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Oo yes! I had forgotten about that but have enjoyed the Pieropan Soaves I’ve had before and it’s been a while. Will be in the next order along with some g-g-g-gavi, greco and godello. Also the society’s falanginha which I think is great value.
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https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/vinsobres-altitude-420-domaine-jaume-2017
Still got a cold, long few days at work, got rained on (excessively) tonight when leaving, Mrs Tim similarly afflicted in all three ways… so cracked one of these with a ragu from the freezer. And it’s lovely - but needs a splashy decant and a good couple of hours open. Six more in reserves, will leave them there until 2024 at the earliest.
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This is lovely. Reminds me of old syrah a bit, but light. Not sure if I’ve had this grape before, but loving this example. Bit of dried herbs and rainsiny fruit.
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https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/macanita-branco-douro-2020
Really nice, first with a simple sausage pasta and the rest just on its own.
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Almost snap!
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/chianti-classico-castello-la-leccia-2016
Very nice, little change since I had one of these a couple of years ago. The sweet-and-sour raspberry fruit is balanced out by a bit of black tea, and there’s even something resembling marzipan on the nose. Tart and grippy on the palate, more savoury on the finish, with a little alcohol heat coming through. Yum.
It’s fun making space in the garage 
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Maybe a bit too young perhaps?
Nice cherry and strawberry fruit from the Grenache but I didn’t get much of that wild Carignan fruit that I typically love about Priorat. Tannins pretty low and well integrated. Fairly acid driven. Feels like an Atlantic vintage rather than a Mediterranean vintage. Hopefully just needs a bit more time to come together but I was curious as I bought 6.
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Years ago cheap Italian whites were often the wine of choice for students. Later I avoided them for many years, as those cheap Verdicchios and Soaves had been insipid and flavourless. It’s only relatively recently that I’ve discovered how good they can be - even at low prices.
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- It was a gift from visitors: they can come again!
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I bought and drank one of these a few years ago in Chamonix and was suitably impressed but felt it would improve with a little age (and the wine merchant agreed) so I bought a couple more and it is just lovely now. Tannins all resolved into lovely creamy smoothness and the mondeuse pepper completely eclipsing the related syrah pepperiness. This is just lovely but probably won’t go an awful lot longer though the domain’s website ways it will age for ten years. I think it’s absolutely on the mark right now but you’ve got to be a lover of that pepper!
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MrsB has gone to Zimbabwe for the weekend (yes, her weekend runs Wednesday to Tuesday) and left me with an Italian cheese mountain from this last weekend’s Piemonte-fest to demolish.
What to drink, well why not more of the same?
Bit of a contrast from the 2019s (Produttori del Barbaresco and Marcarini), this was much richer, more dark fruit than red fruit though still high acidity and nice grip. Very good with the Roccolino al Tartufo.
Impossible - for me at least - to say if this is a result of the winemaking or the vintage, but I think I prefer the 2019s.
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This easy-drinking Pinot Noir this evening, to accompany schnitzel and spätzle:
Louis Guntrum, Pinot Noir Rheinhessen, Germany, 2020
Unlike Blackadder’s plea to Baldrick (‘Try to have a thought of your own! thinking is so important!’) there isn’t much to over-think here; instead there’s charm and quaffability (is it a word? it should be!).
Pale and beautiful ruby in the glass, the nose has notes of ripe strawberries and cherry cough sweets, with a whiff of cinnamon and clove and maybe even a touch of rose petals.
Light on the palate, it has bright and juicy red fruit (strawberries, sour cherries, cranberries) mixed with gentle baking spices and, to my palate at least, a touch of mint freshness. It’s very easy to enjoy, with good acidity - nothing sharp, mind you - and even a little bit of a tannic grip, but the finish is somewhat short.
Very good value for £10 when reduced in Waitrose; for the full price - there are better German PN value elsewhere, such as Martin Wassmer’s Markgräflerland (albeit from a different region).
Off to flatten some veal escalopes… 
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The rarely drunk, at least by me, sumoll grape. Pure, clean, linear, Nebbiolo-esque. From Cambridge Wine Merchants.
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The fine Lady Lapin - finished off my last bottle of “Bin #010 Godello-Albariño-Treixadura, Ribeira Sacra 2020” - and pronounced it Nice which is high praise indeed. So I’m looking for something similar - any suggestions?
It improved considerably with a few months keeping, developing honey / beeswax notes.
My apologies - wasn’t MY wine but OUR bottle of wine…
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I thought it was time to try the Blind Spot Pinot Meunier 2021.
Barely darker than a Tavel rosé, and somehow looking a little cloudy. On the nose it’s full of young fruit, but a bit of a let down on the palate - acidic and slightly sour. Perhaps it will be better with some food but at the moment it’s not one I’ll buy again - much as I wanted to like it.
Now, what do I do with the other bottle?
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Does Lady Lapin read this forum?
Remarkable - I opened Blind Spot Dolcetto last night. It’s quite frankly awful - not faulty, but not exactly wine - tasted like newly fermented grape juice. And I LIKE Dolcetto a lot, it has an almost unique place with food perfect alongside many Italian starter’s.
The rest of the bottle… perhaps into a ragu ?
Joined the Ducru Beaucaillou tasting this evening. What a wonderful tasting - well put together with perfectly delivered samples.
In particular I enjoyed the La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou ‘15, and the Ducru-Beaucaillou 2016 - I can’t believe how great it was at such a young age.
Huge thanks to @annaspooner in the tasting team, and @SykoWino for bringing this to us - and Bruno Borie presenting from the chateau.
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Tonight is going from the ridiculous to the sublime
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