Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Victor (Seth will catch up eventually)
Don and Jayson kick off the new year!
We jump right in with a wine that needs some extra breathing time in the glass so Jayson bade us pour his wine #5 first. We can't just pour a wine without meddling, however... It is a dry white, a little spirity right now, "intense on the palate" -Don, however it is persistent and very long. We hurl a litany of guesses -- Anjou chenin, chenin, riesling, chard, muscadet, altesse -- all of which say more about us than about Jayson's wine #5. We switch to geography and rapidly find ourselves in Hungary with a glass of dry furmint.
To be continued.
---
Here's Don and part of his en-Touraine-age:
Don's wine #1 and wine #2 are both chenin, that was easy. #1 is sharp but not a razor. #2 is the older, with cream in the bouquet, and a rather sneaky finish that ebbs a bit then comes back. Jayson guesses they are Pinon and, with a little prompting, we identify the vintages:
Don-1: Pinon 2020 Vouvray "Buvez de Bon Pinon" - 7g/l, vines are a parcel within Deronnieres and were planted in 1945 (79 years old), vinified in old port barrels, 13.4% (label says 12.5%). This was Francois' last vintage.
== Day 4: perfectly nice table wine, just a bare hint of sweetness, clean and fairly crisp
Don-2: Pinon 1996 Vouvray "Tradition" - 16.5 g/l, 12.2%, the first vintage brought into the US
== Day 4: really the same just older, slight funk or bitterness way into the palate along with some caramel
Don's wine #3 is also Pinon but this one is rather more tart... and Jay is loving it. We stand no hope of guessing this as it's a rare style for them:
Don-3: Pinon 2015 Vouvray Demi-sec - ~25 g/l (Pinon told Don that demi-sec means 9-17g/l while Chambers St says it means 15-25 g/l, did it change?), 12.5%
== Day 4: very yum, good zing, the extra sugar is a slight drag on it but I won't complain
Anybody know what brand of cork this is?
Before going sweet we visit Jayson's dry wines: two of his experiments and two of his apologies for said experiments.
Jayson's wine #1 is rather light red in color, transparent, drinks rather elegantly so we guess gamay (no) and then we try the old geography trick - France, Italy, USA (no, no, no) - before the light dawns that this is German pinot noir:
JC-1: Enderle & Moll 2019 Pinot Noir "Liaison" - 14.1% (which seems high to me)
== Day 4: not bad, actually
Jayson's wine #2 is dark and has lots of flavor impact but that impact is "a little bitter" -Don and "a touch of VA" -Jeff, "not a touch of VA, more like a grope of VA" -Jay. When Jayson tells us that this is the same bottling as wine #1 Jay immediately guesses 2018 (yes). We ask how did you know? "All '18 wines are bad" -Jay
JC-2: Enderle & Moll 2018 Pinot Noir "Liaison" - also 14.1% but any sensible people have jumped ship already
== Day 4: crikey! pine cleanser in the nose, palate is better but still rather boysenberry + VA, what a calamity
We are more than ready for "Jayson, The Apology Tour".
Jay immediately identifies wine #3 as Burgundy. This has a "stony nose" -Jayson with "talcum" -Victor, and it really is more minerally than opulent. It takes us a while to guess Volnay:
JC-3: Dom. Marquis d'Angerville 2007 Volnay 1er "Champans"
== Day 4: delicate, very strawberry, more a wine of elegance than wallowing
Wine #4 has an even richer nose, lots of well-chosen red fruit with well-behaved sous-bois supporting it. The rest of us spectate while Jay and Jayson banter about this one, ultimately agreeing that "it just needs another 5 or 6 years":
JC-4: Dom. G. Roumier 1999 Chambolle-Musigny
== Day 4: rather more juicy, mixed red fruit, tangy through the finish, just a teensy bit sluttier than JC-3
Rounding out the five, we return to the furmint:
JC-5: Szepsy 2017 Szent Tamas 46, Tokaji furmint - of course, it's Szepsy, does anybody know another Mad Hungarian? This has filled-in, lime leaf and glycerin, incredibly long (as befits the 100-year-old vines)
== Day 4: very faded, not much flavor left
And to close, we return to Don, the Theme and Meme Machine:
Wine #4 is clearly surviving on its acids but what a great job it's doing of it! This is moelleux with all the golden pit fruit that usually accompanies the style, "I like the compactness of it" -Jayson
Don-4: Pinon 1989 Moelleux - the entry-level moelleux, 48g/l, 12%
== Day 4: slight twist of lemon peel in the nose (is that an '89 hallmark?), so Pinon: honey water and stones
Wine #5 has a buzz of botrytis but this is probably younger and sweeter, it's also more muscular, whether that is the vintage talking or maybe slightly better sulfur I can't say but this is going to go a long time... and it's so beautiful
Don-5: Pinon 2008 Moelleux - the entry-level moelleux, 74 g/l, 11.5%
== Day 4: much more chalk, zing is better integrated, truly excellent
In honor of a great winemaker and good friend, Don presented one wine from each decade of Francois Pinon's life as a vigneron: '89, '96, '08, '15, '20.
Fait pour durer!
Don and Jayson kick off the new year!
We jump right in with a wine that needs some extra breathing time in the glass so Jayson bade us pour his wine #5 first. We can't just pour a wine without meddling, however... It is a dry white, a little spirity right now, "intense on the palate" -Don, however it is persistent and very long. We hurl a litany of guesses -- Anjou chenin, chenin, riesling, chard, muscadet, altesse -- all of which say more about us than about Jayson's wine #5. We switch to geography and rapidly find ourselves in Hungary with a glass of dry furmint.
To be continued.
---
Here's Don and part of his en-Touraine-age:
Don's wine #1 and wine #2 are both chenin, that was easy. #1 is sharp but not a razor. #2 is the older, with cream in the bouquet, and a rather sneaky finish that ebbs a bit then comes back. Jayson guesses they are Pinon and, with a little prompting, we identify the vintages:
Don-1: Pinon 2020 Vouvray "Buvez de Bon Pinon" - 7g/l, vines are a parcel within Deronnieres and were planted in 1945 (79 years old), vinified in old port barrels, 13.4% (label says 12.5%). This was Francois' last vintage.
== Day 4: perfectly nice table wine, just a bare hint of sweetness, clean and fairly crisp
Don-2: Pinon 1996 Vouvray "Tradition" - 16.5 g/l, 12.2%, the first vintage brought into the US
== Day 4: really the same just older, slight funk or bitterness way into the palate along with some caramel
Don's wine #3 is also Pinon but this one is rather more tart... and Jay is loving it. We stand no hope of guessing this as it's a rare style for them:
Don-3: Pinon 2015 Vouvray Demi-sec - ~25 g/l (Pinon told Don that demi-sec means 9-17g/l while Chambers St says it means 15-25 g/l, did it change?), 12.5%
== Day 4: very yum, good zing, the extra sugar is a slight drag on it but I won't complain
Anybody know what brand of cork this is?
Before going sweet we visit Jayson's dry wines: two of his experiments and two of his apologies for said experiments.
Jayson's wine #1 is rather light red in color, transparent, drinks rather elegantly so we guess gamay (no) and then we try the old geography trick - France, Italy, USA (no, no, no) - before the light dawns that this is German pinot noir:
JC-1: Enderle & Moll 2019 Pinot Noir "Liaison" - 14.1% (which seems high to me)
== Day 4: not bad, actually
Jayson's wine #2 is dark and has lots of flavor impact but that impact is "a little bitter" -Don and "a touch of VA" -Jeff, "not a touch of VA, more like a grope of VA" -Jay. When Jayson tells us that this is the same bottling as wine #1 Jay immediately guesses 2018 (yes). We ask how did you know? "All '18 wines are bad" -Jay
JC-2: Enderle & Moll 2018 Pinot Noir "Liaison" - also 14.1% but any sensible people have jumped ship already
== Day 4: crikey! pine cleanser in the nose, palate is better but still rather boysenberry + VA, what a calamity
We are more than ready for "Jayson, The Apology Tour".
Jay immediately identifies wine #3 as Burgundy. This has a "stony nose" -Jayson with "talcum" -Victor, and it really is more minerally than opulent. It takes us a while to guess Volnay:
JC-3: Dom. Marquis d'Angerville 2007 Volnay 1er "Champans"
== Day 4: delicate, very strawberry, more a wine of elegance than wallowing
Wine #4 has an even richer nose, lots of well-chosen red fruit with well-behaved sous-bois supporting it. The rest of us spectate while Jay and Jayson banter about this one, ultimately agreeing that "it just needs another 5 or 6 years":
JC-4: Dom. G. Roumier 1999 Chambolle-Musigny
== Day 4: rather more juicy, mixed red fruit, tangy through the finish, just a teensy bit sluttier than JC-3
Rounding out the five, we return to the furmint:
JC-5: Szepsy 2017 Szent Tamas 46, Tokaji furmint - of course, it's Szepsy, does anybody know another Mad Hungarian? This has filled-in, lime leaf and glycerin, incredibly long (as befits the 100-year-old vines)
== Day 4: very faded, not much flavor left
And to close, we return to Don, the Theme and Meme Machine:
Wine #4 is clearly surviving on its acids but what a great job it's doing of it! This is moelleux with all the golden pit fruit that usually accompanies the style, "I like the compactness of it" -Jayson
Don-4: Pinon 1989 Moelleux - the entry-level moelleux, 48g/l, 12%
== Day 4: slight twist of lemon peel in the nose (is that an '89 hallmark?), so Pinon: honey water and stones
Wine #5 has a buzz of botrytis but this is probably younger and sweeter, it's also more muscular, whether that is the vintage talking or maybe slightly better sulfur I can't say but this is going to go a long time... and it's so beautiful
Don-5: Pinon 2008 Moelleux - the entry-level moelleux, 74 g/l, 11.5%
== Day 4: much more chalk, zing is better integrated, truly excellent
In honor of a great winemaker and good friend, Don presented one wine from each decade of Francois Pinon's life as a vigneron: '89, '96, '08, '15, '20.
Fait pour durer!
