CWD: What did you drink last night (or whenever)?

as i understand it, the lopy is just the best barrels/lots. i've always been so happy with the regular bottling (doucinello, azelais, or floureto, depending on the vintage) that i've never been tempted to spring for the lopy, where the price is getting up there with CNdPape,

and i've never had the opportunity to try the oumage.

while quoting him here, i must say that for rhone wine, john livingstone is way more useful and far more encyclopedic than all other wine writers put together. period. his website is drinkrhone.com and yes, i have neither a conflict of interest, nor an appearance of conflict of interest in this endorsement.

i am as oak averse as they come, and i have never gotten any oak influence at sang des cailloux, even on the brand new 2020 that i am currently drinking.
 
The Lopy is a different part of the vineyard, a higher mix of grenache, and it is aged in 450 l tonneaux rather than in foudres. The oak is not new and it doesn't taste of any. It is richer, though I don't think the alcohol content is higher. I would try the regular cuvée (whichever of the three daughters it is named after is available to you), and if you like that, I would try the Lopy. Both cuvées do benefit from aging, are probably at their peak around 10 years old and will go to 15 without too much heavy breathing.

I've only had the Oumage once, so I really don't have enough experience to opine.

I am happy to hear that Frédéri has been in charge (officially) since 2015. He may be picking when the grapes are less ripe, which would be interesting, but I haven't noticed a real change in the wines.

It is more expensive in the U.S., I assume because it is a Kermit Lynch wine. Even the regular cuvée can't be found for much below $40. I would agree that, if one doesn't include Chateau des Tours, which is its a separate beast entirely, it is one of the top two or three Vacqueyrases. Joncuas can give it a run for its money. And Monardiere, especially the Vielles Vignes, if you can find it, is worth seeking out. Domaine La Garrigue has fussed up its cuvées since 2019, but the two traditional ones, Albert Belle and Hostellerie are very good buys.
 
speaking of the pricing of the regular bottling, the 2017 doucinello took a huge hit because of the tRump tariff with a retail price in washington of $45. the 2020 doucinello just arrived and its retail price is back down to $35.

FWIW, my retail prices are based on dividing the wholesale by 0.7. I don't know what prices were on these wines at the wine shop.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
speaking of the pricing of the regular bottling, the 2017 doucinello took a huge hit because of the tRump tariff with a retail price in washington of $45.
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Curious why they would take a hit if the ABV is always higher than 14%?
 
originally posted by mark e:
originally posted by robert ames:
speaking of the pricing of the regular bottling, the 2017 doucinello took a huge hit because of the tRump tariff with a retail price in washington of $45.
Click to expand...

Curious why they would take a hit if the ABV is always higher than 14%?
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i am no longer in the company of the 2017, so can't check the label, but i was told that if the 2017 had been bottled a couple weeks later that it would have been labelled to be over 14%. so it sounds like the 2017 was labelled at 14%. drinkrhone.com verifies this. and the 2020 is labelled 14%.
 
I thought 14% was the cutoff, not anything over. But, regardless, I expect the price difference has more to do with the exchange rate, which, even a year ago, was still just over 1.10 and has been dropping precipately since. So even if Kermit paid for the wine last winter, he paid with a much stronger dollar. And, as always, the market is the great determiner. The Trump tariffs did surely hinder importing, but my sense of prices was that the importers did their best to have prices that made buying possible.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I thought 14% was the cutoff, not anything over. But, regardless, I expect the price difference has more to do with the exchange rate, which, even a year ago, was still just over 1.10 and has been dropping precipately since. So even if Kermit paid for the wine last winter, he paid with a much stronger dollar. And, as always, the market is the great determiner. The Trump tariffs did surely hinder importing, but my sense of prices was that the importers did their best to have prices that made buying possible.
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14% was the upper limit for tariff wines, since BATF already uses that cutoff for tax purposes. they have a different tax structure for wines< greater than 14%.

and yes, the dollar is strong, but i have yet to see it bring down prices of wines from 'over there'. just like when oil goes up, gasoline prices hop to it the next day, and when oil prices fall, a drop in gasoline prices lags as long as the oil companies can get away with it.
 
But you are seeing it. The 2020 Southern Rhones are coming in either the same or at lower prices than the 2019s, this despite price rises there and the fact that it's a more flattering vintage right now. I agree that the exchange rate won't do it by itself. It has to be supported by a market demanding that the importers not take the extra profit. But that has been happening, more or less, since the 2017 vintage.
 
it is a happy occasion at the fatschloss with His Corpulence when the fatsink need not be utilized. the contents of this bottle all but disappeared despite a long agenda: its generously textured post-ice age midpalate and a tartaric/citric finish built to impress members of this forum were in surprising harmony for a wine so young. i especially loved how its herbaceous elements, not unlike those found in aligote or silvaner and so welcome during spargel season, are an integral and a subtle part of the core flavors rather than a top note. perhaps because it comes not from variety but from dirt? an idea to ponder for the remainder of my visit.

auxerrois1.jpg
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
If you are writing about a visit to fatboy, shouldn't you misspell "the"?
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That might be a trademark violation and Pavel wants to keep fatboy happy, especially this week.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
2021 Lauer Stirn

He did it again. Lightning in a bottle. A Hey Now wine.
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Good to hear. I can't say that I've comprehensively studied all of the bottlings, but Stirn is emerging as a favorite and I just bought a few bottles of 2021. Now looking forward even more to opening one.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
2021 Lauer Stirn

He did it again. Lightning in a bottle. A Hey Now wine.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. I can't say that I've comprehensively studied all of the bottlings, but Stirn is emerging as a favorite and I just bought a few bottles of 2021. Now looking forward even more to opening one.
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I can't justify buying and cellaring all the numerous Lauer wines, so settled on Stirn, Kern, and Schonfels. Also buy his pradikat wines sometimes. Curious where others end up.
 
2013 Guiberteau Saumur Rouge Les Motelles: Just 11.5% ABV and this feels a little thin. Everything is there the first day, and the wine isn't overly acidic or green, but there's just not a lot of oomph, even for a Disorderly palate. On the second day, some brett poked out and obscured the (weak) fruit such that the rest of the bottle went down the (middle-aged-dad-kind-of-fat) sink.

2020 Gahier Chardonnay Arbois Les Follasses: A glou-glou, but also kinda serious Jura white. The short time spent sous voile shows more as tanginess than sherry-like nuttiness. Gives the wine pleasant lift. Nice fruit and really drinkable.

2019 Petit-Roy Hautes-Cotes de Beaune Blanc: Really understated, especially for a 2019. Blind, could be mistaken for a heavily cropped wine, but that's not so. Just the limits of the terroir, I guess.
 
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:

I can't justify buying and cellaring all the numerous Lauer wines, so settled on Stirn, Kern, and Schonfels...
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Stirn and Schonfels are definitely two of my favorites. Have lots of other great experiences, but haven't narrowed down other specific favorites (yet).
 
Stirn and Senior are my priorities. Occasional Kabi but I find Feinherb-like is Lauer’s sweet spot for my palate. And I bit on some 2020 and 2021 Pradikat auction wines.
 
2019 Gahier Trousseau Les Grands Vergers: I've drunk a fair bit of Gahier over the years after visiting him about a decade ago with GG. I typically think of the wines as clean and well made, if not reaching Puffeney heights. A Les Follasses Chard a few days ago was in that idiom. This bottle, though, was the first F'd up bottle I've had from Gahier. And goodness was it F'd up. The first night, that super stinky reduction you find too often in Jura reds. Left almost all the bottle in the fridge overnight. Second day, a festival of mouse and oxidation. DNPIM. Down the middle-aged-dad-kinda-fat sink.
 
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