to contrast them to the '94s, given the relative lack of hype accorded to the '94s.

Mark Lipton