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

Bollinger PN VZ 15

A friend who likes his champagnes rich brought this to dinner, as he has several times in recent years. Like him, I tend to prefer BdN to BdB but this was pushing it. Maybe it was the vintage, maybe it was the high proportion of reserve wines, but this felt rich and round and almost sweet. It wasn't without tension, but there wasn't quite enough of it. It's certainly expressive and approachable, and I didn't get the sense that this was a poor showing, so maybe a combination of the vintage and house style and the pressure of being the first of a new bottling.

Hudelot-Noellat Chambolle Musigny 1er Les Charmes 2009

Opened 5-6 hours ahead but not decanted.
In a happy place and for my palate totally ready. I wonder if a few more years will tone down the sweetness of the 09 fruit, but it's developed around the fruit and was long and elegant and didn't feel weighed down. I've been finding most Chambolle too dark for my taste, especially at the price, but this was an exception, red more than black, sous bois more than mud.

Dönnhoff Niederhaüser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2002

From 375. Initially youthful, perhaps frustratingly so. It takes about half an hour to come into its own. Complex, integrated, honey and wax from a million different hives, why wait?
 
2021 Didier Dagueneau (Louis Benjamin Dagueneau) XXI - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France (6/15/2024)

Very subtle apple on the nose, but the palate is buzzing with a racy, intense acidity. Absolutely electric. The palate feels malic and green--fruited, with a little lactic/vanilla note on the finish which could be oak. I could see some folks perceiving the wine as too acid-forward, lacking the stuffing to come across as balanced, but I really enjoyed it. Apparently Dagueneau declassified all of their '21 wines into this cuvee.
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
2021 Didier Dagueneau (Louis Benjamin Dagueneau) XXI - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France (6/15/2024)

Very subtle apple on the nose, but the palate is buzzing with a racy, intense acidity. Absolutely electric. The palate feels malic and green--fruited, with a little lactic/vanilla note on the finish which could be oak. I could see some folks perceiving the wine as too acid-forward, lacking the stuffing to come across as balanced, but I really enjoyed it. Apparently Dagueneau declassified all of their '21 wines into this cuvee.
Click to expand...

Interesting! What with 2021 being a slimmer vintage, more promising to many palates here, one wonders about the declassification. Perhaps just a matter of yields. And if the malic excess you mention (which I wish more people did when they notice it) comes from blockage, this kind of intervention should have been less needed in a slimmer vintage. An odd combo of details, given the year.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Yule Kim:
2021 Didier Dagueneau (Louis Benjamin Dagueneau) XXI - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France (6/15/2024)

Very subtle apple on the nose, but the palate is buzzing with a racy, intense acidity. Absolutely electric. The palate feels malic and green--fruited, with a little lactic/vanilla note on the finish which could be oak. I could see some folks perceiving the wine as too acid-forward, lacking the stuffing to come across as balanced, but I really enjoyed it. Apparently Dagueneau declassified all of their '21 wines into this cuvee.
Click to expand...

Interesting! What with 2021 being a slimmer vintage, more promising to many palates here, one wonders about the declassification. Perhaps just a matter of yields. And if the malic excess you mention (which I wish more people did when they notice it) comes from blockage, this kind of intervention should have been less needed in a slimmer vintage. An odd combo of details, given the year.
Click to expand...

From what I was told and what I read, they declassified just because of the small yields in 2021. Apparently '21 was a very difficult harvest for the estate.

It is very angular, and the flavor tasted very tart, almost like unripe apple, which is why I described it as malic, but I'm not sure whether blocking malo was the reason it had such a sharp-elbowed profile on the palate (rather than just being a by-product of the vintage).
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Yule Kim:
2021 Didier Dagueneau (Louis Benjamin Dagueneau) XXI - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France (6/15/2024)

Very subtle apple on the nose, but the palate is buzzing with a racy, intense acidity. Absolutely electric. The palate feels malic and green--fruited, with a little lactic/vanilla note on the finish which could be oak. I could see some folks perceiving the wine as too acid-forward, lacking the stuffing to come across as balanced, but I really enjoyed it. Apparently Dagueneau declassified all of their '21 wines into this cuvee.
Click to expand...

Interesting! What with 2021 being a slimmer vintage, more promising to many palates here, one wonders about the declassification. Perhaps just a matter of yields. And if the malic excess you mention (which I wish more people did when they notice it) comes from blockage, this kind of intervention should have been less needed in a slimmer vintage. An odd combo of details, given the year.
Click to expand...

From what I was told and what I read, they declassified just because of the small yields in 2021. Apparently '21 was a very difficult harvest for the estate.

It is very angular, and the flavor tasted very tart, almost like unripe apple, which is why I described it as malic, but I'm not sure whether blocking malo was the reason it had such a sharp-elbowed profile on the palate (rather than just being a by-product of the vintage).
Click to expand...

Yes, hard to know without being present at the creation.
 
2009 schramsberg tognetti vineyard brut napa valley carneros method traditionelle, 100% chardonnay

served blind, the group hesitated re whether this is champagne or not. I was torn, and finally decided that if it were champagne it would have come from montgueux BdB land where the fruit is more exotic along the lines of ripe lemon and pineapple variety, and the chalk more subordinate. Nicely balanced and just neutral enough despite expressive fruits to cause temporary confusion. Not sure how long this would have held up but we drained it.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
I think most observers of Bordeaux felt that 66 was the second-best vintage of the 60s, though 61 was a far more successful year. However, I do think that 66 was widely overlooked in the secondary market, probably in part a reaction to the disappointment with the wines of 75 (people with too little patience, cf 86 and 96). Dale Williams and I split a mixed case of 66s that we picked up for a song from a Hart Davis Hart auction. Those Calon Segurs were the pick of the litter, even eclipsing the Cheval Blanc that came in that same case.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

A vintage that I've always thought brought an abundance of pleasure, in Bordeaus, was 1962; after '61 and '66, it was, to me, quite memorable. Softer, certainly than the other two, but long and lovely.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
A vintage that I've always thought brought an abundance of pleasure, in Bordeaus, was 1962; after '61 and '66, it was, to me, quite memorable. Softer, certainly than the other two, but long and lovely.
Click to expand...

young jayson and i drank several in february, in a hope to determine whether the 62s were disorder adjacent.
results were inconclusive, but by pure coincidence we discovered that the wines are spectacularly delicious and are drinking as well as they did 25 years ago.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
A vintage that I've always thought brought an abundance of pleasure, in Bordeaus, was 1962; after '61 and '66, it was, to me, quite memorable. Softer, certainly than the other two, but long and lovely.
Click to expand...

young jayson and i drank several in february, in a hope to determine whether the 62s were disorder adjacent.
results were inconclusive, but by pure coincidence we discovered that the wines are spectacularly delicious and are drinking as well as they did 25 years ago.
Click to expand...

Very special.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
This crew just about hates east coast ipa. To a point where I am beginning to question their taste in wine.
Click to expand...

Well I've always loosely associated IPA palates with Spoofy Wine. I think we've had more than one digression on this Board about that. Sounds like you disagree!
 
Fair enough. And I do remember those strains of argumentation. (Including ones that connected natural wine with spoof, for adhering to a monotone recipe regardless of vintage)

I was more thinking about IPAs as Big Bold Beers, so they might track with Big Bold Wines. But of course that need not be the case.
 
I had, as I have said, first heard the notion about IPA from my niece and nephew, who are lightly geeky about beer. The explanation was something about the process of making it, which I can't remember and can't say anything about, and much the feeling that it tasted like a beer like beverage more than a beer. For the couple of times a year when I drink beer, when I've had it, I like it OK, though there are many other styles I prefer including a decent lager.
 
Well I've always loosely associated IPA palates with Spoofy Wine. I think we've had more than one digression on this Board about that. Sounds like you disagree!
Click to expand...
Sensorily, imperial stouts seem like a closer analogy. Dislike of the bitterness in many IPAs might correspond to dislike for heavy oak and some tannins; but I always think of heavily spoofed wines as being ultra-smooth to the point of cloying. We may have different visions of spoof.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Well I've always loosely associated IPA palates with Spoofy Wine. I think we've had more than one digression on this Board about that. Sounds like you disagree!
Click to expand...
Sensorily, imperial stouts seem like a closer analogy. Dislike of the bitterness in many IPAs might correspond to dislike for heavy oak and some tannins; but I always think of heavily spoofed wines as being ultra-smooth to the point of cloying. We may have different visions of spoof.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the word 'spoof' is not really the point, it's more about the Big Bold flavors. (At least for me)

I don't find IPAs all that bitter. They tend to have such bold and sweet-verging profiles and make me think of toasty oak and smooth tannins. Plus they tend to be so boozy. Napa all the way.

A proper English bitter is another story, the Loire of the beer world...
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Well I've always loosely associated IPA palates with Spoofy Wine. I think we've had more than one digression on this Board about that. Sounds like you disagree!
Click to expand...
Sensorily, imperial stouts seem like a closer analogy. Dislike of the bitterness in many IPAs might correspond to dislike for heavy oak and some tannins; but I always think of heavily spoofed wines as being ultra-smooth to the point of cloying. We may have different visions of spoof.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the word 'spoof' is not really the point, it's more about the Big Bold flavors. (At least for me)

I don't find IPAs all that bitter. They tend to have such bold and sweet-verging profiles and make me think of toasty oak and smooth tannins. Plus they tend to be so boozy. Napa all the way.

A proper English bitter is another story, the Loire of the beer world...
Click to expand...

Try Loirette from the Loire if you haven't. Brewed in Nantes I believe., If handled correctly one of the better ales I've ever had.
For me., IPAs are spoof. Something heavily manipulated to appeal to a certain palate
 
Once upon a time there was a reason for IPAs. That time is gone. The stuff that's made now is total spoof: at best, a show-off ale for the brewer, but usually just an excuse to make something laughably bitter and piney.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top