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Christmas Wine II

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Marchbanks said:
I’ve decided to terminate my birthday bottle sub-thread early. No-one else seems particularly interested, and that’s fair enough - it was rather presumptuous of me to assume that others would care about my self-indulgence. In addition, I’ll probably enjoy the wine more if I don’t have to make up some rubbish to write!

So here’s a group shot of eight of the remaining twelve. The other four are TBC, but probably a Huet, a Burn VT, a Montus La Tyre and a l’Aurage. Cheers!

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We all enjoy your write ups! By all means enjoy but don't feel shy to share if you feel the urge.
 
Marchbanks said:
Perrin Côtes du Ventoux is another that gets my vote, esp. at this price. (Warning - dealing with this merchant is sometimes straightforward, sometimes as aggravating as hell. Everything has worked for me eventually though. So far.)
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Well I opened a bottle yesterday and thought it was undrinkable. And then I noticed that it is 2021, not the 2018/19 ordered. So I have two questions:

1. How long does it need in the cellar?
2. What should I do with the opened bottle? Cook with it or throw it down the drain?

I'm pretty angry about this. I've contacted the seller but so far no response. Hopefully I'll get a refund, in any event I used paypal.
 
^ from what I understand Simplywinesdirect source from others. It could be bad storage. I wouldn't buy from them.
 
It should be drinkable from the off, though a year or two in the cellar shouldn't do it any harm. Sounds like a duff bottle.
 
Well I know that there's something wrong because it has a quality which Marchbanks hates: there's a marked taste of oak barrels. The taste has three layers -- wood, extreme sourness and slight bitterness. I don't want to open another bottle to check until I've reached an agreement with the seller.
 
Certainly doesn't sound right. I've drunk a fair bit of it over the years, though not recently. It is quite distinctive - dark, richly fruited, with a plummy sweetness. There can be sour elements too, but not assertive, and oxidative notes. It is undoubtedly quite rustic, and a bit raw when it is young. I very much doubt that it sees any wood, and if it does it would be old, not young.

It isn't really a wine I would choose to drink now, more an autumn/winter weight wine, to drink with a rich stew.
 
I agree with eternumviti, it definitely sounds like a bad (oxidised/heat damaged) bottle. Maybe the ‘woody’ taste is really mustiness disguised by the other unpleasantnesses? The question is why, and are the others the same? I had a similar problem with six bottles of Jaboulet Crozes twenty years ago. Three tasted like yours, so I sent the fourth (unopened) back to France. They agreed it was faulty, blaming ‘storage or transport’. They replaced four, ignoring the fact I had bought six. Bastards. The last two were, of course, just as bad.

A proper bottle of this stuff tastes to me like a more rustic Pigeoulet.
 
I recently decided to check on my basic Guigal Côtes du Rhône red (2016). Having bought a dozen a couple of years ago, I had tasted one (or three) and put the rest to age a bit more: the wine was fine but didn't knock my socks off. The same thing happened this time: after airing it (decanter) for half an hour and swishing it around a bit, we had a couple of glasses. OK but unremarkable. As we had to go abroad for a week the next day, I Vacuvined the remaining half bottle and stuck it in the fridge.

A week later, we pulled the bottle out of the fridge with no great hopes, let it get to 18C, and really enjoyed it: much richer nose, all sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle notes when tasting that were either not there a week before or completely missed by us. An amazing difference. Temporary conclusion: Guigal's basic 2016 CdR needs a lot more time in the cellar, and serious decanting/airing before drinking to bring out what it can offer.
 
I believe you.


Blockbuster of a rosé almost glows in the dark.
Burnt orange this has the intensity of most reds .
A complex wine.
 
Marchbanks said:
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2001 Lafaurie-Peyraguey. Robert Parker gives it 96 (which I think these days means ‘pretty good’) but Neal Martin (who he?) only gives it 92 (I think that translates as ‘barely worth getting your corkscrew out’.)

RP says ‘full-bodied, opulent, enormously endowed’ and NM reckons ‘medium-bodied with a viscous opening.’ Blimey, Freud would have a field day with these sexually-repressed wine critics.

Neal also believes there is ‘great tension here’ so I spoke to it softly in an attempt to relax it before pulling the cork. It seemed to work, because it’s rather fine. Basically liquid Seville marmalade with a bit of honey and grapefruit. That may not sound like the sort of wine you want to drink, and indeed I wouldn’t want to every night. But suitably chilled it’s a beautiful thing to sip with and after some Blacksticks Blue and runny Brie, sitting outside on a warm night listening to Dr John singing lasciviously about Brain Salad. (I’m sure Robert and Neal would get excited by that.)
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I had a bottle of this way back in the early 90s. If I recall correctly (which is unlikely) I shared it with some friends on a picnic. It certainly attracted the wasps!
 
PsB said:
I recently decided to check on my basic Guigal Côtes du Rhône red (2016). Having bought a dozen a couple of years ago, I had tasted one (or three) and put the rest to age a bit more: the wine was fine but didn't knock my socks off. The same thing happened this time: after airing it (decanter) for half an hour and swishing it around a bit, we had a couple of glasses. OK but unremarkable. As we had to go abroad for a week the next day, I Vacuvined the remaining half bottle and stuck it in the fridge.

A week later, we pulled the bottle out of the fridge with no great hopes, let it get to 18C, and really enjoyed it: much richer nose, all sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle notes when tasting that were either not there a week before or completely missed by us. An amazing difference. Temporary conclusion: Guigal's basic 2016 CdR needs a lot more time in the cellar, and serious decanting/airing before drinking to bring out what it can offer.
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I’ve felt much the same about 2016 Coudoulet so far. I see I’ve drunk three bottles, in 7/20, 3/21 and 10/21. I still have over a dozen left, and I’m going to wait for a bit. I’m in much the same situation with the Guigal too. But I’m still chuffing my way through the 2015s... They do seem to have a remarkably long life for generic CdRs!
 
Marchbanks Sir,
You’re in a better position, as I have no 2015 (Guigal or other CdR) around, and only 6-8* of the 2016 that apparently can’t be drunk for another few years: as my dear wife points out, what’s the point of having all those bottles in the wine fridge if we can’t drink them? The answer is obvious: need another mosey up the Rhône soon.

*(Some vagueness in qties as record keeping and cellar organization here are a lot sloppier than in your establishment: congratulations to your able sommelier).
 
PsB said:
*(Some vagueness in qties as record keeping and cellar organization here are a lot sloppier than in your establishment: congratulations to your able sommelier).
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I definitely wouldn’t have been able to tell you stuff like that before I started using CT!

As it doesn’t seem right for a confused, feeble OAP (six days to go before I turn into one) to have to descend the rickety, woodworm-infested steps into the cellar and brave the flock of dive-bombing bats with only a candle to light the way, I have in fact arranged to engage a sommelier. He will be making his way down from his current employer in the North East at the end of the month using a relay of pfm’ers, friends and relations that I have thoughtfully laid on for him. With any luck he will know the ropes by the time I return from my birthday celebrations in France in mid-July. And hopefully he will also have sorted out some of the more subversive elements in the staff. Watch this space.
 
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