The theme last night was general French wine, and we got an interesting assortment.
Pol Roger NV - smooth citric rather than yeasty nose, bright fruit, lively and pleasant.
1999 Zind Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim Gewurztraminer - while the nose was still quite good, featuring floral scents rather than typical spicy Gewurz, the wine has taken on a lot of colour and seems to be on the way downhill.1990 Dom. Doudet Naudin Aloxe Corton - my wine, and disappointing. Medium colour with a slightly funky nose, it was well enough balanced, but was somehow just not very exciting. Sort of like watching an accountant trying to tell a joke - all the requisite elements are there, but is somehow just doesn't come together.
1985 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle - this wine should have been held until later, as it was out of place with the Burgundies. I found the nose to be blood and leather, with some garrigue/brushwood elements (and yes, I made it a point to go and sniff the garrigue when in the Rhone - the natives no doubt thought us daft). There was a cherry and mushroom elements to the nose as well, which was quite complex. In the mouth it was much readier than the last time I tasted it, and I don't think it will improve at all but it should continue a long time on the plateau.1990 Dom. Doudet Naudin Aloxe Corton - yes, the same wine, from another source without any complicity on our part! And this bottle, from a warmer cellar that has always shown a faster evolution, with wines maturing faster than in mine, was definitely the better wine - a simple case of bottle variation. This one had more cherries in the nose, was soft, mellow, delicate and elegant in the mouth, much better and more interesting than the previous bottle. Probably a good thing that they were our last. I believe these bottles may have been purchased at the same time from the same source and came out of the same case!
1993 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux - rubber and a hint of mint on the nose, and underneath all that perhaps some black cherry. The wine is still fairly big, with a lot of tannin, and I was thinking it a late 90s wine until told the vintage. A long way yet to go with this one.1997 Chanson Savigny Dominode - the fact that they omit the 'les Beaune' and go straight to the les Dominodes designation caused some discussion - wine label shorthand, I guess. Nice sweet fruit up front, and smooth feel to it, but the wine was disjointed and narrowed at the end to a lean beam of tannin that will probably never change much by the time the fruit dies back.
1989 Ch. Canon la Gaffeliere - surprisingly, our only Bordeaux, and a right bank wine at that (we all tend to collect from the left bank). An archetypal cedar and tobacco nose, supple wine with good length. I was amazed that it was as young - I was guessing the early 80s. The wine has matured faster than I would have believed, but drinks beautifully right now.1988 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape - for me, a contender, with the Jaboulet, for wine of the night. Dark wine with a rich, ripe tobacco and earth nose, with some brett present. Sweet entry, balanced and very tasty, with the tannins nicely softened. Lots of time to go, and it is still changing, but it drinks well now.
1998 Ch de St. Cosme Gigondas - pepper and leather, with berries in the nose, a hefty mouth-feel, and good length. This one drinks well now. I slightly prefer the 97, but I'd take either one on just about any occasion, given the choice.1998 Dom. de la Grange des Peres - an impressive wine from the Herault, made next door to Mas de Daumas Gassac, from Mourvedre, Syrah, Cabernet and Counoise. It resembles a very good southern Rhone, and showed smoke, spice and sweet fruit in the nose. It wasn't huge in the mouth, more medium bodied, but with very good concentration, peppery, and finishing with some complexity. A good wine, and it gives you a chance to tell people what vintage of 'Grange' you opened last week.....
1998 Mas des Bressades Cabernet Syrah - a Vin de Pays de Gard, this very dark wine had a weighty nose with some vinyl, vanilla and cedar. Big in the mouth, well structured and with good length. Drinking pretty much the same as when I had it a year ago. The purveyor of this commented that he finds the wine can be just great in good vintages and quite indifferent in mediocre vintages, so it Pays to be on Gard, I guess.....1988 Ch. d'Arche (Sauternes) - mid-straw in colour, pleasant nose with some Botrytis and a bit of coconut. Pleasant but not exceptional, and drinking as well as it ever will.