Few wines from the last few days, and I like Chablis!

[Nicklasss]

Wines opened in the last 5 days:

2008 Vietti Barbera d'Alba : Modern but very nice. Dark red color, nose of incense, violet flowers, ripe dark berries, blacbberries and light smoke. In mouth, dense, good structure, and a bit fatter than what I'm used from some other producers. Very good even if final is long and low-medium acidity.

2002 Équilibre Prestige Champagne from Franck Pascal : one third of each type of grape. Very good, pale gold, nose is complex with some apples, mushrooms, dark brown bread crust, some rancio. In mouth, stay very light to medium body, with nice mineral, yellow apples, crust bread, some butter and a decent long flowery finish. Nice mousse. A very nice Champagne for the price.

2010 Clos des Fous Cabernet Sauvignon : My second bottle, and as good as the first. Medium red color, lots of minerals, vegetals, ripe red cranberries, dark berries, smoke and dung. In mouth, very balanced and long. Refreshing and no oak. Different from othe rCabernet Sauvignon made in Chile. Excellent to awesome.

2010 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu Billaud Simon : I would say Chablis are the best white for me. This one prove it again. Light yellow, the nose is medium power and very complx : pears, flowers, minerals, cream, butter, honey, light lemon, a near perfect nose. In mouth, dense but aerial at the same time. Very tasting but all in élégance. Complex mixture, nice Chardonnay, mineral, long light acid final. For me and for that price, extraordinary. I must say that this wine, and the 2010 Chablis 1er Cru mont de Milieu from Domaine Pinson convinced me that i will buy many Chablis in the coming months... And they age well.

2010 Santenay Le temps des cerises from Domaine Olivier : Very abordable red Bourgogn from the south part of Côte de Beaune (23 $). Light old strawberry red color. Nose is light, and not to complex, but pleasing with red cherries, flowers and some cranberries. In mouth, more powerful than the nose, a complex mixture of old strawberries, roses, red berries, light wood and a light game/meat something. Decent length, soft tannins, medium acidity, very perfumed in mouth. Excellent delightful wine, for the price.

Nic

[Harry C.]

Has Chablis licked the pre-mox curse? I hadn't heard so, so the "ages well" comment is with cautions.

[Nicklasss]

I don't know If I've been lucky, but never had a premox Chablis... But I don't âge them more than 10 years.

Nic

[jmccready]

Can't recall a premox Chablis and I drink a few of them. They meet a lot of "needs" in a combination of a lively yet serious nature, the perfect
reflective/hedonistic glass on a hot low country summer or a cool New England fall. The producers that have kept the true racy nature of this
appellation have offered us a real classic and the price(s) still seem fair to me compared to their southern cousins. Can you tell I'm a fan?
And where has the BD been lately. JM

[DavidG]

I've heard of, but have not personally encountered premoxed Chablis.

[AlexR]

Nic,

Thanks for sharing.

I like Chablis too, but I find it hard to like it more than whites of the Côte de Beaune...
That vibrant acidity is most welome, however I prefer the roundness and particular balance of the latter.

As for Clos des Fous, I wonder where the name comes from?
Interesting to see all the non-French wineries with French names.
The most amusing one to me is Château Boswell in the Napa Valley...

Alex R.

[johnz]

Don't kid yourselves -- chablis is open to premox -- I've had plenty. The last 2004 Fevre Les Clos I had was so poxed you could smell it a table away . . .

-Gary Rust

[DavidG]

Yes, I've taken to drinking mine early, which is likely why I've not encountered one...

[Nicklasss]

I bought a 2010 AOC Bourgogne tonnerre tonight, Chardonnay grow in Auxerre, near Chablis. never had any but I'm looping for warm to it in the next weeks.

Nic

[sdr]

Sadly, Chablis is no more immune to premox than other white Burgundy. I can't remember the exact vintages or vineyards, but I have poured down the drain premier and grand cru Chablis age 5 - 10 from Raveneau and Fevre, to name two. Fevre has the worst reputation and is now consistently excellent (from young vintages) so I hope the problem has been fixed, but who knows?

Stuart

[DavidG]

Hey Stuart, good to see you posting! Hope all is well with you and Kathy, send my regards. We missed you in Dallas but hope to reconnect soon.

My go-to Chablis has been Fevre as I find it a good balance between quality and the expense of the bigger names like Raveneau or Dauvissat. The premox issues have moved me to drink them by 10 years of age. So far so good, but I do worry when I hear that some are turning by 5 years of age.