Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Generation XIX Rouge, Loire, France

米洛特第19代干紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：4433

The old-vines Mellot red 2008 Sancerre Generation XIX – which I should really call “black” – is to my mind his most interesting and successful Pinot of its vintage. Soy, brine, dark chocolate, and raw walnut accent red raspberry, blackberry, and purple plum in a performance prominently and tartly acidic – like that of its immediate siblings – but with a far more consistently refreshing cast, augmented by invigorating finishing salinity, subtle plum pit bitterness, and an underlying meatiness that is rich rather than leathery. There is impressive concentration here and promising depth, although I doubt it is a wine one will ever be able to describe as “harmonious.” Forty year old Alphonse Mellot has now spent half his life running the domaine of his eponymous father and grandfather, in the process acquiring an enviable reputation, almost as much for his Pinots as for his Sauvignons. I regret – especially in view of my reservations (detailed in the tasting notes) about his approach – my not having had time to visit him this year, which explains the absence of a report from barrel on his 2009 reds or on all but two of his 2009 whites. (Incidentally, I do not recommend that any similarly skeptical tasters linger at Mellot’s web site, whose over-the-top wine descriptions outdo an already more than ambitious-enough reality, thus doing neither him nor us any favors.)Various importers including Domaine Select, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799; Boutique Wine Collection, Philadelphia, PA (914) 954-6583; and Elite Wines, Lorton, VA; tel. (703) 339 8150

Alphonse Mellot has been running the domaine of his eponymous father and grandfather for 17 years (since he was 20). The 2005 Sancerre Rouge Generation XIX certainly displays Mellot’s ambition in its deep color, sheer concentration, evident extraction, and obviously top-grade oak. Whether this wine might be even better had it reflected more relaxation and less ambition will, I am sure, be a controversial question. Tart blackberry, wood smoke and resin aromas segue into an intensely bitter-sweet, powerful, ester-rich palate saturated with blackberry, toasted nuts, and a strikingly cyanic note as if the must had been macerated on cherry pits. A faintly drying note of wood tannin faintly disturbs what is otherwise a forceful finish as black-fruited and piquant as what went before. Various importers including Domaine Select, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799 and Elite Wines, Lorton, VA; tel. (703) 339-8150