TN: Return of Son of Revenge of the Real Wine Attack from Outer Spa-a-a-ace! (Mar. 24, 2024)

[Jeff Grossman]

The local wine and love fest (and fundraiser for PIH). Many of our favorite characters are here from Chambers St, ChambersNYC, LDM, 14 of their vigneron/nes, and several of our fellow travelers... Rahsaan, John Morris, and others.

It's a party in the Touraine, or maybe a patch of Italy... that happens to be in a long skinny room with a lot of wine to quickly slurp.

(I've converted my walkaround scoring system to the range 0-3, where anything above 1 is worth a try.)

Belliviere 2022 Jasnieres "Premices" - fruity, young vines, barrel selection, seems like just an ordinary wine until the finish arrives: earth and resin and really long 1.5
Belliviere 2021 Coteaux du Loir "L'Effraie" - OK but not charming 0
Belliviere 2021 Coteaux du Loir "Hommage a Louis Derre" - 100+ yr vines, they make this every year now, this one is so tight that I'm going to have to reserve judgment

Pinon 2022 Vouvray "Buvez du Bon Pinon" - excellent, nice balance 2
Pinon 2022 Vouvray "Les Deronnieres" - limestone and honey, yet dry, and an unexpectedly vivid and long finish 2
Pinon, Francois 2022 VdF Petillant Naturel Rose - berry fizz, ok I guess 1

Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2022 VdF "Tesniere" Blanc - menu pineau, faint, maybe a little greenness at the end 0
Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2022 Touraine "POB" Sauvignon Blanc - ok 0.5
Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2022 VdF Pineau d'Aunis "Boissiere" - 11.62% alc(somebody got a lab report), typique flavors, lightweight, nice wine 1

Villemade, Herve 2021 Cheverny "Montcrochet" - lots of jokes "No, not Montrachet...", 4 cepages, all-white blend, noticeable sauv blanc fragrance jumps out 0.5
Villemade, Herve 2020 Cour-Cheverny "Les Acacias" - old vines, 50-50 barrel and amphora, nice fruit but I want more acidity 0.5
Villemade, Herve 2022 Touraine Pinot Noir - eh 0.5

Descombes, Kewin 2022 Beaujolais "Cuvee Ke Ke" - 8 days skin contact, concrete, ok 0.5
Descombes, Kewin 2022 Morgon - 2 wks skin contact, concrete, better wine 1
Descombes, Kewin 2020 Morgon Vieilles Vignes - 80-yr vines, concrete and barrels, more depth, more substance, mid-weight, decant for an hour 2

Combel La Serre 2021 Cahors "Pur Fruit du Causse" - simple malbec, good enough 0.5
Combel La Serre 2020 Cahors "Cuvee Chateau" - so much more depth! an extra year in barrel makes a world of difference here 1.5
Combel La Serre 2020 Cahors "Au Cerisier" - concrete, 16 months, limestone under red clay, finer texture, not sure that it's really better material though 1

Renardat-Fache 2022 VdF "En Blanc Aussi" - eh, a little late-arriving funky/autolytic flavor 0
Renardat-Fache NV (2022) VdF "Comme dans la cave a Meme" - MV gamay because there was so little wine in both '20 and '21, silky, good flavors 2
Renardat-Fache 2022 Bugey Cerdon Methode Ancestrale - 70% gamay / 30% poulsard, it's the "it" wine! 1.5

Monte Dall' Ora 2022 Valpolicella Classico "Saseti" - bright and zippy, vin de soif (and happy to do so) 1
Monte Dall' Ora 2020 Valpolicella Classico Superiore "Camporenzo" - entirely different expression but ultimately gives the same feeling 1
Monte Dall' Ora 2018 Valpolicella Classico Superiore "San Giorgio Alto" - granite and iron in the soil, more sophisticated, fresh, rocky, this is drink-me-now good 2

Altura (Famiglia Carfagna) 2021 Vino Bianco Rossetto MTV Isola del Giglio - malvasia, trebbiano, vermentino; 2 days skin contact, weirdly floral-toasty-bitter, dunno 0
Altura (Famiglia Carfagna) 2019 Toscana IGT Rosato Rossetto - intentionally between rose and red, good acidity, typical berry flavors 1
Altura (Famiglia Carfagna) 2022 Vino Bianco Ansonaco dell'Isola del Giglio - autochthonous grape, heavy, tannic, structured, another dunno 1

La Distesa 2022 Marche IGT Bianco Terre Silvate - yep, that's wine 0.5
La Distesa 2022 Marche IGT Bianco "Nur" - 4 cepages, 20 days skin contact, concrete and chestnut, this is excellent, citrus, lively 2
La Distesa 2021 Marche IGT Rosso Nocenzio - sangiovese and montepulciano, steel, that's a good shapely red 1

Cantina Giardino 2022 Vino Bianco Controra - liter; no sulfur, raised in cement, very gentle and soft, easy to drink, does not ring all the bells that say "wine" (it might be some kind of cider) 0
Cantina Giardino 2022 Vino Rosato Amphora - magnum; no sulfur, raised in cement, 40% aglianico, similarly soft, a late taste of mouse on the finish 0
Cantina Giardino 2020 Campania Aglianico "Le Fole" - no sulfur, raised in cemend, good grip and ripeness, good drink if the price is right 1

I Vigneri (Foti) 2022 Vino Bianco Aurora - authochthonous grape, eh 0.5
I Vigneri (Foti) 2022 Vino Rosato Vinudilice (Etna) - field blend of 10 grapes, nice enough but not distinctive 1
I Vigneri (Foti) 2022 Vino Rosso (Etna) - mostly nero d'avola, fine tannins, tense palate, very good 1.5

Marino, Salvatore 2022 Terre Siciliane Turi Bianco - orange, good, has a hint of the luscious body of marsala (but definitely not oxidized) 1.5
Marino, Salvatore 2022 Terre Siciliane Turi Pachino Nero D'Avola - simple red, good glou if the price is right 1
His delightful business card

Occhipinti 2021 Terre Siciliane "Il Frappato" - clean and crisp and light and yet lacking tension 0.5
Occhipinti 2021 Terre Siciliane Nero d'Avola "Siccagno" - also bright but this has more of the weight I want in it 2
Occhipinti 2019 Cerasuolo di Vittoria "Grotte Alto" - good wine but heavily affected and structured by the French oak, not for me 0
Occhipinti 2023 Panta Rei, Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva - 3L, warm presence, no pepper or bite (which suits me just fine), rather luscious 1.5

Props to everyone for a fun afternoon.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Many thanks, very useful. I see no 3s or 2.5s, so I appreciate the calibration (and capillarity).

We had a bottle of the 2021 Salvo Foti Vino Rosso in Sicily last year and it was REALLY good. Perhaps a slimmer growing season.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Many thanks, very useful. I see no 3s or 2.5s

Jeff reports all the 3s and 2.5s behind the pay wall. you didn't know?

 

[Rahsaan]

It was nice to see you Jeff, along with some other familiar faces. And I remain in awe of your note-taking prowess. Maybe you got Healthier Pours, but the tiny thimbles they gave me were difficult to evaluate in much detail. I decided not to even taste most of the Italians, because I had no frame of reference for them.

But, it was fun to taste the French wines. As I mentioned, I've moved away from the LDM Loire portfolio in recent years, and it was interesting to see how much more modern and polished these producers had become, compared to my formative tasting experiences with them in the early/mid 00s.

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Belliviere 2022 Jasnieres "Premices" - fruity, young vines, barrel selection, seems like just an ordinary wine until the finish arrives: earth and resin and really long 1.5
Belliviere 2021 Coteaux du Loir "L'Effraie" - OK but not charming 0

This is interesting. I liked both, for different reasons. The Premices was very easy to like and my Thimble was Delicious. But the different spectrum of flavors on the L'Effraie were also fun, and that polished kumquat (oak?) spin on chenin brought back so many memories, I had to purchase it!

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Pinon, Francois 2022 VdF Petillant Naturel Rose - berry fizz, ok I guess 1
Villemade, Herve 2022 Touraine Pinot Noir - eh 0.5

These two were interesting for me because I had no need to purchase them, but I found them both intriguing and would have happily explored more. In a world of infinite time. The Villemade Pinot Noir was especially interesting because it had more weight and polish than I remember, while still being clear juicy and fresh. Of course I have so many other comparable red wines in that category. But it was nice to taste.

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Combel La Serre 2021 Cahors "Pur Fruit du Causse" - simple malbec, good enough 0.5
Combel La Serre 2020 Cahors "Cuvee Chateau" - so much more depth! an extra year in barrel makes a world of difference here 1.5
Combel La Serre 2020 Cahors "Au Cerisier" - concrete, 16 months, limestone under red clay, finer texture, not sure that it's really better material though 1

I agree with you here, and found these wines very interesting. I used to dabble in Cahors back in the day, but haven't really tasted much in the past 10 years. This was nothing I need to pursue, but the perfect LDM Cahors at 12%. Refreshing in this New Climate World!

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Many thanks, very useful. I see no 3s or 2.5s, so I appreciate the calibration (and capillarity).

Yeah, I still had my socks on at the end. I bought 2s, though, and several 1.5s are tempting. (That Jasnieres!)

Rahsaan, I agree that the makers are doing better work than ever. If I rank something low it probably just means it doesn't match with my alleles, you know?

One thing I love about this event is to taste wine from new makers, new grapes, taste how different elevages work themselves out. LDM has a good eye for keeping it interesting more often than going awry.

I wonder about PIH a bit. Haiti is a serious mess just now and those folks are presumably in danger.

Pavel, the Marketing contract is renewed; see email.

 

[Brian C]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Many thanks, very useful. I see no 3s or 2.5s, so I appreciate the calibration (and capillarity).

We had a bottle of the 2021 Salvo Foti Vino Rosso in Sicily last year and it was REALLY good. Perhaps a slimmer growing season.

I love these wines as well and was a bit surprised by the lukewarm reaction to the Aurora and rosato. I have historically found them fascinating and delicious. Wonder if it’s a vintage thing.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Brian C:
I love these wines as well and was a bit surprised by the lukewarm reaction to the Aurora and rosato. I have historically found them fascinating and delicious. Wonder if it’s a vintage thing.

I have failed to like Vinudilice before.