Wine impressions 1-18-23

[Florida Jim]

Wine impressions 1-18-23

2020 Misco, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi - took a few moments to open up and then showed concentration with yellow fruit, some stone and a touch of resinous citrus; medium body with good sustain. Enjoyed over about an hour with food and it changed a little here and there - nicely so.
Very good.

2021 Rocca Felice, Gavi di Gavi - medium body, good texture, slightly muddy flavors and some complexity. I’m not sure if it’s this particular wine or my personal distain for this grape but not something I’ll buy again.
Fair.

N/V Guy Larmandier, Champagne Cramant Grand Cru Brut - this bottle was crazy good. The essence of bone dry Blancs de Blancs, with an energetic bead, fresh fruit and mineral aromas and savory, saline complexity that finished long. I’ve had several bottles of this recently and this one was head and shoulders the best.
Superb!

2016 Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Etna Rosso - well integrated, good grip, almost delicate red fruit flavors with accents of soil and sage. Several years in bottle has made a nice difference.
Very good.

2019 Tenuta di Renieri, Chianti Classico - firm and concentrated but delicious. Good cut, some complexity even in its youth, balanced and a complete wine albeit young. A year or two in bottle may see this more open.
Very good.

2021 Tornatore, Etna Bianco - Carricante from the volcano; much complexity on both the nose and palate, a bit of Albariño type tang and lovely textures but the complexity is what drives it. One of the most intellectually stimulating yet still utterly delicious whites I’ve had in a while.
Excellent.

2021 Louis Claude Desvignes, Morgon Javernieres - if you want to know what “textbook” is for this vineyard, taste this wine.
“Complex aromatics of sandalwood, raspberry, rose petals and granite. It is crisp and detailed but has mid-palate flesh. Minerally structure underpins and it has tart berry crunch. Delicious stuff!” (This quote is the description by Jeremy Holmes and I don’t think it can be improved upon.)
On day two: slightly more integrated and still wonderful.
Excellent.

2020 Pieropan, Soave Calvarino - 70% Garganega and 30% Trebbiano served at cool room temp.; the honeyed richness of the front line bottling but the acidity and freshness that only this vineyard brings. Raised in glass-lined cement, the acidity is just short of effervescent but so well integrated that the wine becomes more than the sum of its parts.
I have read the CellarTracker notes and I can not believe those folks had this wine. IMO, a great wine and, with aging, a chance to be as good a Soave as ever made.
Iconic!

Best, Jim

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Lo! See it there! Notes! Notes! Notes! There are notes posted in this thread!

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Desvignes seems to make at least three Javernières: Py, aux Pierres and Impénitents. Which was this?

 

[Florida Jim]

Cote du Py.
But it is only identified as such on the back label; the front is simply Javernieres.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Florida Jim:
Cote du Py.
But it is only identified as such on the back label; the front is simply Javernieres.

Gotcha. I guess Javernières counts for more.

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Florida Jim:


2021 Louis Claude Desvignes, Morgon Javernieres - if you want to know what “textbook” is for this vineyard, taste this wine.
“Complex aromatics of sandalwood, raspberry, rose petals and granite. It is crisp and detailed but has mid-palate flesh. Minerally structure underpins and it has tart berry crunch. Delicious stuff!” (This quote is the description by Jeremy Holmes and I don’t think it can be improved upon.)
On day two: slightly more integrated and still wonderful.
Excellent.

So many good reports about the freshness of '21 in multiple regions, including Beaujolais. Which is nice. But as always, too much wine, too little time!

 

[VLM]

originally posted by Rahsaan:

originally posted by Florida Jim:


2021 Louis Claude Desvignes, Morgon Javernieres - if you want to know what “textbook” is for this vineyard, taste this wine.
“Complex aromatics of sandalwood, raspberry, rose petals and granite. It is crisp and detailed but has mid-palate flesh. Minerally structure underpins and it has tart berry crunch. Delicious stuff!” (This quote is the description by Jeremy Holmes and I don’t think it can be improved upon.)
On day two: slightly more integrated and still wonderful.
Excellent.

So many good reports about the freshness of '21 in multiple regions, including Beaujolais. Which is nice. But as always, too much wine, too little time!

When we were there over the summer the comparison with 2020 was very distinct. From what I tried, 2021 is what I'm looking for in Beaujolais.

 

[Florida Jim]

originally posted by VLM:

originally posted by Rahsaan:

originally posted by Florida Jim:


2021 Louis Claude Desvignes, Morgon Javernieres - if you want to know what “textbook” is for this vineyard, taste this wine.
“Complex aromatics of sandalwood, raspberry, rose petals and granite. It is crisp and detailed but has mid-palate flesh. Minerally structure underpins and it has tart berry crunch. Delicious stuff!” (This quote is the description by Jeremy Holmes and I don’t think it can be improved upon.)
On day two: slightly more integrated and still wonderful.
Excellent.

So many good reports about the freshness of '21 in multiple regions, including Beaujolais. Which is nice. But as always, too much wine, too little time!

When we were there over the summer the comparison with 2020 was very distinct. From what I tried, 2021 is what I'm looking for in Beaujolais.

Perhaps, more varied in ‘21 than ‘20?
But, from what I’ve tasted, Desvignes may be the class of a mixed field.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Desvignes seems to make at least three Javernières: Py, aux Pierres and Impénitents. Which was this?

the other way around - Javernieres is a part of Cote du Py

however the decreasingly pedantic disorderly mindset has long considered them separate entities, with fairly distict dirt

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Desvignes seems to make at least three Javernières: Py, aux Pierres and Impénitents. Which was this?

the other way around - Javernieres is a part of Cote du Py

however the decreasingly pedantic disorderly mindset has long considered them separate entities, with fairly distict dirt

Ah, thanks for the course correction. Took a look at the back labels of the aux Pierres and Impénitents and both say "Climat Côte du Py".

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Here is a very nice map of Morgon, hosted online by the nice people at Quintessential Wines.

Note that this is the simplified version!

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Here is a very nice map of Morgon, hosted online by the nice people at Quintessential Wines.

Note that this is the simplified version!

Cool! It's interesting to note that Cotes du Py and Javernieres are on very different soils than the rest of Morgon, Corcelette included.

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Fascinating! Though I expect that most (if not all) of us believe that soil types affect the flavor of wine, I can never help remembering Joe D saying that the pathways through which this might happen have yet to be identified. This was more than ten years ago, so perhaps they have by now.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Fascinating! Though I expect that most (if not all) of us believe that soil types affect the flavor of wine, I can never help remembering Joe D saying that the pathways through which this might happen have yet to be identified. This was more than ten years ago, so perhaps they have by now.

I don't have references handy but I recall reading that the soil type affects the grapes in two ways: ::1:: different soils encourage different biomes which affects what lands on / gets embedded in the grape skins, and ::2:: different soils have different dissolved minerals and different levels of ions, both of which modulate uptake by root hairs.

This interesting article is aimed at home wine-makers and how to purchase grapes, but anyway makes passing mention of the real chemistry about 2/3 of the way down.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Fascinating! Though I expect that most (if not all) of us believe that soil types affect the flavor of wine, I can never help remembering Joe D saying that the pathways through which this might happen have yet to be identified. This was more than ten years ago, so perhaps they have by now.

I don't have references handy but I recall reading that the soil type affects the grapes in two ways: ::1:: different soils encourage different biomes which affects what lands on / gets embedded in the grape skins, and ::2:: different soils have different dissolved minerals and different levels of ions, both of which modulate uptake by root hairs.

This interesting article is aimed at home wine-makers and how to purchase grapes, but anyway makes passing mention of the real chemistry about 2/3 of the way down.

Joe made the point that different soils can foster different mycorrhizal populations, which in turn can affect nutrient uptake and consequently flavor. I’ll see if I can dig up any posts about that.

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Fascinating! Though I expect that most (if not all) of us believe that soil types affect the flavor of wine, I can never help remembering Joe D saying that the pathways through which this might happen have yet to be identified. This was more than ten years ago, so perhaps they have by now.

I don't have references handy but I recall reading that the soil type affects the grapes in two ways: ::1:: different soils encourage different biomes which affects what lands on / gets embedded in the grape skins, and ::2:: different soils have different dissolved minerals and different levels of ions, both of which modulate uptake by root hairs.

This interesting article is aimed at home wine-makers and how to purchase grapes, but anyway makes passing mention of the real chemistry about 2/3 of the way down.

Joe made the point that different soils can foster different mycorrhizal populations, which in turn can affect nutrient uptake and consequently flavor. I’ll see if I can dig up any posts about that.

Mark Lipton

Mark, the "consequently" you put before "flavor" made me wonder how self-evident this might really be. I can see how nutrient uptake would affect things like vigor and health, but flavor may be the as yet unexplained stretch.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Fascinating! Though I expect that most (if not all) of us believe that soil types affect the flavor of wine, I can never help remembering Joe D saying that the pathways through which this might happen have yet to be identified. This was more than ten years ago, so perhaps they have by now.

I don't have references handy but I recall reading that the soil type affects the grapes in two ways: ::1:: different soils encourage different biomes which affects what lands on / gets embedded in the grape skins, and ::2:: different soils have different dissolved minerals and different levels of ions, both of which modulate uptake by root hairs.

This interesting article is aimed at home wine-makers and how to purchase grapes, but anyway makes passing mention of the real chemistry about 2/3 of the way down.

Enjoyed reading that.

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

The Larmandier sounds very good, especially coming from you. I'm running low on Chablis and need something to drink with breakfast next week, so I will be on the lookout.