Notes-a-palooza, Seemingly Endless

I

Ian Fitzsimmons

Ian Fitzsimmons
Wines imbibed at the dinner table with family. Curious pursuant to Joe Dressner's various comments whether folks find such notes useful or a quaint, ego-serving encumbrance.

2007 Desvignes Morgon Cote de Py Javernieres

Young, firm and tannic, but, with long decant, some gamay and cherry aromas escaping. Fine feel in the mouth: balance, density, silky texture, radiant acid. Must become very good with time.

2007 Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Pruliers

From 375, a rare foray into the Cotes de Nuits. Tough on opening, with short airing surprisingly approachable, with berry-mocha nose and satiny texture. Pleasant but likely an outline of its potential.

2009 Pepiere Muscadet Briords

My first 09, pretty irresistible out of the bottle. Im with Nathan here: why wait? It has the balance and precision of good MSR Riesling, but the richness comes somehow from seashells, rather than RS.

2001 Von Schubert Maximum Gruenhauser Absberg Auslese

Young, titch of petrol that blows off after about an hour. Balanced, measured sweetness; intense acidity. Did I say young?

2008 St. Innocent Momtazi Pinot Noir

From 375, a rare foray into Oregon. Easily the best US Pinot-based wine I've tried. Cherry on the nose, clean, lean, almost silky texture, excellent density and underlying content, no syrup.

2002 Duhart Milon Bordeaux

On opening, thin. With air, slowly less thin, classic b'x flavors of tobacco and cedar at low volume. With 3 hours air, broader flavor spectrum, more depth. Later, thin again. Young, or limited?

1996 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese

Day 1, tasted like dishwater; day 2, like sweetish gasoline. Day three: plump, textured fruit; honeyed rock; layered, superb MSR Riesling. Hold.

2007 Bouchard Chablis 1er Vau de Vey

Fresh, lively nose, pretty. With air, tangy, minerally and intense, long finish. A bit of sweetness and vanillin - new oak? - but not dominating; could integrate well with time. Classy 1er cru.

2001 Sociando-Mallet Bordeaux

Solid, well-made b'x from an okay vintage. A little sweet, but well-balanced. Still youthful.

2003 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund

Sweet, delicious Riesling fruit; sufficient acid frame to support, with modest pungency hinting at power; likely much too young. The generous fruit brings Chardonnay to mind; perhaps b/c of 2003 heat.

Second day, from a sealed half-bottle poured off from the original 750: same fine fruit, but firmer structure and some power emerging. Should become very fine with additional time, I think.

2009 Thevenet Morgon VV

Modest gamay candy, large volume, voluptuous fruit, set off by high-toned, mouth-watering acidity. No brett sightings. The candy, normally obnoxious, here served as spicing. Good with beef.

2002 Muller-Catoir Mussbacher Eselshaust Riesling Kabinett

Pretty good, ready, no surprises. A bit tame for the producer.

N.V. Domaine Tissot Cremant de Jura

Bead could be finer, but very good and, with couple hours air time, the chardonnay fruit comes to the fore, making a delicious BdB Champagne-style fizz. Must try the Indigene and rose.

2009 Vissoux Moulin-a-Vent Trois Roches

Balanced Cru Beajolais: unusual precision, complexity and restraint amid the characteristically generous 09 fruit, with bracing tannins and acidity. Closes some shortly after opening.

2005 Thivin Cote de Brouilly

Starting to relax: excellent balance of rich fruit and sturdy structure. Deep, long, rich, but never sloppy; no hint anywhere of candy or sweetness. Still my favorite 05 Beaujolais so far.

2007 Domaine Pavelot (Regis/Luc et Lise) Pernand Vergeslesses 1er Sous Fretille

Dry, lean, tangy; on opening, thin, but takes on weight and sappiness with air time. Good 'nose bleed' white Burgundy, though I can't tell yet whether it is really a good 1er Cru-grade wine. Needs years.

2007 De Moor St. Bris

From magnum: fun, delicious wine: crisp, nervy, with a bit of Chablis character with air and warmth. Good weight for Turkey and potatoes; excellent the next day with grilled cheese. No rush to drink.

2007 Foillard Morgon Cote de Py

With Thanksgiving, from magnum. Too young: a bit thin and watery initially. After four hours +, surprising power and elegance emerges, with nascent depth. Quite remarkable; challenged my thinking.

2001 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape

Good CdP. Too young to enjoy fully. Wait another four-five years.

2002 Domaine Pavelot (Jean-Marc et Hugues) Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Narbantons

Pleasant Burgundy Pinot, not much more. A bit thin for an 02 1er: perhaps too young yet. The 01 Guettes at maturity far outclasses this wine now.
 
Ian,
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . .

Tasting notes have many uses; some of them involve the wines tasted.
Best, Jim
 
Useful. As just one example I wouldn't be touching any '09 Briords if not for notes such as yours and nathan's.

I think 99% of the people on the board are sensible enough to know that any note is an impression based on the particular showing of the wine at a particular time to a particular person.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:


2008 St. Innocent Momtazi Pinot Noir

From 375, a rare foray into Oregon. Easily the best US Pinot-based wine I've tried. Cherry on the nose, clean, lean, almost silky texture, excellent density and underlying content, no syrup.
Click to expand...

Have these guys changed their style recently, or maybe this is more of a reflection of the vintage?

I bought some of their wines in 2001 and 02, and my impression was they leaned towards the more tannic, dark side of Pinot Noir.

Piling on, but I appreciate reading your notes as well.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:


2008 St. Innocent Momtazi Pinot Noir

From 375, a rare foray into Oregon. Easily the best US Pinot-based wine I've tried. Cherry on the nose, clean, lean, almost silky texture, excellent density and underlying content, no syrup.
Click to expand...

Have these guys changed their style recently, or maybe this is more of a reflection of the vintage?

I bought some of their wines in 2001 and 02, and my impression was they leaned towards the more tannic, dark side of Pinot Noir.

Piling on, but I appreciate reading your notes as well.
Click to expand...

I've heard changes afoot since...i dunno, 2006 or thereabouts (about the same time they sold off a vineyard I cannot recall, but one that they made famous).
The last one I had was a 1999 sometime in 2008, which was how you would have described it (more along the Nuits or Pommard lines of pinot).
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Marc D:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:


2008 St. Innocent Momtazi Pinot Noir

From 375, a rare foray into Oregon. Easily the best US Pinot-based wine I've tried. Cherry on the nose, clean, lean, almost silky texture, excellent density and underlying content, no syrup.
Click to expand...

Have these guys changed their style recently, or maybe this is more of a reflection of the vintage?

I bought some of their wines in 2001 and 02, and my impression was they leaned towards the more tannic, dark side of Pinot Noir.

Piling on, but I appreciate reading your notes as well.
Click to expand...
buy
I've heard changes afoot since...i dunno, 2006 or thereabouts (about the same time they sold off a vineyard I cannot recall, but one that they made famous).
The last one I had was a 1999 sometime in 2008, which was how you would have described it (more along the Nuits or Pommard lines of pinot).
Click to expand...

Well, it was actually sold out from under them which led to some acrimonious feelings and some boycotting of Evening Land which benefited. I really liked their wines in the 1990s. I missed 2000-2002 and wasn't that happy with 2003 so I skipped 2004. Some very nice 2005s though the octane was a bit high. So my knowledge is a bit out of date (I've never even had a Momtazi which is a relatively recent bottling for them) but I'd really say that whether it fell into the tannic dark side depended at least as much on vineyard as on vintage. Freedom Hill was noted for its tannins, Shea, O'Connor and Seven Springs (the vineyard they lost) less so.
 
Re: Momtazi, I don't know the history, but I get the impression that several makers buy in grapes from the vineyard - which is 'bio-dynamically' cultivated - including St. I. Mark Vlossak recently described the vineyard, iirc, (or maybe just the section his grapes are from) as fairly high-altitude, giving wines with lots of dirt and a 'sauvage' quality. This was the case here, but well-balanced by fruitish density and a really appealing texture. FWIW, Mark also said he was pretty happy with this wine in 2008 ('I ... nailed it').

It was interesting to open the Gouges Pruliers the following night: much was similar; the Gouges was more polished, more closed, and lacked the sauvage edges. The Momtazi has some Burgundian virtues, but its own distinct identity. I'm planning to buy more.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Ian,
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . .

Tasting notes have many uses; some of them involve the wines tasted.
Best, Jim
Click to expand...

Sometimes Joe says things the rest of us just think, so I was curious. Thanks for responding. The mind recoils from the non-wine uses you might come up with for these notes!
 
I liked these tasting notes!

They evoked the wines you drank.

That's all I ask. That tasting notes are not the goal of drinking wine.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:

2002 Domaine Pavelot (Jean-Marc et Hugues) Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Narbantons

Pleasant Burgundy Pinot, not much more. A bit thin for an 02 1er: perhaps too young yet.
Click to expand...

yup.

the fatpolice took the time to pass the casework to me on this one -- wise up or stick to bojo, bucko. or prepare for a visit from the childsnatchers.

(your comment on the maturity of the 01 is in your file, btw. you pervert.)

fb.
 
The 01 Guettes drinks fabulously now, and I mean fabulously - albeit on day 2 [blushing emoticon here].

Can I help it if you and Maureen drove up Burgundy prices to stratospheric levels before the rest of us could get in our own trial-and-error testing? Now it's all random hit-or-miss. Anyway, there was chat elsewhere that 02 1ers were drinking well early, and I felt a need to taste the pudding.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
The 01 Guettes drinks fabulously now, and I mean fabulously - albeit on day 2 [blushing emoticon here].

Can I help it if you and Maureen drove up Burgundy prices to stratospheric levels before the rest of us could get in our own trial-and-error testing? Now it's all random hit-or-miss. Anyway, there was chat elsewhere that 02 1ers were drinking well early, and I felt a need to taste the pudding.
Click to expand...

Was that chat from anyone of reputable character? I'm still waiting on many vintages from the '90s, let alone those of the aughties, Ian. '00 is drinking well, but I'm still holding off on '02 along with '93, '95, '96 and '99. Your best bet is to locate some '88s if you want (possibly) mature wines.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
The 01 Guettes drinks fabulously now, and I mean fabulously - albeit on day 2 [blushing emoticon here].

Can I help it if you and Maureen drove up Burgundy prices to stratospheric levels before the rest of us could get in our own trial-and-error testing? Now it's all random hit-or-miss. Anyway, there was chat elsewhere that 02 1ers were drinking well early, and I felt a need to taste the pudding.
Click to expand...

Was that chat from anyone of reputable character? I'm still waiting on many vintages from the '90s, let alone those of the aughties, Ian. '00 is drinking well, but I'm still holding off on '02 along with '93, '95, '96 and '99. Your best bet is to locate some '88s if you want (possibly) mature wines.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

'Aughties' is good. Now define 'reputable.'

Yeah, even as a Burg tyro my instinct was to hold off, but the view was sustained by several informed chatters, and sometimes to you have to pay for learning. The Narbantons I bought in auction for ca. $20, so the tuition was not excessive. The commentary here, naturally, amplifies the educational effect.

I don't in the least regret either of the two 01 Guettes we drank last year: if that wine gets much better than it is now, with extended airing, I'll have to take a glycerin pill before drinking it.
 
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