JT wrote:
>
>
> Le Haut Lieu Vouvray Sec Huet 1993A strange greeny gold colour, a nose of
> apples and burnt matches, short with some spice, liquid
> gunpowder.....awful, heated argument as to duff bottle or house style.

Aged dry Chenin tends to be a polarizing wine. I know some who like,
but they are also fans of Vin Jaune and other "difficult" white wines.
FWIW, the greenish cast is very typical of older Chenin.

>
> CDP VT 1998, a rather cloudy with age apperance, had been decanted and the
> host was a little concerned, he had a spare ready, no worry, on the nose
> classic CDP, organic spice with this soft ethereal entrance that brought a
> smile to us all, but then fell short and ?drying out, I thought it was a
> Beaucastel from the 80's. We suspect it was a duff bottle

Yes, that doesn sound off for this producer. I'm still holding off on
my '98s, by and large, but all that I've read suggests that this wine is
just now entering its prime. Sub-threshold cork taint, maybe?

>
> Hermitage La Chapelle, Jaboulet, 1997, huge wine opaque, hint of brown edge,
> classic tinned tomatoes aniseed toothpaste spice, big spicy mouthful, big
> tannins but ? enough fruit. I thought it was a Chave Hermitage.

Actually, that's a pretty good showing for Jaboulet wines of that
period. La Chapelle has great starting materials, but most agree that
the mid-'90s weren't a good period for Jaboulet (basically, after the
untimely death of Gerard) and '97 wasn't the greatest year, either.

Thanks for the notes!
Mark Lipton


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