Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Lisa and Victor pour.
Saddle up, pardner.
Wine R: Ohh, this is so weird. Don is pretty sure this is pineapple wine. Jayson thinks it tastes like the candy part of a grape Tootsie-Pop. It would seem to be some kind of citrus but there's definitely a minerally, even raspy palate under the sweetness. And some noticeable alcohol, though Lisa says it's only 12%. (I also get some sulfur on the nose after a while.) We are thoroughly mystified, as was her plan. More after the next wine!
Reveal: Belle Meade Winery NV Red Muscadine
Day 2: red jello and gasoline, pronounced chemical nose, decent cut and probably 30 or 40 g/RS but phew
Wine O: Touriga Nacional 34%, Cabernet Sauvignon 33%, Petite Sarah 33%; At first, we're not even sure this is sound. But with a few moments of air and some courage, it has a sort of Buttered Rum taste, and then kinda like syrah or just plain black grapes with some spicy black pepper tossed in. That's quite a, a, um, a wine there. Jay wasn't sure there could be a wine less-appealing than the first one.
Reveal: Belle Meade Winery NV Red Wine "Race Day Red"
Day 2: this smells nearly normal by comparison, red wine fer shur, but so buttery, gak, the foie tames it but mostly by running roughshod over it, more bleh than ayyyy but no need to continue down this road
Lisa now asks if we can guess where these grapes are from. US? Yes and both from the same place. I guess Minnesota ("where the grapes can suffer"), others guess Texas, Florida, North Dakota. But the correct answer is Nashville, Tennessee. Don't you feel enlightened?
And now Lisa will make it up to us. Try to, anyway.
Wine Y: Jay asks "Loire?" No. I ask "Bordeaux?" Yes. After eliminating everything else, Victor ventures "Margaux!" Yes. We very quickly place it into the late 1980s. Eventually, we stumble over the right house.
Reveal: Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1988 Margaux
Day 2: still beautiful, maybe a bit of apricot?, more tannic than the older wines (duh but it's part of the palate), more cut too... it's got pretty good traction against duck foie pate
I can see why Jay suggested Loire as there are pyrazines right up front. Lisa looks it up and, alas, the wine is only 1% cab franc that year. So much for that theory, unless it pours like a pousse cafe.... This is really beautiful, all the elements singing in close harmony, weaving a fine texture and offering both juicy flavors and subtle structure.
Wine G: more Bordeaux, beautiful bouquet but wow is that brutal to drink: tannic, structured, tight, and snarly. I get a whiff of school paste but just a little. Victor characterizes it thus "It's one of those non-earthy Graves" Yes.
Reveal: Ch. Haut-Bailly 1995 Pessac-Leognan Grand Cru Classe
Day 2: ah, some of that sturdy shell has subsided... another rather masculine wine, still tannic but now showing raspberry fruit and a touch of menthol, sufficient acids, no flaws or obvious tobacco, the R-S is better against the foie(!)
Interesting to compare this to the bottle we served a few sessions ago (click). I guess Lisa's cellar is colder than Seth's.
Victor 1: Bordeaux, 1980s. Yes. The bit of sweetness suggests 1982 to Jay. Yes. Victor says it is Right Bank and we put it in St-Emilion but we don't guess the house.
Reveal: Ch. Belair 1982 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: the sweetness is still here but more as texture as there is not much fruit, but there is tobacco and minerality aplenty, very masculine and yum
This is also very pretty. Straight up, honest St-Emilion. Not lush or dressed-up just an evocation of the soils at Belair: clay and gravel on top of clay and iron oxides.
Victor 2: This is plusher than the Belair; also 1982. Jayson says it's "singing". There's a hint of orange peel in the finish that is interesting. Seth notes a touch of VA here, however, so prefers the "translucent" Belair.
Reveal: Ch. Magdelaine 1982 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: a bit of sweetness still (from the vintage), rather more tangy than orange zest now, still perfectly clean and pure and true as an arrow
Victor 3: Another Right Bank, very rich and open for business. The rest of us are poking at 1970s vintages when Jayson just up and nails it: '75 Magdelaine. This is an amazing bottle, the fruit has gone towards dried cranberries and talc with good acids and just enough tannic structure. WOTN?
Reveal: Ch. Magdelaine 1975 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: still rather better than the '82, more harmonious, cool fruit and less acid, a touch of orange rind now, on an even glidepath all the way through the finish
Victor 4: This is rather softer than the others so Pomerol. Yes. Purple plums rather than cranberries. We immediately guess the mini-theme (1975) but we never do guess which house. This is very sensual and less intellectual than the other wines.
Reveal: Ch. La Conseillante 1975 Pomerol
Day 2: a lot like it was, plummy and glyceral and pleasantly astringent
Wine B: Chenin (Jeff). Yes. Demi-Sec (Jayson). Yes. We're not so decisive on the vintage but, with a little hinting, we get it. The richness of CdB shows, the grapes bump into the underlying tufa limestone through the thin topsoil very easily. And yet another wine with an orange note in the finish (rather like blood orange this time).
Reveal: Huet 2000 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Clos du Bourg"
Day 2: very chalky, very pretty, good thrust on the palate, this seems immortal
Wine V: "I liked Wine B but I'm loving Wine V." -Jay. "Great acidity - it's so well-framed." -Don. Easy enough to pick it out as Huet of about the same era but Lisa gives us the particulars. This is not so forthcoming as the CdB but is denser and indicates there is much more to come.
Reveal: Huet 2002 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Mont"
Day 2: nose is fresh, palate is more obviously minerally than on Day 1 but also more lemony, more complex but not fuller than the 2000 (the soil here is perruches, a mix of clay and flinty pebbles)
We are reminded that 2002 was a great year in Vouvray, just largely and erratically spoiled by premox. All of us ran through them quickly or sold them off long ago. Most of us don't even have a single 2002 in storage. I have no Huet between 1996 and 2005, for example.
A few photos:
NB. Per Victor's instructions, I retasted the Magdelaines before the Belair.
Lisa and Victor pour.
Saddle up, pardner.
Wine R: Ohh, this is so weird. Don is pretty sure this is pineapple wine. Jayson thinks it tastes like the candy part of a grape Tootsie-Pop. It would seem to be some kind of citrus but there's definitely a minerally, even raspy palate under the sweetness. And some noticeable alcohol, though Lisa says it's only 12%. (I also get some sulfur on the nose after a while.) We are thoroughly mystified, as was her plan. More after the next wine!
Reveal: Belle Meade Winery NV Red Muscadine
Day 2: red jello and gasoline, pronounced chemical nose, decent cut and probably 30 or 40 g/RS but phew
Wine O: Touriga Nacional 34%, Cabernet Sauvignon 33%, Petite Sarah 33%; At first, we're not even sure this is sound. But with a few moments of air and some courage, it has a sort of Buttered Rum taste, and then kinda like syrah or just plain black grapes with some spicy black pepper tossed in. That's quite a, a, um, a wine there. Jay wasn't sure there could be a wine less-appealing than the first one.
Reveal: Belle Meade Winery NV Red Wine "Race Day Red"
Day 2: this smells nearly normal by comparison, red wine fer shur, but so buttery, gak, the foie tames it but mostly by running roughshod over it, more bleh than ayyyy but no need to continue down this road
Lisa now asks if we can guess where these grapes are from. US? Yes and both from the same place. I guess Minnesota ("where the grapes can suffer"), others guess Texas, Florida, North Dakota. But the correct answer is Nashville, Tennessee. Don't you feel enlightened?
And now Lisa will make it up to us. Try to, anyway.
Wine Y: Jay asks "Loire?" No. I ask "Bordeaux?" Yes. After eliminating everything else, Victor ventures "Margaux!" Yes. We very quickly place it into the late 1980s. Eventually, we stumble over the right house.
Reveal: Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1988 Margaux
Day 2: still beautiful, maybe a bit of apricot?, more tannic than the older wines (duh but it's part of the palate), more cut too... it's got pretty good traction against duck foie pate
I can see why Jay suggested Loire as there are pyrazines right up front. Lisa looks it up and, alas, the wine is only 1% cab franc that year. So much for that theory, unless it pours like a pousse cafe.... This is really beautiful, all the elements singing in close harmony, weaving a fine texture and offering both juicy flavors and subtle structure.
Wine G: more Bordeaux, beautiful bouquet but wow is that brutal to drink: tannic, structured, tight, and snarly. I get a whiff of school paste but just a little. Victor characterizes it thus "It's one of those non-earthy Graves" Yes.
Reveal: Ch. Haut-Bailly 1995 Pessac-Leognan Grand Cru Classe
Day 2: ah, some of that sturdy shell has subsided... another rather masculine wine, still tannic but now showing raspberry fruit and a touch of menthol, sufficient acids, no flaws or obvious tobacco, the R-S is better against the foie(!)
Interesting to compare this to the bottle we served a few sessions ago (click). I guess Lisa's cellar is colder than Seth's.
Victor 1: Bordeaux, 1980s. Yes. The bit of sweetness suggests 1982 to Jay. Yes. Victor says it is Right Bank and we put it in St-Emilion but we don't guess the house.
Reveal: Ch. Belair 1982 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: the sweetness is still here but more as texture as there is not much fruit, but there is tobacco and minerality aplenty, very masculine and yum
This is also very pretty. Straight up, honest St-Emilion. Not lush or dressed-up just an evocation of the soils at Belair: clay and gravel on top of clay and iron oxides.
Victor 2: This is plusher than the Belair; also 1982. Jayson says it's "singing". There's a hint of orange peel in the finish that is interesting. Seth notes a touch of VA here, however, so prefers the "translucent" Belair.
Reveal: Ch. Magdelaine 1982 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: a bit of sweetness still (from the vintage), rather more tangy than orange zest now, still perfectly clean and pure and true as an arrow
Victor 3: Another Right Bank, very rich and open for business. The rest of us are poking at 1970s vintages when Jayson just up and nails it: '75 Magdelaine. This is an amazing bottle, the fruit has gone towards dried cranberries and talc with good acids and just enough tannic structure. WOTN?
Reveal: Ch. Magdelaine 1975 St-Emilion 1er GCC
Day 2: still rather better than the '82, more harmonious, cool fruit and less acid, a touch of orange rind now, on an even glidepath all the way through the finish
Victor 4: This is rather softer than the others so Pomerol. Yes. Purple plums rather than cranberries. We immediately guess the mini-theme (1975) but we never do guess which house. This is very sensual and less intellectual than the other wines.
Reveal: Ch. La Conseillante 1975 Pomerol
Day 2: a lot like it was, plummy and glyceral and pleasantly astringent
Wine B: Chenin (Jeff). Yes. Demi-Sec (Jayson). Yes. We're not so decisive on the vintage but, with a little hinting, we get it. The richness of CdB shows, the grapes bump into the underlying tufa limestone through the thin topsoil very easily. And yet another wine with an orange note in the finish (rather like blood orange this time).
Reveal: Huet 2000 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Clos du Bourg"
Day 2: very chalky, very pretty, good thrust on the palate, this seems immortal
Wine V: "I liked Wine B but I'm loving Wine V." -Jay. "Great acidity - it's so well-framed." -Don. Easy enough to pick it out as Huet of about the same era but Lisa gives us the particulars. This is not so forthcoming as the CdB but is denser and indicates there is much more to come.
Reveal: Huet 2002 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Mont"
Day 2: nose is fresh, palate is more obviously minerally than on Day 1 but also more lemony, more complex but not fuller than the 2000 (the soil here is perruches, a mix of clay and flinty pebbles)
We are reminded that 2002 was a great year in Vouvray, just largely and erratically spoiled by premox. All of us ran through them quickly or sold them off long ago. Most of us don't even have a single 2002 in storage. I have no Huet between 1996 and 2005, for example.
A few photos:
NB. Per Victor's instructions, I retasted the Magdelaines before the Belair.