2004 Lieu-dit les Poyeux Saumur-Champigny

After a long weekend working on annual United States Air Force requirements, it was nice to come home and relax with Zelda with some good warm chili, and a bottle of wine after working out on the cold McGuire flightline all day! I can't say that I have ever been big fan of cabernet franc, but at a friends suggestion, we have tried a few in the last year. I definitely didn' expect a whole lot from this wine, but after seeing it in CellarTracker last night, I figured I'd go on a hunt to find this one in the basement and managed to succeed in locating it.

This is a very subdued wine, that is not really showing a whole lot of fruit, but this has been a common trend we have found with Saumur-Champigny. This was a very dark color in the glass, with a nose of black cherry, tobacco, tar, and oak on the nose. On the palate, this is definitely not a fruit forward wine, but we weren't expecting it to be a fruit forward wine. The finish wasn't isn't really on the tannic side, but there is definitely a bit of a sour bite and acidity to it. You would think that it would be integrated in 5 years, but I am not all that familiar on the "life expectancy" of this wine. It definitely is not over the hill, I just think that this is typical for this varietal.

All in all, a nice wine to drink, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find this wine. If we did see other vintages in a store of this wine, I would purchase it again for comparison sake. All in all, very drinkable, just not my style. 83 points.

2005 Jean-Michel Guillon Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

This is a very young wine, but we really enjoyed it at a tasting at CoolVines in Princeton this past weekend. This wine was decanted for an hour or two before we got there, and could have sat in the decanter the rest of the day in my opinion before it really starts to show it's stuff. Although I would hold most of the '05's from this region for a long time, I think that this wine might actually start drinking well earlier, but I will still cellar ours for another 5 years or so before revisiting. Gorgeous but dark color in the glass makes me wonder if they picked this fruit a little late, but I could be wrong. The nose is very fragrant with some cherry and subdued berry. Some cherry on the palate, with a hint of clove and spice. This is a big, juicy, and intense wine, and I think it will be incredible in another 5 years. Is this the cream of the crop for '05 Burg's? No, but it is a pleasure to drink! 92 points for a great Burg after a long decant, heading to 94-95 with some years in the bottle. Enjoy 2014+! Kudos to CoolVines for having such a great wine on their weekly tasting! Cheers!