ESJ check-in

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Rahsaan

Rahsaan
2012 ESJ Fenaughty Syrah
So damn good. Ripe resolved ESJ-liqueur, all that sunny CA fruit, but not heavy or thick. Just silky sunny and elegant, and slides down the throat so easily. I think I have one more bottle and have been judiciously deciding who to open it with.

2013 ESJ North Canyon Road Syrah
Certainly ripe (compared to my usual sour European red wines), but more focused fresher and brighter than the 2012, and much less evolved. With air it opens nicely and does well with dinner (maitake, olive and tomato sauce pizza). Certainly no chore to enjoy this wine, but never gushing gorgeousness like the 2012. Will hold the rest for a bit.

2005 ESJ Bassetti Syrah
An old favorite, holding well. Over the years I've had different faces from different bottles, this one shows more on the dark meaty minty side, plenty of structure, but also plenty of fruit and body. As we know, a very different interpretation than Fenaughty land. Very convincing when served to friends who live in Southern France and have those palates. Delicious and happy to have more.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
2005 ESJ Bassetti Syrah
An old favorite, holding well. Over the years I've had different faces from different bottles, this one shows more on the dark meaty minty side, plenty of structure, but also plenty of fruit and body. As we know, a very different interpretation than Fenaughty land. Very convincing when served to friends who live in Southern France and have those palates. Delicious and happy to have more.
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I only have one bottle left, which is a shame, but I've enjoyed a bunch along the way.

I'm not sure if you get emails from Leon & Son, but check out the price on this wine from a recent offer. I mean, I knew the quality, but I didn't realize it would be a unicorn.

$400 Bassetti.

They claim that Steve opened up his cellar specifically to them. I wonder if he can attest to that (I totally understand if not).
 
originally posted by VLM:


I'm not sure if you get emails from Leon & Son, but check out the price on this wine from a recent offer. I mean, I knew the quality, but I didn't realize it would be a unicorn.

$400 Bassetti.
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Wow. I don't get their emails. We've always known Steve deserves unicorn pricing, but didn't realize it had happened.

I have 3-4 more, will enjoy them even more!
 
The bottles went through my distributor's hands into the hands of the people at Leon and Son. I got paid 1/2 of their shelf price. When they were ordered from me there were less than a dozen left in my possession (except a handful I intend to drink. Since I think of that as one of the very best wines I ever put in bottle, at 19 years old $200 felt like a decent price.

i have a lot of old wine that nobody wants and it's going to cost me quite a lot to dispose of it. I only hope I break somewhere close to even.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
Since I think of that as one of the very best wines I ever put in bottle, at 19 years old $200 felt like a decent price...

i have a lot of old wine that nobody wants and it's going to cost me quite a lot to dispose of it. I only hope I break somewhere close to even.
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If anybody 'deserves' the money, you do. And I find it hard to believe that nobody wants the old wine!!
 
It's old white and old rosé that I (impulsively) made too much of. Mostly the rest is salable. But there was also some stuff we pulled back off the market when I had a substantial microbial scare crisis.There's a lot of that. Some of it weathered the crisis and is actually good, but it's not clear whether some of it might still be touch and go.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
The bottles went through my distributor's hands into the hands of the people at Leon and Son. I got paid 1/2 of their shelf price. When they were ordered from me there were less than a dozen left in my possession (except a handful I intend to drink. Since I think of that as one of the very best wines I ever put in bottle, at 19 years old $200 felt like a decent price.

i have a lot of old wine that nobody wants and it's going to cost me quite a lot to dispose of it. I only hope I break somewhere close to even.
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To be clear, I have no issue with you selling that wine at $200 or $500, it really is one of the greatest CA Syrah I've ever had. I'm glad I have a bottle left.

I was just skeptical that it came directly from you. Retailers will often overstate the directness of their sourcing. That obviously wasn't the case here, thanks for clarifying.
 
Would you consider selling those old whites and rosés directly to folks on this board? I for one would definitely be interested, and I think this crowd would be understanding about the risk factor...
 
originally posted by twlim:
Would you consider selling those old whites and rosés directly to folks on this board? I for one would definitely be interested, and I think this crowd would be understanding about the risk factor...
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I need to spend some time with this. The whites and rosés are definitely, mostly too old. If I can get a little time to go through what's there, and taste the bottles I think still have some life, and I'm happy to part with them at really modest prices. I'll try to report back before too long. I have a lot going on at the moment.
 
Steve, since we’re local right now, please let me know if Jean and I can help in any way. We’re happy to taste through whatever you want if it helps.

Mark Lipton
 
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