2009 Cru Boo Recap!

I thought it my be time to recap some of my favorite wines from the past couple of months, those being the several really interesting 2009 Cru Beaujolais I've drank. 2009 was a great vintage for Beaujolais and these wines all show terrific young energy, site expression; and best of all, most are priced in the $18-$20 range.

The 2009 Morgon from Marcel Lapierre  is a rather big and powerful wine with plenty in reserve. It's already pretty juicy and gamey, but it has room to improve over the next few years. Nice stuff that I picked up for under $20 at Tower on Piedmont

The 2009 Morgon Delys from Daniel Bouland. 

This wine was also quite large with lots of game and meat notes. A good dose of ripe red fruit, too. Got this one for $23 at Toco Giant in Druid Hills.

The 2009 Morgon Corcelette from Daniel Bouland was full of meaty and dark black raspberry flavors. It was earthy and funky with lip-smacking fruit that is young and crisp. This was $20 at Tower on Piedmont. Another winner in 2009 Cru Boo.

The 2009 Fleurie from Villa Ponciago. From the winery website, "The Villa Ponciago domaine enjoys ideal conditions for expressing all the finesse, elegance and silkiness of the ‘’queen of the crus’’: the omnipresence of the slopes, the crystalline rock, typical of the appellation, plus northeast and south-southwest exposures." The Villa Ponciago is showing the lightest of the Cru Boos on my list. It is clearly a wine that needs some time, which is characteristic of Fleurie. This will be a beauty of a wine a few years down the road. Right now, it really needs some air and to be paired with food to coax it out of its shell. At $17, it's another great buy in 2009.

Dynamic. It is: Lunch at Dynamic Dish

Had another stellar lunch at Dynamic Dish last week. I hadn't been to Dynamic in nearly a year, which is bad on me, as each visit at Dynamic seems to wow me with a stellar food experiences. Lunch was great, as was my lunch companion, EatItAtlanta, who surprised me and showed up with a nice bottle of white Burgundy in hand. There are worse ways to spend a Friday afternoon.

We both started with a bowl of the day's soup. Roasted Georgia eggplant and cannelini beans blended to a lush, creamy consistency and topped with a ginger-almond cream and other goodies. Quite simply, this soup was brilliant, and soul satisfying on a cool fall day.

We also shared some of the veggie plate, which was an amazing mix of butter beans, quinoa, feta, scallions, and more in rich stock. Another beautiful dish that spoke to the season and was so damn tasty. So good, I got another order to go.

I also had the roasted tofu wrap, which was equally delicious, just perhaps not as sexy to see in pictures. Jimmy seemed to really like his turkey sandwich as well. Not really much I can add but to say the meal was a home run on each level. Tasty and clean food that makes you feel good all over.

More Cru Boo for You 2: 2009 Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Villies Vignes

I've been blazing up the 2009 Cru  Boujelais recently as you may remember. Recently, I tried another 2009 from Daniel Bouland, the Corcelette from Morgon. Morgon, one of the Grand Cru vineyards in the Beaujolais appellation, produces earthy wines that can take on a Burgundian character of silky texture after five or more years of aging. These wines are generally the deepest color and most rich Cru Beaujolais usually featuring a mix of powerful dark fruit and iron and meat.

The Bouland Corcelette was full of meaty and dark black raspberry flavors. It was earthy and funky with lip-smacking fruit that is young and crisp. Another winner in 2009 Cru Boo.

I bought this wine locally at Tower on Piedmont for $19.99.

The Black Sheep Carmenere: 2009 Oveja Negra Carmenere/Cab Franc

Had the opportunity to recently taste another Chilean Carmenere blend from the Maule Valley. Oveja Negra means “black sheep,” though, the Oveja Negra wines certainly does not deserve to be outcasts! Per my my last post, you'll see that Chile’s Maule Valley, is on Chile's Central Valley.

The wine carries a modest 14% alcohol. The wine features heady notes of black and red currants that waft from a glass. The blend is an interesting blend of 71% Cabernet Franc and 30% Carmenere. There is a bit of oak here, not quite as obtrusive as some, but it's here. There is also a wisp of of smoky blueberry, which leads to a slightly warm finish. The wine is obviously young, and I would certainly like to revisit it again in a couple years. The wine represents a decent value at $12. If I were a grader, I'd give it a B for what it is.

A Chilean Blend: 2008 Palo Alto Reserve

I was recently able to try a current blend from Palo Alto wines in Chile. According to their website, Palo Alto"was born in 2006 with the aim of presenting the best of the Maule Valley." The 2008 Palo Alto Reserve is a blend of 60% Cabernet, 25% Carmenere, and 15% Syrah.

The wine is nearly opaque in my glass. Dark purplish-black color. On the nose, the wine shows some serious green pepper notes upon opening, the Cabernet speaking the loudest at first. With air, thick blue and black fruit scents emerge. There's some prominent new oak here, it's a bit of a detractor right now. Perhaps in time, some of that oak will get mellowed a bit, but it's present now. The wine retails for around $10 and is a decent value for that price; especially if you like big fruited-new world-ish wines. It would do well matched with some grilled meat on a cold night.


Disclaimer: This wine was provided to me as a sample from the pr folks at The Thomas Collective.

Domain Olivier Leflaive Tasting

I was fortunate to be invited by Frederick Wildman & Sons to participate in an online tasting with one of the top houses in Burgundy, Domaine Olivier Leflaive. Domaine Olivier Leflaive was founded by brothers Olivier and Patrick Leflaive in 1985, though the Leflaive family has made great white Burgundy wine in the Cotes de Beaune for over 80 years.

This tasting was made even more special by the fact that Patrick Leflaive joined the tasting via live video stream. The wines were all outstanding. They were young wines, and while tasty now, there are even better days ahead for these wines. My notes on the wines are below. You can also see some of the other comments from the tasters that night on the Tastelive Wildman Wines page.

• 2008 Olivier Leflaive Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers Clos Saint-Marc - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru (10/5/2010)Rich lemon and honey butter on a palate that is also all about the acid. For the acid heads. This one really pops in the mouth. Terrific length. Goes on and on. Needs a couple of years, but great material here. I likey.
• 2008 Olivier Leflaive Meursault - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault (10/5/2010)
  Almond and buttered toast nose. It is supple and slightly buttery sweet now on the palate. Structured too, and some acidity peeking about. A good village, it's just a bit rich to me at this point.
• 2008 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet (10/4/2010)
  Somewhat linear, but rich, too. The richness of '08 shows. Still, the wine seemed not ready for action. Patrick said this one needs more years to unwind.
• 2007 Olivier Leflaive Meursault 1er Cru Charmes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (10/4/2010) Really exquisite and elegant nose. Floral. Beautiful palate impression with white flowers, lemon peel, and buttery toast notes. Crisp acid that just dances along. Young and racy, but already giving. Quite long. Very nice with some upside for sure. 

Posted from CellarTracker