From the past week or so...
Dom. Michel Gros, Vosne Romanee 'aux Brulees', 2000
the lightist of strawberry with cranberry aromas. Some light sour cherry, a little dust, and a light finish. Okay, and actually fills out a little bit more with air. Won't make old bones tho. Would be a better bargain if it was about $10 less than the $30 I paid for it. B+/88
Dom. de Belliviere, Coteaux du Loir, 'Le Rouge Gorge', 2002 Very intriguing nose of green cardamom and piquant peppercorn. And gum arabic. Weird quality that is difficult to convey to the medium-bodied tart fruit in this of cherry-cranberry with a pepperish finish. With air, the finish turns to something between stinky old fruit on streetcorners in Singapore to cheese rind, but returns to a sour candy ending with a gum mastic finish. Intriguing. But what would the perfect pairing be with this? I can see why Pineau d’Aunis is the next grape to take over the wine world. Or, small [CENSORED] portions of it. B+/88
Dom. de Montrac, Vacqueyras 'cuvee Vincila', 1998
Cuvee Vanilla??? Scuse? A passing acquaintance, punctuated with smoke-filled cherries and a light licorice touch. Turns harsh going down. Strapping, but uninteresting. Drinkable. B/84
Chat. Ferran, Pessac-Leognan, 2000
Typicity in small spades. Cedars....blackcurrants...smooth, light, and ready-to-go. A solid luncheon claret sharing the supple qualities of the
2000 vintage. Finishes with a slight warm streak, but not obsessively so. B/85-6
And that's all for now....