Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don + Melissa, Eden + Scott, Jay, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Don and Seth pouring. They both have concept flights so here we go.
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Don's Flight
The concept has settled during shipping so we drink the bottles in label order 1-3-2-4:
Francois Chidaine NV Brut Methode Traditionnelle, Montlouis sur Loire - 12%, lot # LMMX160307, our first fizzy wine, Don has cleverly applied teflon tape to the bottle neck to retain the gas as much as possible and it is still gently fizzy when we pour; so we all can tell that it's chenin and it would be very easy to suggest that Don sent some Huet fizz around but Jay quickly guesses "Montlouis" (and is correct!), we ask him how he can tell Montlouis fizz from Vouvray fizz: there is more chalk, less fruit, and the bubbles are coarser. We're all just impressed af and Don does the reveal.
Francois Chidaine 2007 Montlouis sur Loire "Les Bournais" - "Silky, racy, spicy" -Eden. "'Glossy' is a good descriptor" -Lisa. "Lemon custard" -Victor. "That's got zip" -Don. Not only does it have zip, it's also got some serious oomph in the midpalate, structured and sturdy, dry. My best guess is Jasnieres but no. Jay is once again on it: "2007" (yes). Someone guesses that it's Foreau, and Jay says no, no, it's only 15 years old, not four-oh. Ba-dum ching.
Day 2: chenin in a sturdy (limestone) vein, structured (the fruit is still knitted-up), consistently strong all through the palate, it's love but it's tough love
Domaine Huet 2007 Vouvray Franc de Pied "Le Haut Lieu" - darker gold color than the other two, oxidized, maybe older, sweeter, Scott says bruised apples (which I take to compass sound fruit but also a bit of sourness from spoilage), definitely chenin, and I suddenly put the pieces together: "2007" (yes), and Seth calls "Huet" (yes).
Day 2: nose has shut down, almost can't detect it at all; the palate is still there, still a bit more oxidized than I like (I have a Brad Kane sentiment here, though: the oxy would be easier to take if the wine were sweeter...), honestly eh
It's really a shame that franc de pied wines are essentially limited to being young-vines cuvees.
Francois Chidaine 2007 Montlouis sur Loire "Les Tuffeaux" - what a nose! this is an OMG bouquet, a wisp of Juicy-Fruit gum flitting around a mist of orange blossom water and ginger and the usual pit-fruity chenin nose (Scott and Eden are identifying apple types); the palate is about the same retro-nasally but texture is silky-slight rather than forceful, terrific wine, we all call it 2007 from Chidaine, "a meal on its own" -Victor and Eden
Day 2: brighter, offers more apricot-quince fruit and also a lingering, offsetting bitterness, I really missed-out by drinking these young, this has years to go
And the pattern really is... all these wines are from the same case! During the early years of the Real Wine Attack, various Loire makers stayed over at Don + Melissa's place and cases of wine would show up afterward as a thank you.
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Seth's Flight
The concept here was motivated by a comment made last time (gak, really, seven households natter on for nearly 2 hours, could be anything...). We do orange + pink as a duo, then blue + green:
-orange- OMG what an incredible bouquet comes out of my glass! "Glorious" -Jay. Reads to me like cab franc, and I realize I say that a lot, but this starts with a bit of smoke that resolves into dark berries and green herbs, whereas "Everything says 'South of France' to me" -Don
(Nota Bene: Google says that the estate is actually planted to 3% cab franc and, as those vines die, they are being replaced with cab sauv.)
-pink- The nose is sweeter and there is a tiny but distinctive note of buttered popcorn (not just me, everyone gets it). Victor is kinda dismissive of the wine but Melissa is inspired, "-Pink- is like a leg of lamb while -orange- is like a steak". A couple of us wonder if this is syrah?
-blue- "Pure deliciousness" -Don, this is rather tannic with not much fruit showing, clearly older or middle-aged Bordeaux, we struggle to place it and kinda end up in Graves, not because it's such a good fit, but everything else fits worse.
-green- Cut from the exact same cloth as -blue-, just a bit younger.
And therein lies the question at the heart of the flight's concept: is this house stylistically consistent across vintages or has there been a break along the way? (Google says the family that owned the estate since 1955 sold it to an American banker in 1998. Oenologist also changed several times, Peynaud-Gayon-Dubordieu and, in 2004, Delmas, of Haut-Brion fame.)
Day 2:
-orange- still a picture-perfect young Bordeaux; it's a little tingly, which might be acids or might be alky, not sure; tannins still grab at my jowls a bit; interesting by itself but this would sing at the table
-pink- a little funky, a little sweet, nose kinda pinot-ish rather than cab-ish, acidity is out-of-joint, hides the breeding
-blue- the tannins have yielded, mid-palate is falling through, the wine now emphasizes its acids and what had previously been its 'color commentary' funk, better yesterday
-green- in better balance then blue now, still the fruit comes shrouded in clingy tannins, good stuff
The reveal: Ch. Haut-Bailly Graves vertical: 1990 (blue), 1995 (green), 2005 (orange), 2015 (pink)
I've got enough for Day 9 (sat) or 10 (sun).
--
As always, wonderful to see everyone and share some wines.
Don and Seth pouring. They both have concept flights so here we go.
--
Don's Flight
The concept has settled during shipping so we drink the bottles in label order 1-3-2-4:
Francois Chidaine NV Brut Methode Traditionnelle, Montlouis sur Loire - 12%, lot # LMMX160307, our first fizzy wine, Don has cleverly applied teflon tape to the bottle neck to retain the gas as much as possible and it is still gently fizzy when we pour; so we all can tell that it's chenin and it would be very easy to suggest that Don sent some Huet fizz around but Jay quickly guesses "Montlouis" (and is correct!), we ask him how he can tell Montlouis fizz from Vouvray fizz: there is more chalk, less fruit, and the bubbles are coarser. We're all just impressed af and Don does the reveal.
Francois Chidaine 2007 Montlouis sur Loire "Les Bournais" - "Silky, racy, spicy" -Eden. "'Glossy' is a good descriptor" -Lisa. "Lemon custard" -Victor. "That's got zip" -Don. Not only does it have zip, it's also got some serious oomph in the midpalate, structured and sturdy, dry. My best guess is Jasnieres but no. Jay is once again on it: "2007" (yes). Someone guesses that it's Foreau, and Jay says no, no, it's only 15 years old, not four-oh. Ba-dum ching.
Day 2: chenin in a sturdy (limestone) vein, structured (the fruit is still knitted-up), consistently strong all through the palate, it's love but it's tough love
Domaine Huet 2007 Vouvray Franc de Pied "Le Haut Lieu" - darker gold color than the other two, oxidized, maybe older, sweeter, Scott says bruised apples (which I take to compass sound fruit but also a bit of sourness from spoilage), definitely chenin, and I suddenly put the pieces together: "2007" (yes), and Seth calls "Huet" (yes).
Day 2: nose has shut down, almost can't detect it at all; the palate is still there, still a bit more oxidized than I like (I have a Brad Kane sentiment here, though: the oxy would be easier to take if the wine were sweeter...), honestly eh
It's really a shame that franc de pied wines are essentially limited to being young-vines cuvees.
Francois Chidaine 2007 Montlouis sur Loire "Les Tuffeaux" - what a nose! this is an OMG bouquet, a wisp of Juicy-Fruit gum flitting around a mist of orange blossom water and ginger and the usual pit-fruity chenin nose (Scott and Eden are identifying apple types); the palate is about the same retro-nasally but texture is silky-slight rather than forceful, terrific wine, we all call it 2007 from Chidaine, "a meal on its own" -Victor and Eden
Day 2: brighter, offers more apricot-quince fruit and also a lingering, offsetting bitterness, I really missed-out by drinking these young, this has years to go
And the pattern really is... all these wines are from the same case! During the early years of the Real Wine Attack, various Loire makers stayed over at Don + Melissa's place and cases of wine would show up afterward as a thank you.
--
Seth's Flight
The concept here was motivated by a comment made last time (gak, really, seven households natter on for nearly 2 hours, could be anything...). We do orange + pink as a duo, then blue + green:
-orange- OMG what an incredible bouquet comes out of my glass! "Glorious" -Jay. Reads to me like cab franc, and I realize I say that a lot, but this starts with a bit of smoke that resolves into dark berries and green herbs, whereas "Everything says 'South of France' to me" -Don
(Nota Bene: Google says that the estate is actually planted to 3% cab franc and, as those vines die, they are being replaced with cab sauv.)
-pink- The nose is sweeter and there is a tiny but distinctive note of buttered popcorn (not just me, everyone gets it). Victor is kinda dismissive of the wine but Melissa is inspired, "-Pink- is like a leg of lamb while -orange- is like a steak". A couple of us wonder if this is syrah?
-blue- "Pure deliciousness" -Don, this is rather tannic with not much fruit showing, clearly older or middle-aged Bordeaux, we struggle to place it and kinda end up in Graves, not because it's such a good fit, but everything else fits worse.
-green- Cut from the exact same cloth as -blue-, just a bit younger.
And therein lies the question at the heart of the flight's concept: is this house stylistically consistent across vintages or has there been a break along the way? (Google says the family that owned the estate since 1955 sold it to an American banker in 1998. Oenologist also changed several times, Peynaud-Gayon-Dubordieu and, in 2004, Delmas, of Haut-Brion fame.)
Day 2:
-orange- still a picture-perfect young Bordeaux; it's a little tingly, which might be acids or might be alky, not sure; tannins still grab at my jowls a bit; interesting by itself but this would sing at the table
-pink- a little funky, a little sweet, nose kinda pinot-ish rather than cab-ish, acidity is out-of-joint, hides the breeding
-blue- the tannins have yielded, mid-palate is falling through, the wine now emphasizes its acids and what had previously been its 'color commentary' funk, better yesterday
-green- in better balance then blue now, still the fruit comes shrouded in clingy tannins, good stuff
The reveal: Ch. Haut-Bailly Graves vertical: 1990 (blue), 1995 (green), 2005 (orange), 2015 (pink)
I've got enough for Day 9 (sat) or 10 (sun).
--
As always, wonderful to see everyone and share some wines.
