Quick, drink!

Yesterday evening, slightly dazzled from a surprisingly sunny weekend in the north and head abuzz with thoughts of seashells and the like, I opened a bottle of 2007 Amphibolite.

I'd been enthusiastic about this (as usual) in February, as well as a couple of times soon after, in early spring. But six months will do something to a young wine of its nature. It had lost its pearly bead, shifting from youthful tingliness on the tongue to something more slate-and-brine – which was nice, too, but was more traditionally Muscadet than I'm used to this cuvée being.

It got me to thinking about wines I like drinking young, and how I don't buy too many of them, for fear of not getting to them in time. Hervé Villemade's 2006 "Pivoine" was like that; a dazzling floral, fresh burst of Côt. So was the 2007 non-rosé Costières de Nîmes rosé from Gérard Eyraud (note to self: must drink that soon). Or the Bretons' wild 2007 Avis de Vin Fort.

What's great about wines like these is that, though ready to go from release, they are the antithesis of the big, standardized wines shot out by global-type wineries, heavy in alcohol and toast, with their whatnot processes in the winery to make them user-friendly, fast and forgettable.

These are little asides, beautiful trills, and definitely lovely things to have on hand while waiting for the vins de garde to age. Character in spades – even if fleeting.