Tristan Welles
Tristan Welles
I find all the activity in the courtyard charming, in its way.
CWD: What did you drink last night (or whenever)?
- Thread starter Jayson Cohen
- Start date
I find all the activity in the courtyard charming, in its way.
Yes, cigarette smoke is tough, for those of us used to it no longer being around...
But since we're dropping in restaurant notes. Lovely meal tonight at aerde in Berlin. One of these places that follows the theme of only using ingredients from Brandenburg/the local region (which means no lemon, no olive oil, no pepper, etc). But, they have a more generous approach to the concept than places like Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Fun food (they grow chili peppers in greenhouses, so they can get some flavor into the dishes) and relaxing vibe.
A bit disappointed with 2020 Battenfeld-Spanier Frauenberg Riesling GG. Ripe round and also firm, but a bit hollow/disjointed in the middle. Maybe it needs more time, more air, but tonight was not the fun moment.
Much better experience going abroad with 2015 Huet Vouvray Pétillant. Firm ripe golden 2015 fruit, with all the dazzling minerality and precision that one could want. My friends were impressed and I was happy.
But since we're dropping in restaurant notes. Lovely meal tonight at aerde in Berlin. One of these places that follows the theme of only using ingredients from Brandenburg/the local region (which means no lemon, no olive oil, no pepper, etc). But, they have a more generous approach to the concept than places like Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Fun food (they grow chili peppers in greenhouses, so they can get some flavor into the dishes) and relaxing vibe.
A bit disappointed with 2020 Battenfeld-Spanier Frauenberg Riesling GG. Ripe round and also firm, but a bit hollow/disjointed in the middle. Maybe it needs more time, more air, but tonight was not the fun moment.
Much better experience going abroad with 2015 Huet Vouvray Pétillant. Firm ripe golden 2015 fruit, with all the dazzling minerality and precision that one could want. My friends were impressed and I was happy.
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
Sorry to hear that. I found the wine superb when I tasted it almost two years ago.
Yes, I was expecting more. I actually kept having a nagging feeling that it was lightly corked. But after I did a double check at first, the wine server checked and she did not find it corked, and my friends didn't mind, so I didn't want to be the annoying guy, and hoped it would open up (which it never did). I'm hardly the comprehensive expert, but from a few other recent bottles, I also wonder if this is an awkward phase for many 2020 GGs.
While on vacation in Idaho I had a chance to try a few things.
Alzinger Ried Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 2021 A cool, minerally wine, that didn't have much of the 'peppery' flavor I love in GV. If I had to pick a fruit descriptor it would be grapefruit, but the mineral aspects were more pronounced. A really nice wine for the first day of vacation.
Moric Blaufränkisch 2020 Another quite nice wine that paired well with grilled chicken (marinaded in mustard/red vinegar/olive oil).
Vacheron Sancerre Rouge Belle Dame 2007 I really like this wine young and jumped at the chance to try one with some age on it. I didn't love it when it was freshly opened. It was a bit tart; sour cherry is my best descriptor. On the other hand, the bottle was drained rather quickly, so there must have been more to it than I realized when drinking it. Still, I would take a young Vacheron Rosé over this in a heartbeat, at a considerable savings in terms of the price of the bottle.
Alzinger Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd 2021 Seriously yummy. Good acid, maybe tropical fruits, although I thought I was picking up something akin to a loganberry. This was an aperitif consumed the same night as the next bottle. After a glass of Gigondas, all I could taste from this bottle was lemons.
Santa Duc Aux Lieux-Dits Gigondas 2019 A crowd pleaser. Lots of black fruit flavors, harmonious and relatively restrained. Worked really well on make-your-own-taco night.
Arnot-Roberts Trout Gulch Chardonnay 2021 Citrus and flowers. Maybe a hint of licorice. Almost surely better in a couple of years and deserved better than to be the wine consumed in the midst of packing for the return from vacation.
Alzinger Ried Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 2021 A cool, minerally wine, that didn't have much of the 'peppery' flavor I love in GV. If I had to pick a fruit descriptor it would be grapefruit, but the mineral aspects were more pronounced. A really nice wine for the first day of vacation.
Moric Blaufränkisch 2020 Another quite nice wine that paired well with grilled chicken (marinaded in mustard/red vinegar/olive oil).
Vacheron Sancerre Rouge Belle Dame 2007 I really like this wine young and jumped at the chance to try one with some age on it. I didn't love it when it was freshly opened. It was a bit tart; sour cherry is my best descriptor. On the other hand, the bottle was drained rather quickly, so there must have been more to it than I realized when drinking it. Still, I would take a young Vacheron Rosé over this in a heartbeat, at a considerable savings in terms of the price of the bottle.
Alzinger Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd 2021 Seriously yummy. Good acid, maybe tropical fruits, although I thought I was picking up something akin to a loganberry. This was an aperitif consumed the same night as the next bottle. After a glass of Gigondas, all I could taste from this bottle was lemons.
Santa Duc Aux Lieux-Dits Gigondas 2019 A crowd pleaser. Lots of black fruit flavors, harmonious and relatively restrained. Worked really well on make-your-own-taco night.
Arnot-Roberts Trout Gulch Chardonnay 2021 Citrus and flowers. Maybe a hint of licorice. Almost surely better in a couple of years and deserved better than to be the wine consumed in the midst of packing for the return from vacation.
Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
An apt moment to recall Maureen's dictum that Burgundies (red) enter multiple closed and open periods over their developmental timelines. Hence a generally more hit-or-miss experience of catching them at a good moment (relative to many other wines), as well as the elevated value of up-to-the-minute reporting on particular bottles.
Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
Last week: Collotte Marsannay Clos de Jue 2015. Surprisingly delicious, nicely-weighted, acid and other material well-balanced, slightly rustic, furry tannins, pleasingly plump. Peter Waygandt. A bottle of this a couple of years ago failed to impress, but this one was a pleasure and held up well over a couple of nights.
De Villaine Mercury Les Montots 2009. Also very good tho presenting a completely different profile: lean, structured, elegant, fruit-derived flavors-aromas restrained. Also a pleasure.
Both wines in a nice place to drink; the Marsannay could continue to develop favorable. The Mercury I'm skeptical of - I have a couple more bottles to watch for a couple more years.
De Villaine Mercury Les Montots 2009. Also very good tho presenting a completely different profile: lean, structured, elegant, fruit-derived flavors-aromas restrained. Also a pleasure.
Both wines in a nice place to drink; the Marsannay could continue to develop favorable. The Mercury I'm skeptical of - I have a couple more bottles to watch for a couple more years.
Jayson Cohen
Jayson Cohen
What should I open tonight after 5+ grueling days of moving apartments and clearing out the old one after 16+ years?
I think one of the 2021 Falkenstein Spatlesen I’d been saving for a vertical that never happened. Or maybe Champagne to celebrate the move (although discovering and getting used to some quirks in the new place suggest maybe a deferral on the Champagne until we are more settled and fully unpacked).
Zachary Ross
Zachary Ross
Where's the new place? (Not that I knew where the old place was.)
Jonathan Loesberg
Jonathan Loesberg
Wait, are you moving down to DC, Jayson, or is this just a rumor Rahsaan is starting?
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Vino da meditazione, as significant events demand: the focused work is completed, an old page is turned and a new chapter begins. Perhaps an old Cote-Rotie, Vouvray, or Cotat rose. If you're less sentimental, then chill a CdR and go dance in your new ***********.
Jayson Cohen
Jayson Cohen
Another full day today but finally everything is in the new place and now we just have to unpack and mount stuff. We moved from 27 W 86th to 211 W 106th. So about 1.5 miles. Just now heading to drop off the keys.
I can’t drink the ‘45 or ‘47 Huet Moelleux without other winos, and if I drink ‘71 LHL DS without Pavel, he will kill me, so my original plan is probably how I’ll play this.
I can’t drink the ‘45 or ‘47 Huet Moelleux without other winos, and if I drink ‘71 LHL DS without Pavel, he will kill me, so my original plan is probably how I’ll play this.
Pavel Tchichikov
Pavel Tchichikov
it could not have been as bad as in the early 80s when I went to high school in the same 'hood and took the fights, that are now handled in the safety of wine internet forums, to the streets