When I last left off on the story of my trip to Israel and Europe, I had just ended an epic tasting of the new 2016 wines from Royal Wines. I then jumped on a train and came to Strasbourg for a tasting of Alsace wines and other wines that are not made by Royal. It included some new 2016 and 2017 wines but it mostly involved French wines from the 2014 and 2015 vintage.

Last year we made a run for Von Hovel, and I wanted to do that again this year, and maybe even Nik Weis. Sadly, they told me there were no new wines for 2017 or 2018. I am really so sad, those wineries have so much potential, but I guess Gefen Hashalom (“Vine of Peace”) felt they had too much inventory already. I am really not sure what they have that is not sold? All the Nik Weis wines are sold, from what I know, Gary got the rest of the 2016 wines. Von Hovel did not make any wines after the 2015 vintage, and they have nothing left either. I really hope they make wines in 2019.

After last year’s epic tasting with Nathan Grandjean, I had tasted all of the 2014 French wines that I know of. The 2015 wines are slowly being released, from producers other than Royal. Kosher Wine International, the producers for all the Magrez wines, has now just released the 2015 wines. Rose Camille is slowly releasing the 2014 wines now. Bokobsa has released many of the 2016 wines, along with Taieb, though Taieb has not officially released the 2016 Pommard from Lescure yet.

I have yet to taste the new 2016 Lescure Pommard. I have a couple of bottles and will post soon. I have also not yet tasted the 2015 Pape Clement, I have a few bottles to get to soon. I have not yet tasted the 2015 Haut Condissas, but that is not in the USA yet, or if it is, it is not for sale as Royal still has the 2014 vintage to sell. I have tasted all of the Magrez wines, other than the Pape, and I will post those on a subsequent post (buzz killer – they are not that great). Nathan and I did taste two of them, and yeah, they are OK, nothing great. They are far too ripe for me to be happy. I would stick with Royal’s options any day before them.

If you are interested in these wines, they are mostly wines that are here or will be here eventually. If you cannot find them or do not want to wait, Nathan Grandjean has them for sale on his website: www.yavine.fr (I DO NOT work for wine stores, never have and never will. I get no kickback or payment for this). I state this here only as information. It also seems that kosherwine.com will hopefully have some of these as well.

We tasting these wines twice, once in the evening and once more the next day. This did help some of the wines to open, but most of the wines were either unchanged or some were worse off. I posted here scores from Koenig wines and from Giersberger, as we had visited them both earlier in the day and took some of the wines with us to taste again, the notes here are the best of those wines.

My many thanks to Nathan, and his family (for putting up with us). The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:

Bordeaux whites and one Swiss White

Let me make this 100% clear if the notes are not obvious enough. The 2015 Magrez Fombrauge Blanc, is a HUGE letdown. The 2014 vintage is a home run, in comparison. The clear overall winner here is the Barrail white – like WOW, crazy wine for the price, sadly it is still only available in France, come on Kosherwine.com, get moving already!

2015 Chateau du Grand Barrail, White – Score: 91 (Crazy QPR)
The nose on this wine shows smoke, flint, with lovely dry fruit, showing rich honeysuckle, white flowers, with honeyed apples, and lovely Asian pears. The mouth on this medium bodied wine shows riper fruit than the nose, showing more sweet fruit, with sweet melon, with a richer mouthfeel than I would expect, with rich acidity that shows a bit further in the mouth, with intense honeydew, melon, and lovely grapefruit, and Meyer lemon. The finish is long, truly searing with acid, and rich with more honeyed fruit, and lovely citrus fruit. Bravo! Drink now till 2023. (This is sadly only available in France)

2014 Aliza Aligote – Muscat Sec, Geneva AOC – Score: 89
This wine is a blend of 60% Aligote and 40% Muscat. Aligote is a grape from Bourgogne, and Muscat is found in many places, a unique blend from Switzerland. The nose on this wine is unique showing a kind of petrol, with paraffin, and soap, that gives way to green and yellow apple, and lovely honeysuckle, honeyed melon, and ripe fruit. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is interesting, it clearly has passed its time, or was maybe always uni-dimensional, with a piercing acidity that gives way to nice salinity, with nice lemongrass, screaming quince, citrus, and loads of herb. The finish is long and yellow with green notes, salinity, herb, and slate. Nice enough, but it lacks the complexity, other than its impressive acidity that lingers incredibly long, with more soap. Drink up! Also, the price is far too much. (This is only available in France)

2014 Chateau Fombrauge Blanc, Bernard-Magrez, Saint Emilion, Grand Cru classé – Score: 92
This wine is a blend of 40% Sémillon, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sauvignon Gris. This wine is epic and truly lovely, with loads of smoke and toast, sweet oak, with a rich nose of gooseberry, cat piss madness, with intense lychee, guava, ripe peach, backed by intensely tart and bright fruit, and honeysuckle. The mouth on this wine is truly French, rich and mouth-filling, showing intensely bright and tart fruit, backed by impressive acid, with tart green apple, balanced well with honey notes in the back (from the Semillon), with crazy pith and great acid. Perfect, I cannot imagine another way to do it. The finish is long and tart, with some creme starting to show, backed by intense lemon, grapefruit, balanced with scrapping mineral, slate, rock, with dirt, nectarines, and cloves. Bravo! Drink from now till 2025. (This is sadly only available in France. I thought Rashbi was selling it here, but could not find it, I guess he sold out)

2015 Chateau Fombrauge Blanc, Bernard-Magrez, Saint Emilion, Grand Cru classé – Score: 90
This wine is a blend of 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon, 15% Sauvignon Gris. The nose on this wine is very different than the 2014 vintage, this shows more rich toast and smoke than the 2014 vintage, with almost no hints of gooseberry, no hints of sauvignon blanc characteristics, with lots of white flowers, green notes, yellow apple, and quince, with mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine shows a lovely piercing ribbon of acidity, followed by an attack of pear and apple, with a lovely mouth-feel, that gives way to lemon Fraiche, with salinity, and slate galore. The finish is long and precise, with more mineral, quince, apple, and slate/flint lingering long and forever. Nice! Drink from now till 2024. (I am not sure here, Kosher Wines International may be bringing this in, not that I would buy it)

Alsace Whites

Again, the Rieslings are the winners here. There was another wine at Koenig , the 2016 Pinot Gris, Grand Cru Frankstein, but the sweetness was almost balanced, but really it was just interesting and not worthy of the tasting, but I added it here as it was interesting. The Sylvaner, was not worthy of the tasting either, but Nathan wanted to taste it again later, sadly it did not improve with time.

2017 Koenig Sylvaner – Score: 88
A simple enough wine with good acidity that is not lacking, but sadly it feels like the finish is short. The notes are tart with lemon, floral notes, and sweet apple, bitter grapefruit and orange that come together somewhat, but the finish is lacking. Drink up. (This is only available in France – I think)

2017 Koenig Riesling, Alsace – Score: 90 (mevushal) (QPR)
Look, let’s be honest, when you taste this side-by-side its older brother (the 2016 Koenig Riesling), it is not fair. The 2016 vintage is as good as I have tasted in a kosher Alsace Koenig. So, while this wine is nice and solid, it is not the 2017 vintage. Another proof, that it all starts in the vineyard, and 2016 was a MONSTER year for Alsace.
The nose on this nice wine shows rich floral notes, with great tension showing lemon-lime and Meyer lemon with petrol notes, lovely green notes, and rich quince. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is really tart with great acid, showing incredible grapefruit, tart lemon, with nice mineral and rich freshness, that gives way to slate and rock that are non stop with a finish that is super long and richly textured with floral notes and pith. Nice! Drink by 2021. (This was from a bottle, and it may improve with more time in the bottle, it will be available in France and the USA when it is released here).

2016 Koenig Riesling, Alsace – Score: 91 (mevushal) (Crazy QPR)
The nose on this wine is lovely, showing ripe peach, apricot, with great grapefruit, followed by petrol funk, lovely honeysuckle, more floral notes, and nice mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is an acid bomb, and thank god, we really needed a dry, well priced, acid bomb, with petrol notes, and this one is mevushal to boot! The mouth is dripping with acid, followed by rich lanolin, with a nice weight, followed by sweet guava notes and tart Asian pear, impressive. The finish is long, tart, crazy acid, with wax, petrol, honeyed fruit, and more sweet notes lingering long! Bravo!!!! Drink by 2020. (Available in the USA and France)

2013 Ribeauville Gewurztraminer, Osterberg, Grand Cru – Score: 88 to 89
The nose is crazy fun, sadly the mouth lacks the acid to bring it all together. The nose on this wine is filled with orange, cloves, and lovely spices that give way to a richly spiced and layered mouthful, the wine is mouth-filling with an almost oily texture, great spices, and pith that almost makes it work. Sadly the lack of acid really pulls it back, with lovely fruit, richly sweet but not cloying, showing melon, lychee galore, and rich guava, really nice wine that with a drop more acid would rock. Drink up! (This is only available in France)

2015 Ribeauville Pinot Gris, Altenberg de Bergheim, Grand Cru – Score: 90
Really fun nose once it opens up, showing less sweet than the Gewurztraminer, with green apple, rich orange and Meyer lemon that gives way to mineral galore and wonderful spices. The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is rich and layered and really refined, yes it is sweet, and that layers of sweet fruit hit you over and over with rich pineapple and more lemon, well balanced with loads of rock, great acid, orange blossom, with honeysuckle and honeyed fruit that gives way to white flowers and lovely spices. The finish is long and sweet, with nice lime coming in on the end, with more orange and melon. Nice! Drink soon! (This is only available in France)

2016 Koenig Pinot Gris, Grand Cru Frankstein – Score: 89
The nose on this wine is sweet but nicely balanced with sweet melon and guava. The mouth on this wine is sweet, there is no hiding that, but it shows a nice richness with a lovely mouthfeel, yet the acid does work, with nice pith showing sweet notes and dry notes at the same time, with great spice, a lovely tart kiwi, sweet yet tart Orange, and lemongrass. The finish is long and sweet and earthy. Drink up! (This is only available in France)

Bourgogne White and red wines

It was fun getting to taste through many Chardonnay wines, each with slightly different characteristics. Bourgogne is a fascinating region, it is far more complex than Bordeaux, in terms of the sub-regions, the manner with which the wineries work, and the fact that there are very few super-wineries. It is a locale that is more dominated by the small local Vognobles than the mega-cap/billionaire playgrounds of Bordeaux.

Tasting through these 5 Chardonnays from different vineyards within Bourgogne was fun. Three were from Chablis and two were just under the Bourgogne/Chardonnay label. One or two were quite nice. The rest were OK to so-so. The Dampt Freres website with more info can be found here.

2016 Domaine Luquet Roger Chardonnay, Bourgogne – Score: 88
The nose is closed to start with green apple, lovely citrus, with mineral, floral notes, and lovely earth. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is simple, not very complex, with nice acidity that lingers forever, more quince, and really not much else to grab your attention. The finish is long and really gripping with great salinity, acid, lemon, grapefruit, and lovely slate/rock. Nice. Drink by 2019. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and maybe it will be here in the USA soon)

2017 Bourgogne Tonnerre Chablis, Dampt Freres – Score: 90 to 91
This wine is 100% Chardonnay. The nose on this wine shows incredible flint and stone, with great green apple, with screaming bright fruit, of gooseberry, lemon, with peach, and lovely apples. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, rich in the mouth, with solid acidity, showing good fruit focus, of apple, quince, pear, and earth, that is balanced by the acidity and citrus. The finish is long, green, and filled with lovely lemongrass, and earth, with more mineral, slate, and straw. Nice! Drink until 2022. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and maybe it will be here in the USA soon)

2017 Petit Chablis, Sur Les Clos, Dampt Freres – Score: 87
This Chardonnay really has very little on the nose to start, with green apple, yellow pear, and mineral. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is simple, not very complex, the acidity is again very nice, but other than that, quince, apple, and mineral, this wine really has very little else to show. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and maybe it will be here in the USA soon)

2017 Chablis, Brechain, Dampt Freres – Score: 90
This Chardonnay again has very little to show in its nose, with more green apple, lovely freshness, with candied quince, and mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is a bit fuller, and more complex, with a better fruit-focus, with nice control and expressions of dry/tart fruit, with grapefruit, flowers, and nice gooseberry, with slate and mineral galore. Nice! Drink until 2022. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and maybe it will be here in the USA soon)

2017 Chablis, Tradition, Dampt Freres – Score: 88
This Chardonnay really has very little on the nose to start with green apple, quince, and not, much else. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice enough, showing well enough at the front, with nice acid, and green fruit, sadly the finish is short with acid, green notes, gooseberry, and lime, with slate, and rock. Drink by 2020. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and maybe it will be here in the USA soon)

2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Dampt Freres – Score: 75
This wine starts off with a cherry bomb style and then goes downhill, totally out of balance and loads of candied fruit. Sad. (I am not sure about this wine, it is available in France and I think it is here, but who cares)

2017 Iselin Pinot Noir, Weingut – Score: 60
This wine is sadly cooked in style, with candied fruit, floral notes galore, out of control, so sad. (This is only available in France)

Red Bordeaux wines

2014 Chateau du Grand Barrail, Blaye, Cotes de Bordeaux – Score: 88 (mevushal) (QPR) (not part of tasting this year but added here for comparison)
Crazy QPR for the price in France, just 5 Euro, or so. Nice simple Bordeaux with nice red fruit, followed by green notes, forest floor, with foliage, green notes, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is nice, not complex with good focus, nice dried raspberry, cranberry, with lovely tannin, nice body, with good acid, good green notes, earth, dirt, and hints of blue notes as well. The finish is long and tart, with good focus, spice, and foliage galore! Nice! Drink by 2023. (This is only available in France)

2014 Chateau Grand Barrail, Prestige, Red – Score: 91
These guys continue to produce solid wines, great prices, and really fun stuff. This wine is better than the lower wine, the non-grand wine. This is the Prestige versus the baseline of Grand Barrail. This was aged in barrels, while the baseline wine was not.
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Malbec. The nose on this wine starts off with ripe notes, of cranberry, pomegranate, with lovely forest floor, and mushrooms, and tilled earth. The mouth on this medium bodied wine shows less fruit with a lovely texture, showing lovely mouth coating tannin, loads of dark cherry, green notes, foliage, with raspberry, dry plum, and lovely acidity that is core to this wine, with black olives, salinity, and great dirt and earth. The finish is long, green, and dirty, with graphite, herbs, earth, and loads of dark chocolate, with forest floor and more mushroom. Lovely! Drink until 2023. (This is only available in France)

2014 Chateau Marquisat De Binet, Cuvee Abel – Score: 89 to 90
This wine is 100% Merlot. The nose on this wine is black, with loads of vanilla, and notes of very ripe fruit, with black and red fruit, and herb, sadly the nose started to show oxidation and roasted almonds, making me feel like it is oxidized. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is gripping, with mouth-coating/drying tannin, that gives way to screaming acid and lovely blackcurrant, dark plum, rich blackberry, and lovely loam that is rich and gripping. The finish is crazy, with more gripping tannin, rich tart fruit, and lovely green notes, foliage, with mushroom, and herb, with licorice and coffee lingering long. Nice! Drink until 2019 maybe 2020. (This is currently available in France, and should be in the USA soon).

2014 Clos Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 91
The nose is sweet with ripe fruit, a bit, but controlled, with lovely blueberry, red fruit, sweet plum, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied-wine is nice, with good sweet oak, but well balanced with lovely acidity, black olives, with more cherry, and blackberry, that has nice mouth-drying tannin that grips and gives to tart and juicy fruit, with tilled earth, and lovely salinity. The finish is long, with more green notes, tobacco, earth, smoke, and blue fruit again. Nice. Drink until 2023. (This is currently available in France, and should be in the USA soon).

2016 Chateau Guimberteau, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 92 to 93
The nose on this wine is lovely, richly expressive, redolent with blue fruit galore, backed by black and red fruit, lovely dirt, earth, and lovely licorice. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is lovely not overly ripe, with lovely smoke, with layers of blue and black fruit, with blueberry, blackberry, with lovely dark cherry, and red currant, that gives way to lovely smoking tobacco, with tart/juicy fruit, and mouth coating/drying tannin. The finish is long, tannic, tart and green, with graphite and rock, giving way top coffee galore, and leather. Nice!! Drink until 2024. (Available in the USA and France).

2014 Echo de Rose Camille – Score: 91 to 92
The nose on this wine is fruit-forward, again showing really ripe fruit, showing really dark notes, candied figs, black fruit, and really brooding dark fruit, with forest floor, and earth. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is more controlled than the nose, showing a mouth that is rich and layered, with great red and black fruit, with dark cranberry, pomegranate, and lovely tart and juicy red fruit of tart cherry and lovely freshly tilled loam that is wrapped in a mouth-coating tannin structure and layers of fruit that is impressive and shows elegance, with salinity and lovely acid. The finish is long, red, green, and filled with mushroom, earth, tilled earth, and forest floor, with tobacco, and mild chocolate. Nice! Drink from 2020 until 2026. (This is currently available in France, and should be in the USA soon).

2014 Chateau Trigant, Pessac Leognan – Score: 92
This wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot. The nose on this wine is lovely with green and red fruit, showing dark cherry, lovely cranberry, and raspberry, with freshly tilled earth, and forest floor. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, really well made, professional, with dark chocolate, red fruit galore, cranberry, dark cherry, with herb, and lovely red currants, that give way to lovely saline and green foliage notes, all wrapped in mouth-coating tannin. The finish is long and green, with nice fruit focus, earth, dirt, lovely saline, and tobacco, with dark chocolate, and forest floor galore. Bravo!!! Drink until 2024. (This is only available in France unless someone sees it here)

2015 Chateau Fombrauge, red – Score: 90
This wine is ripe, really ripe, and fruity, with black fruit galore, sweet and ripe, that is filled with earth, and sweet oak. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is really ripe, scary, with fruit that is riper than I can handle, with an incredible mouthfeel, and tactile attack, with rich mouth coating tannin, layers upon layers of extra ripe blackberry, cassis, really ripe plum, and some green notes, with milk chocolate galore, and loads of earth. The finish is long, dark, brooding and almost date, with saline, and hope that maybe it will calm down over years. For now, I cannot like this wine. Drink from 2022 until 2026. (Available in the USA and France).

2014 Chateau Tour Seran, Medoc (NOT Mevushal) – Score: 94
This wine is the European bottle that is NOT mevushal. This wine is a blend of 65% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Petit Verdot. The nose on this wine is lovely, with rich redolence showing green and red fruit, beautifully balanced, with cranberry, raspberry, and dark cherry, that gives way to forest-floor, and dirt. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is lovely, really rich, layered, and impressive with layers of saline, salt, black olives, that give way to rich green foliage, and lovely red fruit, that is rich and concentrated, with incredible acid and rich mouth-drying and draping tannin, that gives this wine an incredible mouthfeel, and layers upon layers of red fruit. The finish is long, green, and beautiful with richness and leather followed, by tobacco, licorice, and earth galore. WOW!!! Bravo!!! Drink from 2023 until 2030. (This is only available in France)

2015 Peyrat-Fourthon, Haut-Medoc – Score: 93
The nose on this wine is closed, showing very little, but with time, many hours, it opens to show lovely blackberry, cranberry, rich mineral, loam galore, and lovely roasted herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is lovely, well balanced, not jammy, with layers upon layers of super-concentrated and well-balanced fruit, that is super tannic, so tannic that my mouth puckered long, but super balanced, with currant, dark cherry, with dark plum, and earth galore, that gives way to a mouthfeel that is impossible to comprehend, with layers of complexity and punch, while all being balanced with incredible mushroom, and intense forest floor, with massive loam, and foliage galore. The finish is long and green, with incredible power, yet incredible finesse, with elegance, and power that gives way to dark chocolate, red fruit galore, and tilled earth, and more mushroom. Bravo!!! Drink from 2023 until 2032. (This is only available in France unless someone sees it here)

2015 Chateau La Tour Carnet, Haut Medoc – Score: 91
This wine is super closed, impossible to pop and understand, we opened it and the next day we started to appreciate it. The nose on this wine is lovely, and not as ripe as the Fombrauge, with lovely green notes, herb, and black fruit galore, with hints of red fruit, mushroom, with licorice, and tilled earth. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe, but still far more controlled than the Fombrauge, with layers of concentrated black fruit, herb galore, with loads of sweet milk chocolate, rich extraction, and lots of blackberries, rich juicy dark black plum, and mushroom, all wrapped in nice mouth-coating tannin. The finish is long, black, and sweet, with too much sweet fruit, showing the fruit that scares me, with nice mineral, graphite, and hints of foliage under the bed of crazy ripe fruit, with leather, and loads of tobacco. Where I think the Fombrauge is not a wine to buy, this one, while VERY ripe, has potential, but right now, it is not a wine I would invest in. Drink from 2023 until 2030. (Available in the USA and France).

Sparkling Wines

Of these 5 sparkling wines, I would buy the Koenig Cremant over and over again, hands down. The Koenig Cremant, is a solid wine, it is mevushal, and it is reasonably priced, and it is available in the USA. So, enjoy!

NV Koenig Cremant d’Alsace, Brut – Score: 90 (Mevushal) (QPR)
This is a nicer wine than the Ribeauville, with smaller more refined bubbles, equal attack, no sweet notes to be found, and dry fruit. The nose is dry with nice quince, rose, floral notes, with licorice, yellow Apple, and yeast. The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine is lighter than the Ribeauville, but more refined, with a rich smaller bubble mousse, more quince, Asian pear, and lovely lemon/lime and nice acidity. The finish is long, green, and tart, with lovely tart fruit, mineral, and brioche. Nice! Drink until 2020. (Available in the USA and France)

NV Ribeauville Giersberger Cremant d’Alsace – Score: 88
Having tasted these two Cremant d’Alscae side by side, I can say for many reasons that the Koenig wins hands down. Both on price, flavor, overall quality, and the fact that this wine is far sweeter in comparison to the Koenig, while on its own it does not come across as particularly sweet.
The wine shows a nice nose with good acidity and good freshness, lovely orange blossom, and floral notes, with great brightness and rich mineral with guava and nectarines. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is close to dry and refreshing, with great yeast, and rich yellow pear and apple. The finish is long and refreshing, with a lovely medium mousse attack with lemon, and lovely mineral and slate. Nice! Drink now. (Available in the USA and France)

Champagne Langlet, Extra Brut – Score: 88
This wine is a blend of 10% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, and 50% Pinot Meunier
The nose on this wine is really redolent, with screaming yeast, rich brioche, with crazy quince, apple, and pear. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts off nicely, with great acidity, lovely green and yellow apple pie, with lovely medium mousse bubbles, but sadly the finish is short. The finish lingers long with green notes, quince, and crazy acidity. Drink up! (Only available in France)

Louis De Vignezac, Brut, Grand Cru – Score: 84
This wine is really dry, yet it has some sweetness, with crazy quince, green apple, lemon/lime pie, with brioche and saline. Sadly it has acid but not much else. It tastes like an old and tired Sparkling wine. Drink NOW!! (Only available in France)

NV Bonnet-Ponson Non Dose – Score: 90
I have now tasted this wine 4 times, three times in the USA and once in France and sadly, it is not great. It is there, but it tastes old and tired, and this is a non-dosage wine that was meant to give it that really acidic focus. Sadly, it is far too reminiscent of the older Bonnet Ponson that is also on its way down. Drink up!!
The nose is nice, but this does not smell or taste like a non-dosage wine. So sad, I really wanted a bone-dry bubbly, instead, it was a nice bubbly with yeast galore, and oxidation that was not what I was expecting from its label. The nose is filled with yeast, rich quince, with oxidation, and lots of earth, and dried fruit. The mouth is nice, with a lovely small-bubble mousse, with great acid and focus, that gives way to green apple, pear, and lovely spice, that is filled with mineral and great focus. The finish is long with tart fruit, green fruit, and lovely oxidized notes, that give way to almonds, and fruit pith. Drink UP!!! (Available in the USA and France)