Saumur-Champigny Hureau Lisagathe

I always link wine to fine memories.
Take now the Château du Hureau cuvée Lisagathe. After spending a marvellous time in the US, I was really looking forward to a great wine. Wine in the US is ridicilously expensive. Bought a Beaujolais in a New York City for about 18 dollar. Since our budget was not unlimited, we decided to postpone enjoying good wine (except at one occasion when we bought a Santa Barbara Qupé Chardonnay which we had to drink - alas - in plastic cups in our hotel room).

So when we got back I gladly opened this great Saumur-Champigny. I got to know ths wine way back in 1996, through a rare Belgian importer who is also master of wine.
When we were in the Loire region in 2008 visiting M. Vatan in Dampierre was high on my wish list, and I was really lucky to have been able to buy one of the last boxes of the 2005 vintage. We received a warm reception by Philippe Vatan and his mother, une grande dame, and I could not help but sense some profound sadness underneath the gentle surface. or is this just because I read in a magazine that Philppes brother Georges had died in 1987 in an accident? Anyway, the classy label continues to mention Philippe et Georges Vatan.

As to the wine, this cuvée from a superb vintage has it all - power, fruit, depth, finesse and pronounced but very fine tannins. This is a wine to enjoy now, but it will continue to shine in the years to come. The grapes come from two lots, one planted in 1991, the other in 1953.

Fieuzal blanc 2005

How I love father's day! Had not just a fine Cornas, but also the white Fieuzal 2005. A great white wine, full bodied, oily/buttery, moderately oaked and with a decent after taste. Fine, delicate and fruity/fresh. notes of honey without any hint of sweet.

And yes, a score? 90.

Chapoutier 2001 on election day

Today we had elections in Belgium, and if we may believe some foreign correspondents, these could be considered the last elections of this country. A party which favours a confederalist state structure and, maybe, one day independence for Flanders, has won a landslide victory. But - let's not forget that we have always been able to resolve our issues peacefully. One motto of war-torn Flanders is: "Nooit meer oorlog" - "No more war".
Now, politics aside, I had a real father's day wine, Chapoutier's 2001 Cornas. How I love a pure and deep syrah fromt he northern Rhône, so different from wines produced with the same cépage in the southern Rhône, in Australia or South Africa.

That being said, this Cornas had the telltale aromas of bacon fat (much more prominent than the peppery tones often associated with syrah), but fell a bit short when tasting - austere, with mouth pluckering tannins and high acidity, but lacking the necessary body and length for a balance. But, all in all, a very satisfying wine, the last of six bottles I bought at Colruyt. This wine won't improve much with further aging I think.
For those who want a score: 88/100.

(Damn, I promised myself not to use a 100 point scale.)

Barolo Ravera Elvio Cogno 2001

We don't drink great barolos on a daily base. So when we do, I need to document this.
Today we had a really beautiful Barolo made by Walter Fissore, winemaker at Elvio Cogno's beautifully located estate Poggio Petorchino.

In 1993 we had bought some wine at Elio Grasso's winery, still in the centre of Monforte at that time. Driving down the road in Novello we saw a sign indicating Elvia Cogno's winery. Having read that this man had a famous plot with pre-phylloxera vines in La Morra, we stopped by and received a warm welcome by a man which I presume was Valter Fissore, Cogno's son in law. They had just recently purchased this estate, had new plantings with dolcetto and barbera, and a clean, spaceous cellar. The man showed us the detailed maps of the vineyards, while pouring wines in huge glasses. Not the pre-phyllowera wines I had dreamed of, but still wonderful and authentic wines.

Now, 17 years later, we drank the Barolo Ravera, a subtle and complex wine, almost burgundian in style, with a slightly evolved brick/tile colour, and a sweet taste wrapped in fine tannins (or is it the other way around?) and a nice chocolate finish.

This is how the wine is described on the web:

Barolo Ravera is produced with the grapes of the most important cru in Novello, a guarantee of fine aromas, sapid flavour and great complexity. The mainly calcareous soil of this historical vineyard adds elegance and structure to the wine, making it ideal for ageing. Only a few great wines possess its capacity to develop successfully in the course of time. Austere and severe in its early years, Barolo Ravera loses none of its typicality with the passing of the years; on the contrary, it improves all the time. Careful selection in the vineyard and relatively long fermentation help to heighten the characteristics of the grapes, which express themselves to the full after ageing in the bottle. A unique testimonial for a prestigious terroir, a wine takes the typicality of the Langa hills to the top in terms of quality.