Miscellaneous notes from the last week:
With the consumption of a pound or so of foie gras (no, I wasn't the only one there):
2002 Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuisse - crisp and flinty with a slight bit of oakiness on palate, but a nice feel and length.1990 Dom. Hippolyte Thevenot Corton Bressandes - light in colour, stinky nose, fair balance up front and medium length with a slightly assertive acidity at the end. OK but not especially good.
2001 Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Rheingau Auslese - typical petrol nose with some exotic elements, quite rich in the mouth, with only just enough acidity to balance. Better with foie gras than the next wine.1898 Ch. Bastor Lamontagne - quite dark in colour now, and with a very slight oxidation in the nose, but not on palate. Rich, sweet and with counterbalancing acidity. Better on its own than with the seared foie gras.
1999 Kettle Valley King Merlot (BC) - from a batch of 41 cases made. Vanilla nose, good concentration, mellow in mid-palate, but drops off too fast at the end.2000 Dom. de Ferrand Chateuneuf du Pape - more pepper and iodine in the nose than the last time I tried this, and some heat that carried over onto the palate, soft tannins and decent if not lush fruit. Drinks well now.
2000 Alice & Olivier de Moor Bougogne Aligote - this is one of those wines that transcends the expected quality of the origin. Fresh peary nose, and quite juicy in the mouth, full flavoured with good acidity. From 100 year old vines.2002 Nk'Mip Chardonnay (BC) - local chard that didn't get in the way of the conversation. Pleasant buy certainly unremarkable.
1992 Chapoutier La Bernadine Chateauneuf du Pape - this was a little surprising to me as I hadn't opened one in several years. It showed a pruny, leathery nose and the edges were browning a little. In the mouth, it was fairly concentrated in the middle, and had very good length and balance. Quite good in fact, and it should hold, though it won't get any better.1998 Valderiz Ribera del duero - this Telmo Rodriguez wine has lavish amounts of oak that is sweeter than normally expected in most Spanish wines. Although there are still an abundance of soft tannins, I wonder if this will improve, or if it is as good now as it will ever show. Sweet in the mouth, a forward tasty wine.
1998 Dom. La Rocaliere - this Lirac, blended from mourvedre, Grenache and syrah, was dark, but the nose had less heat than the last time I tried it. Medium bodied and pleasant, I thought that it wouldn't hold when I tasted it 3 years ago, yet it has held up very nicely.