Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Eden+Scott, Jay, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Don and Lisa pouring.
Is it, perhaps, suspicious that Don's bottles are both color-coded and labeled? Does Y stand for yellow and O for orange or is there something else going on? Domaine Yvonne and Olga Raffault are likely pours for him, you know. And we have great success guessing the host when we can't otherwise guess the wine.
But such suspicions are out the window as Don delivers five white wines, in two flights:
Yellow - vivid, lemony, very fresh, "nice long finish" -Scott, as sharp acids and yellow fruit abound so we guess muscadet (no) and albarino (no)
_Day 3: hint of green herbs (parsley, basil, fennel?) in the nose, lemony on entry and the midpalate, good cut, finally shows typique in the finish though it is still very lean
Orange - this is much more complex and structured... and muted, "waxy" -Eden, "waxy like chenin!" -Jay (yes)
_Day 3: strangely enough... more orange than lemon (meaning, it shows sweeter than it is), very full in the midpalate, slightly more texture than Yellow, I think I like this better best
=> The Two: Yes, both are chenin but neither is from France... or the US... which means they are South African? (yes). Both are 2021, as well. So, how did he find such nice wines in a region none of us knows well? Says Don, "I reviewed Pascaline's list."
Red - this is very lean, almost bony
_Day 3: not so skinny and herbal as Yellow, not so fat and rich as Orange, texture is thin and I would never pick this one as chenin, BTG sure but no hurry to buy bottles
Blue - lots of mid-palate stuffing, "lovely chalk" -Jay, several people guess Huet
_Day 3: best midpalate of any of these, chalky, a good finish but Orange's is better, speculation: the big midpalate bodes well for development over the years
Green - "some serious zip to this" -Jeff, and noticeable rs, too
_Day 2: "Green Chenin is still delicious tonight" -Jay, "Agreed!" -Eden
_Day 3: prominent bouquet, sugar is noticeable now, the acidity is less in-your-face and more a juicy saliva-inducing lingering in the finish, this one will serve best at the table
==> The Three: More 2021 chenin from S. Africa except for the Huet. :)
_Day 3: mix Green and Red... and Green dominates, try adding some Yellow now... adds some interest and a broader finish, but Green alone is still better
We are all in agreement on liking Yellow, Red, and Green. Orange is a bit shut down and Blue is big but not extraordinary; the other wines are!
Don's plan was to showcase some really good S. African chenin, wines that can stand up to our parochial N. hemispheric standards. These are all young and they were not easy to find, nor were they cheap. They are presented in order of rs content, which ranged from 2% to 7%.
He succeeded.
The wines:
yellow: Sadie Family 2021 "Skurfberg", Olifants River (14% alc, pH 3.28, 2.3 g/l rs), made from seven rows of vines planted in the 1940s, terroir of decomposed sandstone, the wine spends 12 months in neutral oak
orange: Savage Wines 2021 "Never Been Asked to Dance", Paarl (13.5%, pH 3.44, 2.3 g/l), doesn't own any vines but has 25-year leases, dry-farmed bush vines planted in 1956 on granite soils, ambient yeasts, aged in neutral Stockinger 600 l barrels for 10 months
red: Beaumont Family 2021 "Hope Marguerite", Bot River (12.5%, pH 3.27, 3.5 g/l), vines planted in the 1970s, naturally fermented with minimal intervention, partial malo, spends 10 months in 400 l French oak barrels
blue: Dom. Huet 2021 Vouvray Sec "Le Mont" (13%, pH 3.08, 5.5 g/l)
green: Ken Forrester Vineyards 2021 "The FMC", Stellenbosch (13.5%, pH 3.34, 7.6 g/l), screwcap, FMC stands for Forrester Meinert Chenin (a.k.a., F***ing Magnificent Chenin), bush vines planted in the 1970s on Clovelly soil; there are 6 tries, picking individual bunches, 12 months on the lees in barrel (40% new)
——————
On the other hand, Lisa delivers four reds, and I don't know how she muscled these bruisers into those little bottles:
Red - dry, dry, dry, big and tannic, a few tasters get leather and smoke, "tertiary flavors, sort of like carob" -Seth, "So, so good!" -Eden, "steely" -Jeff, "myhslad" -Lisa (well, that's as best I can read my handwriting). This is Bordeaux so we all look at Victor, who says it's either Margaux or Medoc. With air, a little green note comes out, "celery" -Seth, but the nose is really lovely. reveal:: Chateau Prieure-Lichine 1982 Margaux
_Day 2: "The '82 Prieure-Lichine is still good but drying out a bit." -Seth
_Day 3: red trending towards orange, leafy nose with some raspberry jam somewhere nearby, fruit leather and the other kind, just a hint of sweetness makes it rather enticing, yum
Blue - almost as big as the Prieure-Lichine but with "an extra bit of creaminess" -Jeff; sitting in the glass, as with the Margaux, "something vegetal comes out that wasn't there before" -Lisa. This is from California but "not Insignia" -Seth, "not Montebello" -Jeff, "not Mondavi" -Jay, "the ruling-out game is going to take a lot longer" -Eden. I think we eventually give up. reveal:: Pride Mountain Vineyards 1996 Napa Valley
_Day 2: "The Pride is worse tonight; smells like rotting leaves." -Seth
_Day 3: dark purple, meh nose with a slight metallic twang, palate stern and more mineral than fruit, tannins are drying, nothing obviously wrong but it suffers from a pronounced lack of charm
Orange - coffee nose blows off to reveal lots and lots of cab fruit, unfortunately the palate is quite bitter on entry, Jay swirls and swirls and swirls and announces: "Montebello" (yes), "reminds me of the '02 Heitz Martha's Vineyard" -Seth. reveal:: Ridge 2002 Montebello
_Day 3: dark red, nose is similar to the Margaux but, for lack of better words, someone is baking a loaf of bread somewhere near Prieure-Lichine's cellar while the '02's nose is a little simpler, anyway this is really pleasant to drink, complexity in the Cranberry Dimension
Yellow - a little lactic in the nose and quite a lot of coconut on the palate, Montebello for certain; it's so strange: for a wine that is so heavily handled, this is still really good! reveal:: Ridge 2020 Montebello
_Day 2: "2020 Monte Bello is banging - still too young but the nose has really come together; getting the oak in the finish now." -Seth
_Day 3: dark purple, nose of ash and smoke (yipes!), an incredible wham-bam wine with in-your-face fruit and acids and tannins that make my mouth pucker, wait 10 years before opening another
Bottle shots:
Lisa really likes Margaux.
And ye gods am I sauced!
Don and Lisa pouring.
Is it, perhaps, suspicious that Don's bottles are both color-coded and labeled? Does Y stand for yellow and O for orange or is there something else going on? Domaine Yvonne and Olga Raffault are likely pours for him, you know. And we have great success guessing the host when we can't otherwise guess the wine.
But such suspicions are out the window as Don delivers five white wines, in two flights:
Yellow - vivid, lemony, very fresh, "nice long finish" -Scott, as sharp acids and yellow fruit abound so we guess muscadet (no) and albarino (no)
_Day 3: hint of green herbs (parsley, basil, fennel?) in the nose, lemony on entry and the midpalate, good cut, finally shows typique in the finish though it is still very lean
Orange - this is much more complex and structured... and muted, "waxy" -Eden, "waxy like chenin!" -Jay (yes)
_Day 3: strangely enough... more orange than lemon (meaning, it shows sweeter than it is), very full in the midpalate, slightly more texture than Yellow, I think I like this better best
=> The Two: Yes, both are chenin but neither is from France... or the US... which means they are South African? (yes). Both are 2021, as well. So, how did he find such nice wines in a region none of us knows well? Says Don, "I reviewed Pascaline's list."
Red - this is very lean, almost bony
_Day 3: not so skinny and herbal as Yellow, not so fat and rich as Orange, texture is thin and I would never pick this one as chenin, BTG sure but no hurry to buy bottles
Blue - lots of mid-palate stuffing, "lovely chalk" -Jay, several people guess Huet
_Day 3: best midpalate of any of these, chalky, a good finish but Orange's is better, speculation: the big midpalate bodes well for development over the years
Green - "some serious zip to this" -Jeff, and noticeable rs, too
_Day 2: "Green Chenin is still delicious tonight" -Jay, "Agreed!" -Eden
_Day 3: prominent bouquet, sugar is noticeable now, the acidity is less in-your-face and more a juicy saliva-inducing lingering in the finish, this one will serve best at the table
==> The Three: More 2021 chenin from S. Africa except for the Huet. :)
_Day 3: mix Green and Red... and Green dominates, try adding some Yellow now... adds some interest and a broader finish, but Green alone is still better
We are all in agreement on liking Yellow, Red, and Green. Orange is a bit shut down and Blue is big but not extraordinary; the other wines are!
Don's plan was to showcase some really good S. African chenin, wines that can stand up to our parochial N. hemispheric standards. These are all young and they were not easy to find, nor were they cheap. They are presented in order of rs content, which ranged from 2% to 7%.
He succeeded.
The wines:
yellow: Sadie Family 2021 "Skurfberg", Olifants River (14% alc, pH 3.28, 2.3 g/l rs), made from seven rows of vines planted in the 1940s, terroir of decomposed sandstone, the wine spends 12 months in neutral oak
orange: Savage Wines 2021 "Never Been Asked to Dance", Paarl (13.5%, pH 3.44, 2.3 g/l), doesn't own any vines but has 25-year leases, dry-farmed bush vines planted in 1956 on granite soils, ambient yeasts, aged in neutral Stockinger 600 l barrels for 10 months
red: Beaumont Family 2021 "Hope Marguerite", Bot River (12.5%, pH 3.27, 3.5 g/l), vines planted in the 1970s, naturally fermented with minimal intervention, partial malo, spends 10 months in 400 l French oak barrels
blue: Dom. Huet 2021 Vouvray Sec "Le Mont" (13%, pH 3.08, 5.5 g/l)
green: Ken Forrester Vineyards 2021 "The FMC", Stellenbosch (13.5%, pH 3.34, 7.6 g/l), screwcap, FMC stands for Forrester Meinert Chenin (a.k.a., F***ing Magnificent Chenin), bush vines planted in the 1970s on Clovelly soil; there are 6 tries, picking individual bunches, 12 months on the lees in barrel (40% new)
——————
On the other hand, Lisa delivers four reds, and I don't know how she muscled these bruisers into those little bottles:
Red - dry, dry, dry, big and tannic, a few tasters get leather and smoke, "tertiary flavors, sort of like carob" -Seth, "So, so good!" -Eden, "steely" -Jeff, "myhslad" -Lisa (well, that's as best I can read my handwriting). This is Bordeaux so we all look at Victor, who says it's either Margaux or Medoc. With air, a little green note comes out, "celery" -Seth, but the nose is really lovely. reveal:: Chateau Prieure-Lichine 1982 Margaux
_Day 2: "The '82 Prieure-Lichine is still good but drying out a bit." -Seth
_Day 3: red trending towards orange, leafy nose with some raspberry jam somewhere nearby, fruit leather and the other kind, just a hint of sweetness makes it rather enticing, yum
Blue - almost as big as the Prieure-Lichine but with "an extra bit of creaminess" -Jeff; sitting in the glass, as with the Margaux, "something vegetal comes out that wasn't there before" -Lisa. This is from California but "not Insignia" -Seth, "not Montebello" -Jeff, "not Mondavi" -Jay, "the ruling-out game is going to take a lot longer" -Eden. I think we eventually give up. reveal:: Pride Mountain Vineyards 1996 Napa Valley
_Day 2: "The Pride is worse tonight; smells like rotting leaves." -Seth
_Day 3: dark purple, meh nose with a slight metallic twang, palate stern and more mineral than fruit, tannins are drying, nothing obviously wrong but it suffers from a pronounced lack of charm
Orange - coffee nose blows off to reveal lots and lots of cab fruit, unfortunately the palate is quite bitter on entry, Jay swirls and swirls and swirls and announces: "Montebello" (yes), "reminds me of the '02 Heitz Martha's Vineyard" -Seth. reveal:: Ridge 2002 Montebello
_Day 3: dark red, nose is similar to the Margaux but, for lack of better words, someone is baking a loaf of bread somewhere near Prieure-Lichine's cellar while the '02's nose is a little simpler, anyway this is really pleasant to drink, complexity in the Cranberry Dimension
Yellow - a little lactic in the nose and quite a lot of coconut on the palate, Montebello for certain; it's so strange: for a wine that is so heavily handled, this is still really good! reveal:: Ridge 2020 Montebello
_Day 2: "2020 Monte Bello is banging - still too young but the nose has really come together; getting the oak in the finish now." -Seth
_Day 3: dark purple, nose of ash and smoke (yipes!), an incredible wham-bam wine with in-your-face fruit and acids and tannins that make my mouth pucker, wait 10 years before opening another
Bottle shots:
Lisa really likes Margaux.
And ye gods am I sauced!
