Bargains at the Co-op - Part 2!

It's been a few days since my last post, and i was wondering what to write about today. Since visiting the Co-op at the weekend, i've now had the chance to try both the red Brdeaux and white Burgundy i found there, at such a great price as £7! Therefore, i thought i should tell you what i thought of them....

Chateau le Boscq, St Estephe, 2006.

Being a Cru Bourgeois, i thought this had a good chance of being a bit more special than your average claret. Being from St Estephe, maybe more so!? Being from a supermarket though, put doubts in my mind. Having said that, it was still worth a punt. At the time, i didn't have chance to look it up before buying, but thought that at £7 it didn't really matter. I needn't have worried. Reviews from Decanter, Wine-Searcher and Cellartracker all looked good, if anything, suggesting that it's good, but is a keeper!

So having decanted and left for a couple of hours, i ventured in. The colour was a good, deep red, almost purple, but showing a little bottle age around the edge. The nose was that of a lovely, classic claret. There was a presence of rich, plummy dark fruit, baked cherries with a little sweetness. The slight aging showed, with notes of musty, oaky cedar wood and maybe pine cones. In the mouth, the fore-palate was sweet and juicy on the tip of the tongue. Unfortunately, the fruitiness is not at the front of the main palate. There was still baked fruit, jammy damson maybe, but the tannins and acidity presented themselves. The punchy middle led in to a slightly bitter, but not unpleasant finish, that lasted. The balance of acidity, alcohol and tannins, was good, but this wine was more powerful than elegant. I think it's still young. I'm glad i bought a half case, because i can see how it progresses with time. I'm hoping that the balance and structure this wine has will see it through a period of softening, and the fruit flavours will remain, leaving a smooth elegant Bordeaux. We'll just have to wait and see!

Domaine Jean Monnier et Fils,  Puligny-Montrachet, 2009.

I know relatively little about burgundy whites, other than the odd Chablis. As such i try to have an open mind. I know i prefer unoaked chardonnay, as one finds in Chablis. Can you tell I've been there by now? Anyway, again for £7, this Cotes du Beaune was well worth a punt.

I first tried this straight out of the fridge. It was definately too cold and had a really witheld nose. The palate was also flat, but still very smooth. I tried a second glass after 30 minutes, and a little warmer this time. The nose was there now, it had opened up a bit. It was still not overly pungent, but had light woody and earthy notes, like leafy grass. There was little citrus, and mainly tarter fruit like gooseberry, and maybe fleshy stone fruit. On the palate next, was a small amount of acidity, not really refreshing, but lingering. There was a rounded fleshiness to it and a small presence of oak. A complex mixture of flavours that were hard to identify, included, i think, again gooseberry and unripe nectarine. There was a slight minerality to it and an overall syrupy texture that wasn't unpleasant. The finish was really long and very smooth. Good balance, actually, might have been this wine's downfall, with nothing really standing out. That said, this was still a very good wine. If i'd paid £20-£30 for this i think i'd be a bit dissappointed, but having paid a lot less, i'm really pleased.

The moral of the story seems to be: Keep a regular eye on all your local wine outlets, you never know what you might find!