2000 Pascal Cotat "Les Monts Damnes" Sancerre, Chavignol, Loire, France

Well established facts on winecommando:

1. We love Sauvignon Blanc, especially when the weather turns warmer
2. Sancerre's are among our favorites
3. We are drinking more Sancerre = weather has been a lot nicer around here
   

I mentioned in an earlier post that we are beginning to pull more white wines up to be chilled and ready for action. We are also out and about looking for what might be interesting, a good value, and not yet tried by us. We came across this wine a couple weeks ago and grabbed it... the label, the price AND it is a Sancerre. I also remembered reading a great review on Vinography of the 2005 vintage of this wine. Sounds like a winning lineup for us.

It was.

Alder at Vinography did a terrific job setting the story for this wine, so I'll refer you to his review to get the background. "Les Monts Damnes" is French for "Those Damned Mountains".

Now, let's taste this bottle. The first thing we noticed was how light and pale the color in the glass was, with almost a yellowish-greenish tint to it. We loved the nose and found it to have tropical fruit, sort of uncommon for a Sancerre... at least in our experience, balanced by a crispness and strong mineral scent that kept the nose clean, clean, clean. It continued to open in the glass and the fruit became rounder and softer, and more subtle with more lemony citrus becoming prominent. The palate was a bit of a surprise, like the nose, and was richer and more dense with more complexity than we have tasted in this style of wine. This was still DEFINITELY a Sauvignon Blanc, but the palate actually had a sweetness to the fruit which approached being "buttery". That sounds absolutely crazy, like insane talk... but it is true. There is still that great and classic Loire acidity and minerally quality but with fruit more like ripe peaches than grapefruit, though there is definitely lemon citrus and it is very evident in the finish. We really dug this wine and it forced us to totally change up our expectations for Sancerre. I would go so far as to say that this is the most unique Sancerre I have ever tired, and definitely the most memorable. Sometimes you begin to ride your preconceived notions of a wine or wine region and may even begin assuming an experience. It is good to have those notions shaken or shattered, as long as the wine still tastes good and you felt like it was a good value. Right?

cost - $33.99 on sale from $36.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9.25

we were not able to find this wine available online in the 2000 vintage, but the 2004 is available at WineAccess

Pommery POP, Reims, Champagne, France

Cat brought this bottle home a couple of weeks ago, but we only got around to trying it last evening. Normally, champagne would not last five seconds in our house... but this one made me hold off. Yeah, the bottle is cobalt blue and it says POP in huge letters right on the label. Yeah, this is the Champagne that is taking the night clubs of New York by storm and was "designed" to be sipped through a straw from petite little bottles. Uh, right. We didn't have any straws.

So the snob in me kept putting this bottle off. I figured it would be a sweet, over produced, mass consumption designed waste of our time. I figured this was another example of a storied French wine house marketing to the undeveloped tastes of moneyed twenty-somethings around the globe. I had it all figured out.

I was wrong. It was pretty damn good. Actually, it was great. The nose was yeasty and full of citrus. That is a good sign. There was some vanilla and apple in there too. It smelled terrific. The palate was crisp and dry with good structure. Definitely a Champagne to hold up to food (it's a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier... traditional Champagne varietals), it tasted of lemon and orange, a little cream soda... but only in the driest not-quite-sweet sort of way. The finish was long and yeasty. Both of us were really surprised. We love Champagne (who doesn't) and in the last year have tried a variety of those from known and unknown Champagne houses. We've loved Bollinger and Tattinger. We have a predisposition for Veuve Clicquot. There was a Salmon-Billecart that we really enjoyed, as well as a Laurent Perrier. All big names in Champagne. Pommery is no slouch, either, and POP lived up to the tradition of this house... which is to make really terrific and uniquely styled Champagne.

I had to learn more, and digging into the history of Pommery I found it to have a great story. Earlier we posted a review of Veuve Clicquot not so much to review the Champagne as to impart the story behind one of the most recognized and respected luxury Champagne brands. Actually, the first real Champagne "brand." All of that was due to the leadership of Madame Clicquot, the first female to direct a wine house of such prestige. Hot on her heals, though, was Jeanne Alexandrine Louis Pommery, the widow of Louis Alexandre Pommery who died only two years after taking possession of the winery. This was in 1858, and Madame Pommery took the helm of the winery with a vision. She moved the house away from still wine and focused on sparkling with the goal of creating a grande marque Champagne house. She did. She also acquired over 12 miles of underground chalk and limestone tunnels originally built by the Romans and connected them, creating an awesome network of underground cellars. Cool stuff.

So, this was a really pleasant surprise. That, and then there is the price. Non vintage Champagnes generally run in the $40-$60/bottle range. Veuve Clicquot is typically somewhere around $45. Not expensive, really, but definitely out of the range of frequent Champagne consumption... at least on our budget. POP can be found for around $30. That is a fantastic deal and an excellent value, at least in our now corrected opinion.

cost - $30.00

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9

2004 Domaine Serene Yamhill Cuvee Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon

The Willamette Valley is a pretty special place, holding very high esteem in the hearts of Pinot Noir lovers. It is one of those unique areas where the weather, the soil, and the winemaking talent come together in just the right way to make amazing wine. Consistently. Domaine Drouhin, Adlesheim, Panther Creek, Ken Wright, St. Innocent, King Estate, and Domaine Serene. These are just the ones that came to mind now, there are several others, but these wineries have put the Willamette Valley on the Pinot Noir map and the wines being produced here, including also Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Melon are award winning.

Ken and Grace Evenstad, originally from Minnesota, purchased the Domane Serene winery in 1989 to pursue their passion for great wine. They released their first wine, the Evenstad Reserve, in 1990 and this marked the first wine in a long list of consistently excellent vintages. They brought to the winery the best talent and the best winemaking practices, focusing on low yield vineyards producing only the best and most concentrated fruit. Their relentless care and attention to detail is enhanced by their very hands-on approach to creating their wines. The grapes are picked by hand, sorted by hand, and matured in the best French oak. The winery prefers an estate single-vineyard approach to their wines, with the wine being reviewed here, the Yamhill Cuvee, being from estate grown fruit from Yamhill County, Oregon.

This wine saw 13 months in French oak and is unfined and unfiltered. We opened and decanted it and saw a little bit of sediment. We let it sit for about 20 minutes. When we tasted we found the nose full and rich, with cranberry and cherry, hints of smoke, and a nice lingering sweetness... almost like cotton candy, but only very subtly. The nose is really enticing, and very complex. The palate showed very even plum and raspberry, a little bit of oak, and wonderful earthiness. Supremely elegant, medium bodied, balanced and with a soft finish... we loved this wine. Delicious. After tasting for a bit we thought we were smelling basil in the nose in a way that can best be described as fragrant.

I'll be honest. I have never been disappointed with a wine from Domaine Serene. They have always been worth the price... which is typically a little more than I want to spend but always find worth it. Consistently excellent and of top quality is a great way to summarize the reputation of the wines they produce.

cost - $34.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9.5

2002 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

This was a wine that cleaved Cat and I. I really liked it. Cat, not so much. It definitely had some interesting qualities, and after pouring our glasses it really wasn't that great. I decanted it and let it sit for awhile. When I came back to it I was pretty happy. The flavors were full with lots of jammy berry type flavors (I hate the way that sounds, but that is what I tasted). The nose is definitely earthy, and almost a little bit smoky. The flavors lasted a long time on the tongue and were very elegant. Ultimately, this turned out to be a really nice wine... it just needed some time to reveal itself.

Here's the deal with this winery. It is a true "family vineyard and winery." Walter Hansel planted the original vines for the vineyard in the Russian River Valley back in 1978. This was a labor of love for Walter. Today, his son Stephen runs the winery and is the wine maker. This is a good thing as he has been very well steeped in how to make incredible pinot noir. I read somewhere that he studied with a great recognized wine maker, but I cannot remember who it was. Whoever it was, it was a good investment. This vineyard is focused on low yield, quality fruit. Everything is hand picked, and there is tremendous focus on the craft of making wine. This is no quantity operation, and it really shows in the quality of the wine. I read that the first wine that Stephen Hansel made was done in his garage. I love stories like that. Apple Computers started in a garage. Some really great music came out of garages. The garage may be my favorite room in a house.

I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle of wine and was sad that Cat didn't groove on it. The more for me, I guess. Look for the single vineyard pinot noirs from this winery, I am sure they are excellent. I'll be reviewing a couple in the coming weeks.

cost - $33.99

winecommando rating (1-10) - 9

2003 Jean-Philipe Marchand Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos Prieur", Burgundy

This being the inaugural post on winecommando it seems fitting that it would be a Burgundian. This is for two reasons. The first is that the Burgundian style of pinot noir is a favorite for both Cat and I. The second is that we have been working our way through the wines of Burgundy for the last several weeks.

We decanted this wine and allowed to open for about an hour or so. It was still very restrained when we tasted it after this time. However, over the course of the next hour it opened up really well, and was good. Definitely an earthy pinot noir, light in body and with an apparent, but subtle, fruit. I tasted cherry and a little bit of licorice. It had a distinct, but really nice, vegetal quality as well. Cat can't remember what she tasted. Honestly, as a 2003 this wine is a tad young to be drinking. In all fairness, in about 4-6 more years this bottle would be very different and probably excellent.

cost - $34.99

served with - slow cooked chicken with roasted vegetables, marjoram, lentils and a vidalia onion sauce

winecommando rating (1-10) - 7 (will improve with age)