Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Lisa and Seth pour.
While the crowd find their seats, we chat with Eden who is visiting us to say hi and so we can wish Happy Birthday to Pierce (15 years old so it's OK to drink him now?). We also chat about theater: Lisa has just come back from seeing everything in the West End. And Don and Jay regale us with tales of the fabulous views from the Staten Island Ferry (which is free and sails past every NYC landmark you can think of that sits on an island or a shore).
Speaking of which, it's time to embark on our 50th Virtual Tasting.
Seth 'Red': Thomas Winery 2017 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, 13.2%, "juicy cranberries" -Don, we guess gamay and cab franc and finally pinot noir... and sulfur. I think that last is what puts me in mind, just a little, of graham crackers or a dusty basement. Anyway, light and fresh and juicy and midweight. Nobody guesses the cult maker but we're not surprised as we've always heard the wine is really good... just unobtainium.
Day 5: minerality still good, cran-cherry fruit still good, just a touch of cocoa powder, alive and well and great wine
Seth 'Yellow': Burlotto 2020 Barolo "Monvigliero", 14.5%, light pinky wine, enticing nose, "pretty bold" -Don, Jay does not like the finish- "rubber", I admit I get some popcorn and Victor thinks the alcohol is rather high and that is giving a bitter finish. As usual we guess all over the place (Jura, California) but we do eventually put it in Piemonte and Jay actually names the wine. Seth: "It's known as a 'Burgundian Barolo' and if you taste strawberries and olives at the same time, it's probably Burlotto."
Day 5: If I did not know this is Barolo, I'd have a tough time guessing it. The sweetness has come forward and it floats over some gentle but obvious tannins. A good enough wine but not really typique to me.
Seth 'Green': Ketan Mody 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon "Beta", Montecillo, 14%, wow is that inky dark! Jay guesses petite syrah (...to which Don adds "from the 1940s"). After some global navigation, we end up with 'mountain wine in California'. Jay essays "Dunn", which Seth says is "close", and I name it. Melissa: "It's everything I dislike about California wine, too thick, too extracted."
Day 5: it is a big wine but it is clean and pure, very pretty cabernet fruit (black currants, black cherry), very minor oak flavors (in balance), the texture is a tad thick but it's not sandy or gluey; really nice wine, also just about unobtainium
Lisa 'Red': Penfold's 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon "Bin 707", 13.5%, this is some really nice dark cab with savory notes of smoke (Victor) and toast (Jeff); definitely a middle-aged wine (20-30 yrs), we place it in Australia on the third try and we name the maker on the fourth try (not Torbreck, Yarra Yering, or John Riddoch), one wiseguy suggests it was bottled in Bond, James Bond, so... Bin 007.
Day 5: prominent bouquet... meaning flowers and cut greens, not the pure fruit of the Mody; also redder-hued fruit than the California wine, good spice, medium weight, wants food more than contemplation, also good wine
Lisa 'Orange Square': d'Arenberg 1995 Shiraz "The Dead Arm", click, Juicy-Fruit gum in the nose and on the palate, sweet mixed fruit cup sort of thing; we're pretty sure it's also Australian, yeah we guess a bunch of Bin numbers but Lisa isn't that desperate for a theme; Seth thinks this is OTH
Day 5: nose is still a toss-up (but 'wine' is one of the choices); there's a little sulfur yet; palate is meaty and minty and also some cocoa powder; not my cuppa but seems sound
Lisa 'Yellow': Jim Barry 1995 Shiraz "The Armagh", click, in better shape than the d'Arenberg, Seth prefers the nose to the palate, Jayson calls it 'medicinal', this is also meaty and with good spice and a teeny note of blueberry way into the finish; we've dialed-in the theme by now and it only takes a few guess for Jayson to name the wine ("but only because Henschke was already ruled out")
Day 5: something vegetal, maybe carrots?, has intruded on the nose, but the palate is still very pretty, if sturdy, shiraz fruit (cran-blueberry) with good weight and intensity and real persistence
A great horizontal of mid-90s Australia reds!
Lisa 'Orange Triangle': Casa Madero 2020 "3V" Gran Riserva, 13.9%, suntan lotion and lots of it. Because of this wine, the tariffs are back on.
Day 5: nose is a little more subdued, but the palate continues weird... cherry fruit, tingly wood tannins, deet (or some other chemical smell), cheap sugar candy, bleh
Seth 'Blue': Julian Haart 2015 Wintricher Ohligsberg Riesling Spatlese, click, that's Mosel, very early someone guesses 2015 and we are all surprised at how open the wine is and how it is rather more citrussy and elegant than bold, which is what we're all expecting from the big ballyhooed vintage; Jay gets the pradikat, on the third try Jayson names the wine
Day 5: acidity has softened a little, very tangerine, lightweight and refreshing
Seth 'Violet': Selbach-Oster 2012 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling "Schmitt", 8.5%, tangerine nose, Jay and Jayson are all over it, Schmitt is another of Johann's block-picked wines which induces much geekery about the technique and the resulting ripeness and RS (maybe around auslese?)
Day 5: totally smells like Selbach-Oster wines of my acquaintance, lemon-lime, maybe slightly sweetened lemon, juicy acids, broad palate, bit of old lady handkerchief
Lisa 'Diamond': Niepoort 1994 Vintage Port, click, obviously port, lots of vapor (=alcohol and VA, for which this bottling is known), Jayson stabs at the year and gets it right, much discussion ensues about which years do people here prefer (I am surprised that very few people like 1977), and then even more geekery about whether Niepoort is a first-class house or a lesser label (a tricky question as it is usually not as fine as Taylor/Fonseca/Graham but way more reliable than say Ferreira or Burmester)
Day 5: still obviously port, a bit more chocolate than before, the alcohol still stings a little, but I've got a wonderful piece of chocolate cake here that will remove all stings
A few casual views:
.
Till we meet again.
Lisa and Seth pour.
While the crowd find their seats, we chat with Eden who is visiting us to say hi and so we can wish Happy Birthday to Pierce (15 years old so it's OK to drink him now?). We also chat about theater: Lisa has just come back from seeing everything in the West End. And Don and Jay regale us with tales of the fabulous views from the Staten Island Ferry (which is free and sails past every NYC landmark you can think of that sits on an island or a shore).
Speaking of which, it's time to embark on our 50th Virtual Tasting.
Seth 'Red': Thomas Winery 2017 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, 13.2%, "juicy cranberries" -Don, we guess gamay and cab franc and finally pinot noir... and sulfur. I think that last is what puts me in mind, just a little, of graham crackers or a dusty basement. Anyway, light and fresh and juicy and midweight. Nobody guesses the cult maker but we're not surprised as we've always heard the wine is really good... just unobtainium.
Day 5: minerality still good, cran-cherry fruit still good, just a touch of cocoa powder, alive and well and great wine
Seth 'Yellow': Burlotto 2020 Barolo "Monvigliero", 14.5%, light pinky wine, enticing nose, "pretty bold" -Don, Jay does not like the finish- "rubber", I admit I get some popcorn and Victor thinks the alcohol is rather high and that is giving a bitter finish. As usual we guess all over the place (Jura, California) but we do eventually put it in Piemonte and Jay actually names the wine. Seth: "It's known as a 'Burgundian Barolo' and if you taste strawberries and olives at the same time, it's probably Burlotto."
Day 5: If I did not know this is Barolo, I'd have a tough time guessing it. The sweetness has come forward and it floats over some gentle but obvious tannins. A good enough wine but not really typique to me.
Seth 'Green': Ketan Mody 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon "Beta", Montecillo, 14%, wow is that inky dark! Jay guesses petite syrah (...to which Don adds "from the 1940s"). After some global navigation, we end up with 'mountain wine in California'. Jay essays "Dunn", which Seth says is "close", and I name it. Melissa: "It's everything I dislike about California wine, too thick, too extracted."
Day 5: it is a big wine but it is clean and pure, very pretty cabernet fruit (black currants, black cherry), very minor oak flavors (in balance), the texture is a tad thick but it's not sandy or gluey; really nice wine, also just about unobtainium
Lisa 'Red': Penfold's 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon "Bin 707", 13.5%, this is some really nice dark cab with savory notes of smoke (Victor) and toast (Jeff); definitely a middle-aged wine (20-30 yrs), we place it in Australia on the third try and we name the maker on the fourth try (not Torbreck, Yarra Yering, or John Riddoch), one wiseguy suggests it was bottled in Bond, James Bond, so... Bin 007.
Day 5: prominent bouquet... meaning flowers and cut greens, not the pure fruit of the Mody; also redder-hued fruit than the California wine, good spice, medium weight, wants food more than contemplation, also good wine
Lisa 'Orange Square': d'Arenberg 1995 Shiraz "The Dead Arm", click, Juicy-Fruit gum in the nose and on the palate, sweet mixed fruit cup sort of thing; we're pretty sure it's also Australian, yeah we guess a bunch of Bin numbers but Lisa isn't that desperate for a theme; Seth thinks this is OTH
Day 5: nose is still a toss-up (but 'wine' is one of the choices); there's a little sulfur yet; palate is meaty and minty and also some cocoa powder; not my cuppa but seems sound
Lisa 'Yellow': Jim Barry 1995 Shiraz "The Armagh", click, in better shape than the d'Arenberg, Seth prefers the nose to the palate, Jayson calls it 'medicinal', this is also meaty and with good spice and a teeny note of blueberry way into the finish; we've dialed-in the theme by now and it only takes a few guess for Jayson to name the wine ("but only because Henschke was already ruled out")
Day 5: something vegetal, maybe carrots?, has intruded on the nose, but the palate is still very pretty, if sturdy, shiraz fruit (cran-blueberry) with good weight and intensity and real persistence
A great horizontal of mid-90s Australia reds!
Lisa 'Orange Triangle': Casa Madero 2020 "3V" Gran Riserva, 13.9%, suntan lotion and lots of it. Because of this wine, the tariffs are back on.
Day 5: nose is a little more subdued, but the palate continues weird... cherry fruit, tingly wood tannins, deet (or some other chemical smell), cheap sugar candy, bleh
Seth 'Blue': Julian Haart 2015 Wintricher Ohligsberg Riesling Spatlese, click, that's Mosel, very early someone guesses 2015 and we are all surprised at how open the wine is and how it is rather more citrussy and elegant than bold, which is what we're all expecting from the big ballyhooed vintage; Jay gets the pradikat, on the third try Jayson names the wine
Day 5: acidity has softened a little, very tangerine, lightweight and refreshing
Seth 'Violet': Selbach-Oster 2012 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling "Schmitt", 8.5%, tangerine nose, Jay and Jayson are all over it, Schmitt is another of Johann's block-picked wines which induces much geekery about the technique and the resulting ripeness and RS (maybe around auslese?)
Day 5: totally smells like Selbach-Oster wines of my acquaintance, lemon-lime, maybe slightly sweetened lemon, juicy acids, broad palate, bit of old lady handkerchief
Lisa 'Diamond': Niepoort 1994 Vintage Port, click, obviously port, lots of vapor (=alcohol and VA, for which this bottling is known), Jayson stabs at the year and gets it right, much discussion ensues about which years do people here prefer (I am surprised that very few people like 1977), and then even more geekery about whether Niepoort is a first-class house or a lesser label (a tricky question as it is usually not as fine as Taylor/Fonseca/Graham but way more reliable than say Ferreira or Burmester)
Day 5: still obviously port, a bit more chocolate than before, the alcohol still stings a little, but I've got a wonderful piece of chocolate cake here that will remove all stings
A few casual views:
.
Till we meet again.