Chateau Vieux Maillet 1970

Pardon me with the background, but this photo was one of the many experiments I have been annoying my family with during the holidays .... why? Well, Elke made the mistake to give me a super flash as Christmas present and now I need to learn how to use it. So, what you see in th background is our kitchen during the 31st of December (and yes it looks decent considering we were cooking).
Anyway, I bought this bottle of wine as a curiosity and an homage to my parents who got married in 1970. The negotiant assured me the bottle would have been drinkable, but with extremely old wines (37 years) it is never sure. What was sure is that so far he was right! Now for ure this was an experience and my parents took the bottle as a memory back to Italy.

Chateau Vieux Maillet 1970

Country: France
Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Winery: no link available
Price: 46 euros

Impressions: The nose holds well after some instants to get rid of the old notes. Overall the wine shows some sherry notes with still little fruit, some spiciness from oak and sweetness. There is some alcohol, but it reduces after some breathing. Very balanced and with a good aftertaste, this old baby still olds after one day. What a pleasant surprise!

Verdict: Not bad and probably one of the better choice when looking for a very old wine. So, if you are curious this will be one to take (but not for many more years).

Would I buy it? Only for a try at old wines.

Rating: 80

Our wines this week-end.

Due to a combination of few guests and some happy feeling ... a few bottles of good wine got popped open!!! Given the circumstances I could not really write down much details, btu here is my impressions from the various wines starting from the left

• Quinta de Passadouro 1995 (Portugal). Arg! This bottled was gone! I still have two and I hope it is just a case of bad bottle .... let's hope so. It was a lovely wine last time we opened one. NA/100
  
• Henri Goutorbe Champagne Brut (France). Lovely. Flowery and lightly bubbly. Very elegant with notes of brioche. On the classic side. 78/100
• E&E Black Pepper Shiraz 1998 (Asutralia). Superb example of a powerful yet refines Aussie wine. There is fruit, subtle new oak, pepper. Warm and still very young. I suggest to keep it resting longer! 92/100
• Clerico Arte 2004 (Italy). A good nebbiolo, very alcoholic and extremely dry. Nose and taste rather fruity and with some oak. Pepper and liquorice. Good complexity. Extremely long aftertaste but somewhat bitter, very warm and extremely dry. Need fatty food next to it. A bit pricey also. 87/100
• Firriato Camelot 2000 (Italy). Definitively I can feel the 15% alcohol in this one. It reminds me a lot of a LBV port. Good balance between fruit, oak and alcohol. Good aftertaste ... if they only started with a lower alcohol level ... another wine to let rest a bit longer to get a better grip on structure. 85/100

Of course, we did not drink only ... we had some nice food like lemon meatball, penne with boar and pork stuffed with apples and cheese. But this will be posted during the week. I did not have time to check photos and translate recipes today ... or better write them !

Back from Champagne!!

(updated since I am trying to put in a slideshow!)
The photo above gives an idea of the weather we had. No rain but rather gray. Despite this, we had really nice time. Better than last year ... we found some grapes still ... so we tasted a few from Mercier, Veuve Cliquot, Philipponat, Moet & Chandon ... :-) All photo in this gallery (link).
We stayed in Mutigny (near Epernay) at Le Manoir de Montflabert ... basically a huge castle. To get into our room we needed to go through a secret passage that was so small the partner of my sister-in-law had almost to crawl! Well, he is tall, but even a person as short as me had to pay attention! The place was nice (really like being in a castle) when forgetting the host madame who was every second shouting some sort of welcome to the manoir in an excessively picturesque way.

What did we do? Drive around, eat at french restaurants, drink champagne and visit (once again Reims). First of all, you need to know ... we go there frequently ... therefore, we tend not to act much as tourists any longer. We still enjoy being in Reims. And let's start from Reims ... a nice big city. The main centre has some decent shops and a wonderful Cathedral which is slowly being renewed. Year after year they do something ... let's hope they finish it before I leave this part of the world! The structure is beautiful inside and outside with all the various building around. Not to mention all the wine shops surroundings it (avoid them ... lately they are boosting crazy prices, 460euros for a Clos de Goisses!!! I should put mine on ebay then!). but for us Reims means ... eating a baguetta at Pauls and enoy a nice coffee (with tarts) at Waida's ... the latter is a real treat! The patisserie looks so gorgeous!!!

What about eating out for real. Well, this time we kept it low profile. We went to La Table Kobus on friday night (suggested by the wine writer Tom Cannavan), where I enjoyed oysters followed by a porcini risotto topped with tuna and foie gras ... both simply excellent. Elke took the same main course but a tomato tart to start ... looked tasty! To end a really good Creme Brule' avec Grand Marnier. The place is not that fancy, but the food is really good ... the champagne list not too bad. Maybe a tad expensive (especially when compared to our favourite address Le Foch). Saturday we went to an old place of ours .... Le Vieux Puits. This time it disappointed us. The food was fast, not bad but kind of rushed out and salty. Prices (especially for drinks) way over the top ... not sure we will go back.

And now ... you might ask, what about the wines??? Simply as good as it gets. After few years of going there, we have finally understood that Champagne does not mean Tattinger or Dom Perignon ... that is marketing, not wine. Champagne means visiting small producers and recultant with passion and fantastic not simply french sparkling wine. Our favorite is Francis Boulard, where we spent a good three hours tasting his new 2007 line-up, the new harvest fermenting in the barrel (just 10 days old and a real experince!) and chatting over wine in general. This year I rather enjoyed his 2002 millesime (90) and his Petrea as usual (90). Fine expressions of terroir, balance and respectful wine-making. Bravo Francis!

We also visited (9.30am!!!) Champagne Goutarbe ... where we could only meet with a sales girl and taste their basic Brut, which was rather pleasant (77). But we wanted to taste more ... maybe next time Francis will give us an hand to meet the Mr. Goutarbe!! The third and last producer we passed by was Roger Pouillon ... this time showing wines mostly based on strong vinous personality from Pinot Noir. Decent the basic Brut (73) ... tad too fruity. But really impressve his top cuvee Fleur de Mareuil (90), where the new oak rounds the Pinot Noir and gives the final wine great complexity. Nice really nice.

All good to excellent wines ... superior to all big names (except for Krug and Salon) ... for a fraction of the price (Fleur de Mareuil goes for 21 euros ....). Only problem is ... I have now too much wine for the space ... meaning I need to drink a few bottles very fast ... ich!! :-)

So ... ciao and I go back to my champagne flute!!!


PS: The numbers among brackets is my rating (out of 100).

Contrada Castelletta Vespro 2001

Back to wine ... but expect soon the recipe of my best ever dish with porcini. Anyway, I have bought this one few years back as a curiosity. Only three bottles. The first one I loved and, hence , I have gelously kept the other two. Disappointed by the previous wine (see here) I opened it again to taste after 3 years. Gosh! This wine is still young ... good I still have on bottle, but so bad I cannot find it again!!!

Contrada Castelletta Vespro 2001

Country: Italy
Grapes: Montepulciano (70%), Syrah (30%)
Winery: no link available
Price: 12-15 euros

Impressions: It is simply a bargain supertuscan. Its nose was rather austere at first but after decanting it developed nice red fruit, vanilla, dairy, chocolate and a mild pepper feeling. The mouth simply respected the nose but with more depth of flavor and a wonderful density. Even after a few days I could still feel it thick and pulpy, but definitively not a fruit bomb. The after taste was fine, not spectacular though. An intense but still refined wine ... an excellent supertuscan style wine, but not from Tuscany and at a decent price.

Verdict: An amazing wine. A supertuscan at a bargain price. A wine which I believe can age extremely well! If you see it, you need to try it!

Would I buy it? If I could only find it again !!!

Rating: 87

Clos des Brusquières 2003

It is all about personal taste ... yes I mean liking a wine or not. I was quite curious about this Chateaneuf-du-Pape as it goot very good review from Parker and was suggested to me. Well, after tasting I am not surprised Parket gave it 90/100 ... it is a big wine, not very subtle ... but (as a friend of mine would put it) not my cup of tea.

Clos des Brusquières 2003

Country: France
Grapes: Grenache (60%), Syrah (30%) and Mourvedre (10%)
Winery: link
Price: 16-24 euros

Impressions: I tried over a long period of time, so give it time to loosen up. The nose shows some oak (kirsch?), quite some pepper and somewhat oxidation. Like it were a port. The taste is big and strong, I mean lot of alcohol and pepper. Fruit is quite gentle (plums?). Bitterness and power in the end. A good aftertaste ... very very alcoholic. Somehow, I feel too big and unbalanced.

Verdict: Not my cup of tea.

Would I buy it? Not really ... I had better ones, with finesse!

Rating: 78

UPDATE:

The following morning I smelled it only and it seems to have evolved! Looking forward to check tonight, I might have been too hasty!

I had more of it tonight (day after). Well the alcohol has somewhat subdued and probably the wine complexity has come out. Nevertheless, I still find it too oxidate for such a young wine. It lacks fruit to support its complexity and (still strong) alcohol. So, my initial judgement stays. In fact, I ended up drinking something else!!

Mas Conscience Les Cas 2005

I am tempted to call it the discovery of 2007 for me, but the year has not ended yet and gotta wait. Our neighbors came over to dinner once and gave us two bottles of wine from a small hobby importer here in Turnhout. They were both nice wines (especially the white) and I will be blogging about them sooner or later. Not now, now I want to share my impressions from a wine I took blindly (on his suggestion) from this hobby importer. A wine from Languedoc matured in cement vats ... a wine whose personality forces people to take a strong position on liking (me) or disliking it (Elke).

Mas Conscience Les Cas 2005

Country: France
Grapes: Carignan
Winery: N/A
Price: 8-9 euros

Impressions: When you open it, it might feel like disgustingly smelling of rotten eggs. I was warned, everybody should ... the nose is really full of sulfur at first (i.e. rotten eggs smell). Let it breath for quite a while and this sensation will reduce (but not disappear). After three days it was still a bit there, in fact. This is the only defect of an otherwise outstanding wine. Apart from sulfur, the nose shows fruit (berries) and pepper. The taste starts with power, but the wine gains very quickly equilibrium and shows a complex mix of red fruit, smoke, pepper, chocolate and plum. The overall feeling is somewhat fresh and balanced thanks to an extremely long and excellent aftertaste balanced by good acidity. Was not for the sulfur, it would be perfect! The evolution after three days suggests the wine need to be laid down a bit. This wine has personality, you either love it or hate it ... just do not try it without decanting, give it a chance!

Verdict: I loved it. Its complexity, strong personality and long aftertaste are simply amazing. There is a touch too much of sulfur that can take some people (like Elke) off ... but not me!

Would I buy it? I will. A excellent wine at an outstanding price.

Rating: 92

Alberto Longo Le Cruste 2005

Finally I can post after very long days including one day (yesterday) in UK. Since my parents talked to me about Nero di Troia (and here I mean 100% based wines) and their positive experience, I have been always on the hunt for them. I tried the Rivera (not bad, but expensive for what it is). This time I decided to try a boutique wine, which seemed to be in high esteem ...well, it was an experience, but not one I would repeat. Elke did not like any of the two wines we had from Alberto Longo. I loved one and hated this one. But my hate is not based on personal taste, I simply feel this wine is badly made.

Alberto Longo Le Cruste 2005

Country: Italy
Grapes: Nero di Troia
Winery: link
Price: 18-20 euros

Impressions: The nose is nice. Fruity with plums and berries. I can smell some spices and sweeteness here. It gives an impression of a fine and typically wine from Puglia (wikipedia link). The taste starts from the nose ... but after few instants it gets amazingly bitter. And the aftertaste gets even more bitter and disgusting. Ok, let's decant ... I have tried over 3 days and the bitterness got only worse. No fruit, no finesse, only bitterness. When drunk with food, the bitterness was a bit subdued and fruit could come a little back. But after day 2, the wine was just undrinkable.

Verdict: Poor execution. We could drink some of it the first two days but with food and only because of the price we paid. But half of it was drunk by the sink.

Would I buy it? No. Never again.

Rating: 60

Serpico 1999 Feudi di San Gregorio

I have been drinking wine for 6 years now ... and I started after I left Italy. I know it sounds silly as I love italian wines and I did not enjoy them until very late. Well, the Serpico was my first ever wine with a price higher than 20 euros. I heard many things about it and, when I saw one during a visit in Trento 5 years ago, I simply took it. Once you buy one expensive wine ... well, it gets easier. Anyway, we opened it last sunday ... 5 years after! And I was very curious if it was still ok, given the so-and-so reputation of aging for Aglianico.

Feudi di San Gregorio Serpico 1999

Country: Italy
Grapes: 70% Aglianico, 30% Merlot
Winery: link
Price: 40-50 euros

Impressions: The wine still need some decanting. Despite its high price tag, its nose is still the traditional austere and closed one with little hints of oak and alcohol. The taste is very balanced. There is still nice sweetness in the fruit (plums mostly) and traces of vanilla, powder and spices. A very good aglianico with a traditional nose and a very modern taste. Somehow a wine without personality though.

Verdict: A very nice Aglianico, but definitively overpriced and somewhat too international for my taste.

Would I buy it? I did like it, but I would not buy it at its current price..

Rating: 90

Conti Zecca Nero 2001

I got to know this wine from a good friend of mine (actually my best man!) Marc. the first time I drove (yes 2000km) back home in Taranto, he asked me to bring back some of this Nero by Conti Zecca. This got me curious and I brought a case for the both of us. I have to say it was difficult as, typically from people in this area, they were not friendly and I had to beg to get some bottles. I wish they would understand better how to serve customers in Taranto ... bah! Since then I have been enjoying this wine every time I can, even if it is getting somewhat too marketing hype (and lessen quality)

Conti Zecca Nero 2001

Country: Italy
Grapes: Negroamaro (70%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%)
Winery: link
Price: 20-25 euros

Impressions: The nose is austere and a bit mushy. I believed it corked at first, but it was not. Still a very close nose with very little of red fruity and vanilla in it. Typical. Taste of red berries, vanilla, liquorice, somewhat spicy. Accompanied by food, it is lovely to sip it gently. Very nicely dense and typically southerner. Good length and tannins. This vintage seems to get better after some decanting, but it might be almost at its peak.

Verdict: I have always liked this wine, year after year ... even if I stopped at 2003 as I felt it was getting too big marketing hype (and price hikes).

Would I buy it? If you can get it at 20 euros or below, give it a try (as not everybody will like its austerity).

Rating: 90

Pieropan La Rocca 2004

I opened this bottle by mistake. I believe it to be the Calvarino and I even wrote so in the last post (which has been corrected already). It was a white wine like I have not drank in a long time ... so when I took the bottle to take a photo of the label I understood why. As you can see, even before I start, it is clear I love it. Few bottles will surely find their way into my house soon!!

Pieropan La Rocca 2004 Soave Classico

Country: Italy
Grapes: Garganega
Winery: link
Price: 20-25 euros

Impressions: Quite yellow in the glass with good curves. The nose is fresh and buttery with flavors of exotic fruits, flowers, a little bit of honey and slightly spicy. The taste ... wow, all the elements in the nose are there with a nice balance. There is also a sense of minerals with a palate of dairy, nuts and lemon acidity in the background. The aftertaste is as complex and it last ... this was the first day. We drank the wine over three days and it evolved loosing acidity and getting more complexity.

Verdict: Simply superb and I expect it to age well ... a few more years in the bottle and the complexity will come out more, while the fruitiness will go down a bit.

Would I buy it? Sure ... I am already planning to buy a case in august!

Rating: 93

Piccolomini "Poggio della Fonte" 2004

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

We are always alert for good decently price wine to use as table wine ... we discovered this one in a restaurant where they served it. Should be easy to find in Italy and if you like Tuscanian wine, this is for me the quintessential table wine from that region.

Piccolomini "Poggio della Fonte" 2004

Country: Italy
Grapes: Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Winery: link
Price: 7 euros

Impressions: Nose of flower, red fruit and ... could it be roses ?! The taste is medium dense and follows very closely the nose. There is also some vanilla flavoring coming from the ageing in barrels. Good aftertaste, not very long but good. All round a balanced wine with low tannins and controlled fruit.

Verdict: Here it is, our new table wine! Well, yet another one. We like it as it is a tasty all-round wine.

Would I buy it? Yes. Good and fairly priced.

Rating: 79

Kasteel Genoels-Elderen Chardonnay Goud 2002

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Well, difficult to believe but there is such a thing like Belgian wine. The fact that is rare, unfortunately, makes it a bit expensive. This one comes from Limburg from what used to be a wine estate at the times of the Romans ... or so they say. It is the fourth wine we had from this estate and sooner or later I blog them all.

Kasteel Genoels-Elderen Chardonnay Goud 2002

Country: Belgium
Grapes: Chardonnay
Winery: link
Price: 23-25 euros

Impressions: Deep yellow and fatty in appearance. It curves pretty well in the glass. The nose asks for decanting ... and so we wait. We get dairy, yeast, some white peach and ... curry. Interesting nose. The taste is basically like the nose with a good long fatty aftertaste of white peaches and curry. I do have to say the yeast is quite prominent and asks for long decanting before drinking. This suggests a little bit too much vinification.

Verdict: An original chardonnay. Not like others and it seems to go extremely well with spicy food. We'll buy if occasionally.

Would I buy it? I find it expensive despite being something a bit peculiar. Again, we might buy occasionally it, but definitively not worth as a regular wine or a regular 'special' bottle.

Rating: 75

PS: Yes ... the one in the background is our new KitchenAid ... we are baking so much bread. Sooner or later we'll blog some recipes.

Lageder Pinot Bianco 2006

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

And so it was meant to be. All my friends know that my passion for wine started first, the one for cooking followed. Actually, I always cooked, but as I was in need of eating something that would fit with my wine ... well, I turned to cooking which is now my primary love. And not to mention how much I love to travel and visit places for food and wine.

Anyway, this is the first try at starting adding posts on my impressions on the wines we drink. I am definitively an amateur, but I will try to be short and simple and ... very subjective of course! I still believe taste is so! So, here is the first wine to get blogged!

Lageder Pinot Bianco 2006

Country: Italy
Grapes: Pinot Bianco
Winery: link
Price: 10 euros

Impressions: Pale greenish yellow in color. This wine has a very refreshing nose that reminds me of apple and flower with some minerality. The taste is rather light and respects the nose, but for a little bit of pineapple instead of flowers. Slightly buttery and very balanced with little acidity. Very short aftertaste.

Verdict: A good wine, but somewhat overpriced for what it is: a simple and correct wine. Easy to drink.

Would I buy it? only when in a restaurant I see nothing else ... or at half the price.

Rating: 80