rathdowne cru blog

Its all about over…

May 28, 2008 – 5:38 am by Philip
Bonjour (or it should really be Gutten Tag), We are sitting in the Qantas lounge in Frankfurt awaiting our midnight flight. While I am not looking forward to the experience I can certainly remember the good times. And there has been a lot since we last posted. We drove from Beaune to Chablis where we meet with the great man Christian Moreau for a vineyard tour, tasting and lunch. The wines from 2006 are great and the 07s look really good to. The highlight was going to the top of Les Clos and looking out over Chablis. Then later on, a barrel tasting of very young looking 07s with Bernard Raveneau and his daughter. Thankfully his daughter spoke good English because we were not yet speaking good French (still are not to be honest). After a great tour, tasting and lunch at Domaine Michel Laroche we headed off for Paris ...

Posted in Europe 2008 | 1 Comment »

Recovery time

May 21, 2008 – 11:45 pm by Philip
Hello All, After the big night with Cyclone Marks and witnessing first hand his amazing ability to make friends and steal their beer, we had a little sleep in and then a relaxing drive to the Jura wine growing area. Due to the later start we arrived at lunch time so everything was closed. After driving around and looking at a few of the main areas we discovered the sad fact that the whole region seems to be closed on a Tuesday. So a late lunch (after 3 because we couldn't even buy a bagette before then), and then back to Beaune without tasting a single wine (which given how I felt wasn't all that bad.) There were some highlights. Comte (pronounced kon-tee I'm told) de Gruyere for example is a great cheese of the region. Very tasty in a 3pm bagette. Also the amazing old town of Chateau Chalon. On top of ...

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Cyclone Mark

May 20, 2008 – 7:34 pm by Cameron
Yesterday began with a great tour of the Josmeyer cellars, and a very informative barrel tasting of wines with Jean-Meyer. From Pinot Gris to Gewurztraminer to Riesling to Pinot Auxerre and back again, we certainly learnt  lot, and walked away with a greater appreciation of the work that Josmeyer do. In particular we found out that now with Jean-Meyer's biodynamic production he opts to take a softly softly approach in the winery. To the point where we saw one batch of wine still undergoing fermentation - some 8 months after it started. Most of the wine is fermented in large foudres, of which we also had the pleasure of checking out first hand. The aromatics inside a barrel just after emptying are incredible, as Phil will testify. The wines are terrific by the way, and in particular we'll be keeping an eye out for the 2007 Hengst Riesling & 2007 Fromentau Pinot ...

Posted in Alsace, Europe 2008 | 1 Comment »

Business as Usual

May 19, 2008 – 2:49 am by Philip
Bonjour/Gutten Tag, We are in rainy Munster just outside of the Alsace growing area as I type. We are in a beautiful hotel and about to enjoy (hopefully) a nice dinner. Fingers crossed there is Munster on the menu. Although with the amount if Citeaux I've been eating more cheese is the last thing I need. We had a great day going to the markets on Sunday in Beaune and seeing all the fresh fruit, cheese, meat and everything else you need. Then went out to see Blain Gagnard. Its been inferred I've done too much bragging (which I feel is my right) so I will spare you all the gory details, needless to say that the 07s from Barrel are looking very lovely. And the 06s in bottle are fantastic. Again 06s is great for all the Terroirist out there. Interestingly we learned that until about 20 years ago Chassagne was mainly ...

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A Bouchard a day keeps a man’s thirst at bay

May 17, 2008 – 3:12 am by Cameron
As we roll into day 9 of our tour, Phil & I were looking forward to cutting back our 3 visit days to a more manageable 2 visit. Little did we suspect the our first visit today would be a marathon 5.5 hours! We began with a vineyard tour to many of Domaine Bouchard holdings, including but not limited to, Le Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Meursault Genevrieres (pictured) & Volnay Taillpieds, amongst others. A great experience, that was then topped by our tour of the cellar & caves at Bouchard's castle chateau. Once the palace of the King of France, it now belongs to Bouchard and houses their incredible cellar (back to 1846) and the majority of their current vintage bottles. A tasting of 6 Bouchard wine ensued, led in my view by the Beaune du Chateau rouge 2006, Le Corton 2006, Meursault 'Les Clous' 2006 and Corton-Charlemagne 2006. Again the purity and balance ...

Posted in Burgundy, Europe 2008 | No Comments »

Just an 8 Grand Cru day today

May 16, 2008 – 7:20 am by Philip
Bonjour Mes Amis, What a day! First I have to say that Cam very generously did not pull rank and took his turn as DD today. I did appreciate that and I think it shows in my ability to type tonight. We started off with a lazy tour of the Rousseau cellar trying the 2007s from Barrel. They had all just finished malo and were looking quite good. The progression from Gevrey Village up to Le Chambertin is amazing. The suprise for me was the Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos de Ruchottes which had finesse and elegance but lovely fruit and perfume. Clos de Beze, Chambertin and Clos St-Jacques were all very tight and not ready to drink yet (but look good for the future). Rousseau so far has the most spectacular cellars. They are on the small side but very well laid out and has lights on a rail that you pull ...

Posted in Burgundy, Europe 2008, France | 1 Comment »

Busy day tasting

May 15, 2008 – 2:56 am by Philip
Bonjour, We had a big day today. First up, Jean Grivot in Vosne. We tried the 2008s from cask. All of which were going through malo so weren't looking top notch but somehow the Clos Vougeot with its darkness, and muscular frame, the Echezeaux with its perfume and finesse and the Richebourg (especially Richebourg) with its power and presence and a certain je ne sais quoi, all looked out standing if a bit too young. The a lunch in the park at Puligny followed by a quick flight of whites at the local Caveau and we were off to Etienne Sauzet. We tried a range of the 2006s from bottle. They all looked great but my heart broke when I had to tip out the Chevalier Montrachet because I was DD for the day. It was perfumed, elegant, complex, subtle and really complete for such a young wine. The Batard-Montrachet was ...

Posted in Burgundy, Europe 2008, France | 1 Comment »

First Visit in Burgundy

May 14, 2008 – 1:40 am by Philip
Greetings, We had our first visit in Burgundy today. It was with Ghislaine Barthod in Chambolle Musigny. She is tiny making wine only from Chambolle (plus Bourgogne from just over the road). But the wines are sensational. She showed us from 2006 her Bourgogne, Chambolle Musigny, Chambolle Aux Beaux Bruns 1er, Chambolle Les Cras 1er. All of which were either just bottled or just about to be and not at top form. However they managed to look great. The difference between Beaux Bruns and Les Cras is astonishing given they are relatively close together. Then we were shown a 2001 Aux Beaux Bruns which looked great. Starting to show some development but will go for a long time yet. If you have any I'd be very happy to take them off your hands. The 2006s aren't due for another year but we are about to see the 2005s land and they ...

Posted in Burgundy, Europe 2008, France, Travel | No Comments »

The First deux nuits a Beaune

May 12, 2008 – 3:46 pm by Philip
Salut mes amis, Beaune is a great town! At its core it is a Town surrounded by a great wall. But it has sprawled out much further with a one way road that forms a ring around the heart and has about 20 Rue de Faubourgs branching off. Within the town is plenty of places to eat and drink and eat. Last night we enjoyed a whole Bresse Chicken matched with a bottle of Henri Gouges Nuits-St-Georges 'Porretts' 2004. The Chicken was great! I might have a chat to Red Rooster as their standards are sorely lacking by comparison. I also had a really bad beer, my poor French couldnt get across that it was faulty and his poor English could only point out the beer was French. So no more French beer on the trip. Dijon is a beautiful city. Lovely churches and old buildings, unfortunately it was a public celebration ...

Posted in Burgundy, Europe 2008 | 1 Comment »

Our view in the morning in Wehlen

May 12, 2008 – 3:28 pm by Philip

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