Vouvray
00 Moncontour Vouvray
Super. Delicious. Soft, round, good. I just keep buying them. I’ve had three
already. $20 1/05
02
Strong flavor. Citrus, smoke. Finish is fine, medium length. This wine is not
blowing me away at this stage, perhaps it will evolve nicely into something
more interesting? I can’t see buying more at $40. 5/05
Coteaux
Layon
95 Tijou Soucherie VV Coteaux Layon
Nose with more pineapple than a pineapple. Very sweet, fat, round. Lots of flavor,
good acidity. Finish good (but a tiny bit cough syrupy) like the 94 ZH
Gewurztraminer. $24
95 Tijou Soucherie VV Coteaux Layon
Nose with more pineapple than a pineapple. Very sweet, fat, round. +flavor +
good acidity. Finish is good but a tiny bit cough syrupy $24 2/01
95 Baumard Coteaux Layon
Delicious, sweet. Reminds me of a baby sauternes or some kind of baby. Good.
7/01
97
Baumard Coteaux Layon
Awesome. Wow. Worth all of $23. Go baby
go. I love good sweet wine, and this reminds me of just how unique and
different sweet
Savennieres
95 Baumard Savennieres Trie Speciale
Honey and pineapple (not necessarily in that order).
Medium, light, nice. I didn't get the acidity for serious aging, but I'm told
Chinon will last several more years regardless of my opinion. Delicious now
thru February 17th, 2003. Great value for $22 4/99
(2) There is a lot of fruit and flavor in here, but maybe it needs a few more
years to mellow and goldify until it’s actually to my taste. Seemed to get
better with more days open and more air in the glass. 1/02
(3) Nice flavor. Medium body. Some
fruity notes. Holding up. Drink now-2010. 3/03
(4) Has a kind of odd composition to it, as if some strange buttery snake was
winding its way through the entire palate. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it
is
a snake, after all…Drink now because how much better can this really get?
(maybe experiment by letting bottle 2 go for a long time more?) 9/05
(5) Used to be better, now it’s still okay initially, but has become a bit weird and chemical on the finish. Sigh. 1/07
95 Tijou Savennieres Perrieres
Horribly acidic and sour. Is it just this bottle? Or could this wine really be this horrific? One of the rare times I actually poured a wine out. Cost $26 (worth $7). 7/05
Similar to 95, but far less revealing of its fruit (of course, being
five years younger). Also seems more
sour/tart (would people just call this dry?).
Seems a touch less acidic than the 95 I had. Cost $26 (worth $18). 7/05
Pouilly-Fumé
05
S. Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Les Pentes
Plenty of acid. crisp. Hint of diesel, though, which carries through the finish, which at the moment is fine (intriguing even; perhaps this is what they mean by Pouilly-Fumé having something a little more than Sancerre), but which I fear someday, could mutate into evil. (cost $20, worth $16) 9/06
Sancerre
95 Cotat Sancerre
Very tight, acidic, no bouquet at all. Too austere for
me. Day 3 saw some improvement in the nose and fruit. Perhaps this wine will be
more interesting later? 4/99 $20
Very nice. ($17; easily worth $22) 9/06
97 Comte Lafonde Sancerre
Pleasant, only slightly lemony. Not too bad. Short finish but okay smooth. Worth ?$. Drink now +/- 2 to 3 years. 9/05
01 Jolibet Sancerre
Very crisp. Kind of like a Chablis that way. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think maybe I just need softer wines. $20 1/05
05 Cherrier et Fils Sancerre
Seems more calm and less biting than the others, but this may be welcome in that the others may have been too much—too strong, too acidic. Finish is less concentrated (has less grip) than the others, but it’s more pleasant. $16 9/06
05
Reverdy Sancerre La Coute
Crisp, limestone. Plenty of acid (too much maybe). Finish tart but maintains grip throughout. What separates these from crap Sauvignon Blancs is that you can chew/swish/chew for as long as you want (which is one minute). The wine continues to release and give without becoming a pool of useless spit and juice. (cost $16, worth $20) 9/06
96 Joguet VV Dioterie
Very nice, floral flavor but strong,
good. This might go another five but can’t see how that would make it better.
Cost $27 (worth $24). 6/05
96 Joguet Chinon Rouge Clos de la Dioterie
Exactly what I expected. 6/06
96 Joguet Chinon Rouge Les Varennes Du
Grand Close
Pretty good. Not too sour or vegetal. Solid flavor. Typical Chinon Rouge. The inherent flavor of the grape prevents extreme exhilaration or exaltation. But Joguet really can construct a wine. Could last several more years, actually, and I suspect if you could catch this in just the right window, the tannins would be mellowed and what fruit would be there would be there. And this would be worth a few dollars more than it costs. $27 (worth $29-35) 6/06
96 Champault Prestige du Colombier Red
Sancerre
Surprising amount of berry for
97 Joguet Varennes
Pleasant, balanced Chinon Rouge. Nothing more. Nothing less. Worth ? Probably past peak. Would drink now. Chinon rouge is just not that great of a grape. 9/05
02
Joguet Chinon Rouge
Initially after opening, that
characteristic Chinon Rouge flavor, which is somewhere between vegetal and
unripe cherry, which can only do so much for me. But after breathing 30 mins,
the flavor shifts more toward fruit and away from vegetal, which again, can
only do so much for me. But that’s more than the previous so much. But still.
Finish is short, but no negatives, unless you call the faintly sour Chinon
Rouge flavor a negative. Would drink now, but may improve just slightly over
next five years. Somehow I just don’t see a
02 Domaine de Belliviere Le Rouge-Gorge (Coteaux du Loir)
Too vegetal. $24 (worth $17) 7/05