meat

domaine du vieux telegraphe CDP le crau 2007

roll

domaine de cristia CDP 2007

later

lift off

nothing for the longest time ... actually 2 weeks 5 days and 19 hours ...

domaine la roquete CDP rouge 2007

ruby ... dark, purple tinge; plum, hint of cassis, pepper, bit of wet clay, initially very closed; ripe plum, fleshy, jam, iron/graphite?, opens up a little with time ... 1.5hrs; solid grippy tannin structure; balancing acid; medium/full bodied; not very long; coupla more years; BANG!

dumb this time

roger sabon cdp reserve 2006

closed ... flavourless !!!

waiting for it's 2nd wind? perhaps ...

a little fuzzy

st. cosme CDP 2006

ruby with a purply tinge; cherry, long pepper, grilled meat (hint); ripe fruit, cherry, prune, mineral, pepper; heaps of furry tannin ... a little too much at this stage even for me, could do with more acid ... it was nearly awol (can you be nearly ...); medium length; medium/big bodied; needs a bit more time in the bottle but then there's the acid issue; POP!(+)

see the 04 and 05

it's a nice new world

1)hardy's thomas hardy coonawarra cab sav 1994

2)vergelegen chardonnay reserve 2007
prefer the fresher tasting basic bottle ...

with some regular stuff in support

3)brunely vacqueyras 2003

earlier

4)lucien barrot CDP 2005

later

nice half doz

1)loosen L 2008
BANG! great great value

2)domaine de la brunely vacqueyras 2003

ruby; kirsch, chinese herbs, long pepper, wet clay; cherry, plum, herbal, said pepper, bit of soy, slight chalkiness; ripe tannins; juicy acid; a bit rustic?; medium bodied; long; BANG!; courtesy of the contrarian.

3)henschke lenswood abbott's prayer 1997
BANG!(-)

4)lucien barrot CDP 2005
er, ...



5)loosen urziger wurtzgarten spatlese 2007
BANG!

6)cloudy bay sauvignon blanc 2008
a friend's rather nice housewine ...

details later

bad habit rising ... weekday drops

roger sabon cdp reserve 2006

what can i say, consistent ... hardly any bottle variation ... but this sample was smoother and even more intergrated ...

chayeau puygueraud 2000

consistent with earlier sample, but tannins seem to have a little more bite ... which i like.

nice day

suspects gather

1) castello di querceto chianti classico reserva 1990

aged stuff, see earlier sample, less dried out than the earlier sample but faded badly in the glass after about 30 mins.; methinks this one has flatlined ...

2) alain graillot croze hemitage 2007

nice as it ever was

3) mitchell sevenhill cabernet sauvignon 1999 (clare)

ruby; restrained, plum, blackcurrent, oak (hint) , nicely intergrated; fruit and wood intergrated as expected, bit of mineral/chalk; tannins fine with enough acid to balance things out; longish; light/ medium bodied; BANG!; good drop.

4) ornellaia le volte 2007

see earlier notes ... consistent

5) lucien barrot CDP 2005

never disappoints ...

a good evening ... bit hazy though.

twice

roger sabon CDP reserve 2006
2 samplings of this very nice drop over the weekend ... consistent and i'm lazy.

odd one out

1)domaine j l chave CDR 2007

duh ... not very interesting ...

2)onellaia le volte 2007 (merlot, cab sav and sangiovese)

base model in their lineup.

ruby dark; floral?, ripe plum, cherry, hint of vanilla, someone said leather ... i didn't get no handbags here; off dry feel on entry, rich ripe fruit (but not over ripe), rasp, mineral/chalk, fruit cake, some firm but fine tannins, juicy acid; rich, smooth but not overblown; medium bodied and length; for both, big bob fans and the rest of us ... uncanny balancing act; BANG! good price, drink up.

revisits

3)roger sabon cdp reserve 2006

4)graillot crozes hermitage 2007

no surprises here ... good stuff as before ...

somewhere in the middle

paul jaboulet cdp les cedres 2006
later

good un

roger sabon cdp les olivets 2007
decanted 30 mins; dark ruby; cherry, spice, pepper, herbal; ripe cherry, spice (long pepper, cinnamon ... someone said cardamom, uurgh), bit of grilld meat, mineral (very); heaps of firm fine tannins; balancing acidity; long; nice but young; medium bodied; linear; not as complex as the 06; BANG!

even keel

lucien barrot cdp 2006

dark ruby; plum, cherry, berries, whiff of smoke, bit of wet clay, cedar, hint star anise, herbal?, mushroom; plum, cherry/kirsh, some grilled meat, asian spice, nice mineral chalkiness; lots of fine furry tannins; juicy acid (ah, the rain, the rain...); nicely structured and medium bodied, less complex, slightly leaner but more approachable at this stage than the 05; 15%; BANG! no soy sauce but who gives ... good stuff ... wonder what it would be like in a coupla ...

the acid test

domaine de la janasse chateauneuf du pape vielles vignes 2006 (g+bits of s & m, supposedly 80 to 100 yr old vines)

puplish ruby; fresh fruit hits you, plum, raspberries, spice?, cedar?; fruit again (heaps, concentrated, perfectly ripe ... not over ripe, quite nice actually ...), pepper, star anise(hint), cinnamon, syrupy feel; some fine ripe tannins ... would have loved much more of it; here's the problem ... acid AWOL; unbalanced due to the lack of the latter ...; how's it gonna age?; longish; b*ll busting 15.5%; gets tiring after a coupla glasses, this is not refreshment; POP and way too expensive; 4 cylinder bmw with leather seats, cupholders and a bodykit; any of the st. cosme, roger sabon or barrot stuff would be preferable to this punter... and cheaper; give me a used 350z anyday. the other found it rather nice though 8-0

and what do the sages say,
big bob 96, tanker 95, speculum 94 ...

i say ... aarggh. another inspired choice by that denizen of the hole ... you know who you are ...

comfort

no time last weekend ... stolen drops ...
a loosen graacher himmelreich kabinett 2007 and a lucien barrot et fils chateaunuef du pape 2005 (parts melded very nicely in this sample)... same old same old but consistent.

a drop at last

dinner with the old guy, mum's left him and gone off to melbourne for coupla weeks ... so he's home alone.

st cosme CDP 2005
notes very similar to earlier sample except that there was no big fat fruit here ... anyway at the time, alcohol content was more important.

cosmic

saint cosme chateauneuf du pape 2005 (60% g: 40% m)[24 mths in used wood]

dark ruby with purple tinge; ripe fruit, bluberry, kirsch, bit floral ... someone said lavender, didn't get no soy, meat/funk nor herbs (someone detected herbal nuances); initially smooth ripe fruit ... berries, cherry and plum?, glycolic/almost cloying, round; very little tannins and acid ... urgh ... big bob style?, after about an hour ... things turned for the better (much), fat ass fruit receded a touch, mo tannins ( fine minerally/chalky stuff) and juicy acid surfaced ... that's mo like it, now there's balance methinks, someone said dark choc covered brandied cherries; smooth; medium/big bodied; medium length with a savoury finish; 14.5% ... takes it's toll on ya later; BANG! see older bro ...

brett central

have absolutely NO luck with burgs

domaine harmand-geoffroy gevrey-chambertin la bossiere 1er cru 2002 (a 0.45 ha monopole!)

what? you mean that there was supposed to be some fruit in there? and the persistent whiff of bandaid and taste of plastic was not attributable to the unique terrior?... :-0 FIZZLE!

just enough brett to f*ck things up but not enough (sh*t! when is it never enough) to get the bottle changed ... sigh. are hygiene standards so low in burgundy that so many bottles are tainted? is this a retorical question?

i need an untainted bottle!!! please. half bottle of lucien barrot's cdp 2005 to the rescue ... BANG!

pope pop and some gooseberry juice

1)saint cosme chateauneuf du pape 2004 [grenache 60%:mouverde 40%, bought in grapes]

purplish ruby; herbs, cherry, grilled meat, a little ripe capsicum, pepper, soy; plum, cherry, a bit beefy, slight alcoholic burn; chalky tannins; acidity quite refreshing; mid palate initally a little lean but broadened nicely with time, 1 hr; medium bodied; long; slightly bitter and herbal finish; 14.5%; enough structure to go further; BANG!(-)

2)lightband sauvignon blanc 2008 (nelson)
very light straw; gooseberry, kiwifruit, bit of guava, nectarine; all follow onto palate, all primary fruit flavours; fresh; antipodean fruitbomb; light/medium bodied; chalky tannins; a little unripe fruit kind of tartness; nice medium weight mouthfeel; 13%; FIZZLE! too "in yer face" for me.

not a great session, too tired cos i've not had any sleep for 40