No 'write home to mama' epiphanies, but solid, workaday wines:
Denis Alary, Cotes du Rhone Villages - Cairanne, 2000 After the first bottle was corked, I returned to the store to pick up this version. Dirty plum with muted spices on the nose, kirschy-plum with a slightly disjointed alcohol kick on the end. Just alright (but not for Saturday night). B
Jean-Paul Brun, Beaujolais blanc, 2001
100% Char-do-nay. Lightly yellow, greenish gold. Light apple, quince, and lemon wash on the nose, this is very well made for the price ($11), with a spicy ginger-apple flavor and a soft calcium finish. B+Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, 1988 Recent reports said this was maturing quickly, and I am glad I heeded them on opening my only bottle of this 1st growth. A fading red ont the rim, this is beginning to look like mature claret. Blackcurrants, smokey cedar, and sour cherries. Old fading blackcurrants, with smooth dusty leather. This is lacking in breadth and weight, with no middle to speak of and a very light finish. Not very first growth. B+ at most.
Cesari, Valpolicella Superiore, 'Mara', Vino di Ripasso, 2001 A muted nose of cherry and licorice, which translates in the mouth to cherry-strawberry, dried flower petals, rosehips and a straw-like finish, which is sweet, candy sweet, like those powdered sugar candy straws you used to suck down when you were a kid. A little light in body for a ripasso, but this is a minor quibble, especially for the low price point ($13). B-B+
Garretson, Syrah, Paso Robles 'Rozet Vineyard', 2001 Also goes by the name of 'Luascain'. The color is a deep purple and very primary. There is a dull nose of camphor and licorice, slightly medicinal. This is a big, thick wine and tough to chew through, but there are camphor-mint, licorice, tough dark cherry, and prune and vanillin on the finish. Quite harsh and reduced in feeling. 14% alcohol. Wonder how this would age? B-B+
Domaine de Nerleux, Samur-Champigny, 2000 I cannot understand why the smallest of Loire producers have the longest of wine names on the planet. Seriously. There is even more information on the lable, but it's really more than we want to know (ok, maybe inquiring geeks want to know), except that this is a 'vielles vignes' blend. Yeahh, old vine goodness that is French for 'throw an ashtray and lick it, Amereeicain'. Lots of herbally tobacco scents on the nose, echoing on the palate with the cigarette ash predominating over weedy cherry flavors. A slight sacharine note on the end. B-B+ ($14)(Folks, this was actually better tasting than what my note reads. Really)
Selbach-Oster, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling-spatlese, 1999 A very light white gold, with spring flowers on the nose. On the palate, lime and linden blossom, and a chalk filled finish. Lighter and crisper than other 99's I've had and feels more kabinet in weight. Beautiful lightness, and only 9% alcohol for those on Atkins. ($14) B+/A-
Jasmin, Cote Rotie, 1996 "How long has this bottle been sitting on the shelves?" "Long enough" said the insouciant merchant, "Away with it!" And so it went to a loving home. Old cherry and dried small plums in the nose and in the mouth, with the plums filled with smoke and touches of licorice and cherry married with mint. Jasmin is not the biggest, not the best, Cote Rotie producer, but one I have a fondness for since first tasting a great bottle of his 1983 a long time ago. Sure, this is a slightly austere and a little hollow, but still a decent bottle and one that is expressive of northern-limit syrah. Night and day difference between this and the Garretson. high B-low B+