jamie goode's wine blog: A wine that's good enough

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A wine that's good enough

Domaine Tempier Bandol 1999 (from half)
A wine that's good enough. Not great, but it tastes like Bandol and worked as a wonderful match to a wild mushroom risotto. It's earthy, with some red fruit, and savoury spiciness. There's also a gamey sort of quality to it. The dominant feature is the savoury earthiness. It's not great, but I enjoyed it. Makes it hard to rate, because on another occasion it might not work so well. I guess this reinforces the importance of context, and why it is a bit daft asking which the 'best' wine is without knowing how the wine is destined to be drunk.

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8 Comments:

At 11:26 AM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

What amazes me about Bandol,perhaps more than any other wine,is how well it ages.
At the Bandol offline,at the Cellar Door last year,we tasted Bandol from the 70,s 80,s and 90,s all blind,and very few of us indeed, could guess which decade the wines were from.
There were some experienced tasters there and you were missed Jamie.!!!

 
At 12:26 PM, Anonymous Doug said...

You're right, Keith. Pibarnon and Pradeaux, in particular, age well. Mourvedre is one of those high tannin, high acid grapes that seem to resist oxidation; you can have a bottle open for days and it treacles quietly to itself.

Vis-a-vis Tempier, the Domaine wine, is certainly not as good as it used to be ten to fifteen years ago, but it is still an interesting wine. Of their various cuvees, Cabassou, which is virtually 100% Mourvedre, has more structure and definition, Tourtine is finer, and Migoua, with quite a lot of Cinsault in the blend, the aromatic charmer of the various terroirs.

Pibarnon is fantastic. 95% Mourvedre it only starts drinking after five years. The vines are grown on blue marne (same as Petrus) which lend the wine a pure mineral undertow. I've even tried twenty year old bottles of their rose! Not bad!

Chateau de la Rouviere is also well regarded and the Pradeaux wines, which seem to be released with bottle age, are amongst the best.

How did the closure seminar go at Wine Plus, Jamie?

 
At 1:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fortunately, as I have all three bottles in the cellar, my dream taste-off of a Beaucastel 2001, Clos des Papes 2001 and a Tempier Cabassou 2001 (all with varying degrees of Mourvedre in the blend)will be realised in roughly 10 years time (touch wood). I wonder which will come out on top?

 
At 11:19 AM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

Well my money is on the Beaucastel being last.!!

 
At 12:15 AM, Blogger Jamie said...

Keith, Doug and anon - thanks for the comments.

I'm sorry I missed the cellar door offline, but I was travelling to china the following morning. Keith, if you'd like to arrange another there in conjunction with David, I'm happy to give you a lift. Drove to the wendouree one a while back painlessly, and I've reached the sad stage in geekdom where I enjoy serious wine even if I'm spitting...although I do wnjoy drinking it a good deal

 
At 8:41 AM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

Jamie, I am meeting David just after I get back,to discuss a number of issues,and one will certainly be the next offline at Overton. A great location as you know.
Actually,the train service is very good from Waterloo,so although I appreciate your offer of a lift,I could not bear to see you spitting and wasting all that good wine!!
I hate spitting myself,although obviously it is necessary at a large tasting.Just cannot appreciate the wine without physically swallowing,and getting that lovely alcohol buzz!!!

 
At 12:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

May I just ask then if Keith has had bad experiences with mature Beaucastel? Sorry to go slightly off topic.

 
At 8:01 PM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

Anon----I am not a big fan of Beaucastel---period!!

 

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