Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don + Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Jay and Lisa pouring.
Whites, whites, whites, always start with the dry whites:
LABEL J1: Dom. Rollin 2019 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Sous Fretille" - I guess Chablis but it is merely White Burgundy (sigh). We all note a little alcoholic heat right away. Jay checks the bottle and, indeed, it says 14.5% (ouch). I take the opportunity to claim that it is from a recent vintage, "within the past 7 years" (yes). At this point, Jayson reflects upon Jay's well-known preferences and guesses, "Rollin Fretille". Bravo! That aside, it is a well-made wine, Jayson calls a hint of "sweet pipe tobacco" in the nose, but I get a more floral, face-powder scent.
=> Day 4: this is very savory, dry, tactile but not luxuriant, palate something like brown butter and lemon (mild on both counts), decent length on the finish
RED DOT: Garage Clark-Scott 2001 Chenin Blanc "Acorn" - DRINK AT YOUR OWN RISK, says the Red Dot on the label. A white wine, well, maybe an orange wine: cloudy, funky, delicately fruity nose that has a touch of sweetness in it. The palate, ahem, is tart... rather tart... thin and sour and also strongly herbal, like rosemary but not so obvious as that. Hm. After guessing very old romarantin we inquire if this is chenin (yes). No obvious alky (11%) and I get the year right on one try. Eventually, Jayson guesses that this is Andrew & Jen's first wine, made from California fruit they bought while they still lived in Metuchen. Bravo! OTH, obviously, I assume it did not taste like this 20 years ago. Don wonders aloud about what did they learn from this wine that encouraged them to move upstate and found Eminence Road? In email, the reply: "Never give up."
=> Day 4: oh, dear.
Now, two together because these are the same wine from different years:
LABEL J2: Ch. La Dominique 1979 St. Emilion - This is fruity-flowery with citrus and menthol. Italian? (no). Aqua Velva? (no). Seth asserts that this is an older Bordeaux and very lean on the palate (yes). We chase the vintage down to the decade but we need the reveal.
=> Day 4: this has held up very well, gently declining but textbook Bordeaux flavors - black currant, tobacco, leather, a dash of green peppers, a dash of black pepper, a dash of orange peel.
LABEL J3: Ch. La Dominique 1978 St. Emilion - This smells much more like Bordeaux, with tobacco and leather and dark red fruit. But lightly corked (the dank basement type, not the wet socks type). If you swirl you can cover it up but it you let the glass sit then the stink returns; and the finish is clipped, too. Both wines are remarkably dark and vigorous for 40-year-old merlot.
=> Day 4: still stricter, chewier, more tobacco-y than its sib, still corked
More redness:
YELLOW DOT: Turley 1993 Petite Sirah "Aida Vineyard" - PROCEED WITH CAUTION, says the Yellow Dot. Very dark wine, lots of material in the nose, lots of legs in the glass. Jay guesses California (yes), Ridge (no), Turley (yes), and that rings the bell in my head, and I call it out, year, grape, and vineyard. I was once enamored of this wine, long ago, and I am really happy to have a chance to see how it has aged. There's good news and there's bad news... The bad news is that the wine is made of petite sirah, which doesn't really age so much as it endures; Don speculates that it will taste the same in 20 more years as it does tonight. The good news is that, although simple, it is enjoyable, works well with substantial foods (Jay is eating beef stew, I'm eating emmenthaler), and is very good in a modest way.
=> Day 4: this is a really dark, well-balanced, generic red wine (but not generic from being old... it's genetic generic), on nobody's Top Picks list but I'll finish it
LABEL J4: Dom. Rollin 2018 Pernand-Vergelesses "Les Vergelesses" - Everyone immediately mentions the sweetness in the mid-palate; it almost drives the wine out of the savory category; so another young wine. Again, I ask Italy? (no), Don asks France? (yes). There are a lot of very fine but very grippy tannins, almost gluing my mouth shut. Jayson, by now, has triangulated on Jay's prefs but still has to first ask Burgundy? (yes) and then it's obviously one of the Rollin PV bottlings. Whew, maybe I'm out of practice with recent Burgundy vintages but this did not ring my Burgundy bell at all.
=> Day 4: good acidity, not too ripe, cran and redberry, some good pale earth, the finish makes me think of Burgundy but not until then
GREEN DOT: Ch. Faugeres 1998 St. Emilion - APPROACH WITH CONFIDENCE, says the Green Dot. "Cherries in the nose" -Jay. "Bordeaux" -Jayson. "This wine couldn't get out of a dark alley without being identified as Bordeaux!" -Lisa. Very fresh and floral, this is scrumptious. Lisa says it is a perennial over-achiever. We chase it back to St. Emilion but can't name the house. 13%.
=> Day 4: Just keeps on over-achieving in my glass. Ye Gods, what prongs!
One excellent sweetie:
LABEL J5: Muller-Catoir 1998 Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese - Immediately, there is botrytis and there is orange rind, lots of it. "Tangerine, almost" -Melissa. The acidity is sturdy but not obtrusive, the wine is delicate in texture, intensely flavored but not heavy or shouty. There is a teeny hit of citrus pith in the finish and that turns out to be a clue that all this orange-ness was once grapefruit-ness, and we are drinking scheurebe from the master's hand.
=> Day 4: you must be joking, this did not make it to Day 4, we drank this right away (and now I'm scouring my storage list for any old scheurebe I might have...)
Jay and Lisa pouring.
Whites, whites, whites, always start with the dry whites:
LABEL J1: Dom. Rollin 2019 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er "Sous Fretille" - I guess Chablis but it is merely White Burgundy (sigh). We all note a little alcoholic heat right away. Jay checks the bottle and, indeed, it says 14.5% (ouch). I take the opportunity to claim that it is from a recent vintage, "within the past 7 years" (yes). At this point, Jayson reflects upon Jay's well-known preferences and guesses, "Rollin Fretille". Bravo! That aside, it is a well-made wine, Jayson calls a hint of "sweet pipe tobacco" in the nose, but I get a more floral, face-powder scent.
=> Day 4: this is very savory, dry, tactile but not luxuriant, palate something like brown butter and lemon (mild on both counts), decent length on the finish
RED DOT: Garage Clark-Scott 2001 Chenin Blanc "Acorn" - DRINK AT YOUR OWN RISK, says the Red Dot on the label. A white wine, well, maybe an orange wine: cloudy, funky, delicately fruity nose that has a touch of sweetness in it. The palate, ahem, is tart... rather tart... thin and sour and also strongly herbal, like rosemary but not so obvious as that. Hm. After guessing very old romarantin we inquire if this is chenin (yes). No obvious alky (11%) and I get the year right on one try. Eventually, Jayson guesses that this is Andrew & Jen's first wine, made from California fruit they bought while they still lived in Metuchen. Bravo! OTH, obviously, I assume it did not taste like this 20 years ago. Don wonders aloud about what did they learn from this wine that encouraged them to move upstate and found Eminence Road? In email, the reply: "Never give up."
=> Day 4: oh, dear.
Now, two together because these are the same wine from different years:
LABEL J2: Ch. La Dominique 1979 St. Emilion - This is fruity-flowery with citrus and menthol. Italian? (no). Aqua Velva? (no). Seth asserts that this is an older Bordeaux and very lean on the palate (yes). We chase the vintage down to the decade but we need the reveal.
=> Day 4: this has held up very well, gently declining but textbook Bordeaux flavors - black currant, tobacco, leather, a dash of green peppers, a dash of black pepper, a dash of orange peel.
LABEL J3: Ch. La Dominique 1978 St. Emilion - This smells much more like Bordeaux, with tobacco and leather and dark red fruit. But lightly corked (the dank basement type, not the wet socks type). If you swirl you can cover it up but it you let the glass sit then the stink returns; and the finish is clipped, too. Both wines are remarkably dark and vigorous for 40-year-old merlot.
=> Day 4: still stricter, chewier, more tobacco-y than its sib, still corked
More redness:
YELLOW DOT: Turley 1993 Petite Sirah "Aida Vineyard" - PROCEED WITH CAUTION, says the Yellow Dot. Very dark wine, lots of material in the nose, lots of legs in the glass. Jay guesses California (yes), Ridge (no), Turley (yes), and that rings the bell in my head, and I call it out, year, grape, and vineyard. I was once enamored of this wine, long ago, and I am really happy to have a chance to see how it has aged. There's good news and there's bad news... The bad news is that the wine is made of petite sirah, which doesn't really age so much as it endures; Don speculates that it will taste the same in 20 more years as it does tonight. The good news is that, although simple, it is enjoyable, works well with substantial foods (Jay is eating beef stew, I'm eating emmenthaler), and is very good in a modest way.
=> Day 4: this is a really dark, well-balanced, generic red wine (but not generic from being old... it's genetic generic), on nobody's Top Picks list but I'll finish it
LABEL J4: Dom. Rollin 2018 Pernand-Vergelesses "Les Vergelesses" - Everyone immediately mentions the sweetness in the mid-palate; it almost drives the wine out of the savory category; so another young wine. Again, I ask Italy? (no), Don asks France? (yes). There are a lot of very fine but very grippy tannins, almost gluing my mouth shut. Jayson, by now, has triangulated on Jay's prefs but still has to first ask Burgundy? (yes) and then it's obviously one of the Rollin PV bottlings. Whew, maybe I'm out of practice with recent Burgundy vintages but this did not ring my Burgundy bell at all.
=> Day 4: good acidity, not too ripe, cran and redberry, some good pale earth, the finish makes me think of Burgundy but not until then
GREEN DOT: Ch. Faugeres 1998 St. Emilion - APPROACH WITH CONFIDENCE, says the Green Dot. "Cherries in the nose" -Jay. "Bordeaux" -Jayson. "This wine couldn't get out of a dark alley without being identified as Bordeaux!" -Lisa. Very fresh and floral, this is scrumptious. Lisa says it is a perennial over-achiever. We chase it back to St. Emilion but can't name the house. 13%.
=> Day 4: Just keeps on over-achieving in my glass. Ye Gods, what prongs!
One excellent sweetie:
LABEL J5: Muller-Catoir 1998 Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese - Immediately, there is botrytis and there is orange rind, lots of it. "Tangerine, almost" -Melissa. The acidity is sturdy but not obtrusive, the wine is delicate in texture, intensely flavored but not heavy or shouty. There is a teeny hit of citrus pith in the finish and that turns out to be a clue that all this orange-ness was once grapefruit-ness, and we are drinking scheurebe from the master's hand.
=> Day 4: you must be joking, this did not make it to Day 4, we drank this right away (and now I'm scouring my storage list for any old scheurebe I might have...)