Wines from 2015 debut

[Nicklasss]

1st to 3rd of January 2015

1st of January

A nice family dinner with my parents, my brother and one uncle. It was time to open some supposely excellent bottle of wines.

The Fleury Rosée de saignée is for me an excellent to great Champagne. Light pink color, flashy nose of cranberries, orange zest, strawberries, light bread crust. In mouth, very fruity attack on rasberries, strawberries, light flowers, lot of punch from the bubbles, and a nice mineral chalky final. Very convenient, good balance. I liked it a lot. TN: 90-91. I think this wine is made by respecting the biodynamic rules...

The first red i opened, was a wine i was keeping especially to enjoy with my father, who likes the Spanish wines. The 2007 Sierra Cantabria special seleccion Rioja is a great complex wine. Dark red, the nose is full of chocolate, noble oak, dark berries, plums, tobacco and mint. A very dense and complete nose. Mouth is what you would expect in every Rioja, with light vanilla, dark berries, oak, very powerful to start, than become balance with more herbal flavors and light milk chocolate, and the final has lot of tannins but very ripe, with blackcurrant and more light chocolate. A deep wine. TN: 92.

Even If the Rioja was great, the next wine was better. I think this is due to the fact that the wine has the right age. The 2001 Château Haut Bailly performed better than my expectations. Previous bottles were a bit tight, but this one was just singing. Medium red color, nose was powerful on what Graves have the best to offer. Strong smoke gravel nose, blackcurrants, rasberries, minerals and light spices. In mouth, perfectly balanced, with 12.5 % alcohol, lot of smoke flavour (a bit like in a smoked salmon), strong blackcurrants, great tannins, great smooth power, leather, minerals, creamy blackcurrants, some merlot red berries. Very perfumed and long finish. TN: 92-93.

We finished with a bottle of the 2004 Château Raymond Lafon. That wine took a lot of weight in the last 3 years. Very excellent Sauternes. Gold color, with a nice nose without botrytis notes, but lot of honey, apricots, peaches, sweet oranges. Also some vanilla. In mouth, medium thick and sugar, great taste of apricots, quinces, honey, and botritys grilled flavors on the deçent final. At the unexpensive price paid, this is just great. TN: 91.

A very nice 1st January!

2nd of January.

My brother came at my place, and we cook some raw salmon gun man sushis and crab cakes. With at niçe meal, we opened the following.

2010 Beaune Grèves Premier Cru, le Cros Blanc from Louis Jadot. Gold color, that wine was very distinctive by it's strong mineral nose, butter, pears and flower nose. In mouth, vanilla flavors from the oak, butter, smoky honey and light mandarines. Very fat, ripe and oaky. Final is long, on vanilla and oak. Too young, should be tried in 10 more years. TN: 88+.

Second bottle opened was the 2007 Trimbach cuvée Frédéric Émile Riesling. Representing very well that type of wine, with the light yellow color, almost a military clean nose with mineral, wax, oil, white peaches and light white flowers. Clean and crisp in the mouth, with lemon skin, oil, minerals flavors. Great acidity, but also something like starfruit in it. Seemed to me still not delivering it best, as there is lot of matter. Will be better in 5-10 more years. TN: 90+.

These two white wines should have been decanted, and this is a nice lesson for me.

3rd of January

Dinner at MC parent's. With a niçe stew, I opened a bottle of the 2006 Vosne Romanée La Colombière from Compte Liger Bélair. Dark red color for a Bourgogne (probably this is why this part is called Côte de Nuit), the nose was extremely spicy, like the terroir of Vosne always seem to be for my nose. Something like bbq spices, cranberries, red berries, spicy oak, soy sauce and some kind of meat. Medium to powerful nose. In mouth, very spicy too, very complex, hard to describe. A complex mixture of spices, flowers, oak, minerals. Seem to miss fruit to me, but it is there, underneath. Ambitious wine. Hard to understand. Long final on meat, spices and red berries. Finally, an excellent wine, but i prefer more fruit in my Bourgogne and this is probably why I prefer Gevrey or Chambolle to Vosne. TN: 91.

A nice start for 2015!

Nic