Totally minimal tasting notes, sorry, that's my style. I figure f you like this site, you'd be curious about these wines.

REDS

2005 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie
(Powerfully structured beaujolais. Forward. Yum.)

2004 Chateau Champ des Sours Bel Amant Fitou
(Earth. Bramble. Licorice. Zippy.)

2004 Domaine Claude & Catherine Marechal Savigny les Beaune VV
(Earth. Violet. Pencil.)

2004 Prince Florent de Merode Corton Bressandes
(Who knows if this is 'my kind of wine' or not? I found this one--as well as their lowly Ladoix--compelling. It is forward. One can drink it now with pleasure. If I had a wine list to compile, I'd plunk it on there in a flash.)

2005 El Sequé Vinedos de El Sequé
(Mostly monastrell with a touch of syrah, cabernet and tempranillo. A wine that should hit the shelves at about $12? It's a bargain. All sunny and warm. )

Most know I’m not a fan of 2003 German wines but the reds are a different story especially in good hands, like at Georg Breuer in Rudersheim. I tasted with Heinrich last summer and was impressed. Tasted in the comfort of my own home, it’s still good. Very good. Not even terribly expensive (under $25? Don’t quote me). There’s fainted rose on the nose, well, more like rose dust. And then there are clinging tannins on the back of the throat and these should sweeten up, evolving into a pretty spicy addition. Awfully minerally a lovely wine in a medium weight package. Very lovely.

I didn't think I would ever find a zinfandel I liked ever again but it's true.
The Grgich Hills 2002 Zinfandel is actually quite good. It reminded me of the zinfandel of my youth and that is a fine thing.

It was full of nice bramble berries and had a slightly inky smell (if there are foundtain pen users out there, you know what I mean). The wine had a rusticity which I believe should stay in wines made from this grape. The acidity was commendable, making it a food worthy drink. And at 14.1 alcohol it really didn't seem heavy. Grgich Hills is rapidly moving to 100% biodynamic and will be the largest biodynamic winery in the states when they are through. As much as I like this wine, there was a minerality that just wasn't there. It all leads me lean towards thinking California just doesn't have terroir.

On this rainy day, I’m listening (with a certain amount of angst) to the dripping of the rain in my bedroom, (now that my landlord has passed on, I might actually be able to get the roof repaired). I am also in mourning over the loss of Rioja. Why are my favorite wines going the way of technology and barrique? What the hell is the scent of cherry vanilla doing in Rioja?

FYI, I have a zero tolerance policy on cherry vanilla. Cherry vanilla is not inherent in grape. It comes from wood and other nifty winemaking tricks. In the Alice dogma (the equivalent to the Dogma film rules) cherry vanilla is to be avoided. At all costs.

So, here is a NON wine rec. If you're looking for a wine with absolutely no sense of place, do rush out to buy the 1996 Reserva from Marqués de Caceres. I'm not sure when this company--can't really call it a winery anymore--decided to court the non-wine loving crowd and follow mass international market--but there you go. There under the cherry vanilla was tannic juice--tannic from wood, the classic cherry vanilla-coated mouthful of splintery wine.

Historically, Rioja has used wood as seasoning, but that seasoning married well with the wine and did not impart distasteful bitter tannins. Large, older barrels allowed the taste of the grape to come through and that's what we Dogmatics look for.

My antidote for this nasty wine was the exquisite 2003 Clos Roche Blanche Gamay. Was there ever a greater contrast? This is a gamay from the Touraine area of the Loire. Decadent and heartbreakingly fragrant, playful and pure, it’s and full of lovely ripe raspberries with a vein of minerality that grounds firmly as having come from the vineyards of Clos Roche Blanche’s owner, Catherine Roussel. The wine, imported by Louis/Dressner can be found for $13.