Posts belonging to Category Cotes de Nuits

The Los Angeles Magazine Wine and Food Event was held this past Sunday October 23 at the Semler Ranch. 100% first class show worth every dollar of 100 to get in. We shall be reporting back in bite size tastes and half spittable half sippable drinks over the next several weeks. Look for interviews with new and familiar winemakers in the Santa Rita Hills. We are also anticipating the holiday season. In the spirit of re-gifting we therefore are cleaning out the cellar along with last season’s “lost” wine notes for recycling purposes for our readers. After, all, we are at te end of the pre-holidays window of relative peace and ordinary life before the 10 week-long fiasco takes hold of our mass consciousness and we are bombarded with jingles and endless last minute sales with the lowest prices of the year. Here is what we came up with for your pre-holiday pleasure.

2007 Durant Dundee Hills La Casita Pinot Noir $20: Quite sweet for this vintage and region. Could be mistaken for Santa Rita Hills. The 2007 vintage in Willamette is typically more lean and even elegant in a severe Heidi Klum way. “One of you will remain and one of you…will be dismissed.” Jawohl!

2009 Anne Gros Bourgogne AND Hauts Cotes des Nuits $33: Just released and already impossible to find. Same price for either wine. When you wait for a wine this good this long it cannot possibly fulfill the expectation. But it does. Much tannin without being lean. Somewhat muscular in a youthful style. Fruit in reserve. Cannot wait to taste again but next time with a Vinturi – the aerator. Ages faster than smoking three packs a day. Steve Goldun says they are equally delicious. Only tasted the Bourgogne which was just fine.

2009 Clos de la Roilette $26: This bottle keeps tasting better with time. Reviewed most recently here Great balance of generous fruit with enough stuffing to keep it all firm and gripping. Nothing flashy. Just very nicely made Cru declassified Fleurie Beaujolais. Gotta love it. Beaujolais IS the longest standing bargain. This wine is in the top 5 from the very good 2009 vintage.

2009 Domaine Alain Michaud Brouilly $23: Add this one to the list of superb 2009 Beaujolais cru wines. Had not tasted this one until very recently. Extra bonus – Paul Wasserman pouring! Creamy smooth like a 1950s puro. Quite delicious. Shall hunt down and bag a few. Believe it will still be within reach.

1989 Chateau Soucherie Chaume $33: Creamy, chalky, Double lovely. Like pears and heavy cream. Golden color. At 23 years still drinking young. This is a Chenin Blanc from the Loire. These are another group of less fashionable wines that deserve your attention. You will not be disappointed. Can take 20 years easily. This is how to buy a wine with age and open it tonight. Pricing is bargain city. Go find and buy then drink. Dessert wine without the candy. 12.5%

Holidays are coming. Good time to share wines with loved ones. We can also help with top of the line plonk advice and how to handle re-gifting!

We love to gloat! Gloating is so underrated; relegated to the emotional garbage dump along with gossiping and schadenfreude. Well, tBoW is gloating with the widespread endorsement of the new CHEAP WINE REALITY. It is officially and widely understood that wine prices are down across the board and bargains are everywhere. Here is the LA Times article “$15: The New Normal” that proves the point. Lesser known is our observation that this downward spiral has dragged along pricing for wines formerly considered out of reach. (more…)

Here’s a story with a switcheroo, reversal of fortune and an unexpected ending. Could’ve been penned by O. Henry. It’s the bumbling retailer, and the little producer from Burgundy going up against a couple of big fellas ending all turned upside down.

The story begins when tBoW tasted the 2008 Hauts-Cote des Nuits from Anne Gros and was knocked out. I called my retailer – who shall remain unnamed – and asked for half a case of that specific wine. When I went to pick it up I realized there was only bottle of what I had requested and five other Anne Gros Bourgogne wines; the lesser “Pinot Noir” labels. What to do? I took them! How bad could they be? The retailer had not checked the box and did not realize there was a switch. tBoW likes this retailer a lot so it was good form to accept the mistaken wines. Besides what better way to go to school on Anne Gros wines for what amounts to the cheapest tuition. (more…)

Should you ever meet Robert Haggstrom Church - owner of Church Estate Vineyards Рyou will be struck by how plain folk he seems to be. After a couple hours sipping wine and lunching on his terrace, checking out his spectacular wine cellar, and listening to his views about making wine, quotes by Hunter S. Thompson start coming to mind.

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn PRO”

“Buy the ticket, take the ride”. (more…)

The Masters was exceptionally dramatic this year. Many years it can be a total bust. But the return of Tiger to the Tour to face a resurgent and mature Phil Mickelson promised to deliver a worthwhile show. Adding the most fun player on Tour – Anthony Kim – and the promise was more than fulfilled. (more…)