TN:Some wines with friends

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Ulysses-Collin NV Champagne - lovely stuff with the sushi dinner, not achingly dry and, I thought, rather fruity (in a way that even Jay likes)

Mugnier 2008 NSG "Clos de la Marechale" - classic balance, red-fruity and astringent in good balance, worth the tariff

Weegmuller 2007 Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese - from 375 ml; nice enough, maybe Jay will say more

Thomas-Labaille 2009 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnees" - clear and clean and minerally with no rough edges at all, why have I not been drinking recent vintages?

Drouhin 2001 Griottes-Chambertin GC - very cherry, showing the house style (light, minerally, floral), not what I typically think of as grand cru intensity so I'm assuming it's still closed/tight

Tarlant NV Champagne "Vigne d'Antan" - wow, there's great balance here: chalk and yellow fruit, juicy and interesting, nice to know we have two bottles on hand

Billecart-Salmon 1998 Champagne "Cuvee Nicolas Francois Billecart" - cheesy smell, drinks meaty and broad, I don't like it, at first, but then it grows on me

Selbach-Oster 2009 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Eiswein "Junior" - nice one: not too sweet; juicy, but not puckering, acidity; clean finish
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

Mugnier 2008 NSG "Clos de la Marechale" - classic balance, red-fruity and astringent in good balance, worth the tariff.
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I know everyone has his/her own scale for value, so I'm not casting aspersions. But when I spend $70-80 I want more than 'classic balance'.

Of course this means it is difficult for me to find 'affordable' wines from blue chip Burgundy producers, but that's nothing new.

I responded also because I thought about buying this wine recently, but wasn't sure if it would deliver for my more severe value scale.

Regardless, I'm sure it was delicious!
 
Everyone knows who the blue chip producers are, that's why the prices are high.

The only value wines that I can think of would be Bourgognes, Hautes Cotes de Nuits, and so on. To drink 1er or GC means to pay higher prices or gamble on unknown houses.

I'm sorry that "classic balance" doesn't convey enough excitement to you: the wine was really good.
 
Is your impression that the "Clos de la Marechale" has undergone constant improvement since 04?

I thought Freddy added some viticulture "help" starting in the 2006 vintage?

...Haven't had the recent versions.

-mark
 
Prices on the '08 seem pretty reasonable, which makes sense because there's a whole lot of it to go around. I paid $60 for the '05 and would probably keep it on my buy list in that zone, but sometimes I see retailers offering it for more than Chevillon's top wines which makes it an easy pass.
 
Where you guys shopping? Wine-searcher non-pro edition has 2008 Clos de la Marchale for as cheap as $54 and lots of stores at $60.
 
Nice. CSW has the 08 for $80 and the 07 for $85. I know they rarely have rock bottom prices on Burgundy and I usually don't scour wine-searcher (there are few wines that I must have, so I usually take the best options from local stores, which is not exactly a hardship in Nyc). But good to know.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

I'm sorry that "classic balance" doesn't convey enough excitement to you: the wine was really good.
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knowing the wine in question, plenty exciting

thanks Jeff
 
originally posted by Mark Davis:
Is your impression that the "Clos de la Marechale" has undergone constant improvement since 04?

I thought Freddy added some viticulture "help" starting in the 2006 vintage?

...Haven't had the recent versions.

-mark
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If I may offer a different take. I remember playing with a bottle of the 06 early on for a couple of days and thinking that I had preferred 04 and 05 for their purity. This was very, very good, but just a touch ripe and (more importantly) extracted. Or at least that's how it came across.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Huh.

I have to say I am nonplussed by JF Mugnier.

More for you guys, I guess.
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dude, you gotta watch 00 moose blossom in the glass, it is a sight and sound to behold

no, i did not pay for the bottle
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Everyone knows who the blue chip producers are, that's why the prices are high.
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see, that's the big downside of the internet w/r/t wine info. It used to be one had to spend years reading and talking about and then tasting burgundy not only to know who were good winemakers with well-situated vines with sufficient age but also to know which of those made wines in a style to your liking - then you could scour auction catalogues and sometimes retailers' inventories to find great values. No more - now every tom, dick, and harry who has decided he won't be taken seriously as a wine geek until he masters burgundy simply reads the wine boards, figures out who is taken seriously by burg drinkers, and then buys everything those people rave up without knowing if the wines will be enjoyed - this is how Truchot went from being an unknown but to a few of us making modest wines with even more modest pricing to an object of the hunt at goofy prices. It is what caused the craziness about Mugnier, Bachelet, and others. I used to know, love, cellar, and drink many different producers' burgundies that were off the collective radar - but basically none of them are off the radar now (well, there's still one I find undervalued but that's all I can think of).

Thank goodness I have a full cellar now - if I were trying to build one up now I'd not be able to afford it.
 
It's not just Burgundy where the trophy mentality has taken hold. People who have never even tried a type of wine post requests for the "top producers" so they can begin their exploration at the pinnacle of Everest.
 
...now every tom, dick, and harry who has decided he won't be taken seriously as a wine geek until he masters burgundy simply reads the wine boards, figures out who is taken seriously by burg drinkers, and then buys everything those people rave up without knowing if the wines will be enjoyed...
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Unfortunately so. It is so easy being a poseur these days. And, like the children in Lake Woebegone, every wine has to be above average.
 
Tarlant Vigne d'Antan is a really, really fantastic Champagne. And I'd love to hear more details on the Weegmuller (particularly re. its availability around the east coast, for those of us who believe there is never enough Scheurebe.)
 
2000 Mugnier Musigny was actually around $100 when I bought it, and it was a fine bottle. Unfortunately, all mine are gone as are the days of finding Musigny for $100.
 
originally posted by maureen:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Everyone knows who the blue chip producers are, that's why the prices are high.
Click to expand...

see, that's the big downside of the internet w/r/t wine info. It used to be one had to spend years reading and talking about and then tasting burgundy...

Thank goodness I have a full cellar now - if I were trying to build one up now I'd not be able to afford it.
Click to expand...

WD isn't much of a secret if Asimov has a link on his page at the Times. It's not just the Internet, though. Specialty cable networks aren't helping much. It won't be too long before someone starts the Wine Channel.

The same holds true for many other formerly obscure pursuits. The best fishing spots, at one time known to a reasonably exclusive few, are now about as secret as Paris Hilton's sexual preferences. The "democratization" of info in the digital age has had good and bad effects across the board. Knowledge will continue to be cheaper and easier for the foreseeable future. Snobs of all stripes are the worse for it.

It feels a bit disheartening to be several paces to the right of most on this board on Maureen's spectrum. I read a lot, and did earn much of my burgundy insight by throwing dollars at the VC and Elie before I got wine knowledge from the web. I got some beaujolais and other LD lowdown from Putnam, so I can't say I'm simply an e-info junkie, but at some level I can be painted with Maureen's brush. Guilty? Maybe, but everybody's got to learn from somebody. I've bought things I've read about here (don't worry, Musigny is safe from my budget), but don't start threads asking for everyone to name their best fishing hole. Looked at from this side of the glass, I've learned what and who I want to buy, mostly the hard way, and have a cellar that does need to grow, but no, I can't afford squat.

Many of us actually thirst for knowledge more than the sauce, anyway (or we rationalize our disorder thus). The night stand reading right now is "The Wines and Vineyards of France" by Louis Jacquelin and Ren Poulain. It's interesting to get their take on the state of wine circa 1960. There's some good history in there that I haven't found anywhere else. I'll never drink any of the stuff they're talking about, but it's still great reading.
 
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