Diary of Mike's Wine Safari
| Tasting n°35 - 08/07/2009 |
| Domain : Dom Citadelle Ménerbes |
| Vintage : Le Châtaignier , Dom Citadelle 2008 |
| Trade-name : Côte de Lubéron |
| Grape : Clairette,Grenache-bl,Bourboulenc |
| Color : white |
| Nose : Floral aromas, hints of fruit, peach,grapefruit. |
| Mouth : Nose corresponds with the mouth, slightly menthol, anis. |
| Thickness : Souple and medium body length |
| Comment : Vinification Harvested both manually in cases and mechanically Skin maceration Pneumatic pressing Fermented in stainless steel casks Matured in tank with the lees Regularly stirred. Tasting Note Fresh and fruity. Perfect as an aperitif. |
| Tasting n°34 - 08/07/2008 |
| Domain : Domaine Naïs Rognes |
| Vintage : Domaine Naïs 2007 |
| Trade-name : Coteaux d Aix en Provence |
| Grape : Grenache,Syrah,Cinsault, Cabernet |
| Color : Rosé |
| Nose : Explosive primary aromas of grapefruit and citrus |
| Mouth : Mouth corresponds to the nose,fresh accidity |
| Thickness : Good length |
| Comment : Great discovery for me Perfect summerwine with marinated grapefruit with olive oil and herbes of Provence Also salades and gaspacho (cold soupe of tomato and red peppers Drink now |
| Tasting n°29 - 02/11/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine St Luc à La Baume de Transit |
| Vintage : Dom St Luc 2004 |
| Trade-name : Coteaux des Tricastin |
| Grape : 65%Syrah, 35%Grenache |
| Color : Red |
| Nose : It has an expressive and complex nose of red berries and black fruit (cherry,raspberry,strawberry...) with all the nuances of liquorice and garrique which are the caracteristics of the red Tricastin wines |
| Mouth : The palate is elegant and noble, both long and supple. |
| Thickness : This is a wine with plenty of expression, well-balanced, concentrated tannins without being the least bit agressive |
| Comment : Correct temperature to serve it: 16 C = 60 F This wine marries well with grilled meat You can drink it now. It will keep 5 years. |
| Tasting n°30 - 02/11/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine St Luc à La Baume de Transit |
| Vintage : Cuvée Emiliane 2004 |
| Trade-name : Coteaux du Tricastin |
| Grape : 65 % Syrah, 35% Grenache |
| Color : Red |
| Nose : It has a clean and fine bouquet with all the nuances of fruit flavour with a light floral smell of violet. |
| Mouth : The palate, concentrated and marked by red berries, offers a sensation of softness. Well balanced, the tannins are delicate and end with an aromatic lingering finish |
| Thickness : Correct temperature to serve it : 16 C = 60 F This wine will nicely accompany a grilled beef rib or lamb cutlets You can drink it now. It will keep 5 years |
| Comment : |
| Tasting n°31 - 02/11/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine St Luc à La Baume de Transit |
| Vintage : L\'Escale Sérine 2004 |
| Trade-name : Coteaux de Tricastin |
| Grape : 97% Syrah, 3% Grenache |
| Color : Red |
| Nose : It has an expressive and complex aromatic nose, with an ounce of black pepper, cinnamon and liquorice...Well, this is a BIG nose! |
| Mouth : The rich, supple and well structured palate gives a delicious mouth-filling impression. It ends with an aromatic lingering finish of violet, so typical for the Syrah. |
| Thickness : Correct temperature to serve it is : 18 C = 65 F This wine is perfect to drink with a leg of lamb or a well matured cheese from northern France called Maroilles! This wine proves that the axiom that patience will be rewarded. It will keep from 4 to 8 years. |
| Comment : |
| Tasting n°32 - 02/11/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine St Luc à La Baume de Transit |
| Vintage : L Excellence de St Luc 2004 |
| Trade-name : Coteaux du Tricastin |
| Grape : 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier |
| Color : Red |
| Nose : It has a clean and fine bouquet with alll the nuances of black fruit flavour, lightly stewed and spicy. The typical fruit aroma is more present with a subtle floral note. |
| Mouth : The balanced sensation lingers in the mouth with a surprising delicious persistence of liquorice and violet flavours and the tannins are smooth and delicate without being at the least aggressive. |
| Thickness : Correct temperature to serve it : 18 C = 65 F This wine marries well with game and meat cooked in sauce. Better wait 2 years before drinking it. It is a long term cellering wine wich will keep from 8 to 10 years |
| Comment : |
| Tasting n°33 - 02/11/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine St Luc à La Baume de Transit |
| Vintage : Domaine St Luc |
| Trade-name : Côtes du Rhône Villages |
| Grape : 65% Syrah, 35% Grenache |
| Color : Red |
| Nose : It has a clean and fine bouquet of fruit flavour staying in the background with a sharply focussed hint of pepper. |
| Mouth : The palate is marked by a concentration of red berries and spices as if you were tasting strawberries prepared with sechuan pepper. The balanced round and fat tannins lingers in the mouth with a delicious aromatic persistence. |
| Thickness : Correct temperature to serve it : 16 C = 60 F This wine will nicely accompany grilled meat or lamb You canb drink now. It will keep 5 years. |
| Comment : |
| Tasting n°28 - 14/04/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine La Mordoree Tavel |
| Vintage : La Dame Rousse |
| Trade-name : Tavel |
| Grape : Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Bourboulenc, Clairette |
| Color : Rosé |
| Nose : Extraordinairy expression of ripe strawberry, rasberry and sugarcane. |
| Mouth : The mouth is a joyfull encounter of a velvety expression, long in the mouth, fat but so tempting to have a zipp more of your glass. Finishing with a good acidity. |
| Thickness : I have tried the wine on a plate with freshly backed vegetables, like zuginni, red peppers,leak, young soja- and string beans. On top of that you put, like the vegetables, two nice pieces of quicly baked tuna. On the tuna some salt and pepper, mild curry and some mixed spices for cous-cous. Dress the vegetables from out of the wok or frieing pan gently on the plate put the tuna on top, and finish by pooring some sweet soja sauce on that with crushed peanuts. The tuna, I hope still somewhat rosé on the inside, is tender and has a lucious feeling by its high content of proteïnes and there for corresponds to the mouth filling feeling of the wine in general.The quickly baked vegetables with a "bite", makes your mouth actively working together with the peanuts. The salty somewhat sweet soja sauce makes the link between spicy tuna and the vegetables. Feel how this wine finishes still with good acidity to keep our mouth active for tasting and an envie of having a zipp more of this wonderfull wine. |
| Comment : |
| Tasting n°27 - 22/03/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine Les Goubert Gigondas |
| Vintage : Les Favoris |
| Trade-name : Côte du Rhône |
| Grape : Rousanne, Viognier |
| Color : white |
| Nose : An expression of floral influences, ripe pear ( young viognier) and honey which come from the Roussanne grape. With aging the Viognier has more expression by giving hints of peach and the Roussanne becomes even more honey like and quince. |
| Mouth : The mouth feel corresponds with what we found in the nose.Fresh, supple and long in the mouth. |
| Thickness : Perfect combination of two grapevarietals. Seperate fermented in tanks and later put into wooden barrels, with oak comming from the Citeaux forest. Finished its malolactic on its fine lees for ten months. Blended and bottled . |
| Comment : Lovely wine on a filet of chicken stuffed with fois-gras poched for 5 to 7 minutes in almost boiling water. The wine with a rich texture goes well with the meat and the foi-gras fortifies this effect. You can add a nice sauce of wild mushrooms to it and a custard of tomato and red peppers to bring color and some liveness back into the plate which otherwise becomes to soft and boaring. |
| Tasting n°26 - 18/02/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine Oratoire St Martin Cairanne |
| Vintage : Dom L 'Oratoire St Martin Haut Coustias 2004 |
| Trade-name : Cairanne CdRhône Villages |
| Grape : Marsanne 50%,Roussanne 40%, Viognier 10% |
| Color : White |
| Nose : A nose of pear,quince, flowery |
| Mouth : Grilled almonds,fat and full bodied, long after-taste. |
| Thickness : A gastronomic wine, and certainly could be aged upto 10 years, but when it is young it tastes so good that you have a tempation for everyday in your cellar |
| Comment : I have tried it on a simple cucomber salad, with very thin sliced lemon and some sweet onions. Shortly marinaded with white balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. You place it all togehether in nice glasses or small bowl and you top it witrh whipped cream with honey. The cucomber is neutral in taste and is for the volume within the salad. The lemon brings some acidity togehter with the vinigar and the sweet onions give the total a more powerfull swing to it. Teh cream topping brings the effect in the mouth that all elements melt togehter. It is many times the same with wine, and try to rember all the sensations that happen in your mouth , one after each other and with a more experience you can better match wine and food togehter. |
| Tasting n°25 - 10/01/2006 |
| Domain : Domaine le Pointu Courthézon |
| Vintage : Domaine le Pointu 84350 Courthezon |
| Trade-name : Vin de Payes Principauté d'Orange 2004 |
| Grape : Grenache,Merlot,Caladoc,Carignan,Syrah,Alicante |
| Color : red |
| Nose : Very good red fruit , somewhat sweet caramel |
| Mouth : Fresh attaque in the mouth, round, supple with tannins that keep the wine interesting |
| Thickness : For a Vin de Pays a very good wine Very good value for the price In France 2.50 Euro per bottle |
| Comment : A wine still availlable at the winemaker Patrick Coste. A wine to be drunk now with simple dishes or to drink along the discussion with you friends. Drink with cold dishes with fine things from the butcher, and grilled meat in the summer. |
| Tasting n°23 - 22/03/2005 |
| Domain : Domaine de Cabasse Gigondas |
| Vintage : 2001 |
| Trade-name : Gigondas |
| Grape : Grenache 80%, Mourvèdre 15%, Syrah 5% |
| Color : Very dark cherry red, with a purple reflection. The wine shows nice dripping -tears- on the inside of the glass. Sign of glycerin and therefor a sign of good concentration |
| Nose : A wine to decant for it is somewhat closed in the beginning. This is more due to the style of the tightly nit 2001 vintage. Layers of dark fruit, and with a smell of the so called -garrigue-, which is so typical for the area of Gigondas. |
| Mouth : The first touch in the mouth is elegant and fine, but with distinction. Slowly this wine moves forward over your whole palet of the mouth and showsafter a while its generosity, without being at any moment heavy, because well structured tannins and acidity keep this wine very lively. |
| Thickness : A great vintage. Herbes of provence in combination with black olives, are typical things that can develop in such a wine, certainly when it gets the change to become 10 years or more. Elegant fresh acidity needs to be there in the wine, for as it is the backbone of the wine, the counterpart against heavy reduced redwinesauces in your plate and the envie in your mouth to take a glass more. |
| Comment : Game is good to use with this wine, when the season is there.But a good chunk of redmeat, will accompany the Gigondas young with mashed white beans enriched with some garlic, thin sliced baked patatoes, and within the baking sauce some diced tomatoes and a spoonfull of tapanade. The mashed whitebeans give smoothness in the mouth (finesse and elegance in the wine)and on the opposite we have the almost crackling patatoes to keep your mouth and mind active. The tomatoe and tapanade bring freshness and the tannins of the wine back into the picture. |
| Tasting n°11 - 06/02/2005 |
| Domain : Domaine de Cabasse Séguret |
| Vintage : Rosé cuvée Marie Antoinette 2003 |
| Trade-name : Séguret, Côte du Rhône Villages |
| Grape : Red Grenache 60%, Syrah 34%, Carignan 2%, Clairette 2%, Counoise 2% |
| Color : Dark pink, light cherry red |
| Nose : Overwhelming impression of redberryfruit, very ripe strawberry and canesugar. |
| Mouth : A rosé with a rich mouthfeel, and corresponding what we can find within the nose.The wine is absolutely dry, but gives with its fruitiness and lenght almost a "coating" on the inside of the mouth, which leaves the impression of a faint sweetness, without becommimg heavy and boaring. |
| Thickness : |
| Comment : A rosé worthy to accompany freshly baken big shrimps or a mixture of inkfish and other seacreatures with good spicy ingredients. The roundness of theis wine goes well together withe the richness of proteïnes and compact meat of these seacreatures. The fruitiness counterparts the spices and will soften this.But also a wine to drink spontanious with your friends with some"tapanade"on toast, or to eat some cherry-tomatoes filled with fresh goatcheese. Tapanade is a provencal specialty of grained black olives mixted with some salty anchofish and completed with oliveoil and garlic. |
| Tasting n°12 - 06/02/2005 |
| Domain : Domaine de Cabasse Séguret |
| Vintage : Les Deux Anges 2002 |
| Trade-name : Sablet, Côte du Rhône Villages |
| Grape : Red Grenache 70%, Syrah 27%, Carignan 3% |
| Color : A bright ruby red |
| Nose : Impression of redberryfruit, and a what I call a lactic smell (yogurt with red fruit)Noticible at all (very)young redwines. |
| Mouth : A soft and souple beginning, with at the end also some fresh acidity for the balance and structure. Very soft tannins. |
| Thickness : Yet already very good to drink.Pure pleasure. |
| Comment : To go on cold lunch dishes , with provencal saucissons and other nice things from the butcher.On a piece of toasted bread with cold or warm ratatouille.Pure joy,simply. |
| Tasting n°13 - 06/02/2005 |
| Domain : Domaine de Cabasse Séguret |
| Vintage : Cuvée Garnacho 2000 |
| Trade-name : Séguret, Côte du Rhône Villages |
| Grape : Red Grenache 75%, Carignan 10%, Counoise 8%, Syrah 7% |
| Color : Dark ruby red |
| Nose : Jammy nose with cooked fruit, with a certain spicyness, thym,rosemary and roasted meat. |
| Mouth : At first, souple impression but instantly it widens in you mouth and coats the innerside and leavec a rich and concentrated feeling.It has fine but structured tannins. A wine with a fine balance of richness and fresh acidity. |
| Thickness : You can drink this wine young, but with 3 or 4 years more it will certainly give more expression of the Grenache grape which is here present for about 75%.(Garnacho is the old spanish name for Grenache) |
| Comment : A dish with lam, not to much influenced by garlic, would be a classic, but what to think of seewolf, surrounded by bacon and quickly grilled, on a bed of ovendried tomatoes and grilled eggplant (aubergine). The tomatoes bring from itself a certain freshness and the aubergine is hanging in there against the tannins to be found in the wine. The compact meat goes together with the richness of the wine. A bit of rosemary and thym can be used to complete the arromas that we found already in the nose of the wine> |
| Tasting n°10 - 05/02/2005 |
| Domain : Domaine de Cabasse Séguret |
| Vintage : Primevère 2003 |
| Trade-name : Séguret, Côte du Rhône Villages |
| Grape : White Grenache 60%, Viognier 20%, Clairette 10%, Roussanne 20% |
| Color : Light yellow, with green reflections, clear, and good glycerine to be seen on the inside of the glass. |
| Nose : A combination of pear and green apple (granny smith), with a hint of abricot?peach. |
| Mouth : A fresh attack, elegant and it will let appear again this touch of green apple with a refreshing citrus lingering and a bit of spice (yellow curry) |
| Thickness : The wine shows itself with freshness and elegance, but will become somewhat more complex over time. The Grenache will show itself a little bit more rounder, and the part of Roussanee will come through to give it more finesse.The hint of abricot is due to the percentage of Viognier and the Clarette brings the overall freshness. |
| Comment : Eventually to taste on a paté of chicken, with a layer of vegtables and curry. The Grenache goes well together with the soft tecture of the paté and the bit of spicyness. Add some fresh green apples to reveal the freshness in your plate and it combines with the aromas we found already in the nose of the wine, and it gives you envie to taste one more glass of this well balances wine |