Cellar Slurping

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Yesterday a few of us gathered in the dark and the dank, and then we went to the cellar. Jay was all excited about the BuonItalia that is going to open up near his workplace so he brought some anticipatory prosciutto and bresaola. Some sushi and some lamb pastrami rounded out the victuals.

[somebody] [vintage] Ribera del Duero - tasted like the inside of a sawmill, no Ribera del Duero-ness on offer

Chidaine 2005 Montlouis "Les Tuffeaux" - good flavor but absolutely flat, devoid of acidity, blah

Chevillon 2008 Nuits-St-Georges "Les Cailles" - vigorous, intense, assertive, crisp, bought-on-a-great-discount wine

Clos Rougeard 2002 Saumur-Champigny - subtle, charming, refined

Riojanas 1970 Rioja GR "Monte Real" - underbrush, iron, a gentle but firm grasp

Those last two wines brought a measure of calm and peace to a frazzly day.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Cellar SlurpingYesterday a few of us gathered in the dark and the dank, and then we went to the cellar. Jay was all excited about the BuonItalia that is going to open up near his workplace so he brought some anticipatory prosciutto and bresaola. Some sushi and some lamb pastrami rounded out the victuals.

[somebody] [vintage] Ribera del Duero - tasted like the inside of a sawmill, no Ribera del Duero-ness on offer

Chidaine 2005 Montlouis "Les Tuffeaux" - good flavor but absolutely flat, devoid of acidity, blah

Chevillon 2008 Nuits-St-Georges "Les Cailles" - vigorous, intense, assertive, crisp, bought-on-a-great-discount wine

Clos Rougeard 2002 Saumur-Champigny - subtle, charming, refined

Riojanas 1970 Rioja GR "Monte Real" - underbrush, iron, a gentle but firm grasp

Those last two wines brought a measure of calm and peace to a frazzly day.
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The first was a 2004 Hacienda Monasterio. I gave up on that wine after the 1996 vintage. This reminded me of why. As I recall Brad used to like the 1995 back in the day.

The Chevillon was quite lovely, especially after an hour or so in the decanter. The Clos Rougeard was gorgeous though I apparently found it more vigorous than you and found the Chevillon more refined than you.

The Monte Real needed time for some initial funk to blow off but was quite lovely after that. The staff provided a 2005 F. Magnien Morey 1er Cru (I don't recall the vintage) and a 2006 Corton - don't recall the producer but it was a Bobby Kacher wine. Neither did all that much for me.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

Riojanas 1970 Rioja GR "Monte Real" - underbrush, iron, a gentle but firm grasp
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I take it this was Jay's? Did you give it much air? The fruit and structure really grew with the one I had after 45 minutes or so.
 
Jay... Ah, yes, thank you. I think I liked the Magnien more than you did. I think someone called it "rustic" but I thought it was lively and plenty good enough. I don't think I was there for the Corton.

Joe... This was the basic bottle and it was drinking very well. I'm no expert but perhaps it was midway or thereabouts. What did you think, Jay?

Joel... The point of that comment is that the wine (under all that wood) tasted completely generic. I was reminded of airplane wine, which I'd recently had a few of. Talk at the table was dismissive, bien sur, as we were comparing this wine to wines made in California, in the sense of providing a very simple drink with over-emphasis on fruit ripeness. (In a sense, thank goodness for all that oak because, otherwise, there'd be nothing to say about the wine at all.)

Brad... Yes. I don't think I was there for 45 minutes after it opened, darn it.

Keith... Yes.
 
i recently had an '05 chidaine tuffeaux to remember joe by, and found it lovely and perfect food for thought--more overty minerale than the equally captivating huet '05 le mont demi-secs i've been drinking lately. the only way i can keep my hands off is by knowing they have so many years of ascendancy at hand--more years than i have patience, i'm certain.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
How would you describe the Rougeard in its arc? I haven't been into my 2002s at all.
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FWIW, we opened a bottle of the '02 Clos at a disorderly gathering on Friday. Four hours in: flat; unforgiving. At the eight hour point: extremely light on its feet, a really lovely texture, perfumed but with a pronounced aroma of dill seed or maybe caraway. No other experience with the '02s to plot these data points on an arc.
 
originally posted by fillay:
originally posted by SFJoe:
How would you describe the Rougeard in its arc? I haven't been into my 2002s at all.
Click to expand...

FWIW, we opened a bottle of the '02 Clos at a disorderly gathering on Friday. Four hours in: flat; unforgiving. At the eight hour point: extremely light on its feet, a really lovely texture, perfumed but with a pronounced aroma of dill seed or maybe caraway. No other experience with the '02s to plot these data points on an arc.
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Thanks. Without any data I would have guessed it to be a bit early to be opening these. Or a bit late, if you're the VLM.
 
The '02 Clos was gorgeous but very youthful IMO.

Yes, the Cailles was from Zachys.

The Monte Real needed air. There was a very funky nose at first which blew off and it took some time to develop. It never became a showstopper but it was a lovely layered bottle of wine.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
i recently had an '05 chidaine tuffeaux to remember joe by, and found it lovely and perfect food for thought--more overty minerale than the equally captivating huet '05 le mont demi-secs i've been drinking lately. the only way i can keep my hands off is by knowing they have so many years of ascendancy at hand--more years than i have patience, i'm certain.
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thanks for this; I was rather concerned about Jeff's note.
I suppose if one is in a Vouvray frame of mind, this wine, particularly being an '05, can show too much of the Montlouis thing. Not that I would have any doubts that my CWV comrades gave a precise description of what showed up at the very momnent.
 
Thanks for the notes. I risked some Cailles too, for me an up-scale purchase, and it's reassuring to be in good company. I think Zachy's was backed up a couple of days on shipping.

With so many words bandied here about Rougeard, it would be great to find an older one to try.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks for the notes. I risked some Cailles too, for me an up-scale purchase, and it's reassuring to be in good company. I think Zachy's was backed up a couple of days on shipping.

With so many words bandied here about Rougeard, it would be great to find an older one to try.
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Tour d'Argent used to have quite a deep cellar of them, but I haven't been in quite a while.

You won't find many old ones in the US--they either were not imported at all, or were only imported in very small quantities until the mid-'90s. AFAIK.
 
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