Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
This post is no kind of summation or encomium or judgment. It is a trace of a moment; what it means, if anything, I leave to you to decide.
As you know, Thor Iverson departed at last for Thrudheim this past August. I did not attend the memorial service in October, nor was I present at his actual departure (near much-beloved Quechee, VT):
But I did attend the memorial luncheon a week ago. The event was hosted by his ex-wife, Theresa, and her brothers, Bill and Brian. It was a way to gather his friends, and their friends, to make a properly gluttonous and faintly irreverent farewell to him.
We gathered at Ambrosia, an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, who delivered a very palatable multi-course lunch (including a deliciously crispy cotoletta alla milanese) and gave us space to open Thor's remaining stash of wine. I recognized David Bueker, Bill Lundstrom, and Seth Hill in the crowd; nice to see familiar faces and catch up a bit.
Theresa asked six of the senior wineaux to deal with the opening and testing of the bottles. This was necessary because many of the bottles were older and had not been properly stored for some years. (Thor had become fascinated with cocktails in his latter years and the wines were neglected, leaving many of them with dried-out corks, dubious fills, and heat damage. Of course, some were just fine. The trick was to separate the wheat from the chaff.)
It beggars belief. I doubt there was anything here later than vintage 2012 or so. Many corks snapped or had to be pushed in. About 1/4 of the wines were shot, but most were drinking well enough to serve and a few were excellent.
I recall these labels and tastes:
Selbach Oster 01 Kab - a wine that was still totally on, intense, vigorously tangy, spritely fruit, excellent.
Barmes Herrenweg - this was also very good, fuller and richer and riper
ESJ various cuvees, including a magnum of Rocks and Gravel (in good shape), Shell and Bone, Peay Vyd (drinking very well), 03 Bassetti (OK but not more), the white ch9 blend in 2 vintages (I'm spacing the name), 00 Wylie
Weinbach "Cuvee Catherine" - in fair shape
Trimbach Freddie, several kinds including the 90VT
Trimbach Gewurz "Hors Choix" 04 - weightless, delightful, a really pleasurable bottle
Christoffel Auslese** 99
Pinon 09 Silex
a magnum of Briords 04 - still good, a magnum is a big help in this circumstance
a whole bunch of random Crozes-Hermitage 06 - a chacun...
Leoville Barton 02 and 04 - the 2002 was pretty good, the 04 was muddied
Bachelet Hautes 04
Remoriquet Nuits
many Tabla bottlings... mourvedre, vermentino, micolet, the other GSM blend (one of which has counoise, too)
Nalle Zin - excellent bottle
many G Duplessis 12 Chablis bottlings... Vaillons, Montmain, Tonnerre; most were in decent shape
a magnum of Dupasquier 10 Gamay - drinking very nicely, lightweight style
Scott Paul 06 "Audrey" - another one not obviously damaged but not crisp or focused or pretty really, so probably heat damaged
one bottle of Donnhoff
more Beaujolais: Foillard 13, Brun M-a-V, Desvignes 05 "Cote du Py" (the Desvignes was drinking nicely, though from an obviously big hot ripe year)
Suitable toasts and readings were made, of course, including a Psalm and an excerpt from LOTR.
Theresa had set aside a case of wine for each of her helpers. I accepted her gracious offer and I will remember Thor when I can.
And I will remember this farewell to him, suitably chaotic. And catered.
---
And because every story leads to another story, here is the story of the wine shipper that I used to carry that wine home.
Though, actually, I have to tell you another story before I tell you that one.
Another story. Jim and I were traveling in Japan in 2017. We encountered a typhoon which, as you might expect, made a mess of our schedule (not to mention trees, train lines, boats, houses...). But the weather was grey and rainy for days before and after, too. Of course, we had not packed for such bad weather and did not have a long umbrella with us. Until the Gods intervened: We were riding a train at a funny hour, had it practically to ourselves, and when I took our luggage down from the rack, a long umbrella fell on us. We accepted this gift and used it for several days. Then, those same Gods slipped it from our minds, we left it in a luggage rack on some other train, perhaps for the next watched-over persons to wield against the drippy sky.
Now back to the story of the wine shipper: That carrier was a gift from Lisa Allen only 2 days prior to the luncheon. She had obtained it a year ago through a 'pay nothing' Facebook group, never used it after all, so gifted it to me because she knows I travel and bring bottles back. The day after the luncheon, I gifted it to my BIL, who is off on safari, hunting bourbons. Maybe Thor meddled in the flow of things a bit, helping me get his bottles safely home and, into the bargain, now I don't have to find a place in my NYC apartment to store the shipper.
As you know, Thor Iverson departed at last for Thrudheim this past August. I did not attend the memorial service in October, nor was I present at his actual departure (near much-beloved Quechee, VT):
We gathered at Ambrosia, an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, who delivered a very palatable multi-course lunch (including a deliciously crispy cotoletta alla milanese) and gave us space to open Thor's remaining stash of wine. I recognized David Bueker, Bill Lundstrom, and Seth Hill in the crowd; nice to see familiar faces and catch up a bit.
Theresa asked six of the senior wineaux to deal with the opening and testing of the bottles. This was necessary because many of the bottles were older and had not been properly stored for some years. (Thor had become fascinated with cocktails in his latter years and the wines were neglected, leaving many of them with dried-out corks, dubious fills, and heat damage. Of course, some were just fine. The trick was to separate the wheat from the chaff.)
I recall these labels and tastes:
Selbach Oster 01 Kab - a wine that was still totally on, intense, vigorously tangy, spritely fruit, excellent.
Barmes Herrenweg - this was also very good, fuller and richer and riper
ESJ various cuvees, including a magnum of Rocks and Gravel (in good shape), Shell and Bone, Peay Vyd (drinking very well), 03 Bassetti (OK but not more), the white ch9 blend in 2 vintages (I'm spacing the name), 00 Wylie
Weinbach "Cuvee Catherine" - in fair shape
Trimbach Freddie, several kinds including the 90VT
Trimbach Gewurz "Hors Choix" 04 - weightless, delightful, a really pleasurable bottle
Christoffel Auslese** 99
Pinon 09 Silex
a magnum of Briords 04 - still good, a magnum is a big help in this circumstance
a whole bunch of random Crozes-Hermitage 06 - a chacun...
Leoville Barton 02 and 04 - the 2002 was pretty good, the 04 was muddied
Bachelet Hautes 04
Remoriquet Nuits
many Tabla bottlings... mourvedre, vermentino, micolet, the other GSM blend (one of which has counoise, too)
Nalle Zin - excellent bottle
many G Duplessis 12 Chablis bottlings... Vaillons, Montmain, Tonnerre; most were in decent shape
a magnum of Dupasquier 10 Gamay - drinking very nicely, lightweight style
Scott Paul 06 "Audrey" - another one not obviously damaged but not crisp or focused or pretty really, so probably heat damaged
one bottle of Donnhoff
more Beaujolais: Foillard 13, Brun M-a-V, Desvignes 05 "Cote du Py" (the Desvignes was drinking nicely, though from an obviously big hot ripe year)
Suitable toasts and readings were made, of course, including a Psalm and an excerpt from LOTR.
And I will remember this farewell to him, suitably chaotic. And catered.
---
And because every story leads to another story, here is the story of the wine shipper that I used to carry that wine home.
Though, actually, I have to tell you another story before I tell you that one.
Another story. Jim and I were traveling in Japan in 2017. We encountered a typhoon which, as you might expect, made a mess of our schedule (not to mention trees, train lines, boats, houses...). But the weather was grey and rainy for days before and after, too. Of course, we had not packed for such bad weather and did not have a long umbrella with us. Until the Gods intervened: We were riding a train at a funny hour, had it practically to ourselves, and when I took our luggage down from the rack, a long umbrella fell on us. We accepted this gift and used it for several days. Then, those same Gods slipped it from our minds, we left it in a luggage rack on some other train, perhaps for the next watched-over persons to wield against the drippy sky.
Now back to the story of the wine shipper: That carrier was a gift from Lisa Allen only 2 days prior to the luncheon. She had obtained it a year ago through a 'pay nothing' Facebook group, never used it after all, so gifted it to me because she knows I travel and bring bottles back. The day after the luncheon, I gifted it to my BIL, who is off on safari, hunting bourbons. Maybe Thor meddled in the flow of things a bit, helping me get his bottles safely home and, into the bargain, now I don't have to find a place in my NYC apartment to store the shipper.
