Christmas Wine II

Asked about Janasse Argile a few days ago: so opened the first of them and can report it is, IMO, the equal of that stalwart Guigal.
Has some carignan in addition to the GSM.
Finally another good value CdR option.

 

To celebrate the 100th DVW, something from the YAE Matias Riccitelli.

 

I knew you were an old hippie ."Yae, also known as Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink in South America"

 

Lovely creamy Chardonnay nice length warming up too much in the glass need to keep it chilled and keep some for the risotto,a notch behind the Tasmanian.

 

Well all I can say is that this 2019 is very pleasant.

 

^ Chunky glass Man.

 

.
Fruity weighty reasonable value , what's not to like.

 

Expectations defied, first one way and then the other.

 

^ cheap Amarone, like cheap bordeaux, is usually a bad bet imo.

 

That reminds me I bought some cheap supermarket
C9DP and Barolo ,I think I'll sneak it into my son's stash.

 

I'll soften the blow by putting in a Riccitelli and Caboche.
That Greek wine was refusing to die yesterday on its third day,still fresh,I don't normally keep stuff that long.
Opened this yesterday

Difficult to ignore when they chop it to £10.99,it's a lovely Chardonnay, however at full price I would definitely prefer the TWS Tasmanian.

 

Once again I was lured by a critic’s spiel - ‘bright red cherry fruit, a steal, 90pts!!’ etc. etc. When will I get it into my thick skull that ‘90pts!!’ is critics’ code for ‘actually pretty crummy, but if I dared say so I’d be out of a job….’? These days I tend to put more faith in the views of the CT community than an individual’s thoughts - they can speak freely without worrying about their sponsorships - but sadly searching for Tesco Finest Amarone drew a blank. (I noticed the Tesco Oz Dessert Semillon got a thumbs-up though, which I definitely agree with.)

 

You've taken a few for the team!

 

One for the pilgrim.
https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/8504-bill-frisell-four

 

Anyone tried J P Brun’s Beaujolais Blanc?

Also, is Perrin Coudoulet 2014 past its use by date?

 

I doubt it 2015 recently showed no signs of aging, though others here know more about Coudoulet.

 

Back on the Argentine sauce again. Catena Alta 2018. What a battle with the cork! But I won and it’s fine, rather refined and well made, subtlety 4 dimensional. It’s a totally lovely wine, agreeable with enough complexity in the way the tastes evolve to make it interesting, no challenging flavours at all, dry but not too dry.

I don’t know if it’s worth all the trouble, I’ve been drinking the 2018 for two years and my responses have been inconsistent - I don’t know if it’s me or the booze. I do know that one was corked and this one had a cork which broke in several pieces.

I’ve got a few more, it’ll be interesting to see how it and me evolve over the next couple of years.

 

^ my experience with Catena Alta chardonnay is that it was really good for a while but then went downhill so I wouldn't keep a 2018 past next year.

 

A tip about Cantena Alta. It needs to breath. I opened it at about 2 today and had a glass with lunch, and it was as I said in the post above. I just got home and had another glass and well . . . it's become a GREAT wine! I mean, I'm quite a moderate drinker, but I feel like downing the bottle.

I'm glad I have a few of these now, 6 in fact. Drinking them in the next twelve months ain't going to be a problem.

(2019 for sale at Ocado for £20)

 

Yes. I liked the Vinification Bourguignonne version…

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/christmas-wine-ii.249782/page-118#post-4615900

…the basic one not so much.

Community notes from CT.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes...3ddd89943110f6f245d05e3783f8dbe&UISource=list

On that basis I would risk a bottle or two for immediate drinking, providing it was a bargain. Otherwise I’d go for 2015/6. When I say ‘I would’ I don’t mean ‘you should.’