Egly-Ouriet, Champagne, Grand Cru, Brut Tradition nv In the nose there is citrus, bruised apples and brown spices as in an apple pie. In keeping with the house style, the acidity is quite profound. This wine is quite tight, very long, very much just a baby at this point. The grapes are sourced from vines [...]

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Charles Heidsieck, Champagne, Brut Reserve nv This wine has developed toastiness, nuttiness and a sense of bread dough. The texture is lovely, creamy yet refreshingly acidic. This new bottling was disgorged in 2008 and given a hefty price increase over the previous batch on the market which sold for just under $30 retail.
The base wine [...]

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Deux Montille, Chambolle-Musigny, “Les Babilleres” 2006 This is a very refined Burgundy, showing the charm associated with the appellation and the skillful winemaking of Alix. The acidity is a hallmark, encasing the cherry fruit along with an elegant mouthfeel. The grapes for this wine were sourced from Les Babilleres, situated between Les Charmes and the [...]

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Domaine Charles Audoin, Marsannay, Au Champ Salomon 2005 In the nose this wine expresses minerality and toasty oak along with a little volatility. In the mouth, the acidity is quite electric, with a follow-through of minerality, a very dry Chardonnay. The vines that gave us the grapes for this wine are an average of 30 [...]

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Paul Pernot, Bourgogne, Chardonnay 2007 This wine shows lots of green apples throughout with some added buttery richness on the palate. Mis in Puligny by Paul Pernot et ses fils Michel and Paul 13.5% $18.99 at Bottle Barn

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Chateau Rouget, Pomerol 2005 This wine shows the classic example of tolerated brett. There are Band-Aids competing with ripe fruits in the nose. With 30 minutes the fruit starts to strut into the open. The mouth features the same with a supple texture, rustic yet velvelty, with a juiciness to the fruit. The property is [...]

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Andre Brunel, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Les Cailloux 2006 In the nose the fruit goes from fresh to raisin, with black pepper and spices from the cupboard. In the mouth, this wine is approachable already, chewy and dripping with acidity with plenty of extract to fill out the palate - excellent! This is their estate CDP. 65% old [...]

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Coudoulet de Beaucastel, Cotes-du-Rhone Rouge, 2005 The black fruits are alight in the nose with a liquer-like character. In the mouth the fruit is very expressive with the structure you’d expect - a great combo. The grapes are grown organically and include Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. Mis par Ste. Fermiere des Vignobles Pierre Perrin [...]

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E. Guigal, Cote-Rotie, Brune et Blonde de Guigal 2005 Here is a Syrah that demonstrates the black pepper quality that lurks in this variety. There’s also earthiness, a benign Band-Aid character adding to the complexity of the nose. The mouth shows Syrah’s structure, plenty of acidity and a sense of the tannin. Yet as we [...]

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Chateau Gravas, Sauternes 2005 The nose features honey, flowers and minerality with an appropriate amount of volatility.  In the mouth, the honey-essence and caramel are there in a light-bodied format with a touch of spiritous character.
Previously I wrote: This wine hasn’t been a show stopper but it isn’t bad. I mean this in the best [...]

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Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse, Pauillac, Grand Cru Classe 2005 The nose features sweet black fruit, earthiness and wet stones. In the mouth there is an appropriate amount of acidity, a little on the tart side with ripe tannins and a moderate level of concentration. The style is fresh with an Old World sense of acidity making [...]

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Mas de Gourgonnier, Les Baux de Provence, Rouge 2006
As in previous vintages, the band-aids are working in tandem with the black fruits. The mouth also repeats a similar profile in that it is quite gripping with much astringency. The Reserve du Mas has always been a favorite of mine but this wine, the Cuvee [...]

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Domaine André Vatan, Sancerre, Les Charmes 2007
The style point has always been lean and green, offering a sense of the appellation without the over $20 price of the more concentrated offerings. This vintage sports minerality, pipi de chat and grass in the nose. The mouth is quite crisp, with plenty of laser-like acidity and a [...]

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Louis Latour, Marsannay, Rouge 2006 There’s a mix of cherries and a light greenish character in the nose. In the mouth the acidity is quite sharp and the red fruits are overlayed with astringency. While the fruit must not have been fully ripe, it does come through enough for the price. Mis en bouteille a [...]

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Domaine Weinbach, Alsace, Riesling, Reserve Personnelle 2007
Stone fruits meld with floral notes in the nose. The mouth displays Riesling’s minerality with ample acidity and a roundness and depth of flavor - nice. Mis en bouteille par the Faller family, Colette, Catherine et Laurence, proprietaires and vignerons a Kaysersberg 13.5% $24.99 at Bottle Barn Weinbach

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Penet-Chardonnet, Champagne, Grand Cru, Grande Reserve, Extra Brut nv There is a light golden color in the glass and the biscuit notes are quite developed in the nose - very complex. Besides the biscuits there are browned apples, cherries and toasted nuts. The mouth is electric with acidity, tasting of granny smiths and cranberries. This [...]

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Maison Ambroise, Corton, Le Rognet Grand Cru 1997
Quite youthful at this point, with nuttiness and cedar, earthiness and fruit on the ground. In the mouth this wine is still packed with flavor and the structure is still vivid. There’s great length and I expect some years of enjoyment to come. Vinified and mis en bouteille [...]

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Domaine des Croix, Beaune, Les Bressandes 1er Cru 2005 There’s earthiness, cinnamon and cloves in the nose, maybe a note of licorice as well. The mouth is quite structured, framing great concentration of flavor in a very young Burgundy. Mis en bouteille in Beaune 13% $?? a gift from one of the class
Bouchard Pere et [...]

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Paul Pernot, Puligny-Montrachet, Les Folatieres 1er Cru 2006
The nose features minerals and a bit of fruit. The mouth is rich, buttery and oaky yet the acidity and green sense of green apples balances the picture - very nice. Mis in Puligny by Paul Pernot et ses fils Michel and Paul 14% $62.99 at Bottle Barn [...]

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Chateau Guiraud, Sauternes 2005 Minerality, honey and tropical fruits mark the nose. The mouth is all caramel with hints of that minerality - destined to be drunk with creme caramel. Mis au chateau in Sauternes 13.5% $34.99 for a 375ml bottle and $68.99 for a 750ml at Bottle Barn Guiraud

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Domaine Bernard Dugat-Py, Bourgogne 2005 I’m afraid that there are some bound-up sulfur issues making this wine reek of H2S.  After 2 hours the wine has cleaned up but how many people will wait that long hoping that this wine will shine. In the mouth it is aggressively astringent. This wine is not in keeping [...]

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Domaine Perrot-Minot, Cuvee Martine, Pinot Noir, Red Table Wine 2005 There are brambles and green herbs intertwined with the cherries in the nose of this wine. The palate is tight and acidic, tasting of tart cherries while being shrouded in astringency.  12% $19.99 at the Wine Club Domaine Perrot-Minot

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Domaine Anne Gros, Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2006 Give it a bit of time to blow off a little stink and then the red fruits come alive with a sense of earthiness and a little stemmy character. This certainly a chewy Pinot and a little on the green side of flavor development. Mis a Vosne-Romanee par [...]

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Domaine Weinbach, Alsace, Cuvee Theo, Riesling 2006 The petrol elements are coming through in the nose. In the mouth, the wine is mineral-driven, hard and still a baby, quite dry and tasting of lime. Mis en bouteille par the Faller family, Colette, Catherine et Laurence, proprietaires and vignerons a Kaysersberg 13.5% $35.99 at Bottle Barn [...]

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Deux Montille, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, “La Garenne” 2005 As in the Montagny tasted previously, Burgundy’s minerality comes through and this time with a shower of oak. This wine is rich with nuttiness and doughiness but has a razor of acidity behind it. Winemaker Alix of the famous De Montille family. 13% $59.99 at Bottle Barn

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Lucien Albrecht, Cremant d’Alsace, Brut, Rose nv In the nose are candied fruits and flowers. The mouth is quite fruity, moderately acidic with some creaminess. This wine is all Pinot Noir and the wine spends 9 months on the lees after the second fermentation. Proprietor and winemaker Jean Albrecht. Produced in Orschwihr 12% $19.79 at [...]

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Jean-Luc Colombo, Cotes du Rhone, Les Abeilles 2006 This is a juicy-fruity budget offering from the famous Cornas producer. It drinks easily with a little bit of structure. Eleve et mis in La Roche de Glun in Tain 13.5% $???
Domaine des Girasols, Rasteau Cotes du Rhone Villages, Vieilles Vignes 2005 There’s minerality and black fruit [...]

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Domaine Jacques Puffeney, Arbois, Vin Jaune 1998 The smell of Fino Sherry hits you directly in the nose, that sense of nuttiness and apples. During the production of this wine, the flor might not have remained intact throughout as there is also some of the volatility one would expect with direct exposure to oxygen. In [...]

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Clos Lapeyre, Jurancon Sec 2007 This wine is intensly acidic with great concentration of tart, green fruit. The intensity is on a par with what you get in the great Semillons of the Hunter, with an appropriate, underripe character. It’s reminiscent of tasting not only the flesh of the fruit, but also savoring the pitch. [...]

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Domaine Pierre Gonon, Saint-Joseph, “Les Oliviers” 2006 This bottle of white Saint-Joseph sports a toasty nose, with minerality and nuttiness. The mouth follows a similar line, with toasty, smoky essence and buttery richnss. This is a fat and weighty white wine, almost unctous and lowish in acidity. The grapes are 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne [...]

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Michel & Stéphane Ogier, Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes, Vigonier de Rosine 2006 You would swear this wine is from the New World when you stick your nose in the glass. The peachy fruit is just so vibrant. In the mouth, this wine is full-bodied and luscious, lowish in acidity and brimming with the [...]

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Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, “La Crau” 2006 The wine today is Brunier’s white CDP. In the nose there is baking bread, straw and a subtle sense of stone fruits. In the mouth the wine is quite weighty, mineral driven and enhanced by oak in the background. The wine is a touch corked thus there [...]

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