Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don + Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Victor and Jeff pouring. We decide that mine will go first because Victor's wines are all older.
Jeff's flight
Carissimi Ubriachi e Reprobi Signore e Signori: Stasera beviamo 'vini rossi'. Il buon vino non sempre segue la legge (...delle etichette).
The answer is Vino Rosso, and, most of the time, actually "Vino Rosso". The questions:
Wine #1 - It says 'IGT' but that's just a fig leaf (grape leaf?) to cover-up that the winemaker did not adhere to applicable laws regarding the wine. This is vino rosso, if not a particularly dark shade of red. The winemaker writes, "It is bitter, bloody and elegant.... It is the wine that most resembles me, brave, original and rebellious.... It has peasant origins...."
Occhipinti 2015 IGT "Il Frappato" - 13%, Dressner label; tasted in the morning: incredibly tannic, I don't recall this wine being so rustic!; tasted in the evening: rather a dark red, the tannins have adjusted themselves a bit, "Very bright" -Jayson, "Smells earthy but tastes fruity" -Don, it took folks several guesses to name Sicily as the wine's origin and I can see why: unlike a terrific, Burgundian bottle of the 2009 (at age 12) this bottle (at age 7) seems more born of Tuscany with darker-tone fruit.
Wine #2 - The winemaker simply decided not to deal with all the forms and the fees so the heck with it. The label has his grandfather's name on it and it also says 'vino rosso' so what more do you need? An Italian 'garage wine', about 1000 bottles made.
Bricco Ernesto 2018 Vino Rosso (Roero) - 15%, Chambers St label, nebbiolo; tasted in the morning: good fruit awash in loads of very fine tannins; tasted in the evening: "electric color" -Jayson, "a little hot" -Melissa, after groping for the right word to describe its funk... "animale" -Jay, "under-structured so shows the alcohol" -Seth, with air the palate shifts towards sweet red candies which confuses everyone, e.g., the crew first guesses freisa; overall, not too popular tonight
Wine #3 - In 2005, the winemaker really tried to get all the paperwork done but missed the deadline. They sold the wine as 'vino rosso' and gave it a vanity name that hints at what it was (though, the hint does not include that it is a riserva). From the Dardi region of the Bussia cru, north of Monforte. Vines planted in the late 1940s. Yes, they do this every year now.
Fantino, Alessandro & Gian Natale 2013 Vino Rosso "Laboro Disobedient" - 14%, Kermit Lynch label, decanted the night before; tasted in the morning: the most friendly wine, also tannic; tasted in the evening: immediately, "salty" -Melissa, "tar" -Don, this wine shows excellent balance, excellent liveliness, a little grapey still but that suits its mid-heavy weight frame very well, and works at the table very well; it receives the best possible compliment: several people buy it online right after the call
Wine #4 - Finally, a bottle with a DOCG on it. Of course, the family lived here for generations before the law went into effect. From the Breclama hillside. 100% nebbiolo because they bottle their vespaolina separately!
Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo 2010 Ghemme "Breclemae" - 13.5%, Polaner label, decanted the night before; tasted in the morning: iron and earth, stern, tannic; tasted in the evening: "mint or eucalyptus" -Don, "hint of licorice in the nose and then again in the finish" -Jayson, the wine hasn't budged, still lots of iron and earth and still stiff, the finish is long and that augurs well but let this one sleep some more
And, a few hour later, swigging the last drops:
Frappato - deteriorating, overly rustic
Ernesto - nebbiolo nature finally subduing the candied thing
Laboro - intoxicating, fruit and very subtle asphalt
Breclamae - stern still but blue-black fruit starting to show, come back in 10
.
Victor's flight
Also, all reds. Probably all Bordeaux. Definitely an evening for bread, cheese, and steak on the table.
Wine #1 - Smoky!, "burned toast" -Melissa, leathery, mid-weight, dark berries going mostly tertiary but not quite there yet, "got this carob-soy thing going on" -Seth, this is a really attractive glass of Bordeaux, it did take us a while to locate it into Graves, though, which is funny because we have a number of Graves fans here, "elegant and nuanced and resolved" -Jayson, I think this was the flight favorite: Ch. Haut-Bailly 1979 Graves
Wine #2 - Prominently funky nose, "black tea" -Melissa, similar to Wine #1 but there is more red-fruit here than in the Haut-Bailly and more depth but the bottle is slightly off; I finished mine but a couple folks kept it until the next day and they said it improved (a little or a lot depends on who you ask, however): Ch. Haut-Brion 1979 Graves
Wine #3 - This is more interesting, though not more luxurious, somewhat better acidity, fruit of a cranberry tone, good minerality, "spicy!" -Jay; later, Victor says it showed a citrus note in the finish and Jayson said it still shows a little burly: Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1978 Pauillac
Wine #4 - This smells so good, Jay quickly asks, "You didn't pour Latour for us, did you?" Well, yes, he did. It is indeed darker; bigger, richer, and fuller than the GPL but it is not really open for business tonight; "intense and saline" -Jayson, "drinkable but dense and backward" -Victor, "a beast!" -Jayson: Ch. Latour 1978 Pauillac
As always, wonderful to see everyone and share some wines.
Victor and Jeff pouring. We decide that mine will go first because Victor's wines are all older.
Jeff's flight
Carissimi Ubriachi e Reprobi Signore e Signori: Stasera beviamo 'vini rossi'. Il buon vino non sempre segue la legge (...delle etichette).
The answer is Vino Rosso, and, most of the time, actually "Vino Rosso". The questions:
Wine #1 - It says 'IGT' but that's just a fig leaf (grape leaf?) to cover-up that the winemaker did not adhere to applicable laws regarding the wine. This is vino rosso, if not a particularly dark shade of red. The winemaker writes, "It is bitter, bloody and elegant.... It is the wine that most resembles me, brave, original and rebellious.... It has peasant origins...."
Occhipinti 2015 IGT "Il Frappato" - 13%, Dressner label; tasted in the morning: incredibly tannic, I don't recall this wine being so rustic!; tasted in the evening: rather a dark red, the tannins have adjusted themselves a bit, "Very bright" -Jayson, "Smells earthy but tastes fruity" -Don, it took folks several guesses to name Sicily as the wine's origin and I can see why: unlike a terrific, Burgundian bottle of the 2009 (at age 12) this bottle (at age 7) seems more born of Tuscany with darker-tone fruit.
Wine #2 - The winemaker simply decided not to deal with all the forms and the fees so the heck with it. The label has his grandfather's name on it and it also says 'vino rosso' so what more do you need? An Italian 'garage wine', about 1000 bottles made.
Bricco Ernesto 2018 Vino Rosso (Roero) - 15%, Chambers St label, nebbiolo; tasted in the morning: good fruit awash in loads of very fine tannins; tasted in the evening: "electric color" -Jayson, "a little hot" -Melissa, after groping for the right word to describe its funk... "animale" -Jay, "under-structured so shows the alcohol" -Seth, with air the palate shifts towards sweet red candies which confuses everyone, e.g., the crew first guesses freisa; overall, not too popular tonight
Wine #3 - In 2005, the winemaker really tried to get all the paperwork done but missed the deadline. They sold the wine as 'vino rosso' and gave it a vanity name that hints at what it was (though, the hint does not include that it is a riserva). From the Dardi region of the Bussia cru, north of Monforte. Vines planted in the late 1940s. Yes, they do this every year now.
Fantino, Alessandro & Gian Natale 2013 Vino Rosso "Laboro Disobedient" - 14%, Kermit Lynch label, decanted the night before; tasted in the morning: the most friendly wine, also tannic; tasted in the evening: immediately, "salty" -Melissa, "tar" -Don, this wine shows excellent balance, excellent liveliness, a little grapey still but that suits its mid-heavy weight frame very well, and works at the table very well; it receives the best possible compliment: several people buy it online right after the call
Wine #4 - Finally, a bottle with a DOCG on it. Of course, the family lived here for generations before the law went into effect. From the Breclama hillside. 100% nebbiolo because they bottle their vespaolina separately!
Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo 2010 Ghemme "Breclemae" - 13.5%, Polaner label, decanted the night before; tasted in the morning: iron and earth, stern, tannic; tasted in the evening: "mint or eucalyptus" -Don, "hint of licorice in the nose and then again in the finish" -Jayson, the wine hasn't budged, still lots of iron and earth and still stiff, the finish is long and that augurs well but let this one sleep some more
And, a few hour later, swigging the last drops:
Frappato - deteriorating, overly rustic
Ernesto - nebbiolo nature finally subduing the candied thing
Laboro - intoxicating, fruit and very subtle asphalt
Breclamae - stern still but blue-black fruit starting to show, come back in 10
Victor's flight
Also, all reds. Probably all Bordeaux. Definitely an evening for bread, cheese, and steak on the table.
Wine #1 - Smoky!, "burned toast" -Melissa, leathery, mid-weight, dark berries going mostly tertiary but not quite there yet, "got this carob-soy thing going on" -Seth, this is a really attractive glass of Bordeaux, it did take us a while to locate it into Graves, though, which is funny because we have a number of Graves fans here, "elegant and nuanced and resolved" -Jayson, I think this was the flight favorite: Ch. Haut-Bailly 1979 Graves
Wine #2 - Prominently funky nose, "black tea" -Melissa, similar to Wine #1 but there is more red-fruit here than in the Haut-Bailly and more depth but the bottle is slightly off; I finished mine but a couple folks kept it until the next day and they said it improved (a little or a lot depends on who you ask, however): Ch. Haut-Brion 1979 Graves
Wine #3 - This is more interesting, though not more luxurious, somewhat better acidity, fruit of a cranberry tone, good minerality, "spicy!" -Jay; later, Victor says it showed a citrus note in the finish and Jayson said it still shows a little burly: Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1978 Pauillac
Wine #4 - This smells so good, Jay quickly asks, "You didn't pour Latour for us, did you?" Well, yes, he did. It is indeed darker; bigger, richer, and fuller than the GPL but it is not really open for business tonight; "intense and saline" -Jayson, "drinkable but dense and backward" -Victor, "a beast!" -Jayson: Ch. Latour 1978 Pauillac