JCD60's profile
Reviews (22)
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A fine budget Maconnais
Lacks the steel of a classical Burgundy, but shows what a good Maconnais producer can create for under a tenner. Spritely citrus fruit on the nose, buttery in the mouth, with a spike of acidity before a warm finish. Feels like a more expensive wine - trademark Louis Latour.
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Fabulous southern Rhone
Fabulously good - and shockingly good value - Lirac that drinks beautifully with goose, but is also hugely enjoyable by itself. Full to the brim with warm, juicy, intense red fruits, there's a touch of darker spiciness that adds structure, and a beautifully balanced green leaves/liquorice combination on the finish. A big, round and completely satisfying Lirac for the price of a bog-standard (and so often under par) Cotes du Rhone - I'll be getting a lot more of this!
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Classy and very drinkable
This (2011) may be still be young, but it's a smooth, surprisingly classy pinot noir, well balanced and very drinkable as it is. Classic warm red fruits on the nose and in the mouth, with a hint of spice and good acidity on the finish. At under £10 a bottle, this gives the sub-£15 NZ pinots a real run for their money.
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Disappointing
Hate to disagree with so many enthusiastic reviews (and I may have had a duff bottle), but I found this lightweight and very unimpressive. Impossible to find the sweet spot in terms of temperature: chilled as a Burgundy, it was stone cold dead; a few degrees warmer and it became unbearably floral and cloying, almost sweet. Not a patch on the southern French chardonnays I've been enjoying from Majestic recently.
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Disappointing
Having previously sampled a fabulous 2009 Saint-Veran from the Deux Roches domaine that only cost a couple of quid more than this, I had high expectations of the Les Crais. Sadly, it failed to live up to any of them: thin and mean both on the nose and in the mouth, it lacks any real structure or character. I'd have been disappointed if this had been a six quid bottle, let alone one at twice the price. Majestic has any number of far better white Burgundies at this price point - so give this one a miss.
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Disappointing
Tried this after I read a newspaper review enthusing about this as a "supercharged cotes du rhone" (I do love a fine CDR). Sadly, this isn't anything of the sort and it doesn't come close to any of Majestic's excellent range of real CDRs: it's thin, a little harsh at the edge and lacks any real depth of fruit or structure. At this price, the excellent Garrigues Lirac or Plan de Dieu Mistral would be a far better choice.