TN: Drouhin Macon, Alesia (Rhys) RRV

Mar 12, 2021 Last reply: 5 years ago 2 Replies

Betsy was making a savory bread pudding (ham, mushrooms) from Tartine cookbook and needed some white wine. The next day I tasted the 2018 Drouhin St. Veran. Year after year, one of my top QPRs in white Burg. Apple and pear, floral notes and a little nutskin, full but with plenty of acidic verve. B+/B



I made coriander/Aleppo chicken with cauliflower, salad. I didn?t think I?d need the Durand for the



2006 Alesia (Rhys) Green Valley Pinot Noir, but it was the cork from hell. Crumbled/disintegrated, tried using Ah So and just moved it around, eventually punched a hole through and decanted through screen. The wine was actually fine, red cherry and cranberry, some spice, good acids, plenty of life. B/B+


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency,


That has been my go-to recommendation to non-winegeek types for a good value in a crowd-pleasing Chardonnay.

Do I misremember? I thought you owned a Durand.

Mark Lipton

I do have a Durand . I just generally pull it out for 25+ year old bottles, for this century I just use a pulltap. Once the waiters corkscrew had basically drilled through I didn't think the worm would make a difference, so just tried regular Ah So. This wasn't like a dried out cork, it was ...disintegrating. On another forum someone said the 2006/2007 Rhys corks started crumbling 10 years ago. When I posted on CT I saw several references (though wine sound in each case).

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