TN: "Tant qu'il y a de la vigne il y a de l'espoir"

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Quick notes from the Chambers Bash.

I got there early so I did meet MarkS and JasonA. I was able to triangulate Brad Kane's location from the flashes. I also talked to Joe and Denyse.

Once MarkS and I saw that there was a chinato at the end, we abandoned our plan of going through the tasting in reverse. Thus, we began at the beginning:

Luneau-Papin ((David Lillie pouring))
2007 Muscadet "Les Pierres Blanches" - minerally but in a silty way, not a rocky way
2005 Muscadet "L d'Or" - good shape, good snap of flavor at the end
2002 Muscadet "Clos des Noelles" - definitely richer but not better
1997 Muscadet "L d'Or" - too soft

Dom. le Briseau
2007 "You Are So Nice" - 75% cot, 25% gamay; blah (I seem to like CRB's cot and nobody else's)
2006 Jasnieres "Kharakter" - wow, this is chenin?! citrusy and fresh, me like
2006 Coteaux-de-Loir "La Derobee" - very full, almost spoofy rich

Franck Peillot
NV Bugey Montagnieu Brut Methode Traditionelle - blah
2007 Roussette de Bugey Montagnieu Altesse - MarkS called it a combination of muscadet and viognier
2006 Bugey Mondeuse - blah

Dom. Desvignes
2007 Morgon Javernieres - good

Eric Texier
2005 Chateuneuf-du-Pape Blanc - good
2006 CdR Rouge - 85% grenache, 15% white grapes; nice 'drink now' wine
2006 CdR Village "Chusclan" - good
2006 Saint-Gervais VV des Cadinieres - good
2006 Brezeme "Dom. Pergault" VV - wow; violets and dirt, lengthy finish

Vittorio Bera
2007 Canelli "Arcese" Bianco - amazingly floral nose; she says it will settle down
2008 Moscato d'Asti - good crisp wine, lots of lychee and a little peach

Campi di Fonterenza
2006 IGT Sangiovese - astringent
2006 Rosso di Montalcino - aged to the minimum standard for brunello; clearly a better selection

Montesecondo
2006 Chianti Classico - made in stainless; very pretty wine
2005 IGT "Rosso del Rospo" - eh
2005 IGT "Le Petit Verre d'Ot" - tannic and grippy, unappealing

Occhipinti
2008 Rosso Vittoria "SP68" - strawberries but weirdly so
2006 IGT "Il Frappato" - wow, this is the substance those strawberries were looking for
2007 IGT "Siccagno" - eh

Guttarolo
2007 Gioia del Colle Primitivo - steel version; eh
2005 Gioia del Colle Primitivo "Antello delle Muge" - barrique version; too marked by oak

Roagna
2007 Dolcetto d'Alba - eh
2004 Barolo "Vigna Rionda" - oh my, this is going to be good in 20 years
2001 Barolo "La Rocca e la Pira" - all roses, just a smidge of tar

Miscellaneous
2007 Cascina 'Tavijn, Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato - blah
2006 Mayr Nusserhof, Tyroldego - blah
2006 Cappellano, Dolcetto d'Alba "Gabutti" - blah
2007 Perrini, Negroamaro "Salento" - blah
2007 Cascina degli Ulivi, Gavi - weird, blah

Mauro Vergano
NV Americano "Vino Aromatizzato" - served with a spritz and a bit of orange rind; a nice mixer
NV Vino Chinato "Luli" - based on moscato d'asti, not barolo; sweet on entry and then the bitterness of the quinine persists beyond it

So, my shopping list is (in approximately this order):

Eric Texier 2006 Brezeme "Dom. Pergault" VV
Occhipinti 2006 IGT "Il Frappato"
Vittorio Bera 2008 Moscato d'Asti
Roagna 2001 Barolo "La Rocca e la Pira"
Dom. le Briseau 2006 Jasnieres "Kharakter"
Montesecondo 2006 Chianti Classico
Luneau-Papin 2005 Muscadet "L d'Or"
Mauro Vergano NV Vino Chinato "Luli"
Dom. le Briseau 2006 Coteaux-de-Loir "La Derobee"
Roagna 2004 Barolo "Vigna Rionda"
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman: 2006 Coteaux-de-Loir "La Derobee" - very full, almost spoofy rich
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And that's the pineau d'aunis. Must have been powerful sun to make it seem spoofy rich.
 
I was completely taken aback. Served blind, I would never have guessed the grape. (And I think pineau d'aunis is pretty distinctive.)
 
i like the brevity.....guess it makes sense when going thru so many wines at once. i think everyone has their own m.o. for going thru a large list of wines in a short amount of time. i went to a tasting on the weekend where we were given pours, spoken to, then herded onto the next wine. none of the wines were decanted. at the end, i managed to steal a couple of second pours on wines i thought needed more time to open up...and the time made the difference between not wanting to buy and wanting to buy.

on an aside, i think that '97 L d'Or tn is the 2nd less flattering note I've read on an "older" L-P here recently. maybe it's not a long haul wine afterall...or a vintage fault?
 
Re the '97... yes, it's a vintage fault. It was very hot that year and the wines don't have enough acidity to hold them together for the long haul. (Unlike, say, the '89, which may come around when I'm 70.)

Re the brevity... yes, it's a taster's fault. With the crowds pressing me, and 38 wines tasted, there wasn't much room for lengthy notes. (That said, if there's a maker or a wine that interests you, ask... I might be able to say more about them/it.)
 
thanks for the vintage info, Jeff. my geekdom has it's limits, as you can see. you also have me intrigued with the '89 comment.

as for the brevity, that's understandable in such a situation...and in some ways, (tho perhaps frustrating for you) it makes an interesting read in it's minimal form.

now that you mentioned it....that Briseau chenin: was it at all sauv. blanc -like? I had a saumur chenin last week that I swore must have been mislabeled. grassy/herby (no cat piss) bright, with lime and chalk all over it. (just now checked and seems some chard and/or sauv b is actually allowed in saumur blanc....maybe that's my answer.)
 
Steve... The PN was listed as N/A. ::hiss::

Joel... Joe says it is all chenin. I got no grassy/catspee thing from it; just citrus and bright acidity and none of the waxy-wooly thing that I associate with chenin.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart: I had a saumur chenin last week that I swore must have been mislabeled. grassy/herby (no cat piss) bright, with lime and chalk all over it. (just now checked and seems some chard and/or sauv b is actually allowed in saumur blanc....maybe that's my answer.)
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Interesting. I did not know that. I would have said those flavors were a terroir thing, or perhaps vineyard management. But I can see how direct sauvignon blanc addition could also achieve the same result.
 
Rahsaan -unfortunately, there's very little info on this producer on the web, so i may never know. i'll get another bottle and try it again though.

Jeff, thanks for the link. I've been meaning to try this producer.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
Rahsaan -unfortunately, there's very little info on this producer on the web, so i may never know. i'll get another bottle and try it again though.

Jeff, thanks for the link. I've been meaning to try this producer.
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The wine is Jasnieres AOC, so it must be 100% chenin.

I enjoyed the entire Briseau line in France and again in SF.

I drank a good bit of Kharakter Thursday and Friday.

I'm looking forward to the next vintage of Mortiers after having the grapes stolen for a couple of years (hence Drobee). The 2004 is currently stunning. 2006 was a warm vintage, but I don't find the wine to be un-pineau d'aunis.

Good luck getting the Luli, I plan on cornering the market. It has become my spring/summer cocktail of choice. I didn't think fo the orange twist, but will now add it to the repetoire.
 
I enjoyed the entire Briseau line in France and again in SF.
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I really love just about everything they do - I wish they were as inexpensive as they used to be.
I drank a good bit of Kharakter Thursday and Friday.
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This is the first time I had tasted this wine. I found it to be delicious. It certainly tastes like some kind of chenin/sauvignon blanc blend.
I'm looking forward to the next vintage of Mortiers after having the grapes stolen for a couple of years (hence Drobee). The 2004 is currently stunning. 2006 was a warm vintage, but I don't find the wine to be un-pineau d'aunis.
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This is the very old vine pineau d'aunis I believe, and they have been making it in this style for some time. I was somewhat surprised by its intensity but it showed great balance along with all the power.
Good luck getting the Luli, I plan on cornering the market. It has become my spring/summer cocktail of choice. I didn't think fo the orange twist, but will now add it to the repetoire.
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Funny coincidence as this is the only bottle I bought that was featured at the tasting - the others were some Luneau-Papin Gros Plant to go with the 92 degree weather.
 
on an aside, i think that '97 L d'Or tn is the 2nd less flattering note I've read on an "older" L-P here recently. maybe it's not a long haul wine afterall...or a vintage fault?
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I used to think this myself as on two other occasions the '97 Marc Oliver wines tasted old, lifeless and lacking any kind of freshness. My mind was changed at the Marc Oliver dinner a couple of weeks ago where both a '97 and I believe an '86 or '88 both showed incredibly young vibrancy to go along with a complete new palate of secondary flavors.

The problem seems to be a storage issue or this is their expression of corkiness.
 
originally posted by JasonA:
I drank a good bit of Kharakter Thursday and Friday.
Click to expand...
This is the first time I had tasted this wine. I found it to be delicious. It certainly tastes like some kind of chenin/sauvignon blanc blend.
Click to expand...

I don't get any sauvignon character from it at all.

I'm looking forward to the next vintage of Mortiers after having the grapes stolen for a couple of years (hence Drobee). The 2004 is currently stunning. 2006 was a warm vintage, but I don't find the wine to be un-pineau d'aunis.
Click to expand...
This is the very old vine pineau d'aunis I believe, and they have been making it in this style for some time. I was somewhat surprised by its intensity but it showed great balance along with all the power.
Click to expand...

I get confused over whether the Mortiers or the Longue Vignes has the older vines. I don't think either of them are really old.

Info on Chaussard from LDM website.

Looks liek they are about the same. Didn't remember Morties having Cot and/or gamay...
 
I don't get any sauvignon character from it at all.
Click to expand...

I sure didn't get what I associate with chenin from it - to each his own
I get confused over whether the Mortiers or the Longue Vignes has the older vines. I don't think either of them are really old.

Info on Chaussard from LDM website.

Looks liek they are about the same. Didn't remember Morties having Cot and/or gamay...
Click to expand...

This is interesting because when I first started drinking these Briseau Pineau d'Aunis wines, Mortiers and Longue Vignes, they were always described as being very old - up to 100 years old and I associate this or their style to be a product of vines of a certain age. I may be mistaken or misinformed.
 
originally posted by JasonA:
hell
I don't get any sauvignon character from it at all.
Click to expand...

I sure didn't get what I associate with chenin from it - to each his own
Click to expand...

It actually seems perfectly Loir chenin, not Loire.

I get confused over whether the Mortiers or the Longue Vignes has the older vines. I don't think either of them are really old.

Info on Chaussard from LDM website.

Looks liek they are about the same. Didn't remember Morties having Cot and/or gamay...
Click to expand...

This is interesting because when I first started drinking these Briseau Pineau d'Aunis wines, Mortiers and Longue Vignes, they were always described as being very old - up to 100 years old and I associate this or their style to be a product of vines of a certain age. I may be mistaken or misinformed.
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Yeah, I thought they were too. I also thought Morties was 100% pineau d'aunis. If I have a chance to look at old notes, I'll see what they say. You never know. Not everything you read on the interweb is true.
 
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