Sharon and Mark raid Lavinia, Paris

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Sharon Bowman

Sharon Bowman
Mark Lipton was on the right track: that of the Eurostar, heading to Paris for a lunch that would turn out to be the stuff of 19th century people of leisure.

Now, Mark's got the handwritten notes, but I've got the pics (to verify names on labels, and no mistakin' Breil for Breuil, mind) as well as the elephantine memory, of course (Mark, you'll correct my errors, no?).

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2006 Stphane Tissot Ctes du Jura Chardonnay Les Argiles du Lias - Well, this was absolutely ice-pick great. Hard, mineral, linear, brilliant wine that was utterly Chardonnay yet not at all Burgundian nor New World; a golden monorail of a wine, letting off curiously curlicue-y steam. Stainless steel.

2006 Ren Mosse Anjou "Le Coin d'Hyrome" - bleargh... Chenin... Anjou... Residual sugar... Good body, smoky, like grattons (crunchy little duck pieces in congealed duck fat) and quince jelly, but not my personal cuppa.

2006 Chassorney Saint-Romain Combe Bazin white - this, on the other hand: oooh, sweet spot. Oooh, super sweet spot of Cte de Beaune in its offhanded flick of, "Yeah, I know." Without the superflabby Meursault stripperiness. This is the third time I've had this wine, and I look forward to the next times eagerly.

2007 Chapoutier Saint-Joseph Les Mres white - Hey, since when does white Saint-Joseph have a shape-shifting nose that starts out Sancerre and then hovercrafts over to Alsace Pinot Blanc? Finally, this bright, white floral offering was an utter Pinot Blanc stand-in. Nice, strange, light, young, Rhne? Nah, but whatever.

2005 Jaboulet Hermitage "Chevalier de Sterimberg" - granted, the Hermitage is young, and the walnut notes are still in their embryonic persimmon (Mark, help, it's not persimmon) stage. This is still opulent, magistral stuff. Utterly unctuous, yet structured. Heavy-hitter.
 
Which Alsace pinot blancs that weren't about half auxerrois have you tasted? I don't mean that as confrontationally as it reads, it's just that I think the combination pushed to the limits of ripeness (which it often is, these days) is not all that far from the lighter styles of palefaced Rhnes.
 
2006 Ren Mosse Anjou "Le Coin d'Hyrome"
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Never heard of this. Any more info on the cuvee aside from the fact that you didn't like it?

Otherwise, nice selection of wines for leisurely lunch. Seems like a promising location.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
2006 Ren Mosse Anjou "Le Coin d'Hyrome"
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Never heard of this. Any more info on the cuvee aside from the fact that you didn't like it?

Otherwise, nice selection of wines for leisurely lunch. Seems like a promising location.
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Since one year, Lavinia ask many vigneron to sell exclusiv cuvee : just to Lavinia. Vignerons can sell a new mix or "parcelle" or an old-one with new "name". It's marketing. May be, it's the case for "Le coin d'Hyrome*".
I will be next week-end in Anjou and I will try to know.

Best regards
pierre-alain

(*) a little river near Saint-Lambert
 
just had lunch there a few days ago, my pick was a rather difficult but nevertheless impressive 2006 LEffraie Bellivire, which shows quite a bit of botrytis, especially texturally, given its format. A little age should go a long way in terms of transparency here. Nice meal, too.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Which Alsace pinot blancs that weren't about half auxerrois have you tasted? I don't mean that as confrontationally as it reads, it's just that I think the combination pushed to the limits of ripeness (which it often is, these days) is not all that far from the lighter styles of palefaced Rhnes.
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Thor,
I of course can't speak for Sharon, but the nose on that wine was spot-on for the varietal Pinot Blancs I've had in Oregon, too. It had that characteristic perfume of white flowers and minerals that I love in PB. I'll post my "detailed" notes in a day or so when I've got some time.

Mark Lipton
(in London)
 
That may be a different thing, though, because for me those aren't varietal characteristics of pinot blanc in Alsace (which, these days, you almost have to barrel taste to find in unadulterated form). Alsace pinot blanc, to me, is somewhat precise -- there's that word again -- stone fruit skins without the generosity of the fruit, a bit of minerality (depending on site), and a fair amount of acidity; the overall impression is one of stark spareness, though not of insipidity (is that a word?)...wine cut with glacial water, perhaps. Once there's fat, or generosity, or spice, or pear, or ripe fruit, or flowers, or residual sugar, I start thinking about auxerrois...and the absence of those, often, indicates not an absence of auxerrois, but auxerrois that wasn't pushed to taste more like (Alsatian) pinot gris. Pinot blanc is a relatively simple grape in Alsace and needs some extra effort to rise above mediocrity; an expressive terroir, an exceptional vintage, or blending.

From the limited number of Oregon pinot blancs I've tasted, however, what I taste tends to match your description.

Ugh, two ellipses. Gotta work on that.

And hey, Theresa's in London.
 
originally posted by Thor:

And hey, Theresa's in London.
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I'll say hello to her for you if she happens to wander through Paddington station tomorrow (this?) morning between 9:15 and 9:30.

Mark Lipton
 
Well, damn it Mark, stay longer. Actually, you might cross paths with her business partner, who arrives tomorrow.

David...please, God, no.
 
Am I the only one who remembers when Pinot Blanc in Alsace was mostly used for sparkling wine and the little that was bottled still was sold cheaply -- and then some guy in MD started comparing it to white Burgundy, a comparison that was not deserved, and the prices went up? Not to say that you can't make a top wine from Pinot Blanc (or something else that is allowed to be labelled as Pinot Blanc), but the top examples I've had have been mostly from Germany (and fairly rare, there) and occasionally from California (where we're probably really talking about Melon, not true Pinot Blanc).
 
To be less snarky: I don't believe you can make a "top wine" from pinot blanc in Alsace. I believe you can easily make a "top wine" from pinot blanc and auxerrois on a great site (exhibit 1 through infinity: Boxler). But pinot blanc? Wrong region.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Kick ass notes, madam.
Best, Jim
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Merci, Jim. You were in fact the inspiration behind choosing the Tissot.

originally posted by Rahsaan:
2006 Ren Mosse Anjou "Le Coin d'Hyrome"
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Never heard of this. Any more info on the cuvee aside from the fact that you didn't like it?

Otherwise, nice selection of wines for leisurely lunch. Seems like a promising location.
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Not the faintest. I tasted Mosse's lineup in June and this was not among it, so we will have to rely on "pab"'s investigative skills.

As for Lavinia, yeah, not bad - when it's open. Next time!
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
so we will have to rely on "pab"'s investigative skills.
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Yes, special retailer cuvees seems like an interesting practice. I guess they need to get some sort of edge because the comprehensive High End Wall Mart approach was sort of sagging.
 
Lavinia's purchase of Caves Aug has meant bringing Marc Sibard's expertise in, plus they have Marie-Louise Banyols, one of France's top tasters, as purchasing chief. Their lineup of offbeat and 'natural' wines has been definitely strengthened.
 
That's the big joke. Many of the same references, yet appreciable price differences between Aug and Lavinia.

I see it in a more positive way - Marc Sibard has his way with the big supermarket, and Japanese tourists are picking up Pacalet instead of - I dunno - Bouchard.
 
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