Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Marty, Seth, -Melissa, +Shirley
Jeff and Seth pouring five wines each. Melissa is busy and will not join us today. Lisa has a dinner guest tonight, Chris' sister, Shirley.
There was collusion to begin with. Seth and I each had an intended theme but could there be crossover? As it happens, thematically we are far apart but I do have one excellent ringer bottle that would fit Seth's theme well. I left the 750, and seven small bottles, in a hollow tree trunk in Clifton, NJ. I love it when a plan comes together.
We start with four dry wines from my selection.
: Coudert (Clos de la Roilette) 2010 Fleurie "Griffe du Marquis" - 13%, the wine is pretty shut down yet folks made good observations: noticeable wood, from a warm year, so much tannin that it must be young, etc.; but even after giving away the grape they just could not bring the Griffe cuvee to mind
: Rollin 2010 Pernand-Vergelesses - 13%, this spoke Burgundy right away and, again, people had great insight into its organoleptic qualities but could not attach the maker's name to it; this is the Villages so it lacks some of the complexity in the better bottlings but it still has Rollin's signature acids and purity
: Cascina Baricchi 2010 Barbaresco Riserva "Rose delle Casasse" - 14%, as we open the cap I say that I'm going to keep using my burgundy glass and Jay pounces, immediately guessing 2010 and Piedmont before anyone can taste it... he knows me; this was a Rare Wine Co offering and the wine is absolutely textbook roses and pavement
: Levet 2010 Cote-Rotie "La Chavaroche" - 13%, clearly a traditional N. Rhone wine, folks zero in on Levet very fast; the wine is full of life, open, rocks and blue-black fruits, we're all very happy with this one (and we're two years shy of the vaunted deadline!)
My last wine is a sweetie so we switch to Seth's selections, tasted two at a time. (No, I don't know which number is going to be my ringer.)
#1: Charles Noellat 1999 Pommard 1er - funky nose, smells kinda like shirt cardboard to me but others say that's VA, "Elegant" -Jayson, "Cotes de Beaune" -Jay (and he's right, and he continues:) "some ripeness but not as big as an '05 or '95"; first guess is 2007, then 2000
#2: Dom. de Montille 1999 Volnay 1er - very similar but a touch fruitier, more intense, with a whiff of perfume, "Texture on both of these wines is lovely" -Jay
#3: Dom. Courcel 1999 Pommard 1er "Grand Clos des Epenots" - "Bretty" -Lisa, "Funky" -Jayson, "Wonderful" -Jeff, there is a sappy quality to the fruit here
#4: Dom. Courcel 1999 Pommard 1er "Les Rugiens" - also a little barnyard on the nose and some old citrus, "Robitussin" -Lisa, this has chewy tannins and really says Pommard to me; "Both of these wines have bigger frameworks than the first two" -Don, Don also thinks #3 and #4 must be the same producer based on the quality of the tannins (and he's right)
#5: J Voillot 1999 Pommard 1er "Les Rugiens" - lightweight compared to the others but the flavors are akin
This was a really interesting flight. The wines definitely are kissing cousins in tannin, acid, and flavors. The single vineyard bottlings have more weight and more intensity. The Volnay is a bit less dusty than the Pommards.
Finally, there's the sweet wine.
I acquired this wine totally because of its name and the label. There is very little about it on the internet but it seemed like the kind of thing that Chris Coad would have served: a wine that did not take itself too seriously. And I was glad to be able to toast Shirley with:
: R.H. Binder NV "Oom Pah Pah" Port - 19.5%, the label says "11th Series" which may indicate this is wine from 1992; It's a really sweet tawny wine, vinous brown sugar with a whiff of VA. No complexity to speak of, and some of the pours have a little dark sediment.
Of course, no amount of clue-giving ("A favorite of Mr. Percy Snodgrass?") is going to help folks guess this one. The Aug 2010 version of the Binder website says: "We continue a tradition of 50 years by continuing to make fortified wines in the style begun by Rolf Binder senior who founded the Veritas winery in 1955. They are only available for tasting and sale at the cellar door." There is no importer label or strip so this probably was somebody's hand-carry that made its way to WineBid decades later.
And the Snodgrass reference is not lost on anyone. We got yer kulcha raht heeyer. Several of us start humming the tune and talking about our middle-school stage productions of "Oliver!" A surprising number of us played Fagin. What does that mean?
--Day 2:--
Noellat - like a dark and dusky crimson rose, a medium-rich wine tending towards cranberry, that VA thing is still there but barely cardboardy anymore, it's drifting vaguely towards JuicyFruit gum
Montille - just slightly blacker, nose a little less prominent, fuller and sweeeter immediately upon entry than the Noellat, grippier on the finish (though the tannins are fine), perhaps more for contemplation than revelry
Epenot - color of the first, nose offers the usual cran-wine fragrance but also another, maybe funky but also like simmered root vegetables (earth, mint?, carrots)
Rugiens - color of the first, nose not so complex as the Epenots, yes wine this time with chalk, more redfruit, extra grippy in the jowls
Voillot - color of the first with a tinge of rust, very different nose: much less fruit and much more structure, wet sidewalk; more open-knit, maybe not sweeter but lighter texture and less taut, maybe that red fruit is a little underripe
Coudert - fairly dark yet, the nose so wants to be something but it can't quite decide... there's a zephyr of wood and a breath of plummy blue fruit, heh: the taste reminds me of a chopstick after eating a red bean dessert: slightly woody, slightly sweet, indecisively any one fruit; not as blocky as Day 1 but still walking when most others stride or sashay
Rollin - brighter red than the Pommardi (rubies aspire to this color), nose is brighter and lighter than the Pommardi, yellow and orange fruit smells mixed among the red, not really built on a smaller frame but a simpler one
Baricchi - color as the Rollin, nose of warm red compote and roses, fine tannins but not so many as you might think, palate of sweet roses, a touch of camphor, slightly Christmassy, very attractive
Levet - much darker and purpler (what is officially called "mulberry" or "sangria"), nose is so different from all the others!: brine and black olives, maybe pork fat, singing baritone among the tenors, palate is so full and intense, so much presence, prunes and citrus and minerals and fatty pork (but not smoky nor even salty), acidity is just enough to be tangy but not prominent
Binder - Well, God alone knows what grapes are in here: www.rolfbinder.com claims planting of just about everything, color is pale tawny (think Lyle's Golden), viscous you bet, mostly brown sugar but there's some white wine tanginess there, not sophisticated but very pleasing for all that
--Day 6:--
Coudert - just barely coming out of its shell, not at all degraded or oxidized, still dry, there is some pretty dark-ish fruit down there but yeeks don't open another one for 30 years
Rollin - good, a little stern
Baricchi - ooh, good mix of roses and warm compote, drying out a bit, but I could drink plenty of this
Levet - so different! as before but now add a little wintergreen, tannins are a little more prominent (I suppose the fruit is fading)
Binder - a little volatile, still sweet and not too much else
Jeff and Seth pouring five wines each. Melissa is busy and will not join us today. Lisa has a dinner guest tonight, Chris' sister, Shirley.
There was collusion to begin with. Seth and I each had an intended theme but could there be crossover? As it happens, thematically we are far apart but I do have one excellent ringer bottle that would fit Seth's theme well. I left the 750, and seven small bottles, in a hollow tree trunk in Clifton, NJ. I love it when a plan comes together.
We start with four dry wines from my selection.
My last wine is a sweetie so we switch to Seth's selections, tasted two at a time. (No, I don't know which number is going to be my ringer.)
#1: Charles Noellat 1999 Pommard 1er - funky nose, smells kinda like shirt cardboard to me but others say that's VA, "Elegant" -Jayson, "Cotes de Beaune" -Jay (and he's right, and he continues:) "some ripeness but not as big as an '05 or '95"; first guess is 2007, then 2000
#2: Dom. de Montille 1999 Volnay 1er - very similar but a touch fruitier, more intense, with a whiff of perfume, "Texture on both of these wines is lovely" -Jay
#3: Dom. Courcel 1999 Pommard 1er "Grand Clos des Epenots" - "Bretty" -Lisa, "Funky" -Jayson, "Wonderful" -Jeff, there is a sappy quality to the fruit here
#4: Dom. Courcel 1999 Pommard 1er "Les Rugiens" - also a little barnyard on the nose and some old citrus, "Robitussin" -Lisa, this has chewy tannins and really says Pommard to me; "Both of these wines have bigger frameworks than the first two" -Don, Don also thinks #3 and #4 must be the same producer based on the quality of the tannins (and he's right)
#5: J Voillot 1999 Pommard 1er "Les Rugiens" - lightweight compared to the others but the flavors are akin
This was a really interesting flight. The wines definitely are kissing cousins in tannin, acid, and flavors. The single vineyard bottlings have more weight and more intensity. The Volnay is a bit less dusty than the Pommards.
Finally, there's the sweet wine.
I acquired this wine totally because of its name and the label. There is very little about it on the internet but it seemed like the kind of thing that Chris Coad would have served: a wine that did not take itself too seriously. And I was glad to be able to toast Shirley with:
Of course, no amount of clue-giving ("A favorite of Mr. Percy Snodgrass?") is going to help folks guess this one. The Aug 2010 version of the Binder website says: "We continue a tradition of 50 years by continuing to make fortified wines in the style begun by Rolf Binder senior who founded the Veritas winery in 1955. They are only available for tasting and sale at the cellar door." There is no importer label or strip so this probably was somebody's hand-carry that made its way to WineBid decades later.
And the Snodgrass reference is not lost on anyone. We got yer kulcha raht heeyer. Several of us start humming the tune and talking about our middle-school stage productions of "Oliver!" A surprising number of us played Fagin. What does that mean?
--Day 2:--
Noellat - like a dark and dusky crimson rose, a medium-rich wine tending towards cranberry, that VA thing is still there but barely cardboardy anymore, it's drifting vaguely towards JuicyFruit gum
Montille - just slightly blacker, nose a little less prominent, fuller and sweeeter immediately upon entry than the Noellat, grippier on the finish (though the tannins are fine), perhaps more for contemplation than revelry
Epenot - color of the first, nose offers the usual cran-wine fragrance but also another, maybe funky but also like simmered root vegetables (earth, mint?, carrots)
Rugiens - color of the first, nose not so complex as the Epenots, yes wine this time with chalk, more redfruit, extra grippy in the jowls
Voillot - color of the first with a tinge of rust, very different nose: much less fruit and much more structure, wet sidewalk; more open-knit, maybe not sweeter but lighter texture and less taut, maybe that red fruit is a little underripe
Coudert - fairly dark yet, the nose so wants to be something but it can't quite decide... there's a zephyr of wood and a breath of plummy blue fruit, heh: the taste reminds me of a chopstick after eating a red bean dessert: slightly woody, slightly sweet, indecisively any one fruit; not as blocky as Day 1 but still walking when most others stride or sashay
Rollin - brighter red than the Pommardi (rubies aspire to this color), nose is brighter and lighter than the Pommardi, yellow and orange fruit smells mixed among the red, not really built on a smaller frame but a simpler one
Baricchi - color as the Rollin, nose of warm red compote and roses, fine tannins but not so many as you might think, palate of sweet roses, a touch of camphor, slightly Christmassy, very attractive
Levet - much darker and purpler (what is officially called "mulberry" or "sangria"), nose is so different from all the others!: brine and black olives, maybe pork fat, singing baritone among the tenors, palate is so full and intense, so much presence, prunes and citrus and minerals and fatty pork (but not smoky nor even salty), acidity is just enough to be tangy but not prominent
Binder - Well, God alone knows what grapes are in here: www.rolfbinder.com claims planting of just about everything, color is pale tawny (think Lyle's Golden), viscous you bet, mostly brown sugar but there's some white wine tanginess there, not sophisticated but very pleasing for all that
--Day 6:--
Coudert - just barely coming out of its shell, not at all degraded or oxidized, still dry, there is some pretty dark-ish fruit down there but yeeks don't open another one for 30 years
Rollin - good, a little stern
Baricchi - ooh, good mix of roses and warm compote, drying out a bit, but I could drink plenty of this
Levet - so different! as before but now add a little wintergreen, tannins are a little more prominent (I suppose the fruit is fading)
Binder - a little volatile, still sweet and not too much else
