TN: Jeebus in the Snow (Jan 11, 2011)

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
If the La Purcelle was non-vintage, I think its all 2002.
We went back and forth on this. There was no clear label marking for the vintage but there was a small lot number, something like "L211-001". (I'm sure I don't have the first part right but we guessed that the second part mean '01.)
At least one lot that came to WA was only marked on the tissue paper the bottles were wrapped in...which all the retailers promptly removed to shelf stock.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
If the La Purcelle was non-vintage, I think its all 2002.
We went back and forth on this. There was no clear label marking for the vintage but there was a small lot number, something like "L211-001". (I'm sure I don't have the first part right but we guessed that the second part mean '01.)
There seems to be an ongoing discussion of the vintage used in the La Purcelle that was released a short time ago. I thought the one of a year or so ago was a tad better but some have indicated it's the same. Anyone have the straight info? I'm curious. Hey Joe D. any idea?
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
If the La Purcelle was non-vintage, I think its all 2002.
We went back and forth on this. There was no clear label marking for the vintage but there was a small lot number, something like "L211-001". (I'm sure I don't have the first part right but we guessed that the second part mean '01.)
There seems to be an ongoing discussion of the vintage used in the La Purcelle that was released a short time ago. I thought the one of a year or so ago was a tad better but some have indicated it's the same. Anyone have the straight info? I'm curious. Hey Joe D. any idea?
 
I was afraid Marcia would freak out at the relentless geekery of the evening but she totally reveled in it. At Kirk's swell digs and sitting next to Jeff and his crystalline English, she was happy to understand every single word and bonded.

It was a treat to taste Bouchard and Prevost. The latter was perhaps the most impressive young champagne I have tasted, with its waxy, wooly element, reminiscent of fine older chablis.

The Heredia sparkling Gamay was fun. After the excellent Verre des Poetes and this, I am curious about everything this guy makes.

The 98 Chabannes Cote de Brouilly was lovely and balanced, but serious for a Beaujolais. At 13%, one imagines it was chaptalized, but if Chabannes is the kind of unchauvetish producer who wants every year to taste ripe, he wasn't penalized by premature demise; this seemed very much alive.

The 94 and 95 Rieslings were terrific; I took a special shine to the Schaefer, with its zippy acidity.

I enjoyed the Chiroubles, even though it was a bit ripe and had a lactic edge. Good acid/sweet balance and lovely fruit.

The Corcelette had a fine, classic nose of red fruit and leather, but the envelope took a plunge in the mid-palate and ended a bit harsh. The Py, on the other hand, was closed, but showed beautiful structure and balance, suggesting a bright future. Recommended for whoever has a cold, because right now it delivers all it's got in the mouth.

The Swan pinot wore its 14.5% like a ballet dancer, and the aroma had pinosity with spice, just what I would expect and want from a new worldly. It was ripe and rich without being jammy or oaky or extracted. Classy.

The Vionnet was juicy and fresh, with lots of cherry and iodine. Yes, there was a candied edge, which I am, regrettably, not partial to. Levi liked it, so I might have expected a Candide edge, which would have been preferable.

The 76 Karthauserhof was reticent, at first, but blossomed and put on a lovely show. Too bad that, at this point in the arc of a tasting, everyone is already seeing through a soft focus lens.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The Vionnet was juicy and fresh, with lots of cherry and iodine. Yes, there was a candied edge, which I am, regrettably, not partial to. Levi liked it, so I might have expected a Candide edge, which would have been preferable.

Voltaire, it is said, served his guests Beaujolais while he reserved Burgundy wines (especially Corton) for himself.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I was afraid Marcia would freak out at the relentless geekery of the evening...

Given the wine country holidays you have subjected her/treated her to, I would have thought she was fully adapted to relentless geekery!
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I was afraid Marcia would freak out at the relentless geekery of the evening...

Given the wine country holidays you have subjected her/treated her to, I would have thought she was fully adapted to relentless geekery!

I know what you mean but, somehow, it's different. Producers seldom come off as geeky, maybe because their intensity doesn't come across as fetishistic. And there is the winery context, making everything "real," not to mention scenic. But a bunch of (usually) guys in, as you know, an urban setting, sitting around a table, scrutinizing a relational object to death with decreasing coherence must come across, to normal human beings, as a sad spectacle. Perhaps Marcia is no longer a normal human being.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The Vionnet was juicy and fresh, with lots of cherry and iodine. Yes, there was a candied edge, which I am, regrettably, not partial to. Levi liked it, so I might have expected a Candide edge, which would have been preferable.

Voltaire, it is said, served his guests Beaujolais while he reserved Burgundy wines (especially Corton) for himself.

Sounds a lot like what Dick Nixon did. Great minds and all that.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I was afraid Marcia would freak out at the relentless geekery of the evening but she totally reveled in it...

Ahh, women can always truly surprise, can't they?!
 
wasn't Karthauserhof in trouble back in the mid-70s supposedly with bottlings not as advertised? or something like that? Claude?
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
If the La Purcelle was non-vintage, I think its all 2002.
Best, Jim

No, Jim, there is '03 in the market for sure and we're pretty sure this bottle was '01 fruit. I had the '02 the night before and this bottle didn't have quite the depth and ripeness that the '02 has. Still, a beautiful wine, though -- fresh, clear, persistent, balanced and just delicious.
 
originally posted by kirk wallace:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
If the La Purcelle was non-vintage, I think its all 2002.
Best, Jim

No, Jim, there is '03 in the market for sure and we're pretty sure this bottle was '01 fruit. I had the '02 the night before and this bottle didn't have quite the depth and ripeness that the '02 has. Still, a beautiful wine, though -- fresh, clear, persistent, balanced and just delicious.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
If no one else likes Ledru,
I hesitate to mention it, but that statement is false.
I liked the Ledru you poured for me at Convivio. This bottle not so much.

It happens.

Perhaps this characteristic of the Ledru? While The Mrs. and I are quite fond (the '05 Grand Cru was our wedding wine) colleagues/friends we would expect to feel the same have been tepid on it.

As you pointed out, more for us.
 
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