The Wine Thread

12-26-2008, 09:13 PM

Had a few wines on Weds and Thursday nights while relaxing at home and having some great food. My type of holiday.

Capdevila Pujol Cava Reserva Especial
I had picked up some paddlefish caviar on the spur of the moment while I was at Whole Foods and when I got home I realized that I did not have any Champagne in the apt. I had figured i was stick drinking chard with caviar and crème fraîche (not a good mix) but after fishing around in some boxes of samples I had in the spare room I found this Cava thats prpbably been there for over a year. This wine is made by Blancher Cava and is made of Xarel-lo, Macabeu and Parellada. Anyways.. The nose is clean with yeasty bready notes. Much less bubbles than Champagne with a fatter style mousse, and flavors of nuts and more yeast. Nice crispness on the finish. A pleasant surprise. I don’t usually drink Cava but for $$ this is decent. Approximate retail $15

2006 Jean-Marc Millot Côte de Nuits Villages "Aux Faulques"
Paired this Pinot with a dry aged ribeye. I have been a fan of this house for many years and this entry level 06 is a great example of why. Very intense wide open nose of dark fruit, mixed berries and sweet spice. Medium to heavy weight in the mouth, fruit punch style berry flavors, very ripe, nice acidity and more tannin than expected. This wine is delicious, the fruit is extremely clean and vibrant, and the follow through is excellent. Very fine for a CdN Villages, and I would buy more of this in a heartbeat. In past vintages this has been called "Clos des Faulques", but I’m not sure why it was changed in 06'. Approximate retail $35

2006 Huber-Verdereau Volnay
Drank with a nice rare piece of prime rib on Christmas night. This Domaine was founded in 1994 and Thiébault Huber has made some great wines so far. Unfortunately this was not one of them. The nose started out extremely tight, showing almost nothing, eventually giving way to animale and wet earth aromatics. Light to medium weight in the mouth with more similar flavors, and some black fruit. The wine is not very balanced and has a shrillness to it in which the acid outweighs the fruit. Disappointing as I have had some wonderful 05's from this producer. I did have a glass today and it had gained a little weight but was still not what one would hope for. Approximate retail $45

Cheers
~Vitis

aldukes · 12-27-2008, 11:36 PM

I've had these on Xmas and Xmas eve in no particular order:

2006 August Briggs Zinfandel
Napa, CA
Varietal: Zinfandel
Cost: $32
Nose- cherry, alcohol, raspberry
Taste- cherry, touch of vanilla, touch of mocha
Points: 86 - Very disappointing- way too fruity, tasted like a $10 bottle. ugh-next.....

2006 August Briggs Chardonnay
Russian River Valley, Sonoma, CA
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $32
Nose- tropical fruits, lemon peel, ripe oranges
Taste- honey, lemon,lime,orange,vanilla
Points: 89 I liked this actually, nothing special but it wasn't overly buttery (thats a good thing) went well with broiled lobster and shrimp w/ oil and garlic

2006 Domaine Thibert Pouilly-Fuissé Les Vignes Blanches
Maconnais, Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $34
Nose- white flowers, violets, apples, melon
Taste: lots of citrus, those little violet candies, honey, minerals
Points: 90+ loved this, no food, just sipped

2007 Frederic Gueguen Chablis Les Grandes Vignes
Chablis,Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $28
Nose: lemon, grey stones (chalkboard), petrol, slight white flowers
Taste: lemon, grey stones, petrol
Points: 86- Drank over 2 days- first day got nothin' so I tried again the next night- same thing. Usually I love those tastes but this just didn't do it for me.

I had the Pouilly-Fuisse before I had the Chablis- its amazing how different these wines are. Its a great example of tasting the same grape from different terroir. Chablis and Pouilly-Fuisse are in the same region but these wines couldn't be more different.

12-26-2008, 09:13 PM	#1
Vitis Guest Posts: n/a	Re: The Wine Thread Had a few wines on Weds and Thursday nights while relaxing at home and having some great food. My type of holiday. Capdevila Pujol Cava Reserva Especial I had picked up some paddlefish caviar on the spur of the moment while I was at Whole Foods and when I got home I realized that I did not have any Champagne in the apt. I had figured i was stick drinking chard with caviar and crème fraîche (not a good mix) but after fishing around in some boxes of samples I had in the spare room I found this Cava thats prpbably been there for over a year. This wine is made by Blancher Cava and is made of Xarel-lo, Macabeu and Parellada. Anyways.. The nose is clean with yeasty bready notes. Much less bubbles than Champagne with a fatter style mousse, and flavors of nuts and more yeast. Nice crispness on the finish. A pleasant surprise. I don’t usually drink Cava but for $$ this is decent. Approximate retail $15 2006 Jean-Marc Millot Côte de Nuits Villages "Aux Faulques" Paired this Pinot with a dry aged ribeye. I have been a fan of this house for many years and this entry level 06 is a great example of why. Very intense wide open nose of dark fruit, mixed berries and sweet spice. Medium to heavy weight in the mouth, fruit punch style berry flavors, very ripe, nice acidity and more tannin than expected. This wine is delicious, the fruit is extremely clean and vibrant, and the follow through is excellent. Very fine for a CdN Villages, and I would buy more of this in a heartbeat. In past vintages this has been called "Clos des Faulques", but I’m not sure why it was changed in 06'. Approximate retail $35 2006 Huber-Verdereau Volnay Drank with a nice rare piece of prime rib on Christmas night. This Domaine was founded in 1994 and Thiébault Huber has made some great wines so far. Unfortunately this was not one of them. The nose started out extremely tight, showing almost nothing, eventually giving way to animale and wet earth aromatics. Light to medium weight in the mouth with more similar flavors, and some black fruit. The wine is not very balanced and has a shrillness to it in which the acid outweighs the fruit. Disappointing as I have had some wonderful 05's from this producer. I did have a glass today and it had gained a little weight but was still not what one would hope for. Approximate retail $45 Cheers ~Vitis

12-27-2008, 11:36 PM	#2
aldukes Mr. Me Too Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 213 Trading: (3)	Re: The Wine Thread I've had these on Xmas and Xmas eve in no particular order: 2006 August Briggs Zinfandel Napa, CA Varietal: Zinfandel Cost: $32 Nose- cherry, alcohol, raspberry Taste- cherry, touch of vanilla, touch of mocha Points: 86 - Very disappointing- way too fruity, tasted like a $10 bottle. ugh-next..... 2006 August Briggs Chardonnay Russian River Valley, Sonoma, CA Varietal: Chardonnay Cost: $32 Nose- tropical fruits, lemon peel, ripe oranges Taste- honey, lemon,lime,orange,vanilla Points: 89 I liked this actually, nothing special but it wasn't overly buttery (thats a good thing) went well with broiled lobster and shrimp w/ oil and garlic 2006 Domaine Thibert Pouilly-Fuissé Les Vignes Blanches Maconnais, Burgundy, France Varietal: Chardonnay Cost: $34 Nose- white flowers, violets, apples, melon Taste: lots of citrus, those little violet candies, honey, minerals Points: 90+ loved this, no food, just sipped 2007 Frederic Gueguen Chablis Les Grandes Vignes Chablis,Burgundy, France Varietal: Chardonnay Cost: $28 Nose: lemon, grey stones (chalkboard), petrol, slight white flowers Taste: lemon, grey stones, petrol Points: 86- Drank over 2 days- first day got nothin' so I tried again the next night- same thing. Usually I love those tastes but this just didn't do it for me. I had the Pouilly-Fuisse before I had the Chablis- its amazing how different these wines are. Its a great example of tasting the same grape from different terroir. Chablis and Pouilly-Fuisse are in the same region but these wines couldn't be more different.