Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don & Melissa, Eden, Jay, Jeff, Scott & Anne-Marie, Seth, Victor; and Jayson
Telling The Difference
On this night, unlike any other jeebus, we will drink until we can't tell the difference between "Cursed be Points" and "Blessed be Terroir".
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The first four blind wines.
Wine J1 - In proper Talmudic fashion, Scott begins, "I will make a wild-ass wrong guess: chardonnay from Burgundy." Jay, who is wily in the ways of the unknown wines (because he provided them) responds that Scott has failed in his endeavor. Ah, so, then, it is White Burgundy! Scott persists, "It is not Chablis." Jay replies, "Incorrect." Ho ho!
The apparatus of my alleles tell me the wine is from a warm year as it is definitely sweet ("Pineappley" - Melissa and Victor). Finally, Jayson, the one person who is not tasting the wine, identifies the maker... Dom. G. Duplessis 2017 Chablis 1er "Montee de Tonnerre". Reb Joe would be proud of quixotic us.
Midrash... Day 3: The wine is recognizably Chablis, though I could believe if you told me it was a good Muscadet; gently herbal and seashelly in the nose; similar, if a bit flat, in the mouth; not noticeably minerally/chalky; full-flavored, I'd be happy to own some of this. Gematria: 13%.
Wine J2 - This, we know, is not pinot. I sense a whiff of lactic in the finish that nobody else gets. The wine is smoky, spicy, root beery, with lots of red fruit, glimmers of citrus and Christmas spice. Seth described it as "forward and juicy but has good garbled handwritten note" and guesses that it is an old California field blend. Jay says no; in fact, this is the oldest plot of this grape in the world(!). We guess around (grenache? valdiguie?) but never say cinsault... Birichino 2016 Cinsault "Bechthold Vineyard" Vignes Centenaires. We chastise Jay for being a bit unfair to call it so literally because there's a lot of cinsault floating around most old California field blends.
Midrash... Day 3: amazing, New World-y, spicy, it really does have the cinsault equivalent of pinosity; mixed red berry palate drifts towards sweet syrup and resin but just as slyly turns to roots-in-wet-earth in a long finish; even more of a buy than the first wine. Gematria: 12%.
Wine J3 - leather, tobacco, a very slight barnyard smell on top of the dark red fruit. "Right Bank?" I venture; nope. "Barbera!" says Seth (you had to be there). Medium-weight, potent and persistent, a bit sweet, very clean (outdoorsy smell notwithstanding!), we eventually pin it to 1970 ... Ch. Rausan-Segla 1970 Margaux.
Midrash... Day 3: About the same, this just cannot be 50 years old! Not sure that there are any tannins here, if so, they are of the most delicate make; not just wow but wow-wow.
Wine J4 - VA and sewage in the nose. Alas, we are not yet drunk enough not to notice. The palate is better, clean, rough, and rugged. I try everything not to identify this as some woebegone Piedmont wine, but it is... Aldo Conterno 1999 Barolo "Cicala".
Midrash... Day 3: The nose is still slightly garbagey but now more a distraction than a head-jerk away. The palate is still clean, robust, slightly drying/grainy on my tongue, and juicy long into the finish. But I honestly cannot say that this tastes like nebbiolo; it might just as well be a California red blend with good acidity. Was this wine always Californiated or is this the spoilage talking?
---
The next four blind wines are named for the most-popular flavors of hamentaschen.
Apricot - "Salty, bloody taste", said Melissa of the apricot hamentaschen wine. Jay touches the hem of the immortal in his apricot hamentaschen wine and lunges forward, all the way to Dunn, Cab Sauv, Howell Mountain. Bravo, Jay! We never guess the year because this stuff is basically immortal... Dunn 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon "Howell Mountain"
Midrash... Day 3: Clearly CalCab, not Bordeaux, because there is great purity at the expense of complexity... but what purity! Like there is no roof of my mouth, the black cherry-cran fruit with a hint of basil (or rosemary) just floats up into my nose and my brain. The acidity is sturdy without pinching my tongue. Another wow wine and it lingers on my breath for minutes afterward.
Prune - Oranges! Tangerines? Soft. Clear, just a hint of yellow age. Someone suggests maybe demi-sec sweetness but I think it's less. There is a lot of age here, too. "A little tropical but not pineapple" -Melissa. "No sharp edges here" -Victor. A few desultory guesses are made before the reveal... J.J. Christoffel Erben 2001 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett.
Midrash... Day 3: No development, just slowly subsiding. Still nice to drink. Gematria: 2 602 041 005 02, 8.5%
Poppy - OK, this is full-on sweet, also fairly transparent but much heartier than Prune, also quite more beautiful and graceful than Prune, the wine has scents of bay leaf, lime, pork, and is incredibly more-ish... A. Merkelbach 2001 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese, Gematria: 2 602 055 015 02, 8%, fuder 15/01.
Midrash... Day 3: Consistent with the first day. The Merkelbach brothers, Alfred and Rolf, are octogenarians and, after running the estate by themselves for all these years, they are finally stepping back. Johannes Selbach and his team were asked to "assist".
Date - Also full-sweet. "Sweeter than the last one" -Jay. "But not quite dessert: no glycerin" -Anne-Marie. "Even more acidity" -Don. This wine is browning and a sip reveals a ton of botrytis adding its own flavors on top of the pit-fruity riesling. Delicate it ain't but very delicious... Willi Schaefer 2001 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese, Gematria: 2 583 154 09 02, 8%.
Happy Purim!
Telling The Difference
On this night, unlike any other jeebus, we will drink until we can't tell the difference between "Cursed be Points" and "Blessed be Terroir".
---
The first four blind wines.
Wine J1 - In proper Talmudic fashion, Scott begins, "I will make a wild-ass wrong guess: chardonnay from Burgundy." Jay, who is wily in the ways of the unknown wines (because he provided them) responds that Scott has failed in his endeavor. Ah, so, then, it is White Burgundy! Scott persists, "It is not Chablis." Jay replies, "Incorrect." Ho ho!
The apparatus of my alleles tell me the wine is from a warm year as it is definitely sweet ("Pineappley" - Melissa and Victor). Finally, Jayson, the one person who is not tasting the wine, identifies the maker... Dom. G. Duplessis 2017 Chablis 1er "Montee de Tonnerre". Reb Joe would be proud of quixotic us.
Midrash... Day 3: The wine is recognizably Chablis, though I could believe if you told me it was a good Muscadet; gently herbal and seashelly in the nose; similar, if a bit flat, in the mouth; not noticeably minerally/chalky; full-flavored, I'd be happy to own some of this. Gematria: 13%.
Wine J2 - This, we know, is not pinot. I sense a whiff of lactic in the finish that nobody else gets. The wine is smoky, spicy, root beery, with lots of red fruit, glimmers of citrus and Christmas spice. Seth described it as "forward and juicy but has good garbled handwritten note" and guesses that it is an old California field blend. Jay says no; in fact, this is the oldest plot of this grape in the world(!). We guess around (grenache? valdiguie?) but never say cinsault... Birichino 2016 Cinsault "Bechthold Vineyard" Vignes Centenaires. We chastise Jay for being a bit unfair to call it so literally because there's a lot of cinsault floating around most old California field blends.
Midrash... Day 3: amazing, New World-y, spicy, it really does have the cinsault equivalent of pinosity; mixed red berry palate drifts towards sweet syrup and resin but just as slyly turns to roots-in-wet-earth in a long finish; even more of a buy than the first wine. Gematria: 12%.
Wine J3 - leather, tobacco, a very slight barnyard smell on top of the dark red fruit. "Right Bank?" I venture; nope. "Barbera!" says Seth (you had to be there). Medium-weight, potent and persistent, a bit sweet, very clean (outdoorsy smell notwithstanding!), we eventually pin it to 1970 ... Ch. Rausan-Segla 1970 Margaux.
Midrash... Day 3: About the same, this just cannot be 50 years old! Not sure that there are any tannins here, if so, they are of the most delicate make; not just wow but wow-wow.
Wine J4 - VA and sewage in the nose. Alas, we are not yet drunk enough not to notice. The palate is better, clean, rough, and rugged. I try everything not to identify this as some woebegone Piedmont wine, but it is... Aldo Conterno 1999 Barolo "Cicala".
Midrash... Day 3: The nose is still slightly garbagey but now more a distraction than a head-jerk away. The palate is still clean, robust, slightly drying/grainy on my tongue, and juicy long into the finish. But I honestly cannot say that this tastes like nebbiolo; it might just as well be a California red blend with good acidity. Was this wine always Californiated or is this the spoilage talking?
---
The next four blind wines are named for the most-popular flavors of hamentaschen.
Apricot - "Salty, bloody taste", said Melissa of the apricot hamentaschen wine. Jay touches the hem of the immortal in his apricot hamentaschen wine and lunges forward, all the way to Dunn, Cab Sauv, Howell Mountain. Bravo, Jay! We never guess the year because this stuff is basically immortal... Dunn 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon "Howell Mountain"
Midrash... Day 3: Clearly CalCab, not Bordeaux, because there is great purity at the expense of complexity... but what purity! Like there is no roof of my mouth, the black cherry-cran fruit with a hint of basil (or rosemary) just floats up into my nose and my brain. The acidity is sturdy without pinching my tongue. Another wow wine and it lingers on my breath for minutes afterward.
Prune - Oranges! Tangerines? Soft. Clear, just a hint of yellow age. Someone suggests maybe demi-sec sweetness but I think it's less. There is a lot of age here, too. "A little tropical but not pineapple" -Melissa. "No sharp edges here" -Victor. A few desultory guesses are made before the reveal... J.J. Christoffel Erben 2001 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett.
Midrash... Day 3: No development, just slowly subsiding. Still nice to drink. Gematria: 2 602 041 005 02, 8.5%
Poppy - OK, this is full-on sweet, also fairly transparent but much heartier than Prune, also quite more beautiful and graceful than Prune, the wine has scents of bay leaf, lime, pork, and is incredibly more-ish... A. Merkelbach 2001 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese, Gematria: 2 602 055 015 02, 8%, fuder 15/01.
Midrash... Day 3: Consistent with the first day. The Merkelbach brothers, Alfred and Rolf, are octogenarians and, after running the estate by themselves for all these years, they are finally stepping back. Johannes Selbach and his team were asked to "assist".
Date - Also full-sweet. "Sweeter than the last one" -Jay. "But not quite dessert: no glycerin" -Anne-Marie. "Even more acidity" -Don. This wine is browning and a sip reveals a ton of botrytis adding its own flavors on top of the pit-fruity riesling. Delicate it ain't but very delicious... Willi Schaefer 2001 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese, Gematria: 2 583 154 09 02, 8%.
Happy Purim!
