Thivin, Borie de Maurel, Charvin, Vieux Télégraphe 1998

tasting notes tomorrow...

Ten years later... I can t find the tasting notes anymore... :D

Feuillatte, Pieropan, Colin and Clos des papes

Venne brought a vintage cuvée of Nicolas Feuillatte to celebrate his wedding to come. The 1996 was a real soft and complex liquid, worthy to be drunk at this occasion.

The Saint Aubin Colin morey Le Banc (white, again Venne' s choice) also got positive reactions of the winelurkin' company. High acid driven wine with complex aroma' s of flint (silex) and ripe fruit. 90/100 A bargain at 17€. Pieropan La Rocca 2006 (Soave-veneto) is a wine I got from my blogfriend Rob, who is a huge Licatafan. La Rocca is their topcuvée and it is indeed a very tasty and complex wine. The Garganega grape gives a full bodied wine with enough subtility to enjoy the abundant flavors of ananas and peaches. A sweet aftertaste and 90/100. Thx again, Rob!

KK brought us a white Chateauneuf, Clos des papes 2006. It was the first time I drunk this in white, and it was not at all a disappointment. Vincent thought it could be a topchardonnay but this blend is made of marsanne, roussanne , viognier and some other grapes. Incredibly long in the mouth and beautifully balanced with just a little touch of alcohol in the finish. Although, this wine had a complexity and minerality that blew us away. 93/100

Chateau des Tours

Chateau Rayas is one of the most original Chateauneufs being made in.. eh.. Chateauneuf. I once had the pleasure to drink this mythic wine (the 1999) and it’ s one of my great winememories (thank you Marc DW). Very charmed by the lightness (not only of the color), fraicheur and yet huge complexity of this wine, I searched for bottles with the same qualities but at a smaller pricetag. Believe it or not, in contrast with mister Bono, I DID found what I was looking for! I’d say more, the first time I drunk the Cotes du Rhone from Chateau des Tours, the only thing I could think was: “ hmm, this must be Rayas in an other bottle…” Not THAT surprising, because Chateau des Tours is made by the same team of winemakers and is propriety of… Emmanuel Reynaud, winemaker at Rayas! The wine has luscious aroma’ s of red fruits (strawberry) and spices. The mouthfeel is fresh, juicy, and beautifully balanced. I served this Des Tours 2005 (70%grenache + counoise and cinsault) several times and everybody who tasted this wine, with no single exception, was impassioned and asked for more, more more.
Chateau des Tours also makes a fabulous vin de pays, which has the same character but somewhat less complexity. An incredible bargain at 8,70€ (Grandry)
The third wine on the picture is La pialade, which is in fact the third wine of Chateau Rayas (Fonsalette being the second) and which is made by the grapes that didn’ t make it to Rayas or Fonsalette. Parker is not that enthousiast about the 2005 (86) , but in my opinion he seriously underrated this wine. The Rhone got 91, The Vdp 89.
Look out for these wines, you won’ t be dissapointed.

l' Abeille de Fieuzal 1986

Pedro brought me a bottle which he bought at Bernards', the most suspicious wineshop in Ghent.

We were curious but didn' t expect much (not to say nothin')

To our great surprise the wine showed a very nice nose, with typical aroma' s of mushrooms and spice. In the mouth...well, I know you think it' s gonna go down from here (the tasting note I mean), but you're wrong. Wonderfull balanced and tasty in the mouth, this wine was the biggest surprise of my whole winelife! L' Abeille de Fieuzal is the second wine of the property (Chateau de Fieuzal), and altough 1986 was a remarquable year in Bordeaux, no one would expect a second to taste that good after 23 years of cellaring.

Other wines are in different postings.

L' abeille de Fieuzal 1986 90/100 (august 2009)

Domaine de la Janasse, Rhone

Do you know the feeling when you drink a wine and you like it so much that from now on you don' t want to drink anything else? Janasse is such a wine. And the fact that there are different cuvées makes it even more attractive.

Janasse Terre d' Argile 2006: Like a Chateauneuf, great PQ! 90+

Janasse 2006 Chateauneuf: wonderful stuff, 93/100

Janasse 2007 Chaupin : Like Michael jackson at the age of 'Ben': Too young but incredibly talented, nothing rough, just smooth and balanced (yes he was at that age...) 95/100