SFJoe has been a very busy fellow. It had been over two months since we last popped corks together and looking back, I think that's been the longest stretch of time that's happened since he moved to New York City in the late '90's. At long last, an e-mail from Joe with an invite for an impromptu dinner with a few of the usuals at his place this past Saturday. Terrific! It had been way too long since I partook of some of his foraged mushrooms and his extensive cellar of Huet. But, what's this? No mushrooms in any of the dishes? No Huet? What a tease! I want my money back!
At least there's a Coad sighting and look at that! He's actually brought along his Hello Kitty notebook and is writing in it! Could his hiatus be nearing an end? As soon as I get my desktop computer back, I will post an updated pic of the elusive Coad character as proof of his existence.
Joe's cooking, as usual, was sensational. The wines? Well, we had a few good ones, but overall it was an evening for the weird, wacky and downright scary!
1993 Hans Wirsching Iphfer Julius-Echter-Berg Riesling Sptlese trocken - Germany, Franken
Deep yellow/light bronze in color. Shows some oxidation with lots of nuttiness and mineral on the nose and palate. This has Lyle Fass written all over it. Precious little fruit, but plenty of rip roaring acidty. Finish is bitter. Not for me. C+.
2006 Donati Camillo Malvasia dell'Emilia IGT - Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Malvasia dell'Emilia IGT
Joe was all excited as he had been paying $40 for this, but recently found a bunch on closeout for $10. I could find a better use for $10. It looks like an IPA while being poured. I do like the aromatics. There's loads of peach and orange blossom aromas. Chris Coad gets orange creamiscles out of it. On the palate it's lightly frizzante with similar flavors as aromas, but it's bone dry and there's a very strong bitter almond note that I find too bitter. Also, it really clashed with the Jamon Iberico and lamb pastrami we were noshing on. B-/C+.
2006 C de Noci Vino di Tavola Sottobosco Frizzante - Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Vino di Tavola
A blend of 50% Grasparossa, 30% Maestri and 20% Malbo Gentile. 2,800 bottles made. Thankfully, there's one less in the world. This is just weird and unpleasant. On the nose there's a lot of Brett, black fruit and ash. The Brett shows up in spades on the palate, too, though I'm pretty Brett tolerant, others at the table thought it crossed too much into the band-aid realm. Tiny bubbles and very little fruit, but a lot of ash and crunchy minerals. Exceedingly dry and acidic. Excruciatingly so. Why? C-.
2002 Franois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire
After three torturous wines in a row, I begged and pleaded with Joe to find something in his refrigerator that I'd like. This emerged. Hello, old friend! I haven't had this wine since release and it's changed quite a bit. It seems to be evolving a little faster than anticipated. Granted, the aging curve of Montlouis is faster than its Vouvray brethren across the river, but I was a little surprised by how dark it had gotten in the past 5 years. It's a deep gold color now. It's quite fragrant with apricot, mineral and marzipan aromas dominating. A little shy on the palate as we popped and poured and air certainly would've helped it. There's hints of quince on the palate, but it's more in the rear view mirror and a more mature apricot profile now dominates. Demi-Sec sweetness, but is showing less sweet than it did on release and having lost its baby fat, that vivacious '02 acidity is even more like razor wire, in a good way. A-.
2007 Domaine de Marcoux Chteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Chteauneuf-du-Pape
My usual criticism of CDP whites apply here. There's some pretty apple and pear flavors and aromas, with white flowers and white pepper, but overall I find this and most CDP Blancs, a little too blowsy, unfocused and too alcoholic for me. The Chilean sea bass with olive tapenade did help to focus the wine a little, but the alcohol was just to apparent. B.
2007 Arianna Occhipinti Vittoria Il Frappato Sicilia IGT - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia IGT
I really like this wine. Coad gives me a quizzical look and I know he's thinking that on the surface, this doesn't seem like the kind of wine I would like, let alone buy given its juicy acidity, but I tell him that its because there's not the usual unripe, sour cherry fruit that frequently goes along with this profile, but ripe raspberries. He chuckles and remarks "sour cherries" was the first thing he wrote down. I think he's mistaking the acidity for that and he admits that with air the acidity mellows and raspberry fruit comes to the forefront. There's wonderful purity and elegance to this wine with the aforementioned crushed raspberries dominating and earth and bark flavors alongside it. Just lovely. A-.
1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, Hermitage
Like the last bottle I had, it's extremely aromatic. Sasha said he double decanted it a couple of hours before we drank it. The usual suspects are present. Raspberry and cherry fruit, beef blood, some herbalness and spice. The acidity still remains higher than normal, but it's been integrating nicely the last couple of bottles I've had. Fresh, vibrant, focused and yummy. A-.
1989 M. Chapoutier Cte-Rtie - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, Cte-Rtie
Not as aromatic or as vibrant as the Chave, but it still shows a nice personality of red fruits, black olives, licorice and garrigue. Nicely elegant, though the fruit seems to be receding with the acid structure coming more to the forefront. Pleasant, but I'd drink up. B+/A-.
1976 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County
Another bottle from the batch of older California wines I recently picked up at auction and so far I'm two for two. I served this double blind. Sasha and Chris guessed Italian, probably Nebbiolo, while Joe, knowing of my recent purchase played clever and guessed an old California Cab. All three enjoyed the wine, as did I, as there was plenty to like. A little bit of mustiness on the nose and palate, but there's beautiful lightly dessicated raspberry fruit, earth and spice underneath with maybe just a touch of leather. The wine has a rustic feel to it and is fairly resolved, though has a nice core of acidity that keeps things interesting. Quite a lovely surprise. Solid B+.
1969 Nervi Gattinara Riserva del Titolare - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Gattinara
From a poor vintage and it shows. There's nothing really to like here unless you're a big fan of dirt with a slightly medicinal character and screechy, citrusy acidity. It was in and out of the glass quickly. D+.
2002 Domaine Ganevat Savagnin Ctes du Jura Sous la Roche La Combe de Rotalier - France, Jura, Ctes du Jura
I'm not a fan of oxidative wines and this one made my body contort. D.
N.V. Vouette et Sorbe elabore par Bertrand Gautherot Champagne blanc d'argile - France, Champagne
Disgorged 10/28/06. Whaaahhh!!! This hurts! What, did Joe think he hadn't tortured me enough already with tonight's lineup? Blistering, corrosive acidity dominates. The first thing that came to my mind when I tried it was the blood from the Aliens in Alien. Coad fills me in saying it was "molecular acid." Yeah. That, combined with Klingon pain sticks. D.
At least there's a Coad sighting and look at that! He's actually brought along his Hello Kitty notebook and is writing in it! Could his hiatus be nearing an end? As soon as I get my desktop computer back, I will post an updated pic of the elusive Coad character as proof of his existence.
Joe's cooking, as usual, was sensational. The wines? Well, we had a few good ones, but overall it was an evening for the weird, wacky and downright scary!
1993 Hans Wirsching Iphfer Julius-Echter-Berg Riesling Sptlese trocken - Germany, Franken
Deep yellow/light bronze in color. Shows some oxidation with lots of nuttiness and mineral on the nose and palate. This has Lyle Fass written all over it. Precious little fruit, but plenty of rip roaring acidty. Finish is bitter. Not for me. C+.
2006 Donati Camillo Malvasia dell'Emilia IGT - Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Malvasia dell'Emilia IGT
Joe was all excited as he had been paying $40 for this, but recently found a bunch on closeout for $10. I could find a better use for $10. It looks like an IPA while being poured. I do like the aromatics. There's loads of peach and orange blossom aromas. Chris Coad gets orange creamiscles out of it. On the palate it's lightly frizzante with similar flavors as aromas, but it's bone dry and there's a very strong bitter almond note that I find too bitter. Also, it really clashed with the Jamon Iberico and lamb pastrami we were noshing on. B-/C+.
2006 C de Noci Vino di Tavola Sottobosco Frizzante - Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Vino di Tavola
A blend of 50% Grasparossa, 30% Maestri and 20% Malbo Gentile. 2,800 bottles made. Thankfully, there's one less in the world. This is just weird and unpleasant. On the nose there's a lot of Brett, black fruit and ash. The Brett shows up in spades on the palate, too, though I'm pretty Brett tolerant, others at the table thought it crossed too much into the band-aid realm. Tiny bubbles and very little fruit, but a lot of ash and crunchy minerals. Exceedingly dry and acidic. Excruciatingly so. Why? C-.
2002 Franois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire
After three torturous wines in a row, I begged and pleaded with Joe to find something in his refrigerator that I'd like. This emerged. Hello, old friend! I haven't had this wine since release and it's changed quite a bit. It seems to be evolving a little faster than anticipated. Granted, the aging curve of Montlouis is faster than its Vouvray brethren across the river, but I was a little surprised by how dark it had gotten in the past 5 years. It's a deep gold color now. It's quite fragrant with apricot, mineral and marzipan aromas dominating. A little shy on the palate as we popped and poured and air certainly would've helped it. There's hints of quince on the palate, but it's more in the rear view mirror and a more mature apricot profile now dominates. Demi-Sec sweetness, but is showing less sweet than it did on release and having lost its baby fat, that vivacious '02 acidity is even more like razor wire, in a good way. A-.
2007 Domaine de Marcoux Chteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - France, Rhne, Southern Rhne, Chteauneuf-du-Pape
My usual criticism of CDP whites apply here. There's some pretty apple and pear flavors and aromas, with white flowers and white pepper, but overall I find this and most CDP Blancs, a little too blowsy, unfocused and too alcoholic for me. The Chilean sea bass with olive tapenade did help to focus the wine a little, but the alcohol was just to apparent. B.
2007 Arianna Occhipinti Vittoria Il Frappato Sicilia IGT - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia IGT
I really like this wine. Coad gives me a quizzical look and I know he's thinking that on the surface, this doesn't seem like the kind of wine I would like, let alone buy given its juicy acidity, but I tell him that its because there's not the usual unripe, sour cherry fruit that frequently goes along with this profile, but ripe raspberries. He chuckles and remarks "sour cherries" was the first thing he wrote down. I think he's mistaking the acidity for that and he admits that with air the acidity mellows and raspberry fruit comes to the forefront. There's wonderful purity and elegance to this wine with the aforementioned crushed raspberries dominating and earth and bark flavors alongside it. Just lovely. A-.
1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, Hermitage
Like the last bottle I had, it's extremely aromatic. Sasha said he double decanted it a couple of hours before we drank it. The usual suspects are present. Raspberry and cherry fruit, beef blood, some herbalness and spice. The acidity still remains higher than normal, but it's been integrating nicely the last couple of bottles I've had. Fresh, vibrant, focused and yummy. A-.
1989 M. Chapoutier Cte-Rtie - France, Rhne, Northern Rhne, Cte-Rtie
Not as aromatic or as vibrant as the Chave, but it still shows a nice personality of red fruits, black olives, licorice and garrigue. Nicely elegant, though the fruit seems to be receding with the acid structure coming more to the forefront. Pleasant, but I'd drink up. B+/A-.
1976 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County
Another bottle from the batch of older California wines I recently picked up at auction and so far I'm two for two. I served this double blind. Sasha and Chris guessed Italian, probably Nebbiolo, while Joe, knowing of my recent purchase played clever and guessed an old California Cab. All three enjoyed the wine, as did I, as there was plenty to like. A little bit of mustiness on the nose and palate, but there's beautiful lightly dessicated raspberry fruit, earth and spice underneath with maybe just a touch of leather. The wine has a rustic feel to it and is fairly resolved, though has a nice core of acidity that keeps things interesting. Quite a lovely surprise. Solid B+.
1969 Nervi Gattinara Riserva del Titolare - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Gattinara
From a poor vintage and it shows. There's nothing really to like here unless you're a big fan of dirt with a slightly medicinal character and screechy, citrusy acidity. It was in and out of the glass quickly. D+.
2002 Domaine Ganevat Savagnin Ctes du Jura Sous la Roche La Combe de Rotalier - France, Jura, Ctes du Jura
I'm not a fan of oxidative wines and this one made my body contort. D.
N.V. Vouette et Sorbe elabore par Bertrand Gautherot Champagne blanc d'argile - France, Champagne
Disgorged 10/28/06. Whaaahhh!!! This hurts! What, did Joe think he hadn't tortured me enough already with tonight's lineup? Blistering, corrosive acidity dominates. The first thing that came to my mind when I tried it was the blood from the Aliens in Alien. Coad fills me in saying it was "molecular acid." Yeah. That, combined with Klingon pain sticks. D.