April 2007: a wine club and several new wines

Our weblog is simply a record of our impression of wines we have consumed from our list starting from 29th September 2006. No marks out of ten, twenty or a hundred and no stars awarded, just our feelings. One thing that will become increasingly apparent to anyone who reads this regularly is our love of red wines (not many white wines noted except at tastings). Click on the producer's name to go straight to the estate's profile page.

April 2007

26/04/2007 Ten wines at the Canterbury tasting: the Domaine des Anges 2005 Blanc showed very well. Crisp, fruity and refreshing - as always, a welcome alternative to all the Chardonnays and Sauvignons without being too off the wall. The Mourchon "Tradition" seemed a little too young this time but the other 2005s, both from Rasteau - Bressy-Masson's "Paul-Emile" and Côteaux des Travers' "Prestige" - were both surprisingly forward and delicious. The former has already put on a little weight revealing some lovely ripe fruit, slightly Burgundian in character but at the Grand Cru rather than Village level (and only a tenner!); the Prestige has some well-judged oak supporting the sweet, red/black fruit. These two Rasteaus, both at £10 show just how good this village has become at putting out top drawer wines at affordable (dinner party) prices and both these wines can be drunk now or aged a few years if this is wanted.

By contrast, the 2004s all seemed to need further ageing but Brusset's Cairanne "Les Chabriles" is, as always, a real star. Oakier than usual (I have never noticed the taste of oak before) and more elegant than the slightly burnt 2003, this is very drinkable now but I can see how it will be even better after a couple more years. I had a 2000 recently which was fabulous. The other 2004 which really impressed me was Raymond Usseglio's Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Give it a couple more years if you can - I think it could be the best vintage I have tasted from bottle (I have tasted both the 2005 and 2006 from the barrel!)

23/04/2007 In advance of my now annual (for as long as they'll have me) tasting in Canterbury (this Thursday), I wanted to re-taste the Perrin Rasteau "L'Andéol" from the 2004 vintage. I don't usually include the Perrin wines as they are technically negociant wines but I want to focus on 2004 and 2005 with the emphasis away from Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The wine is almost pure Grenache, or so I believe, and clearly old-vine with concentration and texture like this. The nose is quite perfumed - not sure how to describe it - but the palate reveals some oak lurking in the background and tannins sitting alongside. Masses of fruit here but my instinct is to lay it down a while longer. It will make an interesting contrast to the 2005 Rasteau wines I am going to show on Thursday which are more forward and also to the other Villages wines.

21/04/2007 Now the Brusset's wines are settled, it's time to taste one of my consistent favourites: renamed "Les Chabriles" in the 2004 vintage. Strangely it's a wine that is usually at its best in a good rather than outstanding vintage - my preferred vintages have included 1997 over 1998, for example (at home we're on the 2000 but I preferred the '99). The 2004 is really fresh with quite crunchy fruit and, for once, a hint of oak. Probably much better later on in the year but if I didn't have some older vintages lying about I wouldn't hesitate to get stuck in. Which I probably won't anyway.

16/04/2007 Il Molino di Grace has done rather well for itself since it inception at the turn of the decade (century). The 2001 Riserva is a stunning bargain but something got me thinking about the 2000 Riserva which we bought because it was not far off the quality of the 2001 and more ready to drink now. Re-tasting it, I am surprised at its evolution. I think it should probably be drunk up sooner than I had originally thought: probably by the end of the decade, a couple of years sooner than I had originally thought. Of course, the bottle I tasted could have been more evolved but, anyway, this is a perfect restaurant Chianti - and I don't mean that in the derogatory way usually reserved for that expression. Drinking well now.

08/04/2007 to 10/04/2007 The new batch of wines from Xavier Vignon has arrived and whilst Jill wants to crack open a bottle of his Champagne, I am keen to try the new "Lili", now called, simply, "Xavier Blanc". To start with, I don't like the new label as much but, frankly, so what? It's not that bad and what the wine is like is more important. It's superb: Xavier promised it would be better than before and it is. Whereas "Lili" was a VDP, this is a vin de table but given that no-one is likely to be interested in that, especially once they have had a taste, that is, if anything, a plus. The wine? Intense (as you'd expect from Xavier) with lots of Roussanne character and a nice layer of Viognier with the Marsanne providing a backbone. A touch of oak too. Too good to try to put into words so you'll have to taste it yourself. The Champagne, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc wines all tasted over the next couple of days were all superb too, the first having a lovely appley, biscuity character and the varietals being quite full-on examples. All very (too) drinkable so a big thank you to the friends who helped out.

02/04/2007 Re-tasting Walter McKinlay's Domaine de Mourchon "Grande Réserve" 2005 from his Côtes du Rhône Villages estate just outside the picturesque village of Séguret I am immediately struck by the contrast between this wine and the Rasteaus I tasted over the weekend. This is more pronounced, more perfumed and, probably, more complex although given the relative youth of all these wines I wouldn't like to stake my career or anything else on it. It is also more backward. One sip now at 4.30pm just after I have decanted the bottle (I didn't bother with the other wines as I thought they would drink fine poured straight from the bottle) suggests this is a 2005 to hold back: its chewy tannins need a little time to soften. Lovely fruit though and really there is no reason not to drink this wine now except that it will improve further with more bottle age. (I will aim to add any further comments later if the wine evolves in the decanter)

01/04/2007 A weekend with family up north provides a good opportunity to taste a few wines together and get some feedback. The new Rhônes were the focus although as I said last week, I wanted to have a couple of glasses of the Negroamaro "Corte Barocca" from Marco Maci. It didn't go with the duck legs we ate on Saturday night but it was really good apart from that and continues to amaze me with its depth of flavour. For me, the star wines of the weekend were the 2005 Rasteaus - Robert Charavin's Domaine des Côteaux des Travers "Cuvée Prestige" and Bressy-Masson's "Paul-Emile". Both are, for me, the best vintages I have tasted to-date, both display a certain elegance in combination with the power of the vintage. The CDT is slightly oaky but the Paul-Emile soaks up the oak well at this stage so you wouldn't know it is there. Good structure but plenty of ripe fruit to make the wines drinkable now. The purity and richness of the fruit are the really outstanding things about both these wines. And their forwardness: they will certainly be better in another year or two but they were very enjoyable now.

Complete Blog list by date - what we have been sampling month by month