Sharon Bowman
Sharon Bowman
The day after a 12-hour lunch, some regrouping was needed. A planned "wine bar crawl" for Friday afternoon seemed already, unwittingly, to have been pre-empted by the previous day's carousing. So we politely waited until the evening to descend upon Michel Abood's Paris flat, where Brad Kane was nursing a gouty foot and we were sure to use his altered state to get him to try some grape varieties he usually flees.
2004 Ulysse Collin Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut - Michel opened this and glibly poured some for himself and started to drink it in the kitchen. "Wow," he said. Of course, he was right, but it would take a few more minutes for me to get to confirm this. So, yes: the '04 Ulysse Collin Extra-Brut is a thing of beauty; tiny bead, yeasty-bready-toasty goodness in a blanc de blancs of terroir (the weird terroir of Congy, but excellent exposition; I visited it in November), and a strikingly long, imposing champagne. I love this! And as Olivier Collin used a pneumatic pressoir in 2005, the '04 is not to be refound. The '06, back to the Coquard pressoir, was still unlike the '04. Ah, time to snap up all the '04s I can find.
1955 Caves de Chevrette Bourgueil - Michel had called me on the phone earlier, and in the background, Brad said, "Ask her to bring a '55 Bourgueil." Michel laughed, but I could only respond, "Great idea." Brad had been storing four such bottles in my cellar, and I was only too happy to bring one over. "Bring the highest fill," instructed Michel. Not that I needed the hint. But the fills on all four of Brad's bottles were right up to the neck, and so I took one and here it was. Once opened, it had a sweet nose of red fruits, cherries. On the palate, hey, this is a fine thing indeed! Youthful and lush, with red fruit and tobacco, perhaps a bit of the sweetness older red wines take on. What was best about this was that half an hour later, suddenly, as I stuck my nose into the glass, I discovered it had refound its Bourgueil typicity. Woah! Complete expression of its place. A gorgeous wine.
1985 Veuve Clicquot Rare Vintage Ros - Youthful, balanced, heady, this we opened an hour or so before pouring. An elegant, savory ros in a full-bodied style. Very nice indeed. It helped distract me from the fact that Michel had jealously kept a half-glass of Ulysse Collin and would periodically swirl and sniff at it, refusing every and all plea from me to have a whiff, myself. (Of course, I would have sipped. But I claimed I would not.)
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - Curious. I am not wise in the ways of California pinot noir, but I had had a couple of Arcadians that had greatly pleased me (including a 1998 Pisoni pinot noir that was utterly Burgundian). This, however, to me, had more Californianess than my past experience. Some grapefruit and citrus pith. Hard for me to get past that element on the palate, but it did attenuate with time and the wine was well-structured.
2006 C. & Cl. Marchal Ladoix "Chaillot" - Ugh. And crap. I love Marchal. But I have been repeatedly disappointed by the 2006s and 2007s. This was as close as I've come to a DNPIM wine in some time. Sour, disagreeable, etc. And it's even more tragic as the 2001 Ladoix Chaillot was the first wine I ever bought a case of! (Oh, I loved that wine. It was beautiful. I kept it under my sink when I had a tiny studio apartment in the 11th arrondissement.)
2007 Foillard Morgon - Much leaner than the 2006, with a funkier, rustic side to it; it was a good drink, wiry and uncompromising.
2005 Lon Barral Faugres - Mm. I always like entry-level cuves in southern French wines. They have better balance. And Barral is a great winemaker; this was seamless, gorgeous. Fruity and southern, of course, but with a backbone.
2001 La Tour Grise Saumur "253" - Brad's friend brought this bottle, and it was impressive. At first a little closed and muted, in short order it blossomed wonderfully. It's rare that I have a red from the Saumur (rather than Saumur-Champigny) appellation; this had more fatty, round red fruit, with a kind of mineral ripple through the middle. Excellent.
2005 Haut-Musiel Ctes du Rhne Tralamont - Ooh, ugh. Michel's anti-ringer. An oaky southern Rhne that was somewhat harsh.
2005 Haut-Musiel Ctes du Rhne Roussignac - Aah, Michel's nice southern Ctes du Rhne; much more digeste, with good balance.
But of course, by this time, my palate was out of commission, and I looked at my watch to see the fateful hour of 2:30am and realized it was time to put my shoes back on* and get on home.
*A white rug being necessitor of shoelessness, here.
2004 Ulysse Collin Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut - Michel opened this and glibly poured some for himself and started to drink it in the kitchen. "Wow," he said. Of course, he was right, but it would take a few more minutes for me to get to confirm this. So, yes: the '04 Ulysse Collin Extra-Brut is a thing of beauty; tiny bead, yeasty-bready-toasty goodness in a blanc de blancs of terroir (the weird terroir of Congy, but excellent exposition; I visited it in November), and a strikingly long, imposing champagne. I love this! And as Olivier Collin used a pneumatic pressoir in 2005, the '04 is not to be refound. The '06, back to the Coquard pressoir, was still unlike the '04. Ah, time to snap up all the '04s I can find.
1955 Caves de Chevrette Bourgueil - Michel had called me on the phone earlier, and in the background, Brad said, "Ask her to bring a '55 Bourgueil." Michel laughed, but I could only respond, "Great idea." Brad had been storing four such bottles in my cellar, and I was only too happy to bring one over. "Bring the highest fill," instructed Michel. Not that I needed the hint. But the fills on all four of Brad's bottles were right up to the neck, and so I took one and here it was. Once opened, it had a sweet nose of red fruits, cherries. On the palate, hey, this is a fine thing indeed! Youthful and lush, with red fruit and tobacco, perhaps a bit of the sweetness older red wines take on. What was best about this was that half an hour later, suddenly, as I stuck my nose into the glass, I discovered it had refound its Bourgueil typicity. Woah! Complete expression of its place. A gorgeous wine.
1985 Veuve Clicquot Rare Vintage Ros - Youthful, balanced, heady, this we opened an hour or so before pouring. An elegant, savory ros in a full-bodied style. Very nice indeed. It helped distract me from the fact that Michel had jealously kept a half-glass of Ulysse Collin and would periodically swirl and sniff at it, refusing every and all plea from me to have a whiff, myself. (Of course, I would have sipped. But I claimed I would not.)
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - Curious. I am not wise in the ways of California pinot noir, but I had had a couple of Arcadians that had greatly pleased me (including a 1998 Pisoni pinot noir that was utterly Burgundian). This, however, to me, had more Californianess than my past experience. Some grapefruit and citrus pith. Hard for me to get past that element on the palate, but it did attenuate with time and the wine was well-structured.
2006 C. & Cl. Marchal Ladoix "Chaillot" - Ugh. And crap. I love Marchal. But I have been repeatedly disappointed by the 2006s and 2007s. This was as close as I've come to a DNPIM wine in some time. Sour, disagreeable, etc. And it's even more tragic as the 2001 Ladoix Chaillot was the first wine I ever bought a case of! (Oh, I loved that wine. It was beautiful. I kept it under my sink when I had a tiny studio apartment in the 11th arrondissement.)
2007 Foillard Morgon - Much leaner than the 2006, with a funkier, rustic side to it; it was a good drink, wiry and uncompromising.
2005 Lon Barral Faugres - Mm. I always like entry-level cuves in southern French wines. They have better balance. And Barral is a great winemaker; this was seamless, gorgeous. Fruity and southern, of course, but with a backbone.
2001 La Tour Grise Saumur "253" - Brad's friend brought this bottle, and it was impressive. At first a little closed and muted, in short order it blossomed wonderfully. It's rare that I have a red from the Saumur (rather than Saumur-Champigny) appellation; this had more fatty, round red fruit, with a kind of mineral ripple through the middle. Excellent.
2005 Haut-Musiel Ctes du Rhne Tralamont - Ooh, ugh. Michel's anti-ringer. An oaky southern Rhne that was somewhat harsh.
2005 Haut-Musiel Ctes du Rhne Roussignac - Aah, Michel's nice southern Ctes du Rhne; much more digeste, with good balance.
But of course, by this time, my palate was out of commission, and I looked at my watch to see the fateful hour of 2:30am and realized it was time to put my shoes back on* and get on home.
*A white rug being necessitor of shoelessness, here.
