Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Eden+Scott, Jay, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Hey, kids! Today is National Wine Day!
Our little celebration is, um, er, official.
Victor and Jay take us to France for the evening:
Dom. Rollin 2020 Hautes-Cotes de Beaune - A dry white to start. "Very fruity-smelling" -Don, "Sleek" -Victor, we all like this one, shapely acids, young, pure, must be Rollin
Day 3: unchanged, still terrific: green grapes, a hint of camphor or herbs, pale yellow fruit, no tropicality at all, so good (and I don't say that about much chardonnay)
Ch. Certan de May 1994 Pomerol - A dry red. "Smells like the sole of a shoe" -Jeff, "...that has been walking through roses and cinnamon!" -Melissa, it's rather tannic so we first guess '86 (no), but I think it's not primarily cabernet so throw a guess "La Pointe?" -Jeff, "Off-Pointe!" -Jay. I think it was Don that guessed it right.
Day 3: sweet cherry pie, no tobacco or leather here, just fruit and damp earth, lip-smacking yum but maybe don't serve it with a rough-and-tumble menu
Ch. Magdelaine 1994 St-Emilion Premier GCC - A corked red.
Day 3: very dark, still corked, smells rather marine actually, what a shame
Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1994 Margaux - A dry red. More school paste than old shoe here, more redfruity than the Pomerol too, actually rather suave and sexy, "Dark, and with celery seed" -Melissa, we eventually place it as Margaux but it's not very typique now
Day 3: much more typical Margaux today: red-berry tobacco with floral smellies (lilac?), still strong so no reason to hurry but it's really nice now
Ch. Talbot 1989 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. Great bouquet, we all love it. "Different tannic package" -Don, "More tertiary flavors" -Seth, "1985?" "No" "Saint-Julien?" "Yes" -Jay(!!!); we ask Jay to explain that one: the roundness and fruitiness suggested the '85 vintage, when that was wrong, then he named the region; Victor reveals the actual vintage, 1989, and we go off on a spree of chateau names but we never do guess Talbot. "Reliably luscious on the second night" -Victor
Day 3: more minerally than the Beychevelle, the fruit is well-mixed with gravel and rocks, can taste the warm year in the rich fruit
Ch. Beychevelle 1989 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. "A little silkier" -Jeff, "More vanilla" -Melissa, also a 1989 wine, this is very dark but the tannins are very fine; we discuss for a bit what has become of the 'Cordier funk'... it's not here, yet we're pretty sure that brett and brett by-products don't go away
Day 3: very fruity nose, perhaps due to excellent almost-citrus-like acidity here, more like cherry-rhubarb pie
Ch. Beychevelle 1985 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. "Much more leathery" -Jay, we guess '89 of course but it isn't, after a lot of churn we end up right back where we were in Saint-Julien!
Day 3: not quite so fruity as the '89, though a bit broader across the palate, perhaps some apricot and apricot kernel in here (meaning, more complex than the other)
Ch. Leoville Poyferre 1982 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. Well, we're all set to guess another Saint-Julien but this is really juicy, more redfruit, more middle-palate richness and roundness, hints of soil and chocolate and licorice, it's a big year, "1982?" "Yes" -Jay; we ask him again: based on the ripeness. Again, we chase a bunch of chateau names but Victor rescues us. "A less-consistent wine than the Beychevelles but cranberry is a hallmark. For example, '83 and '89 are good but '86 is too tannic." -Victor
Day 3: also rather dark, this is the real deal (as Hucko used to say): sweetness and acidity balanced on the knife-edge, jammy fruit and damp earth the same, the wine resists being picked apart by descriptors, it almost registers in my lizard brain as food rather than drink
Dom. Huet 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "Clos du Bourg" "Premiere Trie" "Temoin" - 9.5%, no hiding this luxurious sugar-acid bomb: "Huet '89" -Jeff, "Temoin" -Don, the name means 'witness', this was a component of the Cuvee Constance, made in the usual way, that served as a double-check against the new biodynamic version; "So creamy" -Don
Day 3: It really is just perfect, tactile but not heavy, sweet but not cloying, tingly and citrussy but more sophisticated than mere words allow
Always lovely to see everyone and drink wine together.
Hey, kids! Today is National Wine Day!
Our little celebration is, um, er, official.
Dom. Rollin 2020 Hautes-Cotes de Beaune - A dry white to start. "Very fruity-smelling" -Don, "Sleek" -Victor, we all like this one, shapely acids, young, pure, must be Rollin
Day 3: unchanged, still terrific: green grapes, a hint of camphor or herbs, pale yellow fruit, no tropicality at all, so good (and I don't say that about much chardonnay)
Ch. Certan de May 1994 Pomerol - A dry red. "Smells like the sole of a shoe" -Jeff, "...that has been walking through roses and cinnamon!" -Melissa, it's rather tannic so we first guess '86 (no), but I think it's not primarily cabernet so throw a guess "La Pointe?" -Jeff, "Off-Pointe!" -Jay. I think it was Don that guessed it right.
Day 3: sweet cherry pie, no tobacco or leather here, just fruit and damp earth, lip-smacking yum but maybe don't serve it with a rough-and-tumble menu
Ch. Magdelaine 1994 St-Emilion Premier GCC - A corked red.
Day 3: very dark, still corked, smells rather marine actually, what a shame
Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1994 Margaux - A dry red. More school paste than old shoe here, more redfruity than the Pomerol too, actually rather suave and sexy, "Dark, and with celery seed" -Melissa, we eventually place it as Margaux but it's not very typique now
Day 3: much more typical Margaux today: red-berry tobacco with floral smellies (lilac?), still strong so no reason to hurry but it's really nice now
Ch. Talbot 1989 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. Great bouquet, we all love it. "Different tannic package" -Don, "More tertiary flavors" -Seth, "1985?" "No" "Saint-Julien?" "Yes" -Jay(!!!); we ask Jay to explain that one: the roundness and fruitiness suggested the '85 vintage, when that was wrong, then he named the region; Victor reveals the actual vintage, 1989, and we go off on a spree of chateau names but we never do guess Talbot. "Reliably luscious on the second night" -Victor
Day 3: more minerally than the Beychevelle, the fruit is well-mixed with gravel and rocks, can taste the warm year in the rich fruit
Ch. Beychevelle 1989 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. "A little silkier" -Jeff, "More vanilla" -Melissa, also a 1989 wine, this is very dark but the tannins are very fine; we discuss for a bit what has become of the 'Cordier funk'... it's not here, yet we're pretty sure that brett and brett by-products don't go away
Day 3: very fruity nose, perhaps due to excellent almost-citrus-like acidity here, more like cherry-rhubarb pie
Ch. Beychevelle 1985 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. "Much more leathery" -Jay, we guess '89 of course but it isn't, after a lot of churn we end up right back where we were in Saint-Julien!
Day 3: not quite so fruity as the '89, though a bit broader across the palate, perhaps some apricot and apricot kernel in here (meaning, more complex than the other)
Ch. Leoville Poyferre 1982 St-Julien - A dry red. Decanted yesterday. Well, we're all set to guess another Saint-Julien but this is really juicy, more redfruit, more middle-palate richness and roundness, hints of soil and chocolate and licorice, it's a big year, "1982?" "Yes" -Jay; we ask him again: based on the ripeness. Again, we chase a bunch of chateau names but Victor rescues us. "A less-consistent wine than the Beychevelles but cranberry is a hallmark. For example, '83 and '89 are good but '86 is too tannic." -Victor
Day 3: also rather dark, this is the real deal (as Hucko used to say): sweetness and acidity balanced on the knife-edge, jammy fruit and damp earth the same, the wine resists being picked apart by descriptors, it almost registers in my lizard brain as food rather than drink
Dom. Huet 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "Clos du Bourg" "Premiere Trie" "Temoin" - 9.5%, no hiding this luxurious sugar-acid bomb: "Huet '89" -Jeff, "Temoin" -Don, the name means 'witness', this was a component of the Cuvee Constance, made in the usual way, that served as a double-check against the new biodynamic version; "So creamy" -Don
Day 3: It really is just perfect, tactile but not heavy, sweet but not cloying, tingly and citrussy but more sophisticated than mere words allow
Always lovely to see everyone and drink wine together.
