First, thanks to Andy Perdue for his post yesterday about this little site. It turns out Andy's an Élevage reader and coincidentially the editor of WinePress Northwest magazine. He happened upon this site last year after I posted a critique of the publication's coverage of Oregon wine. Apparently, when you write about someone's magazine or winery or whatever on the internet, it seems they find you pretty quickly. Happily in this case I didn't get the usual weird phone call. Rather, some very kind words.
Meanwhile, last year I tried the 1999 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cabernet, a blend of cabernet franc and maybe cabernet sauvignon from France's Loire valley. Then it wasn't showing so great. But tonight it seemed much more alive and pleasing, possibly even something to age five more years. The color is dark purple, but already there's a nice bottle sweetness emerging in the wine. The effect amplifies the aroma, rounding out the texture and sweetening the flavors. It's something I prize in aged wine, and though this wine is still not mature, it's getting there I think. Yes, my wife found this a bit "green" though she later enjoyed it with dinner. If you don't think you like Loire red wines, I suppose you might not like this one. For the rest of us, this again shows how so-called "bad" vintages can produce interesting and delicious wines. Ageworthy ones, too.
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