A few wines

Jay Miller

Jay Miller
It's too miserable a day to venture out so I'm cleaning my apartment and writing up some long overdue TNs.

2007 Mt. Eden Chardonnay - creamy minerals with lemon. Delicious. Why does anyone bother grow chardonnay anywhere in CA other than Santa Cruz?

2009 Puzelat Pinot Noir - one of the more disappointing bottles of Puzelat I've had. Of course given the usual bottle variation no idea how representative this is. I've liked this a lot in prior years.

1981 Misserey Vosne Romanee - the fruit trails off at the end but its lovely happy stuff on first pour. Later it loses its fruit and displays very some faint possible hints of TCA (there is disagreement at the table) so this might not be a representative bottle

1971 Ratti Barolo Amata - over the hill on first pour it performs the not uncommon Barolo magic trick of getting younger with air. Crushed strawberries and delicately precise acidity.

1998 Bachelet Gevery Chambertin 'Corbeaux' - needs about 20-30 minutes of air to open at which point it displays vibrant dusty cherries. Very happy to have more of this.

NV Prevost La Closerie Beguine - soft and rich and toasty but with an underlying hint of steel and orange peel. I like this a lot and it continues to develop over the course of the night. Not necessarily getting better or worse but displaying different aspects. For me it repayed following over the course of the evening.

2001 Elio Grasso Barolo Runcot Riserva - oaky and modern and not especially pleasant for the first 2 hours it eventually transforms in the decanter into something quite attractive. Very vibrant, intense, sweet cherry fruit.

1998 Travaglino Gattinara Riserva - tight but very nice. I'll steal someone else's descriptor of "cherries buried in dirt".

1985 Il Sodaccio (3L) - soft red fruit with hints of orange peel, gets younger as it breathes, just lovely.

1998 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese - gorgeous honeyed layered fruit. Much more mature than a 1995 I had last summer. In a wonderful place right now.

1972 Il Poggio Monsanti Chianti Classico - corked

Cornelissen Susucaru 2 Vino da Tavola Rosato - thrilling nose, peach, cider, grapefruit, thyme, a wild wine. I've had mixed experiences with Cornelissen but this is definitely one of the good ones. Caveat that while everyone at the table enjoyed it and found it interesting only a few others loved it as much as I did.
 
Jay, not sure if yours was the same, but this one was tasted in November at the winery:

2009 Clos du Tue-Boeuf La Callière Cheverny
100% Pinot Noir. Lovely rose petals (Thierry says this is typical of PN on planted on silex; “like Vosne Romanée”), with some volatile acidity. Lovely mouth feel, round, structured, perfect balance.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Prevost La Closerie Beguine - soft and rich and toasty but with an underlying hint of steel and orange peel. I like this a lot and it continues to develop over the course of the night. Not necessarily getting better or worse but displaying different aspects. For me it repayed following over the course of the evening.

Jay,
What is this?
Any background?
Any vintage?
Best, Jim
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Prevost La Closerie Beguine - soft and rich and toasty but with an underlying hint of steel and orange peel. I like this a lot and it continues to develop over the course of the night. Not necessarily getting better or worse but displaying different aspects. For me it repayed following over the course of the evening.

Jay,
What is this?
Any background?
Any vintage?
Best, Jim

There is no vintage listed on the label that I could decipher. It's the bottling currently at Chambers St. There has been some disagreement over this wine (.sasha's link is the thread that initally prompted me to try it) but I'm definitely in the yes, please I'd like some more though preferably at EU pricing, not US pricing category. What was interesting is how the soft and gentle toastiness overlaying the steel bones slowly melted away over the course of the evening as it displayed more minerality and citrus and the nose became more expansive. It liked it in all the variations so it's definitely one to follow rather than one to either drink immediately or give air and wait to open.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Okay, it is Champagne, right?
I missed that first thread.
Best, Jim

Sorry about that. In my mind everyone had obviously followed the earlier thread with as much interest at I had and thus of course knew what I was talking about. There would be an emoticon here if I wasn't afraid of knocks on the door at midnight. There would be another one for the last statement. None for this one though.
 
Hi Jay,
Any more info on the Elio Grasso bottle?
I had the chance to visit them about 7 years ago, and they were producing 2 bottles of Barolo that were made more traditionally in large botti called Gavarini and Ginestra. Both of these I thought were lovely in 2001, maybe a little more fruit then some uber traditional producers, but not over the top. There was one Barolo cuvee there called Runcot that was very modern, and aged (at least then) in small new oak.

That '85 Montevertine from the big bottle sounds great, how I would have loved to try that one.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Hi Jay,
Any more info on the Elio Grasso bottle?
I had the chance to visit them about 7 years ago, and they were producing 2 bottles of Barolo that were made more traditionally in large botti called Gavarini and Ginestra. Both of these I thought were lovely in 2001, maybe a little more fruit then some uber traditional producers, but not over the top. There was one Barolo cuvee there called Runcot that was very modern, and aged (at least then) in small new oak.

That '85 Montevertine from the big bottle sounds great, how I would have loved to try that one.
Must be the Runcot as that is the only Riserva bottling from Elio Grasso, as far as I know.
 
originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
originally posted by Marc D:
Hi Jay,
Any more info on the Elio Grasso bottle?
I had the chance to visit them about 7 years ago, and they were producing 2 bottles of Barolo that were made more traditionally in large botti called Gavarini and Ginestra. Both of these I thought were lovely in 2001, maybe a little more fruit then some uber traditional producers, but not over the top. There was one Barolo cuvee there called Runcot that was very modern, and aged (at least then) in small new oak.

That '85 Montevertine from the big bottle sounds great, how I would have loved to try that one.
Must be the Runcot as that is the only Riserva bottling from Elio Grasso, as far as I know.
Yes. At least as of a few years ago, the Runcut (from Gavarini) is a riserva and is aged in new barrique. The Casa Mate (from Ginestra) and Vigna Chiniera (from Gavarini) are aged mostly or entirely in botti. I liked two botti aged wines in 2001 but have had few opportunities to taste them since then.
 
originally posted by slaton:
originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
originally posted by Marc D:
Hi Jay,
Any more info on the Elio Grasso bottle?
I had the chance to visit them about 7 years ago, and they were producing 2 bottles of Barolo that were made more traditionally in large botti called Gavarini and Ginestra. Both of these I thought were lovely in 2001, maybe a little more fruit then some uber traditional producers, but not over the top. There was one Barolo cuvee there called Runcot that was very modern, and aged (at least then) in small new oak.

That '85 Montevertine from the big bottle sounds great, how I would have loved to try that one.
Must be the Runcot as that is the only Riserva bottling from Elio Grasso, as far as I know.
Yes. At least as of a few years ago, the Runcut (from Gavarini) is a riserva and is aged in new barrique. The Casa Mate (from Ginestra) and Vigna Chiniera (from Gavarini) are aged mostly or entirely in botti. I liked two botti aged wines in 2001 but have had few opportunities to taste them since then.
I have tried the 2006s at the cantina and like both of them a lot, even though the wines could not have been more different, with the Chiniera being supremely elegant and balanced while the Ginestra being powerful and extremely tannic. I only had the 1996 Runcot and found it a little boring - perhaps I did not give it enough time, especially considering the vintage.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
There is no vintage listed on the label that I could decipher.

Actually, we have had this conversation here, too....

Should have remembered that. I also found it out just an hour ago at Chambers where I went to buy another bottle. They asked if I wanted the '07 or the '08. I asked how could one tell the difference and they showed me the code.

I took an '07, did I make the right choice?
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Hi Jay,
Any more info on the Elio Grasso bottle?
I had the chance to visit them about 7 years ago, and they were producing 2 bottles of Barolo that were made more traditionally in large botti called Gavarini and Ginestra. Both of these I thought were lovely in 2001, maybe a little more fruit then some uber traditional producers, but not over the top. There was one Barolo cuvee there called Runcot that was very modern, and aged (at least then) in small new oak.

That '85 Montevertine from the big bottle sounds great, how I would have loved to try that one.

I'll try and email the guy who brought the Elio Grasso. Unfortunately I brought no paper to dinner that evening and resorted to taking notes on an Economist subscription card.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Prevost La Closerie Beguine -
There is no vintage listed on the label that I could decipher. It's the bottling currently at Chambers St.

The bottling currently available at Chambers -- or at least the ones that they have most recently received in stock -- is from 2008 fruit, at least according to Rosemary; and I have no reason to doubt her.
 
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