What Was Your Most Recent Bottle of Wine?

[Mandryka]

Belgrove - much enjoyed savouring your encounter with that 2005 chateauneuf-du-pape : I have to confess I have never really 'got' those rich southern rhones. The older I get the more I tend to the lighter end of the spectrum : lunches with loire cabernet franc - and I am slowly transferring my allegiance from left-bank clarets to burgundy, where the joy lies in the inhaled fragrances rather than the swallowed tastes. But the expense!

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Today I've been drinking Jacky Blot's Domaine de la Butte "mi-pente" 2018, a Bourgueil. -- tastes like the most delicious cough linctus you can imagine. That's cabernet franc for you! I've got three left, and there're are some 2020 in the UK. I'm trying to decide whether to buy some and lose them for a few years.


Re C9dP, last week I discovered a tremendous white -- Roger Sabon "Renaissance", I was drinking 2020. Such elegance. I ordered 6 after trying it. I liked it so much hat I've decided to explore good quality white Rhones -- so far my experience is limited to Guigal CdR and Saint Cosme Deux Albion. Recommendations appreciated, £40 max in the UK.

[HighlandDougie]

I've recently much enjoyed (at Maison Pic's caff in Valence) Saint-Peray from Alain Voge ('Harmonie' and had a taste of 'Fleur de Crussol'). And would also recommend Saint Joseph from Bernard Gripa - alas, not cheap but well-structured (mainly Marsanne, from memory). I buy Yves Cuilleron's wines (Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier etc) here in France but I'm not sure about their availability in the UK - reliably good and good value. I buy quite a lot of whites from Savoie but again not sure what is available in the UK. I sometimes find white Rhônes to be a bit strong so welcome the (usually) lower % ABV of vins de Savoie.

[Belgrove]

vinteuil - even a half decent burgundy can set you back a bit, but a Côte Rôtie can have burgundian characteristics despite not being made from Pinot Noir, having elegance, length and heady perfumes. Whilst not cheap, it’s high quality and a darn sight less expensive than an equivalent burgundy. Buying en primeur is a good option.

Mandryka - white Rhône’s are a treat. In the north mostly marsanne with roussanne, giving wines that are fresh but weighty and honeysuckle scented, with flavours associated with white fleshed stone fruits and lemon. Saint-Joseph provides fine examples, Domaine Villard and Cuilleron are around the mid £20’s. As Highland-Dougie mentions, Bernard Gripa is reliably good. Croze Hermitage Mule Blanche (Jaboulet) is consistently good around £30. And of course there is Condrieu (the current fashion for Viognier with everything doesn’t hold a candle to its charms), one of my desert island wines. In the south, there are more bargains to be had. Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc is usually a blend, with clairette and grenache often featuring in addition to those varieties used in the north. Domaine Montfaucon is great for everyday drinking and their Lirac Blanc is an everyday good Viognier. White Chateauneuf-du-Pape is in another league, and as complex and heady as the reds. I took a Vieux-Telegraph to the last day of the Lord’s Test, which was declared the wine of the season, and was then told off for not bringing it on all the other days! There’s gratitude for you…

[teamsaint]

Homebew hedgerow damson.
Well I like it,, and so does Mrs TS.
currently brewing some ginger wine, and two batches of blackberry maturing.

[Keraulophone]

Last week I opened the second bottle of a case of 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cote Capelan, La Ferme du Mont, Stephane Vedeau which I added to the cellar after Jancis R awarded it a rare 19/20. The first bottle was broached prematurely, so I'm happy to report that my patience was rewarded with a highly pleasurable experience. I can't do better than to quote Robert Parker:

The dense ruby/purple-colored, full-bodied 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cotes Capelan is an outrageously rich, complex wine exhibiting beautiful creme de cassis, kirsch, licorice, forest floor, and spring flower-like aromas. It is fresh, voluptuous, and opulent in the mouth, but the fresh acids and vibrancy give it exceptional precision as well as a refreshing style despite its weight, richness, and length. This is a superb, young Chateauneuf du Pape from an up-and-coming star of the appellation. Give it 1-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following two decades. 96/100
[My emphasis - surprising freshness in a rich red]

Stephane Vedeau was a little known youngster in 2007 but the experts spotted a winner at a very reasonable price (then c.£20 ib). Even now, this can be had for around £50 a bottle, exemplifying the great value that can be found in the Rhône.

Wines such as CNdP are best drunk with food, but I'm always on the lookout for good Beaujolais, which can be quaffed at any time (especially in Le Beaujolais wine bar in Litchfield St, just off Charing Cross road towards The Ivy, with decor unchanged since 1972). M & S Classics No.35 is a lovely unoaked example of Beaujolais-Villages at £10, made for the store by Sylvie Ravier.

[vinteuil]

vinteuil - even a half decent burgundy can set you back a bit, but a Côte Rôtie can have burgundian characteristics despite not being made from Pinot Noir, having elegance, length and heady perfumes. Whilst not cheap, it’s high quality and a darn sight less expensive than an equivalent burgundy.…

... o, very happy with a côte-rôtie when I can afford it! - likewise cornas, hermitage, saint-peray...

It's the southern ones - the chateauneuf-du-pape, lirac, rasteau, vacqueyras and other gigondas that I don't really get.

.

[Mandryka]

Thanks gentlemen.

I'll pick up a half bottle of Mule Blanc from Hedonism in Mayfair this week to try -- if I like it I shall buy a case, maybe from Simply Wines Direct. I'll let you know what I think.

I'd love to try some white Vieux Telegraph -- how much bottle age does it need?

Keraulophone I shall certainly try a bottle of M&S No. 36! My standard Beaujolais man is Jean Paul Brun -- I like the basic Le Ronsay and L'Ancien. Both seem to benefit from a bit of age, I drank my last 2019 Le Ronsay a few weeks ago and it was excellent.

Re Côte Rôtie The problem I have is that it needs to be aged for a few years, and I am by nature impatient. I keep intending to buy a case of Guigal Brune et Blonde from Waitrose or Majestic when they have a 25% off sale, and then lose them under the stairs for 10 years. My Côte Rôtie substitute, poor man's Côte Rôtie, is Stephane Ogier's La Rosine.

[Belgrove]

Mandryka - about 5 years, but a good year will keep and improve for a decade+. Great with richer seafoods, pork, veal and the like. The offer of twigglets at Lord’s was declined.

Do let us know if the Mule Blanche is to your taste. And do have a punt on the Brune et Blonde if the opportunity arises, it’s rather special (and does not necessarily need [that] long aging).

[Mandryka]

You're a very bad influence Belgrove. I've just ordered the last three Vieux Telegraphe Blanc 2018 from House of Townend -- good sale price.

Cellar Tracker is a bit ambiguous about this wine -- it seems there are two types, "La Crau" and "Télégramme".

https://www.cellartracker.com/list.asp?fInStock=0&Table=List&iUserOverride=0&szS earch=vieux+telegraphe+blanc+2018#selected%3DW3888 951_2_K55594c0d8c336a8c00168503de8c46d2

[gradus]

Pleasant Wine Society box set from 6 Beaujolais producers, good value but surprisingly potent - a couple 14.5%.

[Mandryka]

Jaboulet Croze Hermitage Blanc 2018, aka "Mule Blanche" - if I were given this in a bistro with some salami and cheese I'd not be unhappy. But somehow at home it's not special enough at the price point (about £25 a bottle) to buy more. No viongner, a grapefruity flavour which could be described as bitterness by less charitable people than yours truely. Industrial. Meh, as they say.




I picked up this half bottle from Hedonism - I like their Easter display

[HighlandDougie]

Jaboulet Croze Hermitage Blanc 2018, aka "Mule Blanche" - if I were given this in a bistro with some salami and cheese I'd not be unhappy. But somehow at home it's not special enough at the price point (about £25 a bottle) to buy more. No viongner, a grapefruity flavour which could be described as bitterness by less charitable people than yours truely. Industrial. Meh, as they say.




I picked up this half bottle from Hedonism - I like their Easter display

I wonder if, as a 375ml bottle (and, as such, allegedly faster-maturing), it might simply have passed the point for drinking quite young, which one wouldn't expect in a 750ml bottle at this stage?

[Mandryka]

I wonder if, as a 375ml bottle (and, as such, allegedly faster-maturing), it might simply have passed the point for drinking quite young, which one wouldn't expect in a 750ml bottle at this stage?

Much better today, I don't know whether it's just that I'm in a better mood or whether it needed a bit more aeration. Anyway, today I'm happy!

[HighlandDougie]

Whew! Maybe not so industrial after all.

[Mandryka]

Anyone tried white Pigeoulet?

(Drinking 2015 Telegramme (red) tonight. Nice. I know it's designed to be a keeper but it's still good.)