Catching up on some notes on young wines

Jayson Cohen

Jayson Cohen
Pardon any dumbing down for Instagram:

2019 Domaine Lafouge Meursault Les Meix-Chavaux. Classic medium weight Meursault with signature aroma of lime and lime-tinged caramel and pithy flavors with structure to resolve at the back end. I predict a beautiful wine at maturity in ~10 years but it’s tasty, giving, and balanced now. Vines planted in 1927 are among the oldest in Meursault. Broiled salmon was a nice match.

2019 von Schubert Maximin Grünhauser Abtsberg Spätlese. Another classic in a long line of them. And when I mean classic Abtsberg, I mean this Riesling can only come from one vineyard in the world with its distinct, piercing coniferous nose. Deceptive baby fat has serious structure revealed by Indian stews like Lamb Saag and Chicken Tikka Masala, where the acid roars to life. It’s not the extract-laden (wonderful) beast the 2015 was young, but it’s in that vein. This is a 25-50 year wine.

2020 Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Kabinett (Kugel Peter, No. 12). A beautiful follow up to 2019, here leaning more green apple than lime on its tangy true Kabinett frame. Already delicious, sponti and a hint of reduction suggest more to come in a couple years. As usual, I blinked and most of the bottle was gone (with take-out Sichuan food kicked up by my homemade chili oil). #singleserving750

2019 Domaine de Bellivière Jasnières Les Rosiers. When Eric Nicolas, now joined by son Clément, says this is their *young* vines bottling, that just means less than 50 years. This is a very serious Demisec Chenin, plainly sourced from limestone-dominated vines and beautifully expressed. Not shy at 13.5%, this youngster slices right through a New York strip steak. Blind, you would call this Vouvray or Montlouis this year. Thanks to the Joes (RIP) for introducing me to Eric’s wines back in the day. This one will go 30+ years easy too but is drinking beautifully.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:

2019 von Schubert Maximin Grünhauser Abtsberg Spätlese...And when I mean classic Abtsberg, I mean this Riesling can only come from one vineyard in the world with its distinct, piercing coniferous nose. Deceptive baby fat...

I've been getting reacquainted with Grünhaus and enjoying getting re-transported to the 'distinct, piercing coniferous' place. But, I'm not sure I would place it as Abtsberg instead of Herrenberg. If anything, for the younger wines, I find those notes more common in Herrenberg, because it has less of that deceptive fat.

Maybe you're more sensitive to these nuances than I am. But either way, I share your love of these glorious wines.
 
I just love Belleviere. My first was an 02 Eparses which I still remember, bought at release at Lavinia. One of those wines took me to the next level of loving wine.
 
originally posted by BJ:
I just love Belleviere. My first was an 02 Eparses which I still remember, bought at release at Lavinia. One of those wines took me to the next level of loving wine.

I finished this up tonight after 3 days open, and still going strong. Just deliciously drinkable, balanced wine.

In case you are wondering why it lasted that long, Pavel and I had a series of emergency Politburo meetings that interrupted things. We decided the fate of numerous bottles, both at the Kremlin and at his Dacha in the hinterlands, all while I prayed for a swift return to my precious Bellivière.
 
Bellivieres Rosiers was a pet of mine, briefly, many years ago, then I lost track of it in the landscape. Nice to see a favorable note, and it looks like it's being sold in D.C. Hm.

Lafouge used be a perennial good find at Chambers, though, personally, I know the reds better than the whites. Now it looks like Saratoga is their champion - though I see Chambers still has some les Hautes in inventory.

Thanks for the report.
 
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