Chateau de La Chaize 2005 Brouilly

Pale ruby color, lacks depth. Raspberry / strawberry smell, vinegary carbonic maceration character. Tart flavor, a mouthful of berries. If the color lacks depth, the flavor certainly doesn’t. Oak seems more in balance than it did in the ‘04. Perhaps I’m just more used to it.

The next day, the second half of the bottle and I’m still fascinated by how much oak is in this beaujolais. It’s still in balance with the exuberant fruit.

Beaujolais isn’t a wine that inspires much intellectual contemplation, but one that provides sensual enjoyment and satisfaction.

As was true for the 2004, while I’d buy this again for $19.79, I’d look first for something else for the money.

Chateau de La Chaize 2004 Brouilly

Mild tawny color, tending to orange. Smell of raspberry, strawberry. The heavy degree of oak seems a surprise in a Beaujolais. Fresh strawberry / raspberry taste, some vanillany oak. Trace of the vinegar characteristic of carbonic maceration. Petillance noticeable to the eye and the tongue.

Removing the stopper he next day, the room fills with the smell of strawberry fruit. Some cherry flavor develops along with berries, the oak remains distinct.

I’m not entirely convinced that the degree of oak is appropriate here, but I have learned that Chateau de La Chaize will readily tolerate ten or fifteen years of age, while Brouilly isn’t often thought of as a particularly age-worthy Beaujolais, so I accept this as what it is, and I move on. I’d happily buy this again for $19.79, but there’s a lot of good wine in that price range.

Mountain View 1989 Monterey / Napa Pinot Noir

I discovered a still-sealed case of this forgotten in the basement. It's been down there thru nearly 20 years in New England, without air-conditioning, and was never intended for long cellaring, so it's more a curiosity than anything else, but I'll try it and see. In the last two years I've drunk a lot of indifferently-stored wine.

Bright clear ruby color, brown tint, clear at edge. Smell of raspberry and leather. Berry / dark cherry flavor, richness of bitter chocolate. There’s an odd menthol thing happening at the finish. Past its prime, but it’s still rather pleasant.

The next day the stoppered bottle has collected a smell characteristic of pinot noir that immediately blows off, leaving just some raspberry and alcohol, hint of leather. The flavor is tart raspberry, hints of chocolate.

While I wouldn’t seek this out, with a case in my possession I can see no reason not to drink it.

Barton & Guestier 2005 Bistro Wine Pinot Noir

Bright clear red color. Smell of black cherry soda. Pleasant fruity cherry flavor. some plum at the end, bit of alcohol warmth. Would cheerfully buy again at $9.99.

A curious thing: the maker's front label declares alcohol by volume 13%, the rear importer's label 12.5%.

It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I need to buy wine and I post again. Clearly I'll need to modify my wine-buying procedure, adding more variety and reducing the incidence of full cases.

Joseph Drouhin 2006 Brouilly

Bright clear red-purple. Smell of strawberry, hint of vinegar. Fruity taste of berries, also a hint of vinegar, a bit of petilance discernible on the tongue. Would buy again at $17.99, but would probably look elsewhere.