lars makie
lars makie
Had a little impromptu get together Saturday with a friend who also happens to be a lurker here (I know! They do exist!) not only to celebrate the holidays but also to celebrate the fact that my kids were in Michigan with the grandparents and we could laugh, drink and listen to music with abandon. So, we opened a couple bottles because we could.
First up was the 2008 De Moor Saint-Bris. A lovely wine of hay coloring and a nose of ripe citrus fruit. I'd never had this wine from them before and truthfully, I didn't know that De Moor had made a Sauvignon Blanc. I liked it, though I thought it fluctuated between being balanced and being just a bit 'ripe'. But, it definitely had a great minerality and acidic backbone and went especially well with the (aged) Acapella goat cheese from Andante we had with it. Actually a great pairing and erased any sort of shortcoming I may have felt the wine by itself had had. And because we were rocking the goat cheese, I thought it'd be a great thing to have the 2009 Baudry Chinon Blanc with. Well, I was wrong. The two didn't really play well together. Which in this case was fine by me, because I loved the wine as it was. All green apple, acid and minerals it was wound up tighter than Natalie Portman's character in Black Swan. It was the type of wine that would give you a hug then slap you in the face while laughing nervously then grab your ass as you walked away telling you to come back later. Yup. I liked it, but a bit of time may help (unless you like it like that).
As for the red wines of the evening, unfortunately they weren't as exciting. I've had kind of a hard run lately with Puffeney's Pinot Noirs. I had a bottle of the '08 not long ago that was just not good; thin, overly acidic, no nose. I have it from someone that that was not an indicative bottle of what it should be. I guess I'll get another one and give it some time. In the mean time, I figured I'd give the 2007 Puffeney Pinot Noir a chance to make up for the poor showing of it's younger sibling. Well, it was definitely better than the '08, but unfortunately something still just seemed off. There was a layer of funk and some VA that made the nose just not that lovely. The palate was alternating nice with some earthiness and spices but also weirdly swampy, disjointed and hot. It really didn't go with the pork rillettes we were tucking into. To the wine's credit, it was a bit better the next night and actually went well with some left over Cacio e Pepe pasta; the pepperiness of both playing well with one another. I still have some left so we'll see how it's doing on day 3. The other red we opened was a 2007 Moric Blaufrnkisch brought by my guest. It was a lovely enough wine, not enough to really make you sit up and pay attention but a nice companion to evening. And an even nicer companion to the pork rillettes. Which means it played it's role perfectly. With a nose of dusty, red berry fruit and a similar palate it was similar to, but just a touch less than the '04 Blaufrnkisch from Paul Achs I had had earlier in the week. I've heard much about the single vineyard wines from Moric and would love to try those some time.
All in all a lovely way to celebrate a Saturday night with a friend during the celebratory season. Happy holidays to all you Disorderlies. Even you lurkers.
First up was the 2008 De Moor Saint-Bris. A lovely wine of hay coloring and a nose of ripe citrus fruit. I'd never had this wine from them before and truthfully, I didn't know that De Moor had made a Sauvignon Blanc. I liked it, though I thought it fluctuated between being balanced and being just a bit 'ripe'. But, it definitely had a great minerality and acidic backbone and went especially well with the (aged) Acapella goat cheese from Andante we had with it. Actually a great pairing and erased any sort of shortcoming I may have felt the wine by itself had had. And because we were rocking the goat cheese, I thought it'd be a great thing to have the 2009 Baudry Chinon Blanc with. Well, I was wrong. The two didn't really play well together. Which in this case was fine by me, because I loved the wine as it was. All green apple, acid and minerals it was wound up tighter than Natalie Portman's character in Black Swan. It was the type of wine that would give you a hug then slap you in the face while laughing nervously then grab your ass as you walked away telling you to come back later. Yup. I liked it, but a bit of time may help (unless you like it like that).
As for the red wines of the evening, unfortunately they weren't as exciting. I've had kind of a hard run lately with Puffeney's Pinot Noirs. I had a bottle of the '08 not long ago that was just not good; thin, overly acidic, no nose. I have it from someone that that was not an indicative bottle of what it should be. I guess I'll get another one and give it some time. In the mean time, I figured I'd give the 2007 Puffeney Pinot Noir a chance to make up for the poor showing of it's younger sibling. Well, it was definitely better than the '08, but unfortunately something still just seemed off. There was a layer of funk and some VA that made the nose just not that lovely. The palate was alternating nice with some earthiness and spices but also weirdly swampy, disjointed and hot. It really didn't go with the pork rillettes we were tucking into. To the wine's credit, it was a bit better the next night and actually went well with some left over Cacio e Pepe pasta; the pepperiness of both playing well with one another. I still have some left so we'll see how it's doing on day 3. The other red we opened was a 2007 Moric Blaufrnkisch brought by my guest. It was a lovely enough wine, not enough to really make you sit up and pay attention but a nice companion to evening. And an even nicer companion to the pork rillettes. Which means it played it's role perfectly. With a nose of dusty, red berry fruit and a similar palate it was similar to, but just a touch less than the '04 Blaufrnkisch from Paul Achs I had had earlier in the week. I've heard much about the single vineyard wines from Moric and would love to try those some time.
All in all a lovely way to celebrate a Saturday night with a friend during the celebratory season. Happy holidays to all you Disorderlies. Even you lurkers.