~$US20 Montlouis sur Loire, Touraine, Loire Valley, France

The Chenin Blanc grape is really something special. In the Loire valley, this grape can do just about anything - be dry, be sparkling, be sweet, be demi-sec, be fortified, be affected by noble rot, etc. But, like Riesling, sometimes you don’t know what you are going to get, unless you know the winemakers, the styles, the areas, and the vintages…The Tuffeaux is a blend of several of Chidaine’s vineyards - typically using the select (sometimes riper) grapes to make the best wine possible. I chilled this in the fridge, and popped it - not sure exactly how sweet it would be.

On the nose the complexity is dazzling - especially after it warmed up and had time to open. Apples, pears, flowers, rocks, grass, honey and asparagus (?!) On the palate it was equally beguiling - my wife and I couldn’t decide on how sweet or dry it really was. The facts were thus - there was definitely some sugar, and definitely a firm acidity. How these were proportioned is a mystery (and it changed through the course of the sip, glass, and bottle). Medium-to-full-bodied. There was an ghostly taste just after the swallow that exploded into my nose and reminded me of toast and broccoli. Very persistent finish - but dry. The finish reminded me of a red wine (flinty and Priorat-like).

All and all - a strange wine, but immediately lovable in that it was alive. Not a light, summertime-sipper. This is a versatile food wine - wonderful with exotic asian fair with spice (dim sum, korean seafood soups, spicy grilled squid, etc). An A+ effort and a great value.

We tasted a bunch wines this holiday season, some great, others dissappointing:

Green Lion Merlot 2005: A merlot for cabernet lovers. Good red fruits. Too young -Give this a few years.

Coviv Anglianico del Vulture 2004: Awesome nose: Leather, Cherries, Earth. A little disjointed on the palate.

Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Champagne NV: Lush yet fresh. Dazzling. A benchmark champagne under $40.

Nun Vinya del Taus, Penedes 2004: Petrolly and acidic. Not so good. Just not appetizing. Disappointment of the night.

Lucien Albrecht 2005 Gewürztraminer: Tropical and fragrant but cloying and syrupy. 1/2 glass is enough.

Zardini Valpolicella Reserva Superior 2005: Solid. Balance of red fruits and green vegetables. Sweet-n-sour.

Saint Jean Du Barroux 2003: Aged Rum? Oak, vanilla, molasses, and leather. Very little fruit. weird.

Selvapiana Bucerchiale Chianti Classico Riserva 2003:Superb balance and structure. Penetrating sour cherries. Wow. Age-worthy.

Fess Parker Ashley’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2004: A personal favorite. Sunshiney fruits, apples, pears. Weighty, smartly oaked.

Mt. Difficulty Central Otago Pinot Noir 2003: Tar and cherries. Deep body, sweet finish - needed time to open.

Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc 2006: Lush pears and pineapples with zesty acidity.Fresh. The wine for Indian.

Fontanafredda Barbera Briccotondo Piedmont 2006: Bright, fresh. Some interesting vegetal notes and sour cherry. Irony (bloody?) and sweet finish. Superb value.

Apex II Cabernet Columbia Valley 2004: Christmas spices, vanilla, currants. Oaked, but proportionate to the fruit. Very friendly, smooth, and full-bodied. Round, soft tannins.

Leviathan California Red 2005: Deep and brooding - black fruit and brambles, with some curry and dusty aromatics. Full-bodied and weighty, liqueur-like. Reminds me of The Prisoner, but with some deeper 2nd and 3rd tier aromatics and a slightly firmer stucture on the back-end. Decadent as all get-out.

All 3 wines were knock-out efforts with the Rib roast dinner - the Barbera being the surprise of the night, Apex being the easiest drinker, and Leviathan living up to expectations and the high bar of winemaker Andy Erickson.

Le Ragose Valpolicella Classico Superiore Le Sassine 2003: Leather, garlic greens, sour cherry, black pepper, dried apricots, brown sugar. Utterly delicious in an old-world way. Very complex and surprising. Classically proportioned and well-structured. Fabulous accompaniment to fresh pasta w/ vegetables.

Jean Milan Champagne Blanc de Blancs Spécial NV:Doughy nose, with seashells. A little nutty, with a bright and fresh mouthfeel.  Elegant. Fleeting finish holding this back from really rocking.

Alban Central Coast Viognier 2006: Ridiculous nose of flowers, Ivory soap, Big-League Chew, Skittles, pineapples. Brings a serious rainbow of tropical flavors. A little hot (~16% ABV) and syrupy. Coconuts, peaches, and fruit cocktail. Probably the most hedonistic white wine I’ve ever had - I loved it, other tasters were not so hot on it’s over-the top fruit ripeness.

Amisfield Central Otago Pinot Noir 2003: The 04 was excellent, and this 03 probably even better. Fragrant as all hell. More wood and tobacco notes to support the Cherry Cola / Dr. Pepper - truly one foot in the old (leafy tobacco, black olives) and one foot in the new world (big cherries). Silky in the mouth - medium-to-full bodied, but not heavy. Another stunner of a Pinot.

2006 ~$40US, 68% Roussanne and 32% Viognier, Paso Robles, CA

Chalky minerality was the first impression -  followed by peach, floral notes, and almonds on the nose. Unfortunately spritzy, and not by design. A zingy entry (tiny bubbles), revealing a full-bodied, lush and soft wine in the mouth. Peach cobbler and peach nectar (the juice from the canned fruit coctail…) notes coming through very clear. Delicious with a sweet and long finish, but lacking in acidity to give it any backbone. Great flavors, but presented in a disappointing way - it didn’t pair particularly well with food. Not a rebuy, but I am curious to try more new and old-world Roussannes and Viogniers. Possibly too young at this point - perhaps the bubbles die down with cellaring?

~$28US Carignan 60%, Mourvèdre 25%, Syrah 15%, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Deep purple. A some clear barnyard poopieness on first opening. Aromatic - after the funk blew off, serious cherry and blackberries. Medium-bodied on the palate, lean, and biased towards acidity. Cherries and red fruits coming through on the palate, a strange mix of fresh acidity and damp, earthy straw. Transitions from a round, chewey entry to a sharper, bright midpalate. Long finish that starts sweet, almost confectionery - but a note of orange-pip-bitteress detracts. The carignan seems to characterize this as a more classic wine, with old-world stoicism - the mourvedre and syrah adding the fruity dimensions. Actually opening up quite nicely for a 5-year old Languedoc-Roussillon - I could see this staying fresh for another 3-4 years.

Overall, very easy to drink and not terribly complex, as long as you are okay with a little old-skool funk. It reminds me of a big, earthy Barbera d’alba, or a simple village Burgundy on steroids. Food required for total enjoyment. It worked with braised short ribs, but would work even better with an rustic wild mushroom risotto or braised pork belly. Well made and distinctive, but I can’t decide if this is rebuy - even at the price I paid (well below the $28 retail), as there are so many Barberas, Pinots, and Rhone-blends out there…

Edit - On day 2 I retasted and I realized that the Siete 7 Navarra I had, at half the price, had just as much to offer…

~$27US  60% Grenache / 35% Carignan / 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, Priorat Spain

MAGENTA! Wicked color on this wine. Nose of fresh blueberries, smoked meats, and provincial herbs. Very chewey, deep-toned flavors of berries and herbs, which revealed the balancing acidity over time in the mouth. Then cabernet added a touch of tannic structure that was very well integrated. As it opened, it became softer and more liqueur-like, with some red-fruits coming into play. Very long finish, with stony and earthy notes.

This wine really offered the best of old and new world wine-styles - big and round fruit, with alluring wild herbal notes and an elegance to the overall presentation (no crazy oak, no crazy ABV, etc). Well done. A rebuy.

~$16US 60% Grenache /24% Syrah /12% Mourvèdre /4% Counoise, Paso Robles, CA

This is my first Tablas Creek wine - A joint venture between the Perrin Family of the Rhone, (Chat. Beaucastel) and their longtime importer, Robert Haas. This, their entry-level offering, was a medium transparent ruby. The nose was shy at first but opened with time to reveal syrupy cherry, raspberry, and saline. The palate was medium-to-full-bodied and hot (15.2% ABV difficult to integrate here), but very juicy and lush. A nice surprising minerality and unique maritime character supported the upfront fruitinesss, with some great dried herb notes - oregano and anise. The herbal notes continued to the finish, but the alcoholic bite bittered the final impression.

This is an exciting wine. There are more complex wines in this price point, but there is nothing wrong with a linear, fruit-forward wine when it delivers the goods without going to Candyland. Most importantly, it achieves real character and a sense of place, which is (arguably) the most profound expression a wine can make. It might have been a tad more alcoholic than it’s framework could support, but the overall feeling was a fine counterpoint and challenge to the typical Cotes-du-Rhone.

~$14US Seguret, Rhone, France

A delicious Seguret, selected by the grand dame of the Rhone, Ms. Feraud. This young but ready-to-drink CdR gives off a rich nose of distinctly ripe raspberries, some cherries and a bit of savory herbs and spices (sage and thyme). Broad and velvetly in the mouth, showing a good balance right out of the bottle. Ripe tannins make this easy to drink, but have enough presence to keep everything together, along with some good acidity. The overall feel shows the fruit as the centerpiece, and brings in the French country funkiness as secondary and supporting flavors. The finish is slightly marred by a slight bitterness and a strange iron note, holding this effort back from the WOW range… Not complex, but delicious, a strong value, and an auspicious peek into what the ‘05 Pegau could look like…

A great food companion and a terrific weeknight pop-and-pour. This wine would be a great ‘transition wine’ for someone used to drinking ~$10 Shirazes, looking to move upto the next tier of complexity and flavor. If only these great entry-level-French wines had critters on the label… well….maybe not.