Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Jayson and Jeff provide the wines.
We both pretty much had our ideas ready to go when our turns came to us. Jayson planned for one white, several reds, and one sweet; I planned for a dry white and then reds, with a ringer; we agree to do the dry whites first, then flight mine, flight his, and the sweetie.
--
I cannot speak to Jayson's experience. My plan was to serve all Kelley Fox wines but I had not had one in a while. So, I pulled a couple bottles a week ahead to get my bearings. (No, not exactly the wines I planned to pour, what fun would that be?)
Nowadays, Kelley has access to fruit from many vineyards but, in times past, she only made wine from two: Maresh and Momtazi. There were two crus of each, approximately 'drink sooner' and 'drink later'. I thought I was pulling one Maresh (lighter cru, stronger vintage) and one Momtazi (heavier cru, normal vintage) but I pulled the wrong bottle and both are Momtazi. Oh, well.
Kelley Fox 2016 Pinot Noir "Ahurani" - lighter cru, stronger year. Day 1: extraordinary all suave floral light fragrant nose and very little if any palate presence; Day 2: the nose is toned-down a little but the palate has arrived: damp earth, dark berries, even somewhat 'syrah blueberry'-ish, some wisp of wintergreen or peach; Day 3: bouquet is more vinous, typique, dark pinot fruit with an underlay of iron and blood
Kelley Fox 2014 Pinot Noir, Momtazi Vineyard - The big cru of the heavier vineyard from a normal year. Day 1: vivid acidity wrapped around a ripe fruit core, more substantial than the Ahurani; Day 2: acids, structure, and fruit have balanced, all components noticeable but not fully integrated; Day 3: good and dark pinot fruit still aswirl in juicy acidity, better with food than with talk
What did I learn? Vintage matters. Maybe Momtazi signature is not as strong as I think. Be more careful to ask for what you want.
--
Onward to the tasting. We gather on Zoom and start when we have a quorum. After all, folks can catch up later or over the next few days, even... we all have all our pours.
Starting with the dry whites:
Kelley Fox Wines 2021 Gruner Veltliner - 13.5%, smelled great when I poured it last night, taste is phenolic but seems true to type; tonight, it turns out that this is a stumper, people are all over the place guessing grapes and regions; they couldn't get either one and it was a good round of guessing; eventually, I do the reveal. I claim the nose is totally typique but there is an oily, lush quality on the palate that isn't like the Austrian or German models; Don claims just the reverse: the aroma is totally atypical but it feels like a regular GV in the mouth; and Jayson says it's neither!
DAY 3: good snap, good GV flavors, but still oily and heavy (think: Gavi)
Bouchard 2004 Corton-Charlemagne - here is a classy nose, obviously White Burg with some age; Jay pegs the year (which takes us all by surprise; he says it is based on memories of similar wines he had at La Paulee); we aver that it's not Meursault or Chablis (though Jayson thinks that is a good guess); he does the reveal.
DAY 2: "Bouchard was just as good on day2" -Jay; "Finished the Bouchard on day 1. Very good but didn't seem room for improvement w air" -Seth.
DAY 3: it's still a classy chardonnay, even Pumpkin likes it!
Next, the Jeff flight:
Kelley Fox Wines 2017 Pinot Noir "Tir", Momtazi Vineyard - 12.5%, Moe Momtazi planted the vineyard in 1997; everybody says it's drinking bright and light which is kinda the opposite of my Momtazi experiences but so it goes
DAY 3: berry soda in the nose, the palate is more serious than that: less sweet, kinda boysenberry, wet earth, not real distinctive though
Kelley Fox Wines 2023 Blueberry Wine - 12.5%, 35-year-old bushes, made with Jim Anderson (of Patricia Green Cellars); I thought folks would call it out as non-grape immediately but it took a while for them to catch on: first they tried PN, Zin, Syrah; Melissa insisted it tasted like cranberry sauce; Jayson said boysenberry jam; Don, a South Dakota boy, has drunk a lot of fruit wines so he finally called it. I think Jay/Don/I appreciate the effort (Don: "This is the first fruit wine I haven't poured down the drain after one sip.") but Jayson wants nothing to do with it and Seth adapts the lyrics of the Fats Domino tune: "I've had my fill, of Blueberry Swill."
DAY 2: "I still didn’t like the Blueberry wine" -Jayson; "I liked the blueberry wine for what it was. Very good for fruit wine which is hard to make that's not horrible." -Seth.
DAY 3: the bouquet is all blueberry skins (go pick up a pint of blueberries and give a sniff and that's it!); at least spatlese sweetness, possibly more; has vinous texture; fragrance is right out of a Jewish dairy restaurant (if you know what that is); I like it (maybe not elegant but neither are a lot of things we've had, you know?)
Kelley Fox Wines 2015 Pinot Noir "Red Barn Blocks", Maresh Vineyard - 13%, a shock to the system, very different from Momtazi, this is brawnier and broader but also lactic in the nose and some people are getting diacetyl late into the finish; swirling helps dispel the lactic smell a bit but we all agree to just put the cap on and try again in a day or two
DAY 2: "The 3rd KF red never righted itself - still lactic." -Jayson; "I didn't see the lactic note on day 1 but saw it last night." -Seth.
DAY 3: nose is more skimpy fruit and earth but still a hint of lactic; noticeably lactic in the mouth still, not a deal-breaker but competes too much with the proper flavors (again, very Hood strawberry, brown earth, and tingles)
Kelley Fox Wines 2012 Pinot Noir, Maresh Vineyard - 13%, Jim Maresh planted the vineyard in 1970, a sip last night was all roses; today this has lovely bouquet, nice palate, red fruit (more strawberries!?), just singing, easy bouquet leads to a complex palate; Jay kvells several times
DAY 2: "The last Pinot from Kelley Fox was very good still too." -Jayson; "I thought the 3rd KF Pinot was good on day 1 but excellent on day 2." -Seth.
DAY 3: beautiful nose, think Cotes de Beaune, cherry-pomegranate, fairly lightweight texture, mouth-watering acidity, even flavors all through the finish; way into the finish there are little stones, great wine
Next, the Jayson flight:
CUNE 1998 Rioja Reserva "Vina Imperial" - Jayson discovered the wine was corked only after he had poured all the bottles and he was running late for the rendezvous so he delivered it anyway; hoo boy, yes, that's corked; several people open the cap and put it right back on
DAY 3: Mother, help me!
CUNE 1996 Rioja Gran Reserva "Vina Imperial" - now, this one is lovely; and we also have trouble pinning it down... it has absorbed most of its oak so no clear dill signature to give it away; we try France, Italy, California, Oregon, and Switzerland (by which time I started guessing Malta and Swaziland) before we finally name Rioja! Jay does the heavy lifting on the guesses, naming the house and the year.
DAY 2: "Singing" -Seth; "What a great bottle!" -Victor, "Agree" -Jayson.
DAY 3: red fruit, red buzz, red cloud, solid tempranillo palate, fruity flyaway aromatics, great wine, hardly shows its age
CUNE 1994 Rioja Gran Reserva "Vina Imperial" - hm... nice enough bouquet but there is something like peanut shells or clay in it, too; I can tell it's not right and others are quick to say it is maderized; a pity
DAY 2: "I thought the 1994 was better than Thursday night (especially with food) but still clearly not right." -Jayson.
DAY 3: not obviously spoiled on the nose, the palate is a bit brutal (and brutish); I've drunk more tannic and worse wines (admittedly, not a high bar)
And finally, Jayson's sweet wine to end the evening:
Warres 1970 Vintage Port - the one and only birth-year port he has; fully mature, drinking beautifully; sweet and strong, as you might expect; we all guessed various houses but none of us, apparently, can pick out old Warres
DAY 2: beautiful, heavyweight but silky texture, sweet and plummy, just about perfect
Jayson and Jeff provide the wines.
We both pretty much had our ideas ready to go when our turns came to us. Jayson planned for one white, several reds, and one sweet; I planned for a dry white and then reds, with a ringer; we agree to do the dry whites first, then flight mine, flight his, and the sweetie.
--
I cannot speak to Jayson's experience. My plan was to serve all Kelley Fox wines but I had not had one in a while. So, I pulled a couple bottles a week ahead to get my bearings. (No, not exactly the wines I planned to pour, what fun would that be?)
Nowadays, Kelley has access to fruit from many vineyards but, in times past, she only made wine from two: Maresh and Momtazi. There were two crus of each, approximately 'drink sooner' and 'drink later'. I thought I was pulling one Maresh (lighter cru, stronger vintage) and one Momtazi (heavier cru, normal vintage) but I pulled the wrong bottle and both are Momtazi. Oh, well.
Kelley Fox 2016 Pinot Noir "Ahurani" - lighter cru, stronger year. Day 1: extraordinary all suave floral light fragrant nose and very little if any palate presence; Day 2: the nose is toned-down a little but the palate has arrived: damp earth, dark berries, even somewhat 'syrah blueberry'-ish, some wisp of wintergreen or peach; Day 3: bouquet is more vinous, typique, dark pinot fruit with an underlay of iron and blood
Kelley Fox 2014 Pinot Noir, Momtazi Vineyard - The big cru of the heavier vineyard from a normal year. Day 1: vivid acidity wrapped around a ripe fruit core, more substantial than the Ahurani; Day 2: acids, structure, and fruit have balanced, all components noticeable but not fully integrated; Day 3: good and dark pinot fruit still aswirl in juicy acidity, better with food than with talk
What did I learn? Vintage matters. Maybe Momtazi signature is not as strong as I think. Be more careful to ask for what you want.
--
Onward to the tasting. We gather on Zoom and start when we have a quorum. After all, folks can catch up later or over the next few days, even... we all have all our pours.
Starting with the dry whites:
Kelley Fox Wines 2021 Gruner Veltliner - 13.5%, smelled great when I poured it last night, taste is phenolic but seems true to type; tonight, it turns out that this is a stumper, people are all over the place guessing grapes and regions; they couldn't get either one and it was a good round of guessing; eventually, I do the reveal. I claim the nose is totally typique but there is an oily, lush quality on the palate that isn't like the Austrian or German models; Don claims just the reverse: the aroma is totally atypical but it feels like a regular GV in the mouth; and Jayson says it's neither!
DAY 3: good snap, good GV flavors, but still oily and heavy (think: Gavi)
Bouchard 2004 Corton-Charlemagne - here is a classy nose, obviously White Burg with some age; Jay pegs the year (which takes us all by surprise; he says it is based on memories of similar wines he had at La Paulee); we aver that it's not Meursault or Chablis (though Jayson thinks that is a good guess); he does the reveal.
DAY 2: "Bouchard was just as good on day2" -Jay; "Finished the Bouchard on day 1. Very good but didn't seem room for improvement w air" -Seth.
DAY 3: it's still a classy chardonnay, even Pumpkin likes it!
Next, the Jeff flight:
Kelley Fox Wines 2017 Pinot Noir "Tir", Momtazi Vineyard - 12.5%, Moe Momtazi planted the vineyard in 1997; everybody says it's drinking bright and light which is kinda the opposite of my Momtazi experiences but so it goes
DAY 3: berry soda in the nose, the palate is more serious than that: less sweet, kinda boysenberry, wet earth, not real distinctive though
Kelley Fox Wines 2023 Blueberry Wine - 12.5%, 35-year-old bushes, made with Jim Anderson (of Patricia Green Cellars); I thought folks would call it out as non-grape immediately but it took a while for them to catch on: first they tried PN, Zin, Syrah; Melissa insisted it tasted like cranberry sauce; Jayson said boysenberry jam; Don, a South Dakota boy, has drunk a lot of fruit wines so he finally called it. I think Jay/Don/I appreciate the effort (Don: "This is the first fruit wine I haven't poured down the drain after one sip.") but Jayson wants nothing to do with it and Seth adapts the lyrics of the Fats Domino tune: "I've had my fill, of Blueberry Swill."
DAY 2: "I still didn’t like the Blueberry wine" -Jayson; "I liked the blueberry wine for what it was. Very good for fruit wine which is hard to make that's not horrible." -Seth.
DAY 3: the bouquet is all blueberry skins (go pick up a pint of blueberries and give a sniff and that's it!); at least spatlese sweetness, possibly more; has vinous texture; fragrance is right out of a Jewish dairy restaurant (if you know what that is); I like it (maybe not elegant but neither are a lot of things we've had, you know?)
Kelley Fox Wines 2015 Pinot Noir "Red Barn Blocks", Maresh Vineyard - 13%, a shock to the system, very different from Momtazi, this is brawnier and broader but also lactic in the nose and some people are getting diacetyl late into the finish; swirling helps dispel the lactic smell a bit but we all agree to just put the cap on and try again in a day or two
DAY 2: "The 3rd KF red never righted itself - still lactic." -Jayson; "I didn't see the lactic note on day 1 but saw it last night." -Seth.
DAY 3: nose is more skimpy fruit and earth but still a hint of lactic; noticeably lactic in the mouth still, not a deal-breaker but competes too much with the proper flavors (again, very Hood strawberry, brown earth, and tingles)
Kelley Fox Wines 2012 Pinot Noir, Maresh Vineyard - 13%, Jim Maresh planted the vineyard in 1970, a sip last night was all roses; today this has lovely bouquet, nice palate, red fruit (more strawberries!?), just singing, easy bouquet leads to a complex palate; Jay kvells several times
DAY 2: "The last Pinot from Kelley Fox was very good still too." -Jayson; "I thought the 3rd KF Pinot was good on day 1 but excellent on day 2." -Seth.
DAY 3: beautiful nose, think Cotes de Beaune, cherry-pomegranate, fairly lightweight texture, mouth-watering acidity, even flavors all through the finish; way into the finish there are little stones, great wine
Next, the Jayson flight:
CUNE 1998 Rioja Reserva "Vina Imperial" - Jayson discovered the wine was corked only after he had poured all the bottles and he was running late for the rendezvous so he delivered it anyway; hoo boy, yes, that's corked; several people open the cap and put it right back on
DAY 3: Mother, help me!
CUNE 1996 Rioja Gran Reserva "Vina Imperial" - now, this one is lovely; and we also have trouble pinning it down... it has absorbed most of its oak so no clear dill signature to give it away; we try France, Italy, California, Oregon, and Switzerland (by which time I started guessing Malta and Swaziland) before we finally name Rioja! Jay does the heavy lifting on the guesses, naming the house and the year.
DAY 2: "Singing" -Seth; "What a great bottle!" -Victor, "Agree" -Jayson.
DAY 3: red fruit, red buzz, red cloud, solid tempranillo palate, fruity flyaway aromatics, great wine, hardly shows its age
CUNE 1994 Rioja Gran Reserva "Vina Imperial" - hm... nice enough bouquet but there is something like peanut shells or clay in it, too; I can tell it's not right and others are quick to say it is maderized; a pity
DAY 2: "I thought the 1994 was better than Thursday night (especially with food) but still clearly not right." -Jayson.
DAY 3: not obviously spoiled on the nose, the palate is a bit brutal (and brutish); I've drunk more tannic and worse wines (admittedly, not a high bar)
And finally, Jayson's sweet wine to end the evening:
Warres 1970 Vintage Port - the one and only birth-year port he has; fully mature, drinking beautifully; sweet and strong, as you might expect; we all guessed various houses but none of us, apparently, can pick out old Warres
DAY 2: beautiful, heavyweight but silky texture, sweet and plummy, just about perfect
