TN: The FLDG Grand Jeebus (April 30, 2011)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
FLDG Grand Jeebus at Bob Ross' house

A huge event with 20+ Eastern FLDG'ers (some are also Disorderly) showing up: Salil Benegal, Mark S., John Fiola, Tom V and wife (locals), Ed Grzybowski (local), Dale Williams, James and Jeannette Roscoe, David and Laura Bueker, Howie Hart, Alan Kerr, Julia B, our hosts Bob Ross and Clive (a terrier), David Ross (Bob's son), Eden Blum and Scott Seyffarth and their son Pierce, Richard and Holly Laiks, Dianne and Joel Kessler, Jeanne Levan, Paulo Faustini, and yours truly.

A few folks arrived on Friday night and they had their own little jeebus dinner of white truffle risotto, pork tenderloin and cauliflower... and these wines:
Gruet NV Brut, Blanc des Noir
Selbach-Oster 2009 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling "Anrecht"
Hart Cellars 2010 Dry Riesling
Ch. Haut-Brion 1985 Graves
Paul Jaboulet 1990 Hermitage "La Chapelle"
Ch. Haut-Brion 1990 Graves
Donnhoff 2004 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese (10 05)
Donnhoff 1999 Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese (19 00)
Dom. Jean-Louis Chave 1990 Hermitage Rouge
+ two more.

On Saturday, Salil made several rices, red bean curry, and chicken marinades. Dale brought shrimp ceviche, hangar steaks in bulgogi dressing, and manned the grill. Howie brought delectable baked goods from DiCamillo, who happen to be down the road from his house. Several folks brought cakes and breads and cheeses and tapenades.

And there were these wines:
Chidaine 2008 Vouvray "Le Bouchet" (magnum) - beautiful way to start a jeebus, ripe but still in balance
Hart Cellars 2010 Pinot Gris - tangy finish
Hart Cellars 2010 Cabernet Franc 70% / Merlot 30% (barrel sample) - excellent wine that catches just a hint of merlot sweetness with cab franc complexity; Howie has one 26-gal barrel and two 5-gal carboys of this
Commanderie de la Bargemone 2010 Coteau d'Aix en Provence Rose - the very palest pink, works with all the breads and spreads
M. Redde 2007 Sancerre "Les Tuilieres" - eh
Hart Cellars 2010 Cayuga Semi-Dry - ok
Eberle 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon - lightweight texture, which is attractive, but nothing special
Rosenblum 1994 Zinfandel, Richard Sauret Vineyard - goopy
Cline 1993 Zinfandel - OTH
Havens 1994 Merlot - OTH
KWV NV Full Tawny (South Africa) - brown sugar and water, bleh
P. Cotat 2009 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes" - not so ripe, good acids
Hexamer 2007 Schlossbockelheimer in den Felsen Riesling Spatlese (13 08) - nice
Ch. Le Sartre 2008 Graves Blanc - so varietally-correct that we may never get it fully out of the glass; vividly grassy
Charles Baker 2008 Riesling "Stratus" - ok
Fox Run 2005 Riesling "Tierce" - bleh
Freedom Run 2010 Vin Gris (Niagra Escarpment) - 50-50 cab franc and merlot
Martinelli 2004 Zinfandell, Jackass Vineyard - so hot it stings, so sweet it cloys, DNPIM
Ch. Musar 1998 Blanc - open for a day and it's just starting to show itself: honeysuckle, citrus, resin, wow
Barboursville 2002 Nebbiolo Reserve - Virginia wine; yup, that's nebbiolo grapes, a little hot
P. Scavino 2001 Barolo - thick and sweet, heading rapidly towards that bland 'internationalized' taste profile
Brovia 1998 Barolo "Rocche" - color quite advanced but still fresh to taste; some roses and tar but not really vivid; hold?
Burgess 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon - lovely mature cab though simple; the label says 13.9%, which must have sounded crazy back then
Paumonok 2005 Petit Verdot, Apollo Drive Vineyard - Long Island wine; this is really quite drinkable
Tawse 2007 Pinot Noir "Grower's Blend" - eh
Ch. Pradeaux 1989 Bandol - a sound bottle but nothing here says 'mourvedre' to me; a little chalky or pasty
Ch. Gruaud-Larose 1986 St-Julien - a really good bottle
C. von Schubert 1997 Maximin Grunhauser Abstberg Riesling Auslese (09 98) - eh
Ch. Fonsalette 2000 Cotes-du-Rhone Blanc - nice
Ch. Rayas 2000 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve - lithe and lively, this does not seem like a fat heavy alcoholic mess; it's really red-fruited and slightly glyceral; I like
Pommery 1990 Champagne Brut "Cuvee Louise" (magnum) - bready and toasty, as expected; very good
Il Poggione 2005 Brunello di Montalcino - very good
Taurino 1990 Salice Salentino Riserva - negroamaro and malvasia nera; amazingly alive and doing well; lightweight, some sous-bois and earthy smells
Dal Forno 1995 Valpolicella Superiore - beautiful
Huet 1947 Vouvray "Le Haut Lieu" - dark gold; it gently floats back and forth between citrus and honey; so very long in the finish; a good bottle
Ch. La Conseillante 1989 Pomerol - gorgeous
Tenuta San Guido 1993 VdT "Sassicaia" - one of my (later) favorites, I gave it a few minutes in a decanter before serving; there is something so Italian about this wine: it is not that it is complex or complicated but it is alive and it flirts with me, as if a model at an intimate photo-shoot
Guigal 1999 Hermitage - good
Hargrave 1996 Chardonnay Reserve - good
Despres 2000 Fleurie "Grille Midi" Cuvee Speciale Non-Filtre - weird; doesn't taste like gamay at all
Ch. Montelena 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma) - Coppertone, bleh
Inglenook 1985 Charbono - brett-bomb
Ch. Lynch-Bages 1985 Pauillac - very much alive, it jumps back and forth between tannic and soft, between fruity and tobacco-y
Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 1986 St-Julien - corked
Bonneau 1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee Marie Beurrier" - eh
Ch. Cos d'Estournel 1982 St-Estephe - very good (but my palate is finally giving out)
Dom. Geantet-Pansiot 1995 Chambolle-Musigny 1er - eh

Two that I did not get to try:
JJ Prum 2001 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese (05 03)
Bernard Machado 2006 Pinot Noir

And one bottle with the post-jeebus breakfast:
Bremont NV Champagne Brut "Cuvee Prestige"

This jeebus was dedicated to the memory of Janet Ross.
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jeff, It is evident that you were not impressed with the domestic wines!?!
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I was impressed with Howie's wines and with that L.I. petit verdot. Many of the other domestic wines were low-end bottles that were OTH. Not really fair to compare an old bottle of Cline with '82 Cos d'Estournel, is it?
 
Holy cow, what a mad mix of things. And '47 LHLM buried in the midst, along with '89 Conseillante and etc.!
 
The '47 Huet was opened during a rare quiet period in the festivities, so for most folks it was not lost in that incredibly diverse array of bottles. It was indeed a good bottle, in fact much more than that.

These old Huets - what did they start life as? Demi-Sec? Or something sweeter?
 
originally posted by Salil Benegal:
It didn't - the label just said Le Haut Lieu (but it tasted like a Demi Sec).
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If it looked like this, it's Moelleux.

1947_Huet-_Vouvray_Moelleux_LHL.jpg
 
Given that info, I'm even more impressed by how well a bottle of '89 Clos du Bourg 1er Trie Moelleux was drinking at Jay's recently. (Now that's a wine I really need to get some of.)
 
Did it have a plastic capsule with a lot of brown gunk under it? Every bottle I've had with that capsule has shown this:

Goo_on_the__1947.jpg
 
Photos, incl. the Huet.

Brad: Bob is making a return to society following a three-year period during which he helped his wife with her final illness. He, very generously, opened his house and his 1500-bottle cellar to us.

Joe: Yes, the mix of bottles is nuts. Howie Hart was there so we had lots of his stuff and lots of Finger Lakes/Niagra wine (he lives up there). Bob had done a favor for a friend and this friend later gifted him with a deep and old Bordeaux collection. The cheaper stuff were quaffing wines that simply overstayed their welcomes. And, despite appearances, Bob has a second cellar in the house where certain favored treasures were kept away from hoi polloi.

All: Events like this are mad. Only a few of these wines got time in a decanter, and, in the party atmosphere, only a few got the focused contemplation they deserved. (Alas, I missed the dinner the first night.)
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

Brad: Bob is making a return to society following a three-year period during which he helped his wife with her final illness. He, very generously, opened his house and his 1500-bottle cellar to us.
Click to expand...

Really sad to hear about his wife, but it's also nice to hear that he's back to getting together again with friends. He's always been so generous with his cellar. I remember one time, at one of the old Bordeaux dinners we used to hold at Minetta Tavern, he brought two bottles of the '93 Mouton, one with the naked label and one with the plain one for the US, to see if they tasted any different.

Another time, at that place on the way upper West Side, where we had that Alex R dinner, he brought two bottles of '90 Jaboulet- Hermitage La Chapelle to do an experiment to see if that wine magnet actually worked.
 
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