Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
MWC sponsored another walkaround event for their storage clients at the storefront's new digs. And, this time, the announcement invited us to fetch out wines from our collections and share them with the group. (Bravo, Matt!)
There was a pretty good crowd for a random Wednesday, maybe 50 people, every one a serious enough wino to have wines in storage. Some interesting personalities, as always, and stories of wines past.
There were also a couple side tables heaped with pizza, just so we're not drinking on an empty stomach.
MWC setup its own sampling tables, one for champagne, one for Burgundy (well, mostly), and one for Spanish wines. The customers, well, as there was no central planning, they were all over the place, as you shall see below:
Table #1: Champagne
Corbon 2014 Champagne GC BdB - brilliant, acidic, lemon-lime chardonnay
Ponson NV Champagne 1er "La Petite Montagne" - mostly meunier; more substantial, more chalky, I want this at the table not as an aperitif
Dom. Mea NV Champagne 1er "La Recontre" - closed; do not disturb for several years
Georges Laval NV Champagne 1er "Cumieres" - juicy acids, very distinctive, shows good breeding though I'm not sure I'm a buyer
Table #2: Burgundy
Foillard 2022 Morgon "Cote du Py" - lush and fruity, wine as Kool-Aid, but I won't say no
Didier Fornerol 2022 Cote de Nuits Villages - good flavors but coarse tannins ("Stemmy" -Jayson) and a very restrained nose, I think Fornerol retires after 2024
D. Gerard Seguin 2023 Gevrey-Chambertin VV - a whiff of malo butter but this is the real deal: proper Burg flavors, violets and cherries, freighted but weightless
Vincent Pinard 2019 Sancerre Rouge "Charlouise" - really dark ("That's the 14% alcohol!" -Matt), nice enough but trying to walk in Daddy's shoes
Table #3: Spain
Comando G 2023 "Villanueva" - grenache planted at 3000', it's a pretty color but not sure what else it has going for it
Envinate 2023 "Táganan Parcela Margalagua" - the top cru; full and rich, silky but loose-knit texture, another wine that I appreciate but not my cuppa
Luis Pato 1994 Bairrada Vinho Branco VV - old in the nose, old on the palate, but a long crazy fruity youthy finish!
Lopez de Heredia 2014 Rioja Blanco "Gravonia" Crianza - LoNOG, you know?
Client Brings
Lilbert NV Champagne Brut GC BdB "Perle" - OK, a little older, a little oxy, but still no excitement (and almost no fizz)
Rhys 2015 Bearwallow Vineyard BdB - bright, soil tones (though not chalk), slightly sweet, pretty decent
Falkenstein 2020 Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb "Meyer Nepal" - magnum; terrific wine
Ayoub 2020 Pinot Noir "Memoirs" - OR PN, typique but also corked?
Dom. Mark Angeli (Ferme de la Sansonniere) 2021 "La Lune" - so floral, palate weak on entry but comes roaring back in the finish, great bottle!
Dom. G. Barthod 2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er "Aux Beaux Bruns" - good cherry fruit but kinda spirity
ArPePe 2022 Rosso di Valtellina - quite acidic, light and bright, redfruit, just like it should
Larkmead 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon "Solari" - yup, that's cal cab... 14.7% cal cab
Frank Family 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon - yup, that's cal cab... 14.5% cal cab... plenty of flavor and plenty dark but also plenty octane
Ch. Simone 2011 Palette Blanc - excellent, unctuous, with orange blossom and mild yellow fruit
Williams-Selyem 2017 Sonoma County - a little pine-y, lacks grace
Edmond Vatan 2014 Sancerre "Clos Neore" - spoiled
Brunello di Montalcino (four of them):
-Tornesi 2015 Riserva - foursquare sangio
-Lisini 2003 - age has trimmed its edges a bit but not as much as you might think, still a little coarse
-Fattoi 2016 - really good flavors here
-Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2013 - medicinal
Metras 2018 Beaujolais Fleurie - magnum; sweet but with good shape, I'll drink this
Metras 2015 Beaujolais Fleurie - magnum; definitely more "stuffing" but brings a plasticky smell
Cos d'Estournel 2003 St-Estephe - wow, tobacco, cherries, good zing, very stylish
Dagueneau 2011 Pouilly-Fume "Silex" - very minerally, very long
Clendenen Family Vineyards 2023 Pinot Gris - a little lactic but a beauty otherwise: good acids, nice ripeness, clean edges
Clendenen Family Vineyards 2017 Viognier - really vivid, not at all oily, nicely done (if a little one-note)
Ch. de Meursault 2017 Meursault 1er “Les Charmes Dessus" - decent acids, nice ripeness, Jayson was not much taken with this one but it seems OK to me (for chardonnay)
Sabelli-Frisch NV? Angelica "El Aliso" - a California "port" made from fortified Mission grapes... yeah, it's sweet but it has nothing else; Jayson found this incredibly minty
Guy Breton 2015 Morgon “P'tit Max" - nice enough for a solar year wine
Mas de Daumas-Gassac 2012 VDP de l’Herault - good Provencal flavors but seems too heavy or over-extracted
Whew! That's a lot for a weeknight.
Many thanks, again, to MWC.
There was a pretty good crowd for a random Wednesday, maybe 50 people, every one a serious enough wino to have wines in storage. Some interesting personalities, as always, and stories of wines past.
There were also a couple side tables heaped with pizza, just so we're not drinking on an empty stomach.
MWC setup its own sampling tables, one for champagne, one for Burgundy (well, mostly), and one for Spanish wines. The customers, well, as there was no central planning, they were all over the place, as you shall see below:
Table #1: Champagne
Corbon 2014 Champagne GC BdB - brilliant, acidic, lemon-lime chardonnay
Ponson NV Champagne 1er "La Petite Montagne" - mostly meunier; more substantial, more chalky, I want this at the table not as an aperitif
Dom. Mea NV Champagne 1er "La Recontre" - closed; do not disturb for several years
Georges Laval NV Champagne 1er "Cumieres" - juicy acids, very distinctive, shows good breeding though I'm not sure I'm a buyer
Table #2: Burgundy
Foillard 2022 Morgon "Cote du Py" - lush and fruity, wine as Kool-Aid, but I won't say no
Didier Fornerol 2022 Cote de Nuits Villages - good flavors but coarse tannins ("Stemmy" -Jayson) and a very restrained nose, I think Fornerol retires after 2024
D. Gerard Seguin 2023 Gevrey-Chambertin VV - a whiff of malo butter but this is the real deal: proper Burg flavors, violets and cherries, freighted but weightless
Vincent Pinard 2019 Sancerre Rouge "Charlouise" - really dark ("That's the 14% alcohol!" -Matt), nice enough but trying to walk in Daddy's shoes
Table #3: Spain
Comando G 2023 "Villanueva" - grenache planted at 3000', it's a pretty color but not sure what else it has going for it
Envinate 2023 "Táganan Parcela Margalagua" - the top cru; full and rich, silky but loose-knit texture, another wine that I appreciate but not my cuppa
Luis Pato 1994 Bairrada Vinho Branco VV - old in the nose, old on the palate, but a long crazy fruity youthy finish!
Lopez de Heredia 2014 Rioja Blanco "Gravonia" Crianza - LoNOG, you know?
Client Brings
Lilbert NV Champagne Brut GC BdB "Perle" - OK, a little older, a little oxy, but still no excitement (and almost no fizz)
Rhys 2015 Bearwallow Vineyard BdB - bright, soil tones (though not chalk), slightly sweet, pretty decent
Falkenstein 2020 Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb "Meyer Nepal" - magnum; terrific wine
Ayoub 2020 Pinot Noir "Memoirs" - OR PN, typique but also corked?
Dom. Mark Angeli (Ferme de la Sansonniere) 2021 "La Lune" - so floral, palate weak on entry but comes roaring back in the finish, great bottle!
Dom. G. Barthod 2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er "Aux Beaux Bruns" - good cherry fruit but kinda spirity
ArPePe 2022 Rosso di Valtellina - quite acidic, light and bright, redfruit, just like it should
Larkmead 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon "Solari" - yup, that's cal cab... 14.7% cal cab
Frank Family 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon - yup, that's cal cab... 14.5% cal cab... plenty of flavor and plenty dark but also plenty octane
Ch. Simone 2011 Palette Blanc - excellent, unctuous, with orange blossom and mild yellow fruit
Williams-Selyem 2017 Sonoma County - a little pine-y, lacks grace
Edmond Vatan 2014 Sancerre "Clos Neore" - spoiled
Brunello di Montalcino (four of them):
-Tornesi 2015 Riserva - foursquare sangio
-Lisini 2003 - age has trimmed its edges a bit but not as much as you might think, still a little coarse
-Fattoi 2016 - really good flavors here
-Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2013 - medicinal
Metras 2018 Beaujolais Fleurie - magnum; sweet but with good shape, I'll drink this
Metras 2015 Beaujolais Fleurie - magnum; definitely more "stuffing" but brings a plasticky smell
Cos d'Estournel 2003 St-Estephe - wow, tobacco, cherries, good zing, very stylish
Dagueneau 2011 Pouilly-Fume "Silex" - very minerally, very long
Clendenen Family Vineyards 2023 Pinot Gris - a little lactic but a beauty otherwise: good acids, nice ripeness, clean edges
Clendenen Family Vineyards 2017 Viognier - really vivid, not at all oily, nicely done (if a little one-note)
Ch. de Meursault 2017 Meursault 1er “Les Charmes Dessus" - decent acids, nice ripeness, Jayson was not much taken with this one but it seems OK to me (for chardonnay)
Sabelli-Frisch NV? Angelica "El Aliso" - a California "port" made from fortified Mission grapes... yeah, it's sweet but it has nothing else; Jayson found this incredibly minty
Guy Breton 2015 Morgon “P'tit Max" - nice enough for a solar year wine
Mas de Daumas-Gassac 2012 VDP de l’Herault - good Provencal flavors but seems too heavy or over-extracted
Whew! That's a lot for a weeknight.
Many thanks, again, to MWC.