French Wine Tasting at Premium Wine Exchange.

After last week's tasting of several US wines (the notes of which I have somehow misplaced), I returned to Premium Wine Exchange (PWX) yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, 2nd June 2009) after a quick lunch meeting at Terry's with the Vigneron. The Stockbroker (who seems to be the most hands-on of PWX's 4 owners) invited a bunch of us wino-friends to taste through over 20 different wines to aid them in deciding which to sell locally, if any, in their soon-to-open wine bar.

By the time the Vigneron and I arrived, the Stockbroker, Johnny R. and Keiichi were already at it.

This was no mindless, free-for-all tomaan ("drinking spree"); PWX was fit-out with proper stemware, spit-buckets, pens and comment/rating sheets. Bread and assorted cheeses were laid out for those who cared.

J-Lab and the Stockbroker

Bernd Koehling, IWFS directors Oscar Ong and Bill Stone

This was going to be work. The tasting group included some of the most experienced and well-educated palates of the Manila wine scene.

Johnny R. with IWFS Philippines Branch President & Wine Master Bernie Sim

Though tasting through new wines is always fun...

...evaluating and rating is a serious business indeed.

To keep our minds clear, spit/dump buckets were numerous and well-used.

I started off with the whites and rosés, as did everyone else I expect. Given the purpose of the tasting, my notes were brief and mainly considered which, in my own opinion, would probably appeal to the typical, ordinary wine drinker.

Note: Red asterisks indicate my recommendations, the strengh of which increases with the number of asterisks given (1-3).

Whites:

2007 Domaine de la Grenaudiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie - Over -agressively sharp and sour citrus with pronounced calamansi mid-mouth following through the finish (also noted by Johnny R). Acidity is also a bit too aggressive.

2007 Domaine de la Rossignole Sancerre - Gooseberry, grass on its fresh nose. Thin in body and feel, but clean with pronounced grapefruit and pomelo.

2008 Domaine de la Rossignole Sancerre - Pleasant, acceptable, clean, but quite thin in fruit. Grassy, but with nice freshness. Lime and gooseberry lead, slightly more floral and seemeingly less fruit presence mid-mouth than the immediately above-mentioned 2007 version. Bernd, Bill and I, however, re-visited this wine a few hours later and it had opened up and fleshed out quite nicely.

That said, if being served in a wine bar by the glass, I do not think it is feasible to let a bottle of this breathe for several hours on the off-chance someone may order some. For that reason, nice as it became after breathing, I still couldn't recommend it for the subject purpose.

2007 Vincent Dureil-Janthial Rully Maizieres Bourgogne - Semi-sweetish notes of fresh rain, green apple, lees/vanilla, lemon, slight minerality, lime. The finish a bit short, simple but very pleasant.**

Rosés:

2008 Domaine Sauvete Meli-Melo Touraine, Val de Loire - "Meli-Melo" in English loosely means a "hodge-podge" or "collage". The Vigneron said it has similar connotation to the Tagalog term "halo-halo". Sweetish, summery, light strawberry, slight minerality, a somewhat candied/medicinal bent to its fruit. Add a touch of melon on the palate. Light, pronounced fruit-pit bitterness in the back and finish. Many found this too weird, as did I.

2008 Domaine de Noir Rosé Chinon, Val de Loire - Light, fresh strawberry on the nose; sour cherry, pomelo, grapefruit in the mouth. Uninteresting. I don't think anyone was grabbed by the rosés.

Oscar Ong and Selina Gecolea

2008 Domaine Sauvete Les Gravouilles, Touraine, Val de Loire - Light bodied sour cherry with metallic, green, herbaceaous, pepper notes, underpinned by spicy wild blackberries. Weak middle.

2006 Domaine Sauvete Antea Touraine, Val de Loire - Thicker; with medicinal/minerally cherry syrup, violets, slight pepper. More presence on the palate with blackberry, blackcurrant, licorice. Rounded, more approachable feel. Lacks freshness/lift, but I think this may sell.*

2008 Domaine de Noir Seif de Tendresse, Chinon, Val de Loire - Bit of sulfur on the nose that blew off in a few minutes. Slightly sweet, vegetal cherry, raspberry, black cherry. Finish is a bit short, but not bad. Acceptably smooth. Better freshness and lift than the immediately above-discussed wine; but I think that the local market would go for the latter's sweeter fruit and denser/more concentrated feel.

2007 Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais Le Perreon - Reticent nose. Pleasant, simple, darkly grapey, light blackcurrant, slightly spicy, violets. Light body. Ok, may be able to sell it if priced low. **

2008 Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais Le Perreon - Reticent nose as well. Slightly candied dark cherry, blackcurrant, slight spice, violets - medium bodied. Better mouthfeel, cleaner and better focus than the 2007 version immediately above.

2008 Pierre Durdilly Les Grandes Coasses, Beaujolais Enchantion - Light, fresh, grapey, cherry approachable, simple - comes off as a more typical Beaujolais for summer afternoon sipping. Nicely clean lines, light-footed violets on a medium finish.**

2007 Domaine Arlaud Roncevie Bourgogne - Straightforward, slightly stemmy/green pinot nose. Easy to drink, approachable. Good for a very casual sip with pica-picas.*

2007 Domaine Arlaud Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Aux Combettes - Nose a bit closed, but coaxing yields pretty, lightly sweetish pinot fruit - cherry, raspberry and violet notes. Mirrored in the mouth, but not as sweetly. Very approachable and drinkable despite middling concentration and a shortish finish. A pleasant quaffer or apéritif.***

2007 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Montaigus - I should have tasted this before the immediately above Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru because Mercureys are generally materially lighter in build and structure. This, despite its fair nose, paled way too much in comparison showing a bit of thin cherry and not much else.

2006 Château Croix Figeac, St-Emilion Grand Cru - Not bad at all; espresso, oak, toffee, dark plum. This is approachable and would probably market itself because of the word "Figeac".**

2003 Château Belle-Vue, Haut-Médoc - Cassis, licorice, slightly dried plumminess, bit of gravel, tar and herbs. Acceptable enough.*

2005 Château Clauzet, St-Estèphe - Pleasant enough though somewhat closed and youthfully tannic/astringent. Licorice in its cassis, gravel and violets. Difficult call, but probably good to have to demonstrate the usually severe, masculine character of the appellation.*

2002 Château Manieu, Fronsac - Watery, thin, cherry and wood. Green and stemmy. Not interesting at all.

2006 George Cuvée du Château Puyguerarud, Côtes de Francs - Pitty, stemmy, tannic, overly aggressive grip.

2004 Château Le Conseiller, Bordeaux Supérieur - Herbaceous, plum, cassis, violets, woody/oaky. Clean lines, not bad, good poise. I like this well enough, and, just maybe, others may as well.*

The evaluative tasting done of so many young wines, those remaining (as usual, I was the last to finish) were lucky enough to be treated by the Stockbroker to some mature Bordeaux in the form of:

1989 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - An under-classified 1855 Classification 5th Growth Pauillac château which, in my opinion, along with Lynch Bages, merits 2 levels up the heirarchy.

Compared to its riper, lusher and more heralded 1990 version, this was firmer in structure, sleeker and silkier in mouthfeel, noticeably lesser in weight (a couple of notches above medium bodied), more properly reserved, with cleaner lines and better definition.

This came off more classically cut as a whole. Oscar Ong nailed it blind, this being one of the more favored wines in his collection, as I understand. Quite impressive that he was able to.

We then engaged in a last-minute evaluative tasting of the 1996 Champagne Jacquesson Extra Brut - From an old, smallish production, highly regarded producer. 1996 was a generally excellent vintage for Champagne, so my expectations were high.

The bouquet was quite complex and, to me, very alluring. Toasty with white florality, dried Christmas fruits and spice, slight yeasty-breadiness and a seductive touch of oxidation.

Unfortunately, in the mouth, the bouquet's complexity did not translate on the palate in that it was angular, rather one-dimensional, tightly wound, overly tart and over-aggressively citric/unripe lemony towards the back. A bit of a "gargle" to let it aerate in the mouth did, admittedly enhance the severely-wound flavors and add a bit of a creamy sensation, but not enough for me to like this.

In fairness, however, Jacquesson is known for its clean, light and very fresh style of champagne, where I favor the fuller, heftier style. Thus, readers should take into consideration, and, if necessary, discount my personal preferences in reading my champagne notes. Bernd and J-Lab, our resident champagne specialists, did, however, opine that this particular bottle of bubbly is notably pre-maturely in decline.

That was a hard-fought tasting, but very enjoyable because of the presence of good friends. Thanks to the Stockbroker. I hope I we were able to be of help.