Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Eden+Scott, Jay, Jeff, Lisa, Victor
Victor and Lisa pour.
--
Lisa GREEN DOT - It is white. Not sauv blanc (Jay) or chard (Jeff), not romorantin either; but we think it's Loire so we ask about the style. "Sec" is on the label. And while we continue to admire the wine, it comes to me that I have tasted this recently: it's the Pinon 2022 Vouvray Sec "Deronnieres". This stuff is wonderful, goes with anything. Eben told me that Julien was very happy with the wine as it really came in sec: 1.5g rs.
Lisa BLUE DOT - It is white. "Off dry" (Victor) and furthermore it's chenin with a "lemon creme / lemon curd kind of a vibe" (Eden). This is Vouvray, for sure, and we quickly chase it back to Montlouis but our success stops there as the maker is not well-known: Jousset 2019 Montlouis-sur-Loire, Premier Rendez-Vous "Version Longue"
--
Victor #1 and #2 - Bordeaux both, that much we all got.
#1 first... St Emilion? No. (Jeff) Eden pipes up, "I'd sooner guess Margaux!" Yes(!): Rauzan-Segla 1990 Margaux - very complex, palate with berry and earth and citrus and an extra florality; "a lot of lift at the end" (Victor), "a bit pruny at the end but with a flourish" (Eden)
#2 next... 'Another Margaux?'-Jay, 'Not exactly' -Victor; say wha?... eventually Victor says it is Haut-Medoc, which is adjacent to Margaux and so sometimes people say it tastes like it; Jay now guesses La Lagune (yes); it is fairly darker and dull in color so Jay guesses 80s? (yes): Ch. La Lagune 1989 Haut-Medoc
Day 3: maybe it hasn't got the weight of a more prestigious AOC but it is rather luscious
--
Victor #3: 'Salty" -Melissa; we are about to ask if it's another 1990 but Victor says that it's a different vintage so Jay guesses '88 (yes); after that we are stumped: Ch. Beychevelle 1988 Saint-Julien - "terrific acidity" (Victor)
Day 3: there is something like dirt+strawberry jam+brett jumping out of the glass now; mid-weight, really good claret, maybe a hint of spearmint in the finish
Victor #4: Desperate for a theme Jay ventures "St-Julien?" (no); there's "coffee in the nose" (Don) so we know it's an older bottle but we give up again: Ch. Figeac 1988 Saint-Emilion
Day 3: also a little horsey (yes, I rinse the glass between wines), very slight so might just be my interpretation of middle-aged cab sauv (foods get funky as they get old, too); works beautifully with food but I'm giving tonight's nod to La Lagune
--
Lisa ORANGE DOT - Red wine with a pretty nose but what is it?; someone ventures Chateauneuf-du-Pape; the wine is older but somewhat sweet still, tannins quite reduced, Jay asserts that there's grenache here; alc is 13.5%
Lisa YELLOW DOT - Red wine with a nose of "cookie dough" (Eden), Victor immediately picks it for syrah; it's really kinda ugly to me so I think the bottle is bad somehow; alc 12.5%
Lisa RED DOT - Red wine. Big syrah wine, probably Hermitage... and beautiful; alc 13.0%
Don says the acidity in YELLOW DOT reminds him of the brightness that comes from Eric Texier wines. Yes, Lisa says, all three are Texier wines from 1999: Ch9, Brezeme, Hermitage.
Day 3:
Ch9... more body and sweetness than Victor's Bordeaux but not so much complexity: stays in the redfruit spectrum and does not offer any black; suave and beautiful anyway
Brezeme... still weird, light enough that maybe this is what OTH tastes like for Brezeme? I could not recognize this as syrah
Hermitage... mid-heavy weight, meaty syrah, highlight notes of redfruit, silky, terrific
--
Victor #6 - No doubt about it, this is Sauternes; "ridiculously good" -Jay, "it has everything" -Eden; "it's not Yquem!" -Victor; Jay says this is more complex than something like the 2001 Coutet and that leads him to correctly guess: Ch. Climens 1988 Sauternes
--
Thank you, Victor and Lisa, for the beautiful wines that show the value of laying them down for a while.
Victor and Lisa pour.
--
Lisa GREEN DOT - It is white. Not sauv blanc (Jay) or chard (Jeff), not romorantin either; but we think it's Loire so we ask about the style. "Sec" is on the label. And while we continue to admire the wine, it comes to me that I have tasted this recently: it's the Pinon 2022 Vouvray Sec "Deronnieres". This stuff is wonderful, goes with anything. Eben told me that Julien was very happy with the wine as it really came in sec: 1.5g rs.
Lisa BLUE DOT - It is white. "Off dry" (Victor) and furthermore it's chenin with a "lemon creme / lemon curd kind of a vibe" (Eden). This is Vouvray, for sure, and we quickly chase it back to Montlouis but our success stops there as the maker is not well-known: Jousset 2019 Montlouis-sur-Loire, Premier Rendez-Vous "Version Longue"
--
Victor #1 and #2 - Bordeaux both, that much we all got.
#1 first... St Emilion? No. (Jeff) Eden pipes up, "I'd sooner guess Margaux!" Yes(!): Rauzan-Segla 1990 Margaux - very complex, palate with berry and earth and citrus and an extra florality; "a lot of lift at the end" (Victor), "a bit pruny at the end but with a flourish" (Eden)
#2 next... 'Another Margaux?'-Jay, 'Not exactly' -Victor; say wha?... eventually Victor says it is Haut-Medoc, which is adjacent to Margaux and so sometimes people say it tastes like it; Jay now guesses La Lagune (yes); it is fairly darker and dull in color so Jay guesses 80s? (yes): Ch. La Lagune 1989 Haut-Medoc
Day 3: maybe it hasn't got the weight of a more prestigious AOC but it is rather luscious
--
Victor #3: 'Salty" -Melissa; we are about to ask if it's another 1990 but Victor says that it's a different vintage so Jay guesses '88 (yes); after that we are stumped: Ch. Beychevelle 1988 Saint-Julien - "terrific acidity" (Victor)
Day 3: there is something like dirt+strawberry jam+brett jumping out of the glass now; mid-weight, really good claret, maybe a hint of spearmint in the finish
Victor #4: Desperate for a theme Jay ventures "St-Julien?" (no); there's "coffee in the nose" (Don) so we know it's an older bottle but we give up again: Ch. Figeac 1988 Saint-Emilion
Day 3: also a little horsey (yes, I rinse the glass between wines), very slight so might just be my interpretation of middle-aged cab sauv (foods get funky as they get old, too); works beautifully with food but I'm giving tonight's nod to La Lagune
--
Lisa ORANGE DOT - Red wine with a pretty nose but what is it?; someone ventures Chateauneuf-du-Pape; the wine is older but somewhat sweet still, tannins quite reduced, Jay asserts that there's grenache here; alc is 13.5%
Lisa YELLOW DOT - Red wine with a nose of "cookie dough" (Eden), Victor immediately picks it for syrah; it's really kinda ugly to me so I think the bottle is bad somehow; alc 12.5%
Lisa RED DOT - Red wine. Big syrah wine, probably Hermitage... and beautiful; alc 13.0%
Don says the acidity in YELLOW DOT reminds him of the brightness that comes from Eric Texier wines. Yes, Lisa says, all three are Texier wines from 1999: Ch9, Brezeme, Hermitage.
Day 3:
Ch9... more body and sweetness than Victor's Bordeaux but not so much complexity: stays in the redfruit spectrum and does not offer any black; suave and beautiful anyway
Brezeme... still weird, light enough that maybe this is what OTH tastes like for Brezeme? I could not recognize this as syrah
Hermitage... mid-heavy weight, meaty syrah, highlight notes of redfruit, silky, terrific
--
Victor #6 - No doubt about it, this is Sauternes; "ridiculously good" -Jay, "it has everything" -Eden; "it's not Yquem!" -Victor; Jay says this is more complex than something like the 2001 Coutet and that leads him to correctly guess: Ch. Climens 1988 Sauternes
--
Thank you, Victor and Lisa, for the beautiful wines that show the value of laying them down for a while.
