This Week

Not a lot great this week... The 2005 Domaine de la Faugourde Coteaux du Layon (brought from France, not sure if this producer is imported or not) was beautiful. A lovely balance between the RS and acidity. Pure Chenin and very tasty. The 2002 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmon Hattenheimer Wisselbruher Riesling Spatlese en Magnum was tasty - not outstanding, but very drinkable and a nice treat! The 2004 Tsiakkas Cabernet Sauvignon, Pitsilia Mountains, Cyprus was very, very nice. I was quite suprised at the quality here. Somewhat fruit forward, the wine had a lovely finish and nice length... bravo! The Lanson NV Brut was tasty - lots of biscuit notes - very Chardonnay as it was a week or so ago. The 2005 Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was a fireball... very hot on the palate (the alcohol was not at all integrated and came off unbalanced), the fruit-forward and clove-spiced nose was beautiful, however. To me, for the next 5 years, I would just smell this wine - not drink it. After that... go to town. The 1990 Chateau Rieussec was stunning... The depth and youthful quality of this wine amazes me - even more so that when I tried it, it had been opened (unvacuumed) for more than 3 weeks (!!!!). Not as rich as the 1990 d'Yquem, it was clearly more mature and lacked a bit of umph that would have pushed it over the top. A fabulous wine!