Dominique Joseph - Le Petit Saint Vincent Saumur-Champigny

Restaurant purchase, short note. A well-mannered, clean Loire-Cab. Delicious, crunchy, rather dark fruit, licorice, fresh and balanced. Missing some complexity and for me actually ready to go. Nice but really just too well-behaved; I miss the dirt and earth, the farm, the minerality, in short: the depth and complexity of something like Baudry. 16.5/20

Dark ruby color; full bodied. Red fruit and green pepper on the nose. Those elements also on the palate, but obscured by high acidity and intrusive tannins. Wished for a food pairing with more fat than the sauteed sweet Italian sausage to counterbalance both the acidity and the tannins. Still too taut two hours after opening. Not a ‘baby Clos Rougeard’…but I’ve just re-upped for the next vintage. My plan is to leave in the cellar far longer, but I …