jamie goode's wine blog: More wine?

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

More wine?

Two more wines to report on. It's 11 pm, but I don't think I'll be going to bed soon. The puppy refuses to go down to sleep until after midnight. One of the joys of dog ownership. The cats are also a bit traumatized by Rosie (the puppy), and skulk around nervously, moving in exaggerated slow motion as if about to be ambushed by a crazy dog. Which I suppose they are...

Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc can be a bit samey, and most of them tend to be a bit one dimensional. But I was quite impressed by this affordable reserve offering from NZ giants Marlborough. It has that classic grassy, gooseberry, blackcurranty sort of character, but with the added dimension of richness, concentration and texture. Nothing too groundbreaking, but a well made, nicely balanced wine. Very good+ 89/100 (£7.99 Asda, Oddbins, Sainsbury, Thresher)

Producteurs Plaimont Le Faite 2003 Cotes de Saint-Mont, France
Another ambitious offering from Producteurs Plaimont, with a rather unusual packaging concept: the information isn't on a label, but rather on a wooden tag, attached to the bottle by some copper wire secured by a blob of wax (there's also a wax capsule). The wine itself is dark coloured, with smooth, sweet, liqueur-like fruit. Polished and suave - a little elegant, even. There's just the faintest hint of grippy southwestern structure on the finish, which falls a little short. Polished but a bit flat. Very good+ 86/100 (£14.99 Adnams, Grape Ideas, Bedales, Portland Wines)

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6 Comments:

At 12:24 AM, Blogger Calin said...

Hey Jamie, have you ever tried the Gewurztraminer from the French Alsacian Region, bottled by Pfeffenheim? I happen to have a dozen of those, for the ladies ;).



Bob Duval
Build Wine racks

 
At 12:24 AM, Blogger Calin said...

Hey Jamie, have you ever tried the Gewurztraminer from the French Alsacian Region, bottled by Pfeffenheim? I happen to have a dozen of those, for the ladies ;).



Bob Duval
Build Wine racks

 
At 11:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Been sitting on 6 bottles of the 2001 for a couple of years. Better open them and try them.

Apparently, the labelling is all to do with the Cathars burying their wines during the crusades against them, and as labels would rot they used the wooden blocks! (Complete and utter tosh, but it was a good story!)

The white sister wine was fabulous (Petit Manseng I think). Like a sauvignon blanc but with character

 
At 3:36 PM, Anonymous doug said...

Had the 1996 Le Faite Rouge last month. Somewhat astringent; I think the tannin has aborbed the fruit. The 2003, by the way, was an awful vintage in the south west - the worst for a decade; the reds achieved high levels of alcohol without the attendant phenolic ripeness and compensating acidity. Result? Hollow, stewed charmless wines - in general. I love Madiran and tasting the grip of the Tannat, but it is becoming increasingly the fashion to forget the roots of the wine and craft an oak-smoothed, port-like version.

The white is quite interesting: Courbu, Arrufiac and the two Mansengs, also on the front foot as far as the new oak goes, but the natural acidity of the grapes works very well for the wine.

In case it looks as if I'm dissing Plaimont I would say for inexpensive wines (whites in particular) and cheaper Cotes de Saint Mont, they rule the roost.

 
At 5:47 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

anon, thanks for your info.

 
At 5:48 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Doug, thanks - agree that Plaimont are doing some very good work indeed.

 

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