Francoise Bedel
Francoise Bedel
Côteau Champenois Francoise Bedel Vin Cent Bulle Pinot Meunier 2011
A medium gold color in the glass with a slight touch of green flecks. The nose is restrained and standoffish at first whiff. Give it some time and it will start to show aromas of lemon custard and brioche. A good bit of smoky oak and apples. Such nice minerality happening here with wet rocks and salinity.
Coteaux Champenois is always so much fun, especially when it’s something rare like 100% Pinot Meunier. There’s plenty of vim and vigor here. This is not just a non fizzy champagne, it’s a still wine that can stand on its own. Deft and graceful throughout. Energetic and lively on the tongue. Gains depth and balance on the second day. Easily one of the most pleasant and fun wines I’ve had all year. — 9 months ago
Vine Hill Ranch
Baker & Hamilton Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
My first wine after a two-month hiatus. I ended up buying a case of this in increments at Costco for a price not even close to what I’ve seen anywhere else for their 2021. Since I think highly of this producer and the vintage, I didn’t bat an eye acquiring w/o tasting first. Also, I was aware that every major wine critic gave the 2021 VHR flagship Cabernet a score of 98 w/ Lisa @ TWI a 💯.
Only coravined a glass & let it stand for 30-40 minutes and consumed over the next half-hour detailing my notes.
Baker & Hamilton is the other or second wine of VHR depending on how you see it. If you didn’t know this was another or second wine, you would never know it. Both bottling's come front the same vineyard in Oakville.
When I first put the glass to my nose, I almost thought for a few seconds & wanted to say that’s Coombsville it’s that dark & brooding, but make no mistake it’s Oakville fruit.
The nose is full & brooding. Dark currants & cassis and inky as is the color. Candied violets leap out of the glass. Ripe rich; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum and dark cherries wrapped in dark chocolate. Sandalwood, sweet tarriness, fresh tobacco, crushed limestone, volcanics, dark spices with aromatic heat, clove oil w/ withering dark flowers, sweet lavender & endless lift of candied, lush violets.
The body is full, lush, ripe & brooding. It drinks rather well for such a young wine baring a bit of alcohol throat burn. 14.8% ABV. Cellaring time will tame it. The 21 is a two decade and more wine. It needs 7-8 years to integrate everything in this full & packed Cabernet. Lush, ripe; blackberries (almost pie), black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum & raspberries around the edges. Melted dark chocolate, anise into black licorice, dark spices w/ heat, clove oil, nutmeg, cinnamon stick hovers, vanillin, fresh & dry tobacco, dry top soil with limestone mixed in, crushed rock & stone, strong sandalwood to cedar, light rain on clay, dry herbs-bay leaf & a hint of ground sage, notes of iron pan, dark withering flowers, lavender & candied violets for days, round acidity-maybe a bit to high for today’s consumption, huge length & structure, not quite in balance but it will get there, well made/knitted with a full elegant finish that lasts minutes & lands on spice & earthiness. It’s a huge wine that will end up adding two points as it evolves & integrates.
A few things about the producer & this wine. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard aged 23 months in French oak, 85% of which was new. Most of the Vine Hill Ranch fruit from 71-acre Oakville vineyard is sold off. What they keep, 40% of that fruit goes into their VHR flagship wine and 60% makes the Baker & Hamilton. The label of Baker & Hamilton is an homage to the hardware and agricultural implements of the company co-founded by third-generation grape grower Bruce Phillips’ great, great grandfather R.M. Hamilton, who emigrated from Scotland to California in 1849 hoping to make his fortune in gold.
Photo’s of, VHR vineyard, Bruce Phillips-Managing Partner and Winemaker-Francoise Peschon. — a month ago
Domaine du Chapitre
Maryline Et Francoise Desloges Touraine Sauvignon Blanc
Citrusy and delightful. Great summer wine! — 3 years ago
Francoise Bedel
Comme Autrefois Brut Champagne Blend 2005
2024 spring. Always one of my favorite Champagnes. The price is creeping up and up, but still worth it relative to its peers — 7 months ago
Francoise Bedel
Jouvence Champagne 2012
This bottle was tasted blind after a lengthy wine-tasting event. I was given two hints - it's available in Garage (Sabotage), and I haven't tasted it yet. Initially (???), my drunken mind suggested Clandestin. But after Vova asked me about the grape, I was like - shit, it's definitely Pinot Meunier. The wine is expressive, complex, aged (hehe, what an irony) and as delicious as promises of Heaven. It must be Bedel, and Jouvence is (probably) the only bottle I haven't tasted so far. Bingo!
What can I say? It's an incredible wine. Charming notes of mushrooms and wet cellar interleaved with honey, brioche, nuts, Jerez and honeysuckle. Intense, saline, perfectly balanced and prolonged. What else do you need? Authentic elixir of youth (c).
Disgorged in January 2020
72 months on lees
Tasted on 2023-07-04 — 2 years ago
Françoise & Denis Clair
Clos Genet Santenay Pinot Noir
This 2021 is nearly perfect and delivers true Burgundian finesse at a fairly affordable price point ( about $40). It’s the real think with fresh stems and underbrush, allspice and terra cotta with a sharp clean red berry fruit. — 2 years ago
Double Pound
“Mostly” 2017. 95% Pinot Meunier, 5% Pinot Noir. — a month ago