Note: I am embarrassed at how late this post is. It was 95% complete by mid-June. I just never got around to finishing and editing due to my work schedule and of course the ongoing situation here, which as I have noted, does not leave me in the headspace for writing. But as I have a whole bunch of posts that I need to catch up on and other trips that are just around the corner – so I decided to get off my butt and get writing. I hope to get a number of posts out in the coming weeks. Again, my apologies. Back to the post (as if it had been written just after the last one.)

Now comes the most fun part of each of these France trips with my friend David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings – the Hotel tastings. Gear up, this is going to be a long post.

I wish people could somehow get the full experience of the bedlam that is these tastings. Our suite is filled to the brim with wine. New wines get delivered every day, and the concierge can’t keep track of the various deliveries. The place is a wreck. We keep the air conditioning as low as it will go – when it’s working, it’s freezing. When it’s not, its super stuffy. There is no room to move. Fast food containers, laptop chargers, Glasses, makeshift spittoons, open bottles everywhere. The bathrooms where we dispose of the wine and “do the dishes” are a wreck. Quite frankly, I am surprised they let us back each year. And then of course there are the tastings themselves. We land, get to the hotel, get our stuff settled, do inventory – and start tasting. There is no time to waste. We want to taste at least twice, usually three times, and if we can, even four when necessary. You can’t do that unless you are on the ball and getting this process going immediately, so we can have time to let the wines rest and taste them again the next day – and the next – all the while fitting in the organized tastings we do with various producers. We usually are up before 7 and we usually finish tasting after 1am. There is no other way to do it. When people ask why we don’t go around seeing some of the sites in Paris and beyond – this is the reason. No time! It’s also why we stopped going to visit Taieb in person or make visits to Strasbourg/Alsace like we used to. There simply is not enough time to physically get to these places AND taste all we need. Thankfully Yoni Taieb is gracious enough to send samples to the hotel each visit – as if he didn’t, we really WOULD have to go to Lyon, as Taieb is an important producer as IDS or Royal – and in a way, even more important. There are wines that we simply cannot taste outside of France that are Taieb wines, whereas most of the IDS and Royal wines do make their way at least to the US and usually to Israel too. And so Taieb is a MUST. But thankfully Yoni takes care of us each time. Quite honestly, IMHO Taieb reaps a benefit that other IDS and Royal do not in that we give those wines 3-4 days to show their best – whereas with Royal and IDS, they are really just snapshots of what a given wine tastes like then and there. 

So, with all that, there is also the interpersonal aspect of these tastings. As I have mentioned before – I taste hundreds of bottles a year with David. I can give you his score based on my tasting, and he can give you mine. We have impacted each other’s preferences ever so slightly – and overall, we are more or less in synch on the big picture at this point – and that is why this works so well. I can say though that where we are woefully NOT in synch is in music preferences. Music plays a big part of the background when we taste in the hotel – and David has a soft spot for early 80’s pop-rock/soft-rock. Think Peter Cetera, Journey/Steve Perry, Starship (no not Jefferson Airplane, not even Jefferson Starship – just Starship), Foreigner, Heart (no – not “Dreamboat Annie” era Heart like “Baracuda” or “Crazy on You”, etc , think 80’s era Heart like “These Dreams” or “What About Love”). You get the picture. I tend more to the Classic Rock/ Rock/ Alt Rock etc.  – and so, there is a battle that ensues. As to finding songs that are palatable to us both, for instance I can dig “Alone” by Heart, great vocal there. Instead of Peter Cetera, I suggest “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago with Peter Cetera on vocals. I trim down the Journey playlist etc. But it’s a battle. And I often lose. So by the end of these trips, I am usually whistling Kenny Loggins or Falco or some other trash and I need a week to detox of the early 80’s pop-rock that David so adores. But that’s what makes this all fun. And fun we had.

Back to the wines. As I was saying, it’s a lot of work. Production of kosher wine in Europe is through the roof. It gets harder each year to keep up and do this at the level that we do. There are only so many hours in the day. Also, I tend to go through a number of editing rounds before I have finished notes. Not in the basic descriptors. Those are what they are – but notes for me are stream of consciousness at the beginning. David has this down to a science and basically gets his notes into a near finished format during the tasting. All of that takes TIME. In the future, something is going to have to change. I’ll give you a great example. We had every intent of doing the Hotel tastings blind. IN fact, we have a really great system worked out that tries to cancel out many of the issues one faces when tasting blind. The problem is, it is VERY time consuming. On top of that, it is dependent on a HUGE amount of room as all of the bottles need to be grouped and orders maintained. Sometimes the suite we get, while enough for tasting and for both of us to sleep – really leaves no room for the spread that occurs and is required to logistically make blind tastings a reality. And so, after the first round of tastings this year, it became apparent that it was NOT going to work. The only way we can do this is by getting another space to store all of this wine, lay it out properly, and manage it – and someone to help out – so that we aren’t wasting time getting all of the bottles numbered, covered, etc. This is something we have spoken about – and we will have to see how to deal with this in the future.

In terms of the wines themselves, we can now basically put a pin in the ’21 vintage. Outside of random stragglers that will pop up over the next couple of years – we are done. Outside of a few bright spots from IDS and Royal, ’21 was dismal. ’22 is still an open question. I know, you are thinking to yourself that last November, I was already down on ’22. Yes, I still am. But what has been proven in ’21 is that even with a dismal vintage, good wines can be made. What’s crazy is that we have barely seen any ’22 mid-range wines and no ’22 big wines yet from Bordeaux. And of the few that we did see, it was a mixed bag.  So let’s give the ’22 vintage a chance.  ’23 also is way too early to call – with very few of the little wines being released as of yet. 

We did seem to get a ton of other wines from Italy, Spain, and regions in France other than Bordeaux – from a variety of vintages. Overall, the quality of kosher wine, like in the non-kosher world, has drastically improved over the last decade. There are very few HORRIBLE wines being produced. (I said few, not none!) In fact, I think this hotel tasting was overall super successful. Yeah, maybe there were no superstars – but overall, it was a much more solid lineup than usual. It is really nice to see the kosher options expanding. I usually try to travel very light, but I took two wines with me that I wanted David to taste, which I thought he would like. Both scored well – one from Rioja (I’m a diehard tempranillo fan –and am over the moon when I can try something new) and an Israeli white Sauvignon Blanc (yes, Israeli SB – which I am not usually a fan of, but this one is stellar). So overall, this was a really successful set of tastings any way you measure it. 

I am going to present the wines by flight – and not necessarily in the order we tasted them as we kept on retasting over the trip, and it got hard to keep that straight for me especially as we started out blind and then abandoned that.

Sparkling Wines

NV Louis de Vignezac, Cuvee Special, Brut, Champagne – 12.5% abv – This is a nice entry level Champagne. Nose here is a bit more expressive than the mouth with good yeasty notes, lemon, a little cream and green apple. In the mouth, those yeasty notes sort of take over with everything else pushed to the back – though the green apple does manage to shine through – propped up by the acid. Nice enough for an entry level bottle. 88

NV Champagne Charles de Ponthieu, Champagne – 12.5% abv – OK, this is a really nice bottle – entry level or not. None of the complexity issues from the previous bottle here. The nose is really nice – with good scarping mineral in the mix with nice yeast, and ripe apple and maybe quince.  In the mouth, the mousse here really works with the profile – small bubbles giving a richness that works well with the rich fruit, again, apple, pear, quince, lemon and lime – and is balanced out by the healthy acidity. Really nice stuff. This one is a keeper – and is likely the best value in champagne currently on the market. 91

Baron Kramer, Brut, Italy – 11% abv – Mevushal – What we have here is basically cooked sparkling apple juice. It’s not offensive, but it’s nothing I’m interested in drinking. 83

Baron Kramer, Brut Rose, Italy – 11% abv – Mevushal – There is a touch more complexity, and, believe it or not, it’s because of the residual sugar – as this one drinks slightly sweet – but it works to the wine’s benefit. The acid is just enough to hold it together. Still nothing I am going to go out and buy – but the it is marginally better than the last bottle. 84

Whites

2023 Cantina Giuliano, Vermentino, Tuscany – 14%abv – On the nose, you get some vague citrus, sweet citrus notes and not much else. In the mouth, you get orange, red grapefruit, and grapefruit pith. The real problem is that the acid is lacking, and the finish is on the short side (medium minus).  84

2022 Elvi Wines, Vina Encina, White – 12.5% abv – Mevushal – Nice up front nose with some decent complexity and some good herbs, tropics, and citrus. The mouth pretty much follows the nose, and the citrus is up front – overall nice profile (for an SB), but the problem is the finish, which is relatively short (and that’s being kind). 87

2023 Elvi Wines, Vina Encina, White – 13% abv – Mevushal – This seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from the 2022. On the nose it is VERY tropical. In the mouth, while there is decent acid, it tastes cooked. It’s hard to describe, but you can taste that bishul was done here. There is a roundness that comes through despite the acidity. On the plus side, the finish is fine. 86

2022 Elvi Wines, Herenza, White – 12.5% abv – The wine has developed since my last tasting. We see lychee come into the picture and some really nice lanolin, which gives an interesting dimension to the wine. The grapefruit pith has come to the front of the wine – which recedes and leaves the pleasant citrus notes behind. Overall, the score is the same, though it is nice to note that the wine is developing. 91

2023 Elvi Wines, Herenza, White – 13% abv – This wine is a bit different from last year’s release. First it is a 70/30 blend. While there is flint up front, you have a much more orange fruit-focused wine – with navel orange as well as clementine, followed by some tropical fruit (mostly lychee). Oddly the flint disappears in the mouth. Could be the wine is too young. The only issue with the wine is that IMHO it could use a touch more acid to really bring it home, Still, a very nice wine. On day three, the acid was more prominent, and the wine showed darker and more in line with the 2022. 91 (and could go higher as it ages)

2022 Alphonse Mellot, Sancerre, La Moussier – 13% abv – Not much changed since my last tasting. The wine is fine. But nothing really special. It’s a solid 90.

2022 Joseph Mellot, Pouilly Fume, Le Chant des Vignes – 13% abv – Really incredible nose – you have orange blossom, honey blossom, lemon, mineral, and some jasmine. Really nice, more evocative of Sancerre than Pouilly Fume. The mouth seems to be a bit disconnected from the nose. Very nice, but a bit round with nice orange flavor and good mineral. Like I said, a bit round, but eventually that comes together and tightens up. Very nice. 91

2023 Domaine Lebrun, Pouilly Fume – 13% abv – The nose starts off muted but eventually breaks through and is all about smoke, flint, and mineral, with some nice floral notes behind it. The mouth follows through on all of that with some really nice acid to boot balancing out the rich citrus. The finish comes back to more flint and mineral. Excellent stuff. 92

2021 Recanati, Atelier, Odem Mountain, Sauvignon Blanc – 12.5% abv – No change in my notes. On the nose, as Loire Valley as a wine can get without being born there. In the mouth, it is really nice and bold, without being pushed and shows complexity and finesse. Some nice flint and mineral with good, focused fruit – nectarine/peach, lime, and some nice grassy notes, followed by a good hit of saline. Proof that when peach is done right, I can get behind it!  This is a really nice bottle – worth seeking out. 92.5

2019 Cave de Ribeauville, Sylvaner, Vendanges Manuelles – 13% abv – Oxidized. DOA.

2023 Staatsweingut Weinsberg, Riesling, “Le Chaim”, Trocken VDP.Gutswein – 13.5% abv – Mevushal – I was really excited to taste a new German Riesling, but I am sad to report that this bears no resemblance to Riesling and tastes more like an off-dry, perfumed Muscat. Almost cloying. 65

2020 Domaine Marsaleix, Ventoux, Naître & Renaître Blanc – 13% abv – The nose is nice with funk, hay, and some stone fruit. Good stuff. Unfortunately, the nose is the best part of the wine. While the mouth DOES follow through for the most part, the stone fruit is way up front and sort of dominates, and there is no real finish here other than a bit of pith. 86

2023 Domaine de Perdry Court, Chablis, Remi Courty – 12.5% abv – The nose is classic Chablis. Period. In the mouth, this wine excels, with good apple, lemon, nectarine, flint. and some smoke. A very nice semi-complex profile, punching above its weight. 91

2022 Charles Pere & Fille, Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, La Combotte, Cuvee Du Menhir – 12.5% abv – The nose here is VERY oaked, and that is hard to get past. You get tons of vanilla, hickory, and even a little butter. The mouth is 100% American oaked chardonnay circa 2015 (a real butterball!)  – though with incredible balancing acidity, which does elevate this to something more.  This is a nice wine – just from the wrong region. People looking for a burgundy wine should look elsewhere. If you want a nice, well-made Cali style Chard, this is your bottle! 91

Rosé

2023 Cantina Giuliano, Rosato, Tuscany – 14% abv – This rosé is made up of 85% Sangiovese & 15% Vermentino. On the nose, you get lemon, orange, and strawberry. In the mouth, you pretty much the same with some bitter pith at the end. Like with the vermentino, the problem here is a lack of acid that you really need in a rosé, and so the wine sort of falls flat. 83

2023 Cantine Leuci, Cisaria, Rosato, Salento – 13% abv – Mevushal – On the nose, here you get ripe sweet red fruit – mostly raspberry and strawberries. In the mouth, this is an off-dry rosé with the same raspberry and strawberry as the nose. There is adequate acid, but this is a very basic one-dimensional rosé that just comes off as boring. 85

Spain

2022 El Orador, Rioja Alta – 14% abv – This is a great little wine found in supermarkets in Israel recently and was one of the two (in addition to the Recanati white) that I brought with me for us to taste together. As all of you know, I am a sucker for Tempranillo. On the nose, you get some nice red fruit, great earth, and some tar. Simple and clean. In the mouth, you have a ton of ripe dark red fruit – primarily raspberry and cranberry with some good earth and tar and a bit of some smoke to wrap it up on the finish. On day two, the wine progresses, calming down and gaining complexity. The ripeness you feel on day one, as balanced as it was by the acid, is now not present, and you get clearer fruit, though a bit darker with some blueberry added to the mix. This is a REALLY great bottle and excellent expression of entry level Rioja (nd this is a Rioja Alta – which might be a first for the kosher market) especially when looking at its value. 91.5

2022 Terra de Vinyaters Falset, Haleluya – 14.5% abv – Oxidized. DOA.

2019 Elvi, Adar, Tempanillo, Ribera del Jucar – 13.5% abv – Mevushal – This wine shows REALLY dark and ripe on the nose, but also has some nice umami and smokey notes that play well. Still, some will find that nose pushed. The mouth pretty much plays out as you would expect, with blackberry and black plum, nice smoke, good roasted meat notes, and that umami. The acid though is what really makes this wine pop in spite of the ripeness; it actually makes this a really food friendly and enjoyable wine. For me this is a really nice bottle, but I love Tempranillo in just about all of its forms. I do understand why one might find this a little over the top, still for me this hits all of the right notes and is a perfect everyday drink! One note, this is NOT a wine for holding – it is a drink now wine as the tannin is already pretty integrated. 91

2020 Elvi, El26, Priorat – 15.5% abv – This another really ripe nose. Here though you have the abv that sort of gives it away – though it does NOT smell (or drink) hot). You have a nice smokey profile with dark blue and black fruit, rich earth, and some herbal notes. In the mouth, the wine is RIPE. Riper than I would expect, though still balanced – with blackberry, black plum, and even boysenberry, with some bacon notes as well. There is really nice minerality, which does play off some of the riper notes, and you do have that excellent acidity as well. The finish is long and rich with some of those herbal notes coming in, along with the black fruit and bacon with notes of cherry and vanilla cola. Not exactly what I was expecting, but on the plus side, this is another super food friendly wine. In any event, it’s still very solid. 91

2021 Elvi, Clos Mesorah, Montsant – 14.5% abv – The nose here is nice with good red and blue fruit, some nice meaty notes, and some soy. In the mouth, you have really nice blueberry notes, which are the core of this wine, followed by raspberry, earth, and some of that soy The acid here is on point and the tannin is firm and mouth coating. The finish is long and satisfying with those meat notes coming more to the front with good earth and smoke as well. On days two and three, the wine does show a bit riper and fruiter – I think it just needs time to settle in. The wine almost certainly will improve its score over time. For now, 92

Italy

2022 Luzzatto, Barbera D’Alba – 14% abv – Mevushal – On day one this wine really did not show well at all. It felt poorly made with a ton of ripe fruit – and while it’s a Barbera, so you are gonna get acid, it comes in at the tail end, making it feel rather disjointed. On day two the wine drastically improved It gained balance with the acid and tannin really playing together well and much more in the center of the wine, balancing out the crazy ripe red fruit. Not much complexity and sort of one dimensional – but for the price and for what it is, its drinkable. 87

2019 Luzzatto, Barolo – 14% abv – Mevushal  – The nose of this wine is vaguely green with maybe a little earth. On day one, the wine was just acid and tannin. There was NO fruit. On day two the wine started to come around and by day three had finally come into its own. On the nose, you get dark red and black fruit and nice rich earth. In the mouth, you get black cherry, plum, rich loamy earth, and nice minerality with the structure that had been there from day one.  What a turnaround! 91.5

2022 Luzzatto, Nebbiolo, Langhe – 13.5% abv – Mevushal – This wine’s nose is offensive. Period. Were I to describe it in detail, you would stop reading, so let’s leave it at that. In the mouth, I was expecting the worst, but itis MUCH better and actually passable. Good acidity, nice red fruit, but again, discombobulated and no finish. But far from offensive. 84

2021 Cascina Perrone, Nebbiolo, Monferrato – 14% abv – Mevushal – Very fruity, very unidimensional. That’s this wine in a nutshell. On the nose you get ripe red fruit. That’s it. In the mouth you get mostly cherry, with some earth with assertive tannin that might be a bit over the top and enough acid to do the job. Overall, a nice enough basic wine. 89

2021 Cascina Perrone, Barbera d’Asti – 14.5% abv – On the nose, you have wonderful smoke, charcoal, red and black fruit, earth and some tar. In the mouth, you get ripe red raspberry, dark cherry, black plum, mixed with some smokiness and mounds of rich earth. All of this is balanced out by this incredible acidity.  The finish is long and actually has hints of bacon as it plays as sweet smoke – mixed with earth and more of that ripe fruit. Again, the acidity here is what holds it together through the end. I was not expecting this one. Really nice. Fun wine. 92+

Burgundy and Alsace

2019 Cave de Ribeauville, Pinot Noir, Vendanges Manuelles – 12.5% abv – This is likely the first Alsatian PN that I have tasted and liked. Don’t get me wrong – this is a simple every day PN – nothing you are going to shout out about from the rooftops, but for simple PN, this one works. On the nose, you get earth, violet, red fruit, and funk. In the mouth, you pretty much get more of the same with really nice acidity and more defined cherry. Again, not a lot of depth, here – but nice for what it is. 90

2022 Charles Pere & Fille, Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, Le Closeau, Vieilles Vignes – 12.5%abv – On the nose you get cherry, pomegranate, cranberry, and a ton of oak vanilla. In the mouth, it is much more balanced – with nice acidity, good tannin, blackberry, plum, tobacco, chocolate, and menthol. The finish is long with the vanilla coming back, darker fruit – like black plum, black cherry, blackberry and tobacco wrapped up in rich earth., Overall a nice bottle! 91.5

2022 JP Marchand, Bourgogne, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune  – 13% abv – The JP Marchand wines prove why these hotel tastings (meaning a tasting where you can retaste over a number of days)  are superior to the tastings we do at the various producers (where you basically at best can taste over a number of hours, and at worst have a single snapshot  of what the wine is) – and why at some point in the future, we are going to have switch things up.  On day one, you get cotton candy, bubble gum, and some violet on the nose. In the mouth, you get tons of sweet oak, vanilla, sugar, cherry – with no real finish. The tannin is OK. But overall the wine is a mess. I scored it a 75. On day 2, the wine has calmed down significantly. It is mostly pomegranate at this stage – but it is unidimensional. The tannin has receded a bit, but the acid is nice enough. It’s better, but not good enough – 86. On days three and four the wine has finally come into its own and stabilized. You move from pomegranate into nice hits of lavender with great roasted meat, ripe black cherry, and sweet plum, all backed by sweet cedar plank.  The finish is medium length with the mouth repeating, but with a good hit of mineral and more roasted notes. Really nice stuff! 91.5

2022 JP Marchand, Aloxe Corton, Sous Chaillot – 13% abv – Here is another example. On day one, you get paint thinner, smoke, and triple-sec. It smells crazy hot. In the mouth, you get this crazy thick cherry syrup of a wine – with triple sec. It’s a miss. Actually, it’s not just a miss – it’s a 70. But, by day four, this turns into a rich beautiful wine. On the nose, you get plum, cherry, sweet herb, and floral notes. In the mouth, the wine so nice and earthy with rich mushrooms and dark red and black fruit – plums, cherry, blackberry, and nice herbs. There is good tannin and nice acidity balancing out the richness. On the finish the acid dissipates a bit, but it actually works, giving an even richer feel to the wine. I liked this a lot. 93

2022 JP Marchand, Pommard, Le Dome – 13% abv –The last of the JP Marchand wines we tasted was yet another that changed drastically over time. On day one, the wine was a muddy dirty mess with no tannin, barely any acid, and no finish. It drank as if it were old and near dead. On day two, the tannin was out in full force – and instead of mud you get ripe pomegranate, cherry, and some green notes – but mostly tannin and acid that are way out of balance. On day three, the acid and tannin have both calmed down, but the wine is sort of empty and devoid of flavor. And finally on day four, the wine has totally turned around and shows well with great rich earth, mushroom, dark cherry, and plum, some bramble and red raspberry. The acid and tannin are both present and in balance and in in no way overpowering. Nice stuff – and happy we got there. 91

Provence

2022 Château Saint-Martin, Rouge, Cotes de Provence – 14% abv – This wine is a blend of 50% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Grenache. At the start the nose has crazy waves of vanilla and heat, even some dirty diaper. In the mouth, you have some nice structure there with good acid and tannin, but the fruit is dark and syrupy with a hint of smoke. On day two, the nose is much better and in fact the mouth is no longer syrupy at all! In fact, we have a ton of acid now coming though dark fruit – plum & blackberry with some running through and some nice lead. It is really nice. Problem is, on day three, the wine starts to fall out of balance and loses a bit fruit and doesn’t recover from there. So if you are going to try this one, drink it sooner rather than later (but maybe give it an hour in the decanter first). When it was at its top it was a solid 90.

2020 Domaine Marsaleix, Ventoux, Naître & Renaître – 14.5% abv – On the nose, you get some funk, earth, and ripe red fruit. Overall a nice profile. Blind, I was guessing well-made basic PN at this point. In the mouth, good structure, nice acid. You get red raspberry, cherry, and earth smoke, saline, and more earth. The acidity is really nice and balancing. The finish is medium + with good acid, more red fruit vanilla and spice. On day two, this wine tastes much more tannic, with no fruit and just bitter remnants. The funkiness is gone with just some vague fruit and a mouthful of acid and tannin. On day three, the wine started coming back, and at day four you basically had a nice rich wine good red fruit – primarily raspberry, cherry, and a little red plum. The acid is there in full force to balance out the rich ripe fruit, and the finish is nice and complex with some nice smokiness, more fruit, earth and sweet spice, and even a little bit of saline! I am guessing this is a wine that will really develop in the bottle, and I am willing to bet on its potential. 92

Miscellaneous (Gamay, Lemberger and Loire Valley CF) Wines

2018 Louis Blanc, Morcantel, Bourgogne – 13.5% abv – On the nose, crazy ripeness and candied red fruit. The oak is VERY present nose wise. Crazy oak, hickory, and VANILLA. In the mouth you get a better presentation – good red core of raspberry and cherry with nice tannin and just enough acidity to balance it out with some nice tannin – even though this is a 2018. Another quality Gamay. 90+

2022 Moise Taieb, Julienas, Reserve du Fondateur, Beaujolais – 12% abv – Another crazy ripe nose with canned cranberry sauce and a sort of mossy ripe green note. The mouth was sort of the same. I wouldn’t score higher than an 80. On day two though the wine is no longer candied – though it’s still ripe and clearly Gamay. On the nose, you get cranberry, smoke, and even a little tar. In the mouth, lots more cranberry and plum and some smoke and a little herb. It’s all very ripe, but controlled and overall, nicely balanced. It’s perfect for what it is – a nice, easy drinking gamay. Wonderful with your Thanksgiving dinner. 90

2022 Moise Taieb, Cote de Brouilly, Reserve du Fondateur, Beaujolais – 12% abv – Oxidized. DOA.     

2022 Moise Taieb, La Petite Metairie, Chinon, Vieilles Vignes – 12.5% abv – The nose of this wine is classic Chinon Cab Fran with excellent herbs and earth. In the mouth, you get a mix of herbs, cherry, earth, and bramble. The finish is long with more herbs, earth and a little menthol.  The only thing missing is tannin here, which makes me worry a little about its longevity (though on day two there was more tannin present) – and it’s not super complex, but as a drink now everyday bottle, this is really nice. 90

2022 Moise Taieb, La Petite Metairie, Bourgueil – 12.5% abv – The nose here is very green and with asparagus, spinach, and some vague red fruit in the background. In the mouth, you basically get more of the same – not pleasant. It does have decent acidity and nice tannin – but that’s about it. 75

2022 Staatsweingut Weinsberg, Lemberger, Le Chaim, Trocken, VDP, Gutswein – 13.5% abv – Mevushal – Really unique nose here – tar, earth, tons of smoke, and clear charcoal with some black fruit in the back.  In the mouth you get tar, smoke, and dark fruit. The mouth is all about the smoke and dark cherry – and charcoal. Its balanced but a little one dimensional. 88

Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur

2021 Château La Naude, Bordeaux Superieur – 13% abv – Mevushal – This is another ’21 little wine. I have to say that, overall compared to its cohorts, this one is not as bad. The nose is green pepper-city, but does have some red notes and some earth. In the mouth, you do get the green bell pepper, but also some cherry, earth, and a hint of smoke. 86

2021 Château Tour de Bellegarde, Bordeaux Superieur – 13% abv – Mevushal – Another ‘21, yay! I thought we were done with the ‘21 little wines. But I guess not. Predictably candied Jalapeno and red fruit are the predominant aromas and flavors with some earth and herb. I don’t really even need to write notes on these at this point. 82

2023 Baron David, Bordeaux – 14% abv – Mevushal – This is our first hotel ’23! Nice way to start. On the nose we have violet, very ripe red and blue fruit and some earth. In the mouth, this wine is ripe. Really ripe. But it has the acid to balance it with ripe blueberry, raspberry, earth, and some smoke There is a fair amount of tannin to keep it interesting. The finish is fairly long. At this point, this is a great gateway wine. For those looking to try French wine, but are afraid of austere French, this is the wine to try. Now, by day two the wine did calm down, with the ripeness subsiding and the acid and tannin both becoming a bit more assertive. Wow! 90

2022 Domaine de Grava , Bordeaux – 13.5% abv – I found the nose on this wine boring with some vague red fruit and not much else. The mouth is a bit better with ripe red fruit, some smoke, herbs, and earth. The acidity is adequate. The finish was long and fairy tannic with more red fruit, herbs and smoke. 87

2022 Haut de Grava, Bordeaux – 13.5% abv – No change since my last tasting. 83

2023 Palais de L’Ombriere, Bordeaux – 14% abv – Mevushal – This is another wine that proves our system of tasting and retasting is so necessary. On day one, on the nose, you get very ripe fruit, oak, some chocolate, smoke, and even more ripe red fruit. It actually smells a bit hot. In the mouth, all you get is crazy hot ripe red fruit. I scored it an 85. On day two this wine has done a 180 and is really nice. The fruit is darker and richer but balanced out by the acidity which now asserts itself.  The heat is gone. There is even some depth here. The finish is nice with good tannin, nice black and red fruit, some nice herbs and a bit of smoke. What a difference a day makes! 91

2023 Pavillon Mougneau, Bordeaux – 14% abv – Mevushal – Not much of a nose here, other than some vague fruity notes. In the mouth, the wine simply doesn’t work. There is some smoke, and ripe blue fruit, but it sort of falls apart. Time did not help this wine. 83

Saint-Emilion

2016 Château Croque Michotte, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 15% abv – Oxidized tannin water. Bad bottle. NA

2020 Château Haut Brisson, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 13.5% abv – On the nose, you get nice red fruit and herb. In the mouth, you get red currant, strawberry, and some herb and sweet spice. The problem with this wine is the lack of acidity – which is simply missing and would be awesome in brightening this wine up. Other than that, its fine – the tannin is nice and provides some structure – but again, without the acidity, the wine just feels bleh…. 87

2020 Pavillon de Taillefer, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 13.5% abv –We tasted this wine over the course of four days, and it needed every bit of this time to truly show itself. The wine started out mostly green, with some red and black fruit behind it and some charcoal. As the wine opened over the course of the four days though, almost all of the overtly green notes disappeared and you ended up with rich red and black fruit, loads of moist rich earth, and what was left of the green notes moved into these beautiful, toasted herbs. The same transformation took place with the mouth – and it took even longer to get there – literally all four days. You started out with a mouthful of rough tannin followed by the dark fruit and smoke. But slowly but surely the wine progressed until by day four everything was playing harmoniously – with super complex palate unfolding in waves black cherry, blackberry, black plum with excellent graphite and mineral and mounds of toasted herbs with good acidity and with tannins that were far more refined and silkier than the start. This is a powerhouse of a wine. The finish is long and ripe, but controlled with more blackberry and cherry, more herbs, tobacco, and rich milk chocolate. I fell in love with this wine. My score reflects where I left it in its development. It had plenty of gas in the tank and may have even gotten better with time. For me for now, it’s a 93+

2021 Relais de La Dominique, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 13.5% abv – On the nose, we have ‘dem “green blues” but they blow off, leaving a sort of earthy one-dimensional kind of nose maybe with some red fruit behind the earth and some smoke. In the mouth, not much going on with lots of tannin, fair amount of acidity and not much fruit. On day two, it does develop a little bit, with sweet red raspberry, oak and maybe a bit of chocolate at the back end. There is great acidity and a decent amount of tannin – but ultimately, there is not enough of a fruit core to support the wine – though for a ’21, it’s a decent effort.  86

2022 Château Tour Perey, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 14% abv – The nose here is mostly red with some blue fruit, nice herbs and some earth. In the mouth, you get bright red raspberry and then darker fruit like blueberry and mulberry (!). The acid here is really nice and balances the complex profile. The tannin is aggressive, but not overly so. The finish is long, nice and layered with toasted herb, chocolate, more red (less blue) fruit. This is a really enjoyable bottle! 92+

2022 Château La Fleur Perey, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – 14% abv – This wine is nearly a carbon copy of the preceding wine (Château Tour Perey) – which makes sense, as the properties are adjacent to one another and share the same winemaking team. It is slightly greener in the mouth, but that’s about it. The problem is on day two, when this wine started to decline slightly, which did not happen with the Tour Perey. As such I’ll give it a conservative 90.

2022 Les Hauts de Mole , Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion – 14% abv – On the nose, a basic profile of green herbs and red fruit. Nothing too exciting, but not bad. In the mouth, you get some herb, raspberry, nutmeg, and ripe red plums. The finish is of medium length, with more herb and some tobacco coming through. The acid is nice, and the tannin is well integrated, but present. A little boring, but not bad wine at all. 89

Marguax, Haut-Medoc and Medoc

2021 Château Haut-Breton Larigaudiere, Margaux – 13% abv – This wine is all green all the time, but at least there is no Jalapeno. But that’s basically it – mostly green notes, some nice herb, maybe a little red fruit in the back. Not horrible for a ’21 – but still this is a wine that usually is of decent quality, and it just can’t rise above the vintage. 87

2012 Château Cru Ducasse, Haut Medoc – 12.5% abv – This is a wine that we tried to taste last time, but ended up with a bad bottle. This time the bottle took a while to fully open, but once there, was really nice – with really nice funky barnyard dominating the nose, followed by a fair amount of red and black fruit. In the mouth you start off much like the nose with really nice barnyard funky notes with nice blackberry and plum and a ton of mineral, some lead, nice earth and good herb. The tannin was nice and firm, yet well integrated. The acid was where if anything the wine showed its age – I would have preferred a little more pop, but I think this is perfectly reasonable for a 12-year-old wine.  The finish was long and mineral driven with graphite, more herb, earth, some chocolate and some tobacco. Overall, a very nice bottle. 92

2022 Château Tour Seran, Medoc – 13.5% abv – The nose here is overall green and earthy with some nice tar and some meaty notes. In the mouth, though, the wine shines with plum, redcurrant, ripe raspberry, dark cherry, and a little blackberry, with some nice saline and a line of lead and mineral running through the wine making you come back for more. The acid is excellent, aggressive and balancing and the tannin is mouth coating. The finish is long with good earth, herbs, more meat, some smoke, and near black ripe fruit. This was a yummy bottle. 92+

2022 Château Rollan de By, Medoc – 13.5% abv – We actually tasted this wine twice. The first bottle was sent to us by Taieb. It was off with weirdly bitter tannin and an odd tingling that played on the tongue. We sort of wrote it off as a bad bottle. But we happened to see another bottle in the supermarket and decided to try again. What was weird here was that the weird off flavors were gone, but there still was some of that weird tingling. My notes here will be on the second bottle only. On the nose, you get nicely focused red and black fruit, some smoke and nice mineral. In the mouth, you get raspberry, dark cherry, plum, earth, and nice mineral – but yeah that tingling is weirdly there. The finish is of medium length with more dark fruit, dark chocolate, and mineral. Eventually the tingling does dissipate but never totally.  This year, if you are going to choose, stock up on the Tour Seran and skip the RdB. Still solid though at 89

Well, that’s it (finally) for this trip. My thanks to David Raccah for making these trips the fun that they are. Looking forward to the next one! Now on to some other tastings….