french wine Archives - whiskytanuki

Jean Biecher & Fils Alsace Grand Cru Schoenenbourg Riesling 2014

September 20, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Jean Biecher & Fils Alsace Grand Cru Schoenenbourg Riesling 2014

Colour: Straw

Nose: Pear, sliced green apple, concentrated honey, yuzu, beeswax, touch of worn leather and mineral note.

Palate: Dry (touch of residual sugar), medium body, medium+ acidity. Lemon, citrus peel, crushed stone, grapefruit, pineapple.

Finish: Long finish, green apple, lemon, mineral, dried pineapple.

Score:84+/100

Rather amazing Riesling, incredibly concentrated. Very rich nose, full of citrus and honey, with nice minerality to up the complexity. The palate is dry but I feel a touch of residual sugar, rich, loaded with fruits and minerals, followed by a lingering finish. Got a great structure, I wonder how well this will age, showing lots of complexity already in its youth. Could drink now, or hold for 2-4 more years.

Chateau Gaudrelle Cremant de Loire Brut (2013 Bottling)

September 20, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

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Chateau Gaudrelle Cremant de Loire Brut (2013 Bottling)

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: Honey, peach, lemon peel, light butter, yeast.

Palate: Dry, medium bubbles Light citrus, medium- acidity. Honey, grass, crushed stone, peach.

Finish: Medium finish, mineral, grass.

Score:74/100

Purchased in late 2013, forgot about it, finally opening it tonight. In the stage of still retaining some freshness but you get a sense of maturity. The nose isn’t very intense or complex, same goes for the palate. Citrus with a touch of stone fruits, honey plays a part in the character as well; mineral driven palate, richer than expected, followed by more citrus and stone fruits. Overall fairly decent cremant, for $20CAD it’s a very good buy.

Mas des Bressades Cuvée Tradition Rosé 2016

June 22, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Mas des Bressades Cuvée Tradition Rosé 2016

*Tasting notes taken indoor.

Colour: Deep Salmon

Nose: Strawberry, raspberry, floral, touch of meatiness, light thyme.

Palate: Dry, medium body, medium acidity. Strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb, savoury herbs.

Finish: Medium finish, touch of mineral, grapefruit skin.

Score:78/100

More complex than I would have expected, although I haven’t tried Rose from Costieres de Nimes yet. The Syrah is certainly showing itself, adding nice savoury herbs on the nose and palate, light red fruits, with a touch of minerality and grapefruit skin bitterness on the finish, very refreshing.

Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009

May 30, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009

Colour: Dark ruby-purple core, light garnet rim.

Nose: Ripe cherry, raspberry, liquroice, plum, graphite.

Palate: Dry, full bodied, medium+ acidity, full grippy tannins. Black cherry, plum, graphite, black raspberry, faint orange peel.

Finish: Long finish, pepper, plum, earth, alcohol kick (went away after 4-5 hours of decanting).

Score: 79+/100

Not sure if the wine is in a dumb phase, but the nose seems somewhat closed after 2 hours of decanting. Not showing too much on the nose or palate. Despite the higher 15.5% alcohol, the wine isn’t jammy, matured black cherry and plum forward. The wine isn’t showing much at the moment, would check back on day two.

Day two is more or less the same story, nothing much have changed. Perhaps this is the true form of the wine in this stage, or it needs a much longer cellar time. Drink 2020+.

Bottom line:

Rather disappointing experience, even on day 2, I decanted it for 5 hours. It feels to me as a nicer village level Cotes-du-Rhone, like a Rasteau of some sort, instead of a midrange CDP. Concentrated berries fruit, but lacks complexity and depth. Got a lot of tannins for further aging, but I am not sure it got what it takes to become a great wine. What a shame at this price.

Domaine de la Denante Les Maillettes Saint-Veran 2014

May 13, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Domaine de la Denante Les Maillettes Saint-Veran 2014

Colour: Pale straw

Nose: Honey, peach, melon, stone, grass, white flower, light citrus, touch of oak.

Palate: Dry, medium+ body, medium acidity. Melon, citrus, mineral, honey.

Finish: Long finish, crushed stone, salt, faint nuts.

Score: 77+/100

First time having a wine from Saint-Veran, and it was a pleasant surprise. The wine throughout gives me a very rounded impression.

The nose was youthful, but rather complex, showing various concentrated stone fruits and touch of floral and grassiness, alongside a touch of oak.

It feels very rounded on the palate, but falls short on complexity, wouldn’t describe it as elegant either, just rather simple. Followed by a mineral driven finish with a touch of warm nuttiness in the very end.

Even though on the back label it says “Drink by 2020”, I would say this wine will definitely evolve with 1-2 more years of age. Drinking well now despite falling short on the palate, would hold.

I brought this wine to a blind tasting, since one of my whisky friend said him and his wife doesn’t enjoy chardonnay, and I went on a mission to find one that they will enjoy. I assumed he didn’t enjoy the new world, bold style, buttery Sonoma/Napa chard. This wine was a great success, it was a lot more to his liking and it feels good to re-introduce someone to a grape.

Trimbach Riesling 2013

March 5, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Trimbach Riesling 2013

Colour: Pale Straw

Nose: Greeted immediately by notes of citrus, green apples, and a touch of peach skin.

Palate: Dry, medium-bodied, high acidity. The nose translate well onto the palate, fresh lemon, green apples, and peaches showing well.

Finish: Medium finish, mineral.

Score: 74/100

To me, this is a box standard Alsace Riesling, a great intro to the basic profile of dry Riesling. Showing a good amount of fruit on the nose and palate, balanced out by the acidity and mineral note.
Very pleasing and simple to drink, great with the usual pairing of seafood and chicken. Works perfectly well by itself as a wine you don’t have to think much about. This was a quick casual drink as you can tell I poured in my casual glassware.
This is widely available world-wide, and very consistent in quality. Would recommend those who wants to try out a dryer Riesling.
**Notes taken at about 12-14°C(~54-57°F) for better capture of aroma and flavour. Would recommend serving at 9-11°C(48-52°F).

Domaine Dublère Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014, Domaine Antonin Guyon Les Cras Chambolle-Musigny 2012, Rizieri Sori del Ricchino Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba 2015, Teodosio Aglianico del Vulture 2011.

March 3, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Domaine Dublère Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014

Colour: Pale straw

Nose: Elegant floral nose, with notes of lemon, crushed stones, touch of grass and vanilla, dried honey, all very well integrated.

Palate: Dry, medium-bodied, medium acidity. Very complex, pineapples, peaches, mineral, and a touch of oak. All notes are in harmony.

Finish: Long finish, well integrated oak and mineral note.

Score:87+/100

Very high quality white Burgundy, everything is so well integrated together which makes it harder to pick out all the notes. This is how real Burgundy should behave, elegant, refined, and harmonized. I can see it ageing well for the next 7-12 years.

Domaine Antonin Guyon Les Cras Chambolle-Musigny 2012

Colour: Clear light ruby core

Nose: Whiff of smoke, greeted by a very savoury nose, ripe apricot, red cherry, sun dried tomato, perfume.

Palate: Dry, medium-bodied, high acidity, medium- tannins. Plum, dusty oak, sour cherry, Chinese medicinal herbs.

Finish: Medium+ finish, plum, mineral, and herbal note.

Score:81+/100

Feels very closed at the moment, more savoury than I would expect. great structure for further development. Should tuck this away for at least the next 5-10 years.

Rizieri Sori del Ricchino Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba 2015

Colour: Clear medium purple core

Nose: Very pronounced cherry candy nose, strawberry swirl candy(crème saver), stone.

Palate: Dry, full-bodied, medium acidity, high grippy tannins. Strawberry gum, mineral, and a touch of oak.

Finish: Long finish, strawberry candy, touch of spice.

Score: 72+/100

One dimensional, fruit forward, strawberry dominant thorough-out, lacks balance.

Teodosio Aglianico del Vulture 2011

Colour: Clear medium+ ruby core

Nose: Herbal, diluted cola, black cherry, plums, mineral, and cedar.

Palate: Full-bodied, medium acidity, high grippy tannins, salt, black cherry, black raspberry, crushed stones, touch of tobacco and liquorice.

Finish: Medium+ finish, salty, leather, black raspberry.

Score:80+/100

Very surprising quality, showing good complexity and structure. Should evolve over the next 3-5 years.

Ortas/Cave de Rasteau Les Hauts du Village Rasteau 2010

March 1, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Ortas/Cave de Rasteau Les Hauts du Village Rasteau 2010

Colour: Dark purple core

Nose: Very concentrated nose of mulberry, black raspberry, black cherry, spices. Can’t escape the dark fruits!

Palate: Full-bodied, medium+ acidity, medium tannins. Again very rich and concentrated, the array of dark fruits from the nose translated well onto the palate, along with touch of baking spices.

Finish: Medium+ length, spicy.

Score: 78/100

Changing up my scoring scheme, here is the updated one.

Price does not affect scores

0-49 = Terrible

50-59 = Bad

60-79 = Ok-Good

80-84 = Good

85-89 = Very Good

90-95 = Excellent

96-99 = Magnificent

100 = Legendary

Gets exponentially harder to score higher, only the exceptional ones deserves 90+.

Schroder & Schyler Margaux Private Reserve 1982

February 24, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Schroder & Schyler Margaux Private Reserve 1982

Schroder & Schyler own’s the famous Margaux third growth winery – Chateau Kirwan, and this is their “Private Reserve label”, which other than Margaux they also produce a Medoc and Saint-Emilion variant. This particular wine is made from 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. Bottled at 12% ABV.

Colour: Medium-tawny core, light red rim.

Nose: Clean nose, worn leather, dust, plum, red currant, dark cherry, touch of spice, faint liquorice.

Palate: Dry, medium- body, medium- acidity, low-medium tannis, dusty plum, red raspberry, cured meat, touch herbal.

Finish: Medium long finish, faint suggestion of dried chili pepper.

Score: 81/100
Do note I score tighter than the average

The top part of the cork didn’t look alright, but after carefully inserting my corkpops needle into the cork via a lot of twisting and fiddling, the cork appears to be fine below.
Surprisingly it’s still alive, got some decent notes from it, but it’s definitely way past it’s prime, doesn’t have the powerful complexity of the more modern Margaux I’ve tried, and this is no match to Chateau Margaux 1982 for obvious reasons. Still have a bottle of Chateau Margaux 1982, will open that in the future and post notes.

Chateau de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 2014, Roux Pere & Fils Les Valozieres Aloxe-Corton 2013, Paolo Scavino Bric del Fiasc Barolo 2011, Ulysses Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

February 9, 2017 whiskytanuki Leave a comment

Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru 2014

Colour: Pale lemon

Nose: Clean nose, mineral, peach, pineapple, citrus, white flower.

Palate: Dry, full bodied, high acidity, citrus, pineapple, mineral.

Finish: Long finish, mineral and pineapple.

Score: 75+/100

On the simple side, aside from the long finish, nothing special.

Roux Père & Fils Les Valozières Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru 2013

Colour: Light purple core

Nose: Clean nose, cedar, cherry, strawberry, raspberry, floral, touch of smoke.

Palate: Dry, medium body, high acidity, low tannins, raspberry, salt, mineral, sour cherry, pepper.

Finish: Medium finish, raspberry, cherry, touch of oak.

Score: 80+/100

Lacks layers of complexity of a great burgundy.

Paolo Scavino Bric dël Fiasc Barolo 2011

Colour: Medium purple core

Nose: Clean nose, black tea, banana, light red fruits, floral, touch of earthiness.

Palate: Dry, medium+ body high acidity, full tannins, raspberry, sour cherries, blackberries, well integrated oak, touch of spice.

Finish: Medium+ finish, red fruits, oak.

Score: 86+/100

Classic Barolo on the nose, drinking quite well now but will definitely improve in the next 5-15 years.

Ulysses Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2012

Colour: Dark purple core

Nose: Clean nose, liquorice, black currant, bell pepper, black currant leaf, black cherry, raspberry, mineral.

Palate: Dry, full body, full grippy tannins. Black currant, blackberries, raspberries, liquorice, well integrated oak, floral, pepper.

Finish: Long finish, black fruits, oak, and a touch of spice.

Score: 84+/100

Classic Napa cab sauv, showing great depth, great refinement. Wouldn’t pay $275CAD asking price for it.

**Do note I score tighter than average, and price isn’t part of the considering for scoring.

Conclusion: Burgundy and Napa over priced as usual, and there are better Barolo for less.