Blind Bojos and Bordeauxs - not Bored-auxs

Yesterday, the aptly named Funky Wine Imports, hosted a blind tasting. We knew there were some of Funky's products but mostly it was stuff not represented by them (yet?). It was an outstandingly fun evening.

First up was a blind fizz, René Geoffroy's Volupté, ( label )officially NV but entirely from 2005 (I never did understand why it has to be officially NV, then). Lovely scent: very ripe but with minerality and lemon curd and some elegant bread. A bit more sweetness on the finish than I would ideally have, but it is otherwise a nice combination of precision and richness.

Then we had two blind whites. The first was a new vintage of an old favourite, Jean-Paul Brun Beaujolais Chardonnay Classic 2009 ( label ) which was its lovely usual self: white flowers and lemon on the scent, but with more ripeness than usual. Rich (or more so than usual), but focused and well structured. Delightful.

The Muhr-van der Niepoort Prellenkirchen 2008 ( label ) is a strange wine, 10% Riesling and 90% Grüner Veltliner, and Dirk van der Niepoort is somehow involved. It's a strange blend, but it works. I guessed it was Chenin, however, since it had a delightfully woolly aroma mixed with strong minerality and spice. Delineated and crisp. Pure despite being such a blend.



The "bojo" lineup

Of course the first wine in the "Bojo" lineup was the ringer intended to throw us off. It was David Poutays "de l'Ombre à la Lumière" VdT Francais Rouge, ( label ), actually a 2005 Bordeaux (though I can't remember where in that large area this was made), but made in the rather extreme end of the natural wine spectrum (think Cornelissen but 50-50 blend of Cab Sauv and Merlot). Murky, un-clear colour, but lovely scent: wet earth and ripe dark fruit. It seems old and, indeed, falls apart in the glass after an hour or so. But it was a lovely, elegant wine for that hour and very mainstream despite frightening colour and the extreme "natural" winemaking behind it.

Next up was a pretty standard Bojo, the J-M Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py 2008 ( label ), which was gravelly and masculine style with mineral, almost metallic, aromas. Perhaps a bit tight still, but lovely and pure, quite tannic in comparison to the other great CdPs I've had.

Naudin-Ferrand's Omayga Bourgogne Passetoutgrains 2008 ( label ) was a fun wine but with aromatics that were hard to pin down to any style I have experience with. Loamy but with bright, sexy fruit aromatics; deliciously drinkable, frightfully moreish and just pure fun.

Up next was an old favourite of mine, the J-P Brun Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2008 ( label ) which had a scent of extreme purity, so much so that some will doubtless find it boring as a one note wonder. And I am sure others will be put off by the typically Brunian structure with plenty of tannins and lack of plush fruit. But I love its stark and elegant style. It is also extremely moreish.

PUR (Production Unique Rebelle) Beaujolais Nouveau 2010 ( label ) I wrote about recently in another thread, but suffice it to say that this Cyril Alonzo wine is outstanding. And not only within the paradigm of nouveau. Almost Cornelissen type aromas with bright red fruit, some "volcanic" funk; racy and juicy and lovely.

Last in this flight was a strangely disappointing bottle of J-P Brun Beaujolais l'Ancien 2008 ( label ) which seemed dark in fruit, unaromatic, boring and lacking in liveliness compared to the others. We weren't convinced it was a correct bottle even though we couldn't find an obvious flaw.



The Bordeaux flight

Ch. Vieux Pourret 2000 ( label ) was a lovely St.-Emilion. It had such brightness in the scent, such cherry and sandalwood aromas, that I was convinced I was sniffing a Sangiovese! Much un-vulgar fruit on the palate, lovely acidity despite such warm-year fruit. Awesome.

This property is doing much to restore my faith in this region, especially as the Vieux Pourret 2003, a vintage I have with just one or two exceptions, disliked very much, was almost awesome. It was of course more ripe and had a darker fruit profile, but it was refreshing and moreish, had enough acidity and had no signs of over-ripeness.

Vieux Pourret 2004 was also a success, but strangely for this property, had a tiny bit of oak showing (IIRC, about a third of the wine sees oak that isn't yet completely neutral, but in other years, I didn't notice any oak aromas). But otherwise it was lovely: also a darker fruit profile but with some pretty serious crunch on the palate. These all seem like real "Claret" in that they are so elegant and drinkable and so wonderfully moreish.

Vieux Pourret 2001 was corked, which is a serious shame as I have generally enjoyed 2001s.

Ch. Tire Pé Les Malbecs 2008 ( label ) is a 100% Malbec made in Bordeaux and IIRC makes wine in the Cornelissen-spectrum of naturalness. And it really smells much like Cornelissen's Etnas except this is really dark and meaty, dense and sweet, powerful yet, oddly enough, refreshing, lively and moreish. I liked it, but it wasn't well received around the table.

Ch. Vieux Pourret 2002 was perhaps the most "classic" Bordeaux of the flight. It reads like the stereotype of the area: pencil shavings/lead, blackcurrant leaves, etc. etc. except it doesn't have obvious oak aromas. Lovely and dangerously moreish.

I wish more easily available Bordeaux were like this.




Perhaps the greatest delight of these many delights was the blind (of course) sweetie at the end: Ch. Rousset Peyraguey Cuvée l'Alethéia 2007 ( label ) from Barsac. It smells like a copper kettle and tastes like honey. Except that unlike honey, this is refreshing and moreish despite 200g/l RS. This belongs to the fuck me this is good -category of wines, though there is some really strange gimmick with sulphites imported from some specific Indonesian volcano or some story like that as to why the sulfites here are acceptably added even though this is natural wine. I didn't quite catch the story since I was: a) rather inebriated by this point, b) concentrating hard on this lovely liquid, and c) the story seemed like pure bull, using any method possible to make a stable wine that will still be called "natural". And I don't care for any such philosophies - I like these wines not for the lunatic ideology behind the wines, but simply for what they taste like. And this Funky event showed that at their best, natural wines are some of the most interesting and invigorating drinks around.

New Zealand Pinot and Washington Raspberry

Vicarage Lane Pinot Noir 2009 - New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury
c.15€; 14% abv. This is a rather boring wine. Instead of wonderfully fragrant Pinosity, this has mainly spicy aromas, presumably from the oak despite only 10% new, and only faint hints of the sexy red fruit of Pinot. It manages to be full bodied yet dilute in flavour at once. Its acidity is rather disjointed and though it seems quite high, it doesn't enliven the palate.

Pacific Rim Winemakers Raspberry Framboise - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
13,81€ / 0,375; 16,5% abv; 150 g/l sugar. This was fun stuff! Lovely, pure aroma of raspberry, but dark and inky. Rich, viscous, super-sweet and in all other ways a fun, lovely drop except the alcohol that wasn't present on the scent is very much present on the finish. But for such a concentrated essence of raspberry (a berry I love), I'll forgive that little sin and will probably buy this again.

Musar Rouge 2003

With the future ex-wife's birthday yesterday, I decided to splurge on a Musar 2003 Rouge (she likes Orval, and since there is the occasional mention of Musar being the Orval of wines, I had to try it to see the similarities!). A bit of couscous with lamb marinated in herbs was for dinner. And they were lovely together. This was a darker toned, less expressive Musar than usual, also a little inky which is something I haven't experienced with the wine before. Not dirty enough to smell of Orval, but refreshingly bittersweet like cherries. I like it very much, but do agree with some commentators that it is a bit different from the usual Musar profile. I wonder if a year or so will bring out more typicity?

P-U-R Beaujolais Nouveau 2010

P-U-R (Production Unique Rebelle) / Cyril Alonzo Beaujolais Nouveau Sans sucre ajouté 2010. 11% abv. I feel a little ashamed at saying so about something so unfashionable as Nouveau, but this is awesome. Light, refreshing, wonderfully pure Gamay aromas; pleasantly tannic and acidic, so it isn't just vibrant fruit though it has that, too.

Amirault Bourgueil "Les Grand Clos" 2008

This weekend we opened a Yannick Amirault Bourgueil "Les Grands Clos" 2008 which was pretty nice. I of course preferred their more open St. Nick de Bourgueil "La Mine" now, but even this brought more than just intellectual pleasure though it is very much a wine that requires ageing. Dark fruit, rather more Bordeaux in character than "La Mine" which was perhaps a purer example of Cab Franc and the Loire than this more ambitious cuvée. Oak is a little present, but not so much that I would find it alarming. Medium bodied, lovely high acidity which gives this focus. Long, refreshing. A bit harsh at the moment, so I don't think many others will derive great pleasure from it now. Keep.

I shouldn't like this, now should I?

Nøgne Ø - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales - Stone Brewing Co - Special Holiday Ale. Everything about this bottle would suggest something I wouldn't enjoy: three brewers (more than one cook will destroy a dish, right?), high alcohol (8,5%), American hop varieties (I do prefer the brighter aromas of most European varieties) and the addition of sage, caraway, juniper berries and chestnuts all made me feel a bit apprehensive.

But it was like one of those rare, good, Italian, medicinal bitters: deliciously bittersweet instead of either cloyingly sweet or just disgustingly bitter. I guess I just let the camels on the label influence me! How could one not like something with camels on the label? They are ill tempered, foul smelling, brutish animals that kick and bite and are immensely lovable.

I can't help but think that this is "spoofy" beer, and though I probably drink more beer than wine (with my ex-colleague from the bookshop now importing Belgian beers here), so I shouldn't like "spoofy" beer, but I do. How strange.

I went and bought a second bottle. If I tire half way through that, I'll let you know. For now, Nøgne Ø seems like a brewer that does nothing wrong (as long as one enjoys the aromas of American hop varieties).

Tue-Boeuf Rouillon 2009

I made a simple pasta with a bit of chicken and pesto on top, nothing fancy, but tasty enough. And we shared a bottle of Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny Rouillon 2009, a lovely blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay from the Loire. Just 12,5% abv despite a warm year. The scent is magical: a little bit bloody/meaty/gamy but with all the sexy, red fruited purity that Pinot and Gamay can achieve. Seemingly light, yet that is an illusion. Wonderfully racy and lively. This has density and layers. And it is also fun. Note to self: this is far too moreish to drink on a weekday.

Gosh! Who knew Bored-aux could be interesting?

Château Vieux Pourret 2005 - 13,5% abv; Grand Cru St.-Émilion
This is a biodynamic wine, 80% Merlot and 20% Franc. I didn't approach this with great hopes: there is some connection to Tardieu-Laurent, whose wines I have rarely received any pleasure from, it is made in an area that I am disillusioned with and is mostly from the least interesting grape grown there and it is higher in alcohol than those old-style wines from there that I like.

But unlike with other Bordeaux I have recently tried, I could actually sense that this is made from grapes rather than from wood. I have no idea how much oak this sees, but I do remember the importer saying that it is not even half of the wine. It is, of course, ripe and dark; but it is also earthy and deliciously refreshing/herbaceous or whatever the currently favoured euphemism is for that delightful, greenish aroma of traditional Bordeaux. Crisp, refreshing and dangerously moreish (when has that last been said about a Bordeaux?); palate-cleansing tannins. Delightful already though young. The only typically Bordelais problem with this wine is its price of c.35€.

(d.) de blanes "Le Clot" 2009

(d.) de blanes "le clot" 2009 - Vin de Pays d'Oc; 100% Syrah; 13% abv; ~15€
Amazing wine for Alko at this price. (d.) de blanes (I've only ever seen it written in lower case) is a "natural wine" producer with a lovely range of wines, of which one red and one white are available here. Unlike some "natural" products, like those of Cornelissen or Terpin, blanes's aren't flirting with lovely freakishness. They are simply lovely wines, out of the mainstream only for being so un-cloying and so wonderfully refreshing and lively despite coming from the south.

The scent is immediately recognizable as Syrah from its black olive and generally darkly fruited and meaty aromas. Ripe, certainly, but not in any way overdone. But the scent does promise a bit of weight and fat, which gladly are missing on the palate. This is wonderfully layered (yes, layered, despite its cheap price), vivacious and moreish. Very refreshing finish, though not an acid-driven wine.

My comfort wines generally come from the cooler climates, but occasionally I drink something like this or Musar that makes me realize that hot climate wines can be (though rarely are) truly lovely, too. At this price, I've been drinking very much of this (and the 2008 - equally lovely) over the past year.

Domäne Wachau Riesling Smaragd Achleiten 2009

Domäne Wachau Riesling Smaragd Achleiten 2009 didn't show too much of a hot year character with "only" 13,5% abv. Very mineral and powerful despite some floral aromas. Dry, powerful, focused, immense grip. I don't have a great idea of what is going on in Austria (we only see a couple producers here), but I thought this bottle was some pretty serious shite.

Spätburgunder and St.-Nicolas de Bourgueil

Two lovely wines tonight after work - so lovely I took the remains of both home. Both are new vintages of wines I have very much liked in previous years.

Weingut Becker Landgraf im Felsenkeller Gau-Odernheimer Spätburgunder trocken "J²" 2008 repeated the outstanding sexiness of the 2007. Just like the '07 was when released, there is a touch of oak noticeable (but very little), but it doesn't obfuscate the Pinosity, which this has in spades. Bright and focused, perhaps a touch more so than the '07. Lovely and moreish.






Yannick Amirault St.-Nicolas de Bourgueil "La Mine" 2008 is a very nice Cabernet Franc. Amirault can sometimes be a bit too polished and modern, but this one I like very much tonight. Lovely aromas of tobacco and damp earth; savoury without being green at all. Lovely balance: high acidity, pleasantly upright tannins and not too much sweetness of fruit. Grip and crunch and freshness.

Juliette Avril CdP 2008

Juliette Avril Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008 - 20,20€; 14,5%; 10% was aged in big casks for eight months; "75% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre," according to Alko (addition can be challenging).
This was a pretty and a pretty decent little CdP! I quite enjoyed the 2007, too, since it lacked the super-ripeness of so many other Southern Rhône '07s I have tried. But to me, this '08 is in better balance still: ripe but crisp and refreshing red fruit, very typical unspoofulated Grenache-led aromas - the type that makes me understand the occasional reference to Grenache being a little bit similar to Pinot Noir; good grip and acidic enough to be moreish. Amazingly, this has 14,5% abv, but it doesn't come through. It seems like a pretty classic example of a CdP that isn't over-the-top.