Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Eden+Scott, Jay, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
Victor and Seth provide the wines.
Jayson is busy tonight so Eden & Scott join us.
My retasting notes are from Day 4, a little late but my calendar has been crushed lately (which is also why these notes are going up later than usual).
ONE!
Victor leads off with a dry white.
V1 - "mostly minerally" -Seth, "pineapple-y fruit" -Mel; Alsace? no, white bordeaux? no, chard? yes, white burg? yes, chablis by acclaim; very persistent, "I'm liking this very much" -Jay, "Is this the '06?" -seth ("no, those are all gone, baby!" -Victor), Victor gives us the year but most of us think it tastes older than '22 (Seth disagrees), Victor prompts us for Level? GC sez jay... reveal: Dom. Simonnet-Febvre 2022 Chablis GC "Les Clos", this is an old house, now owned by Maison Louis Latour
Day 4... that is a very full, very rich chablis; not very typique until the finish, which is all sea-shells and a hit of Wink
TWO!
Next up are Seth's two dry reds.
S1/S2 - both Eden and I get a whiff of herb, she dill, me oregano; grenache? no; pretty beefy wines but we can't find the region.. France, Italy, Americas, Australia, Portugal, Spain (finally!); more flavors: "clove on S1" -Eden; S2 is more aromatic and flowery but S1 is more interesting and more substantial; we like them but we're not guessing them anytime soon, even when Seth starts to give away details... reveal: S1 is Dom. Envinate 2022 Lousas "Doad", S2 is Dom. Envinate 2022 Lousas "Rosende", approx 12-12.5% each, both are (mostly) mencia, both are from villages/hillsides in Ribeira Sacra but Envinate won't do the paperwork to get the DO, much more info here
Day 4... S1 is still dark but tastes like strawberry wine!, good tannic grip, some tingly herbal flavors in the finish
Day 4... S2 has similar flavors but darker and more complex berry-fruit flavors, now less tannic than S1 and not as long on the finish
THREE!
Next up are Victor's three dry reds.
V2 - "the nose on this is restorative" -Eden; Jay places it as Bordeaux in the 1980s; we start guessing vintages but victor says it is totally outperforming the vintage generalization; and with that Don guesses '81 (yes); Eden, still kvelling, guesses Margaux (yes); we ask how she knew, "there's kind of a sultriness to it that I've liked in previous experiences"; I believe we needed some prompting to guess Palmer... reveal: Ch. Palmer 1981 Margaux, sweet, the finish is long, "unusual to have an '81 still on its way up" -Victor (and it is the only bottle of 81 he's ever owned!)
Day 4... V2 the nose is restrained now, the palate is still vigorous, tobacco and a little tannic grip, this is better to drink (but not sniff) than V3 now => the grip suggests there is food that will dance with it
V3 - a little stronger than V2, "has a roughness to it that I associate with 78s" -Jay (yes), good acid structure, seems younger, the structure is sticking out a little bit from the fruit... reveal: Ch. Palmer 1978 Margaux
Day 4... V3 has a classic bouquet of dark berries, classic mouth of tobacco, damp earth, and some flower with little petals, tannins entirely resolved, better than Day 1
V4 - "texture is great" -Don, "spicy element that I love" -Jay; in many ways this drinks between the two previous wines: stronger than the '81, not so pointy-elbowed as the '78, we chase it down to 1970; not Palmer, of course, Victor is more wily than that; another margaux estate? yes, "black cherry tobacco like my grandfather used to smoke in a pipe" -Eden, my grandfather used to smoke that stuff, too... reveal: Ch. Rausan-Segla 1970 Margaux
Day 4... V4 is fading away, just less of everything than on Day 1
FOUR!
Lastly, Seth's four sweet whites. He says they have pair-wise links to each other.
S3 - that's chenin fer shur, "minerals and golden raisins" -Eden, "beautiful pear, really ripe pear" -Mel; demi-sec? (no); not from france? (no); questions phrased badly? (yes); we call it light on its feet but incredibly potent... and Seth jumps in to say that is a hint; Don eventually guesses Huet franc de pied (yes), LHL (of course), takes us a while to place it as 2009, despite that it is not made every vintage there are still several... Dom. Huet 2009 Vouvray "Le Haut Lieu" "Franc de Pied", the 13% does not stick out at all, Seth commented that most people still don't know what this is and he got two at auction for $70 each
Day 4... S3 is almost the color of water, not sweet at all, very light, if it weren't for the excellent acidity I would overlook this; long finish, though
S4 (aka "blue")/S5 (aka "violet")/S6 (aka "rainbow") - the colors refer to the colored stickers on the outside of each little bottle; S5 and S6 show marzipan in the nose and that is rather different from S4 which is not so forthcoming or developed; Victor finds S5 the least interesting; we pretty quickly peg S6 as one of the flock of 1989 sweet wines made by Huet: it's very dark, it's very sweet, Jay guess the Debut de pressee (yes), mostly free-run juice, and this is a great bottle of it. Meanwhile, Don guesses that S5 is another Huet Le Mont (that's the link to S6) and furthermore that S4 and S5 are the same vintage but not the same release (right on both counts). Now the pieces fall into place... reveal: S4 is Dom. Huet 1996 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Haut Lieu", S5 is Dom. Huet 1996 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" "1er Trie", S6 is Dom. Huet 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" "1er Trie" "Debut de pressee", Seth thinks S4 and S5 are high acid in the finish, I think they're sweet in the finish just not as sweet as the Debut de pressee; back to the question of knowledge at auction, Eden quips, "Everything tastes better when you get a good deal on it"; Don asks which is your preferred wine? Eden responds with a question: How much of a hummingbird are you? Seth says the question is not phrased right, it's really: How much acid do you like in your wine? For me, it's the '96 1er trie, because I can drink it; the Debut de pressee wrests my attention away and won't let me do anything else.
Well planned, Seth.
Day 4... S4 is so wonderful; an Allegro from Moazart... stylish, not too loud, every flavor in its place
Day 4... S5 is a little more golden, a little louder but not quite the density, rather similar though (perhaps Vivaldi)
Day 4... S6 did I mention this is the color of beef broth? nose of that arresting sweet chenin apricots here; incredibly intense in the mouth (think: Bach on a pipe organ), these acids don't tingle, they sweep across my mouth; texture is heavyweight, not quite all the way to 'viscous' but only a little shy of it; apricots and brioche and marzipan and yellow freesia and just maybe some confectioner's sugar; wow
As always, lovely to see everyone and, um, er, twist the plastic caps off little brown bottles together, kinda!
...and a Study in Victor
Victor and Seth provide the wines.
Jayson is busy tonight so Eden & Scott join us.
My retasting notes are from Day 4, a little late but my calendar has been crushed lately (which is also why these notes are going up later than usual).
ONE!
Victor leads off with a dry white.
V1 - "mostly minerally" -Seth, "pineapple-y fruit" -Mel; Alsace? no, white bordeaux? no, chard? yes, white burg? yes, chablis by acclaim; very persistent, "I'm liking this very much" -Jay, "Is this the '06?" -seth ("no, those are all gone, baby!" -Victor), Victor gives us the year but most of us think it tastes older than '22 (Seth disagrees), Victor prompts us for Level? GC sez jay... reveal: Dom. Simonnet-Febvre 2022 Chablis GC "Les Clos", this is an old house, now owned by Maison Louis Latour
Day 4... that is a very full, very rich chablis; not very typique until the finish, which is all sea-shells and a hit of Wink
TWO!
Next up are Seth's two dry reds.
S1/S2 - both Eden and I get a whiff of herb, she dill, me oregano; grenache? no; pretty beefy wines but we can't find the region.. France, Italy, Americas, Australia, Portugal, Spain (finally!); more flavors: "clove on S1" -Eden; S2 is more aromatic and flowery but S1 is more interesting and more substantial; we like them but we're not guessing them anytime soon, even when Seth starts to give away details... reveal: S1 is Dom. Envinate 2022 Lousas "Doad", S2 is Dom. Envinate 2022 Lousas "Rosende", approx 12-12.5% each, both are (mostly) mencia, both are from villages/hillsides in Ribeira Sacra but Envinate won't do the paperwork to get the DO, much more info here
Day 4... S1 is still dark but tastes like strawberry wine!, good tannic grip, some tingly herbal flavors in the finish
Day 4... S2 has similar flavors but darker and more complex berry-fruit flavors, now less tannic than S1 and not as long on the finish
THREE!
Next up are Victor's three dry reds.
V2 - "the nose on this is restorative" -Eden; Jay places it as Bordeaux in the 1980s; we start guessing vintages but victor says it is totally outperforming the vintage generalization; and with that Don guesses '81 (yes); Eden, still kvelling, guesses Margaux (yes); we ask how she knew, "there's kind of a sultriness to it that I've liked in previous experiences"; I believe we needed some prompting to guess Palmer... reveal: Ch. Palmer 1981 Margaux, sweet, the finish is long, "unusual to have an '81 still on its way up" -Victor (and it is the only bottle of 81 he's ever owned!)
Day 4... V2 the nose is restrained now, the palate is still vigorous, tobacco and a little tannic grip, this is better to drink (but not sniff) than V3 now => the grip suggests there is food that will dance with it
V3 - a little stronger than V2, "has a roughness to it that I associate with 78s" -Jay (yes), good acid structure, seems younger, the structure is sticking out a little bit from the fruit... reveal: Ch. Palmer 1978 Margaux
Day 4... V3 has a classic bouquet of dark berries, classic mouth of tobacco, damp earth, and some flower with little petals, tannins entirely resolved, better than Day 1
V4 - "texture is great" -Don, "spicy element that I love" -Jay; in many ways this drinks between the two previous wines: stronger than the '81, not so pointy-elbowed as the '78, we chase it down to 1970; not Palmer, of course, Victor is more wily than that; another margaux estate? yes, "black cherry tobacco like my grandfather used to smoke in a pipe" -Eden, my grandfather used to smoke that stuff, too... reveal: Ch. Rausan-Segla 1970 Margaux
Day 4... V4 is fading away, just less of everything than on Day 1
FOUR!
Lastly, Seth's four sweet whites. He says they have pair-wise links to each other.
S3 - that's chenin fer shur, "minerals and golden raisins" -Eden, "beautiful pear, really ripe pear" -Mel; demi-sec? (no); not from france? (no); questions phrased badly? (yes); we call it light on its feet but incredibly potent... and Seth jumps in to say that is a hint; Don eventually guesses Huet franc de pied (yes), LHL (of course), takes us a while to place it as 2009, despite that it is not made every vintage there are still several... Dom. Huet 2009 Vouvray "Le Haut Lieu" "Franc de Pied", the 13% does not stick out at all, Seth commented that most people still don't know what this is and he got two at auction for $70 each
Day 4... S3 is almost the color of water, not sweet at all, very light, if it weren't for the excellent acidity I would overlook this; long finish, though
S4 (aka "blue")/S5 (aka "violet")/S6 (aka "rainbow") - the colors refer to the colored stickers on the outside of each little bottle; S5 and S6 show marzipan in the nose and that is rather different from S4 which is not so forthcoming or developed; Victor finds S5 the least interesting; we pretty quickly peg S6 as one of the flock of 1989 sweet wines made by Huet: it's very dark, it's very sweet, Jay guess the Debut de pressee (yes), mostly free-run juice, and this is a great bottle of it. Meanwhile, Don guesses that S5 is another Huet Le Mont (that's the link to S6) and furthermore that S4 and S5 are the same vintage but not the same release (right on both counts). Now the pieces fall into place... reveal: S4 is Dom. Huet 1996 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Haut Lieu", S5 is Dom. Huet 1996 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" "1er Trie", S6 is Dom. Huet 1989 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" "1er Trie" "Debut de pressee", Seth thinks S4 and S5 are high acid in the finish, I think they're sweet in the finish just not as sweet as the Debut de pressee; back to the question of knowledge at auction, Eden quips, "Everything tastes better when you get a good deal on it"; Don asks which is your preferred wine? Eden responds with a question: How much of a hummingbird are you? Seth says the question is not phrased right, it's really: How much acid do you like in your wine? For me, it's the '96 1er trie, because I can drink it; the Debut de pressee wrests my attention away and won't let me do anything else.
Well planned, Seth.
Day 4... S4 is so wonderful; an Allegro from Moazart... stylish, not too loud, every flavor in its place
Day 4... S5 is a little more golden, a little louder but not quite the density, rather similar though (perhaps Vivaldi)
Day 4... S6 did I mention this is the color of beef broth? nose of that arresting sweet chenin apricots here; incredibly intense in the mouth (think: Bach on a pipe organ), these acids don't tingle, they sweep across my mouth; texture is heavyweight, not quite all the way to 'viscous' but only a little shy of it; apricots and brioche and marzipan and yellow freesia and just maybe some confectioner's sugar; wow
As always, lovely to see everyone and, um, er, twist the plastic caps off little brown bottles together, kinda!
...and a Study in Victor