TN: The Birthday Jeebus (June 21, 2025)

[Jeff Grossman]

attendees: Chris, Don+Melissa, Howard+Liz, Jayson+Laura, Jeff, Salil

Somehow, I manage to get to about half of these Birthday Jeebi, although the calendaring always seems iffy.

A fair number of the birthday princesses -- SFJoe, Manuel, Jay -- are not here, for various reasons, but the party continues.

We've gathered at Don and Melissa's spacious northernmost-Manhattan digs. laid a pile of food on the table, and started pulling corks:

Vincent Careme 2014 Vouvray "L'Ancestrale" - 12%, no dosage, picked from a single block, good froth, lightweight body but very stony flavors, nice ...later... more sensitive noses than mine declare it slightly corked

Peter Lauer 2023 Ayler Kupp Riesling "Stirn", Fass 15, Grosse Lage - 9%, 3501074/15/24, off-dry (34 g/l), Jayson and I both love this bottling; it is also stony, juicy, very pretty, lime zest, feinherb sweetness(?)

Nanclares y Prieto 2023 Albarino "Alberto", Labrego da Vina - 12%, raised in neutral vessels but with lots of batonnage, opened yesterday, I'm told it's more open today, rather lemony but wrapped in silk

Prager 2013 Wachstum Bodenstein Riesling Smaragd - 13.5%, resinous, midweight, this is just about perfect

Vollenweider 2005 Wolfer Goldgrube "Reiler" Riesling Spatlese - 8.5%, 2 576 801 05 06, aromatics are great but its desperately short of acids

Selbach-Oster 2009 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling "Schmitt" - 8.5%, 2 606 319 009 10, one of the block-picked sites, opened yesterday, the sugar is fading but there is just enough still here to keep its balance, beautiful ripeness, these wines are so expressive and fascinating

The Pelaverga Flight
The back story: I went to the 2024 edition of the BBWO (Barolo and Barbaresco World Opening), a huge industry event that has one for-the-public evening. I reported the 2020 version on WD. Anyway, it's a ballroom full of Italians pouring barolo and barbaresco. As always, the makers have something under the table to pour for customers who show special interest, or just to liven up their day. At the Burlotto table, they poured me a taste of their pelaverga -- they were very pleased with it, and I was amazed. It was better than many of the Baroli and Barbareschi that I'd just spent hours tasting!

Since then, I've been working diligently to collect pelaverga wine. I have wine from four different makers (alas, from two vintages). I brought the three that share a vintage so a direct comparison is sensible.

There isn't much pelaverga planted anymore; I think all the Piedmontese pelaverga is from Verduno. It is another of their local grapes used to make 'little wines' that are actually consumed while waiting for the honkin' big reds to age. The wine is pale red, floral and fruity and juicy, with only a little tannic grip.

Burlotto 2022 Pelaverga - dark pink, tingly acidity, strawberry-ish, light and bright, kinda spicy and a little severe right now
Castello di Verduno 2022 Basadone Pelaverga - very similar but the nose is enlivened with a little citrus and the palate is a little less stiff, yum; gets the nod as the crowd favorite of the three
Diego Morra 2022 Verduno Pelaverga - Diego who? As it happens, I tasted four of his baroli at that BBWO event and liked three of them so was pleased to find he makes a pelaverga; I think this is the most vinous and refined of the flight; but those darn alleles, Jayson thinks this is the least-interesting (and most-yucky) one

Lopez de Heredia 2010 Rioja Reserva "Vina Bosconia" - corked

Dom. de Montille 2020 Nuits-Saint-Georges "Aux Saint-Julien" - very strange... clean and pure, but also piney and stinging, bleh

Texier 1999 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - 13.5%, this is great, so much red fruit, great texture, a little orange pith, acidity still dancing the line of lively and sour

Francois et Fils 2019 Cote-Rotie - 14%, co-ferment 97% syrah and 3% viognier, nice enough red wine but it does not say Cote-Rotie to me

Ch. Leoville-Barton 2002 Saint-Julien - Thor legacy bottle; baked cherry pie and dirt, comfortable, beautiful; Salil says it was even better the next day

Foreau 2002 Vouvray Demi-Sec - nose of burned marshmallows, sharp, narrow; Brad thinks this is heat-damaged

Huet 2019 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Mont" - really good, face-powder, frangipane, liqueur-ish in texture but only just-so sweetness
Next day... very pale color, the texture has lightened up a bit but otherwise holding well

Dom. Baumard 1998 Quarts de Chaume - 12.5%, opened yesterday, another tutti-frutti/marzipan wine, apricot fruit with relatively modest sweetness

Dom. Baumard 1985 Quarts de Chaume - OMG bottle, amazing, vigorous, bright steely acids, totally slurpable, heavenly with a slice of Humboldt Fog

Zind-Humbrecht 1989 Tokay Pinot Gris "Clos Jebsal", VT - weird nose, lovely palate, sturdy botrytis-y wine
Next day... nose is still weird, OK, but weirdly 7-Up-ish with maybe a little quince paste in it... the palate continues wonderful: sweet but not catastrophically so, mixed apricots and tangerines (and botrytis)

Jo Pithon 1997 Coteaux du Layon St. Aubin, "Clos des Bois" - incredibly sweet but another one that desperately lacks acidity
For those curious about Pithon, there is a great page on him, the estate, and this wine at the Wine Doctor: here (and the referenced map is here).

Many thanks to Don and Melissa for hosting us, many thanks to Brad for organizing, many thanks to Jayson and Laura for the lift downtown.

And thanks to Brad for the photo:

 

[Cole Kendall]

Sorry to be a pedant, but Italian plurals have some rules.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Fixed. What else you got to say?

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Fixed. What else you got to say?

you talking to me? I am just thrilled about Eric's 99 showing like that. I had the Hermitage and the CR in the past two years; both beautiful as well.

 

[mlawton]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Fixed. What else you got to say?

you talking to me? I am just thrilled about Eric's 99 showing like that. I had the Hermitage and the CR in the past two years; both beautiful as well.

Interesting, I have a bunch of the Hermitage, last one I opened honestly didn't get me excited to open more. As I recall, it didn't need more age, it just was not excitingor particularly interesting. I'll try another, soonish, now.

 

[Brad Kane]

Thanks for being note taker, Jeff. Just note, if you ever want clear photos, just ask me to email you instead of just copying them from Facebook. You'll get much better resolution, as I'm sure you know.

As for wine, a few disagreements this time. I thought the '20 de Montille was actually quite nice. I didn't get the pine and stingy notes you did, but thought it actually had nice red fruit. It actually won the Thunderbird prize and I believe was the only wine finished that night.

I didn't like the '99 Texier CDP at all, but I haven't liked it from day one, finding it too lean and mean and not possessing any sort of a character that a look for in CDP, but I've been telling Eric that from the get go. That said, the last time I saw him at a Bowler tasting, I told him I've been liking his newer releases of CDP better as climate change has been vedy vedy good to him, at least to my palate.

I liked the ZH better than you and that vintage and bottling is, imo, one of the best made at ZH, but it would've been better consumed twenty years ago and shows a bit tired at this point.

Many thanks to Don and Melissa for hosting!

 

[Jonathan Loesberg]

Hmm. The thing I've always liked about the Texier CdP is that it was like the CdPs of the 80s and early 90s: alc below 14% (I don't remember if they actually were that, only that they tasted that way, and while restrained in terms of post 21st century CdPs, not in terms of the wines I cut my teeth on. I don't taste the wines that often and I'd be sad to see that climate change has heated it up, though very few, even very traditional makers of CdP have been able to beat the effect of heat on their wines.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Brad Kane:
Just note, if you ever want clear photos, just ask me to email you instead of just copying them from Facebook. You'll get much better resolution, as I'm sure you know.

Thank you. I'll try that next time (though it is pretty low-tech around here so not sure about hi-res photos. You know what happens... you replace one end-table and that makes the chair next to it look old, so then you re-upholster the chair but now the sofa looks like a cat clawed it, etc.)

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Brad Kane:
As for wine, a few disagreements this time. I thought the '20 de Montille was actually quite nice.

Not when it splashed on my alleles.

I didn't like the '99 Texier CDP at all, but I haven't liked it from day one....

Then, that's not a disagreement; that's you being, um, er, you.

I liked the ZH better than you and that vintage and bottling is, imo, one of the best made at ZH, but it would've been better consumed twenty years ago and shows a bit tired at this point.

I took the bottle home. It drank well enough, just smelled weird. And, yes, it was rowing the boat hard but not really getting up to speed.

 

[Jayson Cohen]

Acidity came out to play two days later on the Lauer. Great wine. Prager was even better than at Don’s too.

Loved that CNdP. And if it’s not Rayas or Fonsalette (close enough to CNdP), I rarely say that.

Thanks again, Don and Melissa.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Just made the Wine Doctor link visible. Go read, it's a good story.

 

[Eden Mylunsch]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
TN: The Birthday Jeebus (June 21, 2025)attendees: Chris, Don+Melissa, Howard+Liz, Jayson+Laura, Jeff, Salil

The Pelaverga Flight

There isn't much pelaverga planted anymore; I think all the Piedmontese pelaverga is from Verduno. It is another of their local grapes used to make 'little wines' that are actually consumed while waiting for the honkin' big reds to age. The wine is pale red, floral and fruity and juicy, with only a little tannic grip.

Burlotto 2022 Pelaverga - dark pink, tingly acidity, strawberry-ish, light and bright, kinda spicy and a little severe right now

I went to a fancy restaurant late last year and the sommelier (this was one of the few places that still has one) recommended the 2023 Burlotto Verduno Pelaverga because the cheapest honkin' big red was out of stock and the rest were priced appropriate to the resources of a robber baron tech bro. But I was sold by the sales pitch of "it tastes like Piedmont but is priced like Calabria" and lo and behold, it was pretty good. Maybe a little more fruit than the 2022 version but I tracked down a 6-pack somewhere and have been enjoying it on a semi-regular basis.

It kind of reminded me of the other thrill-a-minute discovery of last summer, Lucious Mourvedre from Andrew Latta. I ran into him at a restaurant in Walla Walla during Hospice du Rhône and he had a bottle with him and like the Burlotto, it was kind of a perfect wine for the moment and setting. Ordered some of that too -- earthy but no oak, carbonically fresh and fun and is a good accompaniment to whatever is on the plate. Only $25/bottle too.

I think of these sorts of wines as the QbAs of the red wine sphere. They are good signposts of the more fine/expensive/upper tier wines of the region but it's just way easier to pop one of these on a weeknight than it is to open some Grand Cru or Ultra Super-Special Reserve wine that seems way more monumental.

-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

 

[Florida Jim]

originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:


-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

‘Been blazing that trail for a long time. ‘Can’t remember buying anything over $35/bottle (except Champagne) in a decade.

Of course, that decade has probably contributed to my lack of recall.

 

[robert ames]

originally posted by Florida Jim:

originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:


-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

‘Been blazing that trail for a long time. ‘Can’t remember buying anything over $35/bottle (except Champagne) in a decade.

Of course, that decade has probably contributed to my lack of recall.

hmmm. . . you can get louis michel 1er cru stuff for less than $35/btl?

 

[Florida Jim]

originally posted by robert ames:

originally posted by Florida Jim:

originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:


-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

‘Been blazing that trail for a long time. ‘Can’t remember buying anything over $35/bottle (except Champagne) in a decade.

Of course, that decade has probably contributed to my lack of recall.

hmmm. . . you can get louis michel 1er cru stuff for less than $35/btl?

Not anymore.
The ‘19’s were right about there. But I’m sure there’s something along the way I missed.
In any event, under 35 is the norm.

 

[Jayson Cohen]

originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
TN: The Birthday Jeebus (June 21, 2025)attendees: Chris, Don+Melissa, Howard+Liz, Jayson+Laura, Jeff, Salil

The Pelaverga Flight

There isn't much pelaverga planted anymore; I think all the Piedmontese pelaverga is from Verduno. It is another of their local grapes used to make 'little wines' that are actually consumed while waiting for the honkin' big reds to age. The wine is pale red, floral and fruity and juicy, with only a little tannic grip.

Burlotto 2022 Pelaverga - dark pink, tingly acidity, strawberry-ish, light and bright, kinda spicy and a little severe right now

I think of these sorts of wines as the QbAs of the red wine sphere. They are good signposts of the more fine/expensive/upper tier wines of the region but it's just way easier to pop one of these on a weeknight than it is to open some Grand Cru or Ultra Super-Special Reserve wine that seems way more monumental.

-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

That sounds right. In my case I am the rare bird apparently who hasn’t really enjoyed the Burlotto Barolo Monviglieros of recent years when I’ve had them (too pricey for me personally since the 2010 but I’ve had a number), and I consistently dislike their Pelaverga, much to Pavel’s chagrin. Jeff’s bottle was no exception.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
I think of these sorts of wines as the QbAs of the red wine sphere. They are good signposts of the more fine/expensive/upper tier wines of the region but it's just way easier to pop one of these on a weeknight than it is to open some Grand Cru or Ultra Super-Special Reserve wine that seems way more monumental.

The key word is "weeknight." I am happy to drink a honkin' bottle but I have to get them from storage, stand them up, get on the waitlist of whatever is the latest corkscrew, decant off the sediment.... there just isn't time for all that when I'm gonna sizzle leftover paella in a frying pan.

Anyway, light and bright match with a lot of things.

-Eden (am I just getting older and cheaper, what with this interest in younger and cheaper wines? Maybe a question for a separate thread)

The Monkey is contagious, for sure.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
and I consistently dislike their Pelaverga, much to Pavel’s chagrin.

I think I have yet to taste Burlotto's Pelaverga. We were going to have an Alessandria vs Burlotto Pelaverga fest last month, but that's been postponed for sometime later this year.

 

[Jayson Cohen]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
and I consistently dislike their Pelaverga, much to Pavel’s chagrin.

I think I have yet to taste Burlotto's Pelaverga. We were going to have an Alessandria vs Burlotto Pelaverga fest last month, but that's been postponed for sometime later this year.

Oh. Maybe so. My brain may have merged the two in relation to you. I don’t like Alessandria’s Pelaverga either.

 

[Larry Stein]

originally posted by mlawton:

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Fixed. What else you got to say?

you talking to me? I am just thrilled about Eric's 99 showing like that. I had the Hermitage and the CR in the past two years; both beautiful as well.

Interesting, I have a bunch of the Hermitage, last one I opened honestly didn't get me excited to open more. As I recall, it didn't need more age, it just was not excitingor particularly interesting. I'll try another, soonish, now.

I've opened 3 bottles of Hermitage in the past 4 years. Each bottle has been very good to excellent. Most recent bottle was last August. Best of the three. A friend, whose palate I trust, has had that and Chave side-by-side. He prefers the Texier. He feels it displays less new oak notes.

A few years ago (post-pandemic), K&L had a 4 bottle auction lot of Texier. My friend and I split the lot. We were the only bidders. $40/bottle. Doubt that'll ever happen again.