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The Marestel was purchased at the Domaine (yes Dupasquier) in 2019, and I can recommend all their wines, but this is their best. It’s a super place to visit too. Spectacular scenery. The Marestel vineyard is the steep part on the right hand side, west facing.
At 9 years it was very much holding up, I’m pleased to say, as there are three more in the cellar!
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agree with all that. We too visited there whilst we had a week or so in the region in October 2013 and to reappear on your photos brought back fond memories. The day was a bit drizzly and overcast ISTR.
Memo to self - Go back to Savoie soon !
Did you happen to visit the bonkers but in a good way Cave Lambert in Seyssel ?
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Lots of others have said good things about this Dom de St Cosme Principauté d’ Orange Blanc, and I agree. Lovely stone fruit nose and taste, good texture, a little oiliness going on with a dryness on the finish. Good length of finish, and well balanced. Certainly is not flabby or sharp like some can be. Very good indeed and certainly would compete well with some Rhone whites with from more pretigious appelations; probably not one to age too long. It’s standing up to some Sriracha sauce pretty well.
And nice to back to some decent wine!
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Just the six tennis friend over for dinner. We ate duck legs with an orange sauce and tiramisu.
We did a good job with the wine, I think!
The Alheit vine garden was the star white and both the Raats cab franc and the Gevrey were super. The balance on the gevrey really won over my tennis partner.
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Continuing my post dry January clearing down existing wines from the garage, before buying more. Moulin-à-Vent, Château du Moulin-à-Vent 2018 £15.50
With a deeply rich hanger steak (onglet) in red wine braise + buttery grilled polenta.
Unusually for TWS Beaujolais this is a bit of a let down seeming to lack Gamay character . I’m wondering if it has been vinified in a Burgundian style, or aiming to be a serious and age-worthy wine? The critics like it in anyway, so maybe it’s just not for me. In future I’ll stick to TWS Exhibition BJL and the ever reliable Aujoux.
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Friday was look-she’s-not-called-mrs-pig’s birthday meal.
Boat pushed out. Tondonia Blanc 2009 (reserva not the gr!) in a restaurant, for a touch over what it retails at now. Was odd buying a bottle of wine in a restaurant that I have a few of at home, but also it’s her favourite and was something that could go with all three different courses each of us was having.
It’s as good as I remember, if not better. honey, caramel and diesel on the nose joined by something black tea-ish, flowers and mushrooms. Slightly mushroomy and all of the nom. Incredibly long finish. A marmite wine, but one that makes me very very happy.
Last night saw some friends came over, and while it was mostly a night of mixed drinks, we did crack open a (1/6) of the 2020 Domaine Barou Bonne Etoile. Hmmm. It was good, but not what I was expecting. I buy this wine pretty much every year EP as a not needing too much thinking light aperitify wine. This was a lot more Viognier-y. It was much fatter and rounder than usual with musk, stone fruit and pear quite heavily in the mix. Still very enjoyable and more typically northern rhone, but not what I was buying it for. I’d already not gone for it this year, and think I stand by that decision.
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Neither of these impressed:
Cider nose, cider taste.
Lots of awards but vanilla overpowers everything.
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This is the last of 6 bought en primeur…
It might be just regret for the end of the case but for me this is the best of the lot, some of them have been just ok to be honest.
Tons of blueberries and spice, a floral lift and then something like graphite. For the first time I can genuinely claim to detect violets! Round and full on the palate, it is definitely a grown up crozes!
Happy Sunday
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I started this yesterday and the second half today - the wonders of living in a single-wine-drinker household… its subtle ctirus and melon aromas were something of a constrast with its punchy apple crumble, honey and lemon zinginess. Delicious!
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And today I am just reminding myself of the magnificent Society’s Amontillado. What a joy, and what value.
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I must remember to look in at that Cave when I’m in Chamonix in June.
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Definitely worth a look an unusual for France in that he does sell some non French wines. And thought there is, frankly, a fair bit of rubbish Savoie wines foisted on the tourist he seem to have some of the better ones.
Do you have any particular objective in visiting Chamonix?
[And if you mention the wine drinking skier who bust his shoulder in 2022 he might even remember me 
]
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We just stay there as a stopover on the way to Italy. Pretty hard to improve on given its proximity to the Mont Blanc tunnel.
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Pepe Mendoza’s more basic red: a blendnof Monastrell, Alicante Bouschet and Girò. Medium + body but fairly gentle. Driven by red fruits (cherry, a bit of strawberry) with some structure and drying tannins. Elegant for a Monastrell, even more when you consider the Alicante Bouschet / Garnacha Tintorera that I don’t usually get on with. Even the colour is not opaque
It does make me think about those conversations that Girò might be an autoctonous clone of Garnacha. That would explain a lot of the lightness of feet and broad spectrum of fruit (relative to pure Monastrell, at least). If I tried this blind I would probably place it as a young-ish Morgon.
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This El Pacto 2019 rioja over the weekend, not quite sure about it, quite pleasant but not a wow, not sure about a repeat purchase. TOH liked it more. Quite a long finish, maybe some dark cherries going on. We had the Caroline Bellavoine PN 2020 during the week which I preferred.
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We’re back home, and I cooked paupiettes de poulet from the butcher in Alsace, with riesling and root vegetables. We drank Rolly Gassmann Riesling Pflaenzerreben, 2011.
Rich, ripe and developed, with flavours of confit orange and lemon, apricots and the mature riesling petrolic notes seamlessly integrated with the fruit. It’s unmistakably Rolly Gassmann in style, with residual sugar present but balanced by acidity.
Have a good week.
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Two wines sampled today. Out for lunch for my Grandma’s 84th, a Barbera was ordered which I recognised from the website as the following:
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/barbera-del-piemonte-amonte-2021
The restaurant price was £22 
Tonight, we opened the Beaumont Chenin Blanc 2022 picked up after sampling at the SA event last year. I think it’s a pretty good value Chenin with honey, peach and pear notes. Now OOS but:
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/beaumont-chenin-blanc-bot-river-2022
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Another of these over the weekend - a 2020 Château Juvenal Les Ribes du Vallat blanc.
This is mostly Clairette with a splash of Viognier, and really is very good for the price I think - nice slightly viscous texture, and tasty with a harmonious blend of slight citrus, light honey, a dash of aniseed. Slightly richer and creamier than previous bottles and I think getting even better with some age. Very good.
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