Brumont Tannat-Merlot 2006

I tried this as the Blue Door and quite enjoyed it with dinner, so I thought it would be spectacular value without the restaurant markup.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  When I tried a bottle at home it struck me as typical in style for a wine in that range – jammy and unbalanced.  It is maybe a notch above average, in that it was only a bit jammy and less unbalanced than most.  I finished most of my glass, but the rest of the bottle was for cooking.

It looks like the search for a good wine cheap wine will keep on keepin’ on.

Price: $15.49
Value: 3.5/5
Region: France
UPC 3372220000236

Château Montus Madiran 2002

I was quite keen to try this wine as I generally like the Madiran style and this one is made by the same produceur, Alain Brumont, as the Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes, which I love. And the style was great. Rich, full and dark, with excellent structure - a ‘manly’ wine, as we like to call this style. I wouldn’t say ‘firm’ tannins as they weren’t obtrusive - maybe ‘round’ tannins is the right word. Beautifully balanced, in whatever the right word might be. But unfortunately, it lacked the fruit or complexity to go along with that great structure. Very enjoyable with food, but not a wine I would spend time savouring on its own. I’m a bit torn because there are things I loved about this wine, but in the end Kelly and I both agreed on a score of 88.

With that said, it is possible that we didn’t give it enough time to breathe. Normally we let a wine breathe and spend a couple of hours with it, but we popped this open at the end of a long day and it disappeared faster than usual. And that was only the first half bottle - we still have the second half waiting for us. But no tasting is perfect, so we’ll just have to stick with our initial impression, with those caveats tacked on.

Price: $28.72 (on Sale)
Score: 88 - first tasting / 91 second tasting, comments (see below)
Value: 3 / 5
Region: France, Madiran
Grape: Tannat (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%)
Tasted: March 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
UPC: 3372220021019

Brumont Tannat Merlot 2006

Our run of modestly priced wine continues, but this time with one to avoid. Good to know, as I might have been tempted if I'd come across this wine - like Iron Chef, I've had good luck with wines from Alain Brumont in the past, and the Tannat grape is something different. Too bad this one didn't work out. Here is a review from Iron Chef.

--- Iron Chef's Review ---

After all the success I have had with the Brumont wines from Madiran, I was shock to realize there was one I had yet to try. I had it in the cellar for a while and was excited to find it buried.
The nose was oaky, spearmint gum, Leafy Green and a familiar smell of a dusty gravel road on a hot day. It smelled very young with a bunch of unripened grapes.

The palate confirmed the nose. Very Grippy front cheeks and jaw felt the sting of the tannins. Sharp biting acidity. Aromas of Allspice and nutmeg probably from the oak. The fruit was unripened cherries and cheap coffee. The palate was hollow in the middle- where the fruit should be and overall very chalky in the mouth. My wife called it harsh, I called it immature. I still expect at this price point some balance between fruit, acidity and tannins, I can’t even imagine what this would taste like without 50% Merlot. This was after 45 minutes in the decanter.

Price: $14.79
Score 70
Value 2/5
Region: Southwest France- Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne
Grape: Tannat, Merlot
Alcohol: 13%
UPC: 3372220000236

Château Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes 2000 Redux

We've reviewed this wine before and it's also on my Top 10 list, but we had another bottle last night, and once again I thought "Why are there 8 bottles sitting at Prospect St!!?? Why isn't anyone buying this wine!!??" Ok, it's $50, so you wouldn't just pick it up on a whim. But if it's a special occasion, this is as good as anything at ANBL at this price, and better than most. Great stuff if you're in the mood for something powerful but elegant.

Here is what Kelly has to say: "Wet wool on the nose, and also dried flowers, leather, stewed dark fruit and evergreen. Reserved fruit on palate. Smooth with firm tannins throughout. Long, chewy and gamey. This is a manly sort of wine. I think it's evolved for the better since we last tasted it, as I don't recall noticing all of the subtler flavours such dried flowers and such last tasting."

(She swears she really gets wet wool - I don't. But we both love it.)

Price: $49.55
Score: 94
Value: 4/5
Region: France, Madiran
Grape: Tannat
Tasted: October 2007
ANBL UPC: 3372220020029

Ch. Montus Madiran 2002

Madiran is a dark masculine wine from the south of France. I'm a big fan of this style and the Montus is from Alain Brumont, by far the best known producer in the region. A lot of it is the mouthfeel. The tannins are big but not harsh and the wine coats your mouth with smooth persistence. But with all that said, I didn't like this as much as I expected. The nose is great. Restrained but with a distinct menthol note as well as some earthier notes I can't put my finger on (Kelly is the one with all the wine words) . But the palate is a bit disappointing in comparison. Great mouthfeel but not a whole lot else going on.

Kelly felt generally the same, but liked it better: here's her note: "Dark, luscious nose of stewed plum, cedar, violets, anise, campfire. Mostly fruit, licorice, and lots of tar on the palate. Long, with grippy tannins. The nose promises a bit more than the palate delivers, but on the whole this is a nicely structured wine with lots of interest."

Day 2 update: I like this quite a lot more on the second time around, even though Kelly says it may have faded in the half bottle. Maybe I'm just paying more attention today. There's lots going on, but mostly in the low notes, so you have to kind of pay attention. But it pays off if you do. I'm going to raise my original score from 88 to 91. (I should have known better than to disagree with Kelly.)

Price: $38.29
Value: 4/5
Score: 91
Alcohol: 14.5%
Tasted: Oct 2008
ANBL UPC: 3372220021019

Château Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes 2000

Madiran? Tannat? The southern France appellation and its signature grape aren't really on the wine radar. That's the only explanation for why this wine is still lurking on the bottom shelves at Prospect Street. Alain Brumont is the most prominent wine maker of the region and the Vieilles Vignes is the first wine of his Bouscassé chateau. This wine is an intriguing blend of power and subtlety. It has firm mouth-coating tannins, but they don't overpower the complexity that falls mostly in what I think of as the "bass notes" - flavours in leather / coffee / dark plum spectrum. A very masculine wine (but my wife likes it too). It was scored 93 by WineSpectator and was #29 in their top 100 wines for 2003. Very different from the standard international style cab/shiraz/merlot - and very delicious. Bouscasse

Price: $49.55
Value: 4/5
Score: 94
Tasted: October 2007
ANBL UPC: 3372220020029