WTN: 1994 Domaine aux Moines, Roche aux Moines, Savennieres, Loire, France
If you're one of my Bay Area readers, find an excuse to eat at Foreign Cinema soon. They have a 1994 Domaine aux Moines Savennières on their wine list for $45. Most casual drinkers don't get a chance to drink "old" white wines (a good Savennières can age for much longer when properly stored). Coincidentally, Alder just covered this wine in-depth, and he notes that the 1994 is the current release.
I didn't take careful tasting notes, but the wine has an oily minerality that suggests kerosene more than hard rocks, and it finishes with a subtle spiciness. The straightforward aromas it probably had in its youth have evolved into a complex bouquet with layers of intriguing scents. "Funky" is the word that came to my mind on the first sniff. You may not like this wine, but it's worth experiencing: Four of the five of us who drank it preferred it to the 2002 Savennières we had at the start of the meal, which had sherry aromas that suggested poor storage. The 1994 bottle didn't have as much acidity as I'd expect even in a 12-year-old Savennières, but it still has enough to make it food-friendly. I tasted it with a charcuterie platter.
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