A taste of civility

Florida Jim

Florida Jim

Florida Jim
We four gathered at Bistro M in Windsor, CA, to catch-up on the doings in wine country, discuss and taste some wines and share a meal. I am sure my wife would have been ‘geeked’ to death by our wine-centric conversation but it was a learning experience. Perhaps most interesting (to me) was one conversation that turned to politics and financial regulation.

I should say that it is my practice to leave the table when such things are discussed. In this instance I stayed and listened while two of our party disagreed strenuously.

But they did it with such respect for each other; never giving in on their heartfelt positions but never straying into personality. It was, considering current events, heartening.

And the wines were not your everyday fare:

1993 Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuees:
Firm at its core but lacy around the edges; deft balance, medium weight, good complexity and length. Opened somewhat over the evening. Not a great wine, but a very good one and likely not at peak. With steak tartar, excellent.

1996 Chatêau Lynch Bages:
Light brett but not so that the sweetness of the fruit is defeated. Quite complex and interesting both on the nose and palate, well resolved but not past prime, lovely fruit and cigar box stuff going on and all silk in the mouth. With mac and cheese, extraordinary.

1990 Sorrel, Hermitage Le Greal:
Insecticide nose not overwhelming but distracting, also some fruit and violets; lovely in the mouth though, with flavors of iron, blood and dusty black plums slightly more savory than fruity; focused at mid-palate but broadening on the finish. Again, with mac and cheese, excellent.

Best, Jim
 
1990 Sorrel, Hermitage Le Greal:
Insecticide nose not overwhelming but distracting, also some fruit and violets; lovely in the mouth though, with flavors of iron, blood and dusty black plums slightly more savory than fruity; focused at mid-palate but broadening on the finish. Again, with mac and cheese, excellent.
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did the fruit on this seem ok, or was it suppressed at all? i ask because i went through ~3-4 cases of 88-90 greal (much of it bought at the domaine), barely a bottle of which wasn't flawed in some way or another (so many of them were screwed up with tca that i think i eventually decided that the problem may have been with some of the barrels they were using at the time, rather than the corks).

i never had the same problem with any later vintages, but i had so much trouble with these three that i'm curious to know whether you thought this was a completely unblemished wine?

fb.
 
I am medium sensitive to TCA and I found none.
Perhaps, most telling was the breadth of the fruit on the finish - a time when I would expect TCA to abbreviate the experience.
But we were drinking, not spitting, so everything is subject to open.
Best, Jim
 
i tend to think flaws show more with drinking than with anything else, actually. and your comment on the fruit on the finish makes me think you are right that yours was fine.

i guess it's nice to know that it wasn't all fucked up, anyway. [shakes fist at sky; curses gods, etc.]

fb.
 
I think that the utmost desecration would be required in any conversation while in the presence of such distinguished guests. You will find that the most heavy handed rhetoric witnessed by much more pedestrian guests - thinking here of a beer and a bump. That's what makes this country great.
 
Sorrel did have cork problems ca. 1989-90. I think it's 1989 where I've had the worse luck.

Ghislaine's 1993s are the strongest (but far from sole) evidence against those who say she wasn't producing top class wines until the end of the 1990s.
 
Jim, are you back in Sonoma. I thought you went back to Florida for the winter. We're leaving for the desert tomorrow. If back here how long?
 
Lou,
I am in Sonoma until Tuesday - just time enough to check the wines and do what they need.
May the desert be a delight - when I get back to FL, I will be basking in its warmth - guaranteed.
Best to BL, Jim
 
Civility indeed. Sure beats the crap out of ransacking the Cairo museum and yanking the heads off mummies (which is something else you could have been doing with your time).
 
Well, it's a tough situation there; the gov't's been quite repressive for a long time; Mubarak perpetuates his already lengthy dictatorship and, seemingly, wants to convert it to a monarchy by anointing his son successor, and the political class yields evidence of corruption. Some people have been writing for years that Egypt will end up being a replay of Iran. In the context of so much popular resentment, a couple of mutilated mummies is small beer.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Well, it's a tough situation there; the gov't's been quite repressive for a long time; Mubarak perpetuates his already lengthy dictatorship and, seemingly, wants to convert it to a monarchy by anointing his son successor, and the political class yields evidence of corruption. Some people have been writing for years that Egypt will end up being a replay of Iran. In the context of so much popular resentment, a couple of mutilated mummies is small beer.
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Not to drag this thread too far into geopolitical territory, but I'm listening with fascination to the reports of popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. Yes, the specter of Iran looms large, especially with the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood among the lower classes.

We'll see.

Mark Lipton
 
FWIW, not to be tedious, the Iran parallel is drawn specifically with respect to Egypt, on the basis of the very high level of aid and support the US has provided to it since the Camp David Accords were signed, and Egypt's status as a significant regional power. So if the present Egyptian regime goes down violently, the US may be viewed by its successor as complicit and, as a result, another key regional country could become hostile to the U.S. for a long time.

But the developments in all these countries are, as you say, very interesting to follow along with.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
FWIW, not to be tedious, the Iran parallel is drawn specifically with respect to Egypt, on the basis of the very high level of aid and support the US has provided to it since the Camp David Accords were signed, and Egypt's status as a significant regional power. So if the present Egyptian regime goes down violently, the US may be viewed by its successor as complicit and, as a result, another key regional country could become hostile to the U.S. for a long time.

But the developments in all these countries are, as you say, very interesting to follow along with.
Click to expand...

Ian,
Don't undervalue the strategic importance of Yemeni support for US objectives. As the Wikileaks disclosures laid bare, the US has been given carte blanche to pursue Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen so long as their involvement is kept hidden. Any alteration of that arrangement will be hugely detrimental to US foreign objectives. But, yes, Egypt is 100 times worse.

Mark Lipton
 
The outcome of these events may have great consequences for our time, but those mummies had survived many such times, and I was saddened that our time was the most brutal.
 
Mark - You're right.

Levi - point taken. I'm not sure our times are really more brutal than others, but it's weird that the mummies took a hit this go.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
Domino Theory (Redux)
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Well, it's a tough situation there; the gov't's been quite repressive for a long time; Mubarak perpetuates his already lengthy dictatorship and, seemingly, wants to convert it to a monarchy by anointing his son successor, and the political class yields evidence of corruption. Some people have been writing for years that Egypt will end up being a replay of Iran. In the context of so much popular resentment, a couple of mutilated mummies is small beer.
Click to expand...

Not to drag this thread too far into geopolitical territory, but I'm listening with fascination to the reports of popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. Yes, the specter of Iran looms large, especially with the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood among the lower classes.

We'll see.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

Imagine how different that specter of Iran would be if the US and UK hadn't helped engineer the overthrow of a democratic government in Iran in 1953 and then supported a ruthless police state there for a quarter century.

What kills me are the people who seem so sure they know the exact outcome in Egypt that would best serve US interests.
 
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