Italian Rhone face-off

Peter Creasey

Peter Creasey

Peter Creasey
A friend was over for dinner and brought an Italian wine I can recall ever knowing about. I had already prepared a Rhone to serve. Coincidentally, both were from the same vintage. So a casual (not-blind) competition ensued with dinner.

Goretti Le Mura Saracene Di Montefalco Sagrantino '03 -- very dark red, forward bouquet, a bit astringent initially then smoothed out to be a worthy competitor, dark fruits, nuance of tartness, muscular style, enjoyable with food. [VG]

Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe La Crau Chateauneuf-du-Pape '03 -- medium red, generous aromas, nicely mellowed with good staying power in the glass, all elements nicely balanced, a gracious sample from the difficult 2003 vintage. [E]

The votes were 2 - 1 in favor of the CNdP.

Both wines paired nicely with roast D'Artagnan duck and root vegetables then buttermilk pie (chess pie).

. . . . . Pete
 
2003 is a great vintage in the Southern Rhone, especially in Chateauneuf.
Temperatures over 100°F for 2 weeks in a row is nothing exceptionnal there.
This doesn't apply for Beaujolais or Burgundy, rather obviously.
2007 is the terrible vintage of the decade in that matter.
 
Eric, thanks for chiming in.

Very interesting as I have read that, in general, 2003 in the Rhone caused the production of many atypical wines due to the difficulties caused by the extreme heat, especially in the southern Rhone with the northern Rhone being more consistent.

I definitely don't question your expert judgement so I yield to your assessment. And I'll say that the Vieux Telegraph La Crau CNdP '03 would seem to be a good example in support of your assessment.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:
Very interesting as I have read that, in general, 2003 in the Rhone caused the production of many atypical wines due to the difficulties caused by the extreme heat, especially in the southern Rhone with the northern Rhone being more consistent.
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Brother Eric has said before, if I recall correctly, that the S. Rhone "Franken-wines" got that way because the makers pushed the boundaries, not because the weather was so uncontrollable. (Though Vieux Donjon '03 cannot possibly be what the maker intended, eh?)
 
I don't recall which of you were down in The Cellar the day we were treated to 2003 Sorrel Hermitage, but pretty sure some of you were. That was memorable.
 
Both these contests could take place, though perhaps not in a very compelling way. In my analogy, I imagined the baseball team playing baseball and the football team playing football against each other, which would just be a hilarious train wreck.
 
I would have gladly paired either the Sagratino or the VT with roast d'Artagnan duck, for completely different reasons. As so eloquently pointed out above, they don't exactly make a good flight, but hopefully the duck served as enough of a conduit and a firewall.
 
Interesting comments.

The pairing of the Sagrantino and Chateauneuf du Pape, as already mentioned, was serendipitous; however, all three of us enjoyed the experience of comparing (contrasting) the two diverse wines. And, yes, the roast D'Artagnan duck served as a superb harmonizing agent.

. . . . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
...which would just be a hilarious train wreck.
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Are there hilarious train wrecks?

I've read about a time a train hit a helicopter. Why the train was flying so close to the helicopter was left unexplained. (Was that funny?)

I've read about a pair of trains that collided and fell into a lake. One was carrying French beer, the other was carrying German soup. Maybe they did the world a favor. (Was that a hoot?)

But my favorite, with a nod to Ol' Texas Pete here, is the famous Crash at Crush. It was a huge publicity event held outside Waco in 1896, with every possible flourish, no expense spared: two 35-ton locomotives, each with six boxcars, run full throttle into a head-on collision. Spectacle! Deaths! Souvenirs! Some reading here: one, two, three, four. (Now, that was hilarious!)
 
It wasn't a helicopter. By 1973, SNCF was in the final stages of its high-speed rail project. During one of the tests, an early prototype of the TGV became airborne and collided with a Tupolev Tu-144 at the 1973 Paris Air Show in Goussainville. The cause of the crash was covered up through collusion by French and Soviet governments.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
It wasn't a helicopter. By 1973, SNCF was in the final stages of its high-speed rail project. During one of the tests, an early prototype of the TGV became airborne and collided with a Tupolev Tu-144 at the 1973 Paris Air Show in Goussainville. The cause of the crash was covered up through collusion by French and Soviet governments.
Click to expand...

collision collusion
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
It wasn't a helicopter. By 1973, SNCF was in the final stages of its high-speed rail project. During one of the tests, an early prototype of the TGV became airborne and collided with a Tupolev Tu-144 at the 1973 Paris Air Show in Goussainville. The cause of the crash was covered up through collusion by French and Soviet governments.
Click to expand...

collision collusion
Click to expand...
Speaking of going off the rails, some fine thread drift here - all kinds of information new to me.
 
In contrast to car wrecks and plane wrecks, train wrecks are implicitly funny. This is why train wreck girls go looking for train wrecks. Doesn't everyone know this?
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
It wasn't a helicopter. By 1973, SNCF was in the final stages of its high-speed rail project. During one of the tests, an early prototype of the TGV became airborne and collided with a Tupolev Tu-144 at the 1973 Paris Air Show in Goussainville. The cause of the crash was covered up through collusion by French and Soviet governments.
Click to expand...

Collusion being another form of firewall, like roast duck.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
...which would just be a hilarious train wreck.
Click to expand...
Are there hilarious train wrecks?

I've read about a time a train hit a helicopter. Why the train was flying so close to the helicopter was left unexplained. (Was that funny?)

I've read about a pair of trains that collided and fell into a lake. One was carrying French beer, the other was carrying German soup. Maybe they did the world a favor. (Was that a hoot?)

But my favorite, with a nod to Ol' Texas Pete here, is the famous Crash at Crush. It was a huge publicity event held outside Waco in 1896, with every possible flourish, no expense spared: two 35-ton locomotives, each with six boxcars, run full throttle into a head-on collision. Spectacle! Deaths! Souvenirs! Some reading here: one, two, three, four. (Now, that was hilarious!)
Click to expand...

C’mon, Jeff. Surely you can recognize that Jonathan was speaking metaphorically? As for the humor found in disasters, the continuing popularity of Wipeout and its ilk surely suggests that your view might be the minority one.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
C’mon, Jeff. Surely you can recognize that Jonathan was speaking metaphorically? As for the humor found in disasters, the continuing popularity of Wipeout and its ilk surely suggests that your view might be the minority one.
Click to expand...
Is there an irony deficiency in the water supply at your place, too?
 
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