A Little Taste of Pinon In the Night

Had a blast (as if that goofy grin on my face doesn't say it all)

Sharing a couple old pix of Pinon estate
Berlot_Harvest_Feast_at_Pinon-1941.jpg
1941 Berlot fete at Pinon (end of harvest celebration)

Vendange_at_Pinon-1933.jpg
1933 harvest Pinon

And here's an article from 1953 describing an old-school Vouvray harvest in neighboring Vernou.

http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/95dec/cognac/mcognac.htm
 
I may be a Pinon apologist. Have I ever really disliked any of his wines? They are imbued with life.

83 had a different personality than the others. Unsweetened lime/passion fruit concentrate. Old-style winemaking, sulfur included. I do like it. Would it have been better balanced had Francois made it?

90 - "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." Dark. Always has been. My friend Garrelt, who worked the 90 harvest at Pinon, said that when Francois checked the brix on these grapes and showed his father, Claude became emotional, excused himself, and returned with a bottle of 1921, which was then poured in little portions to the picking crew.

97 botrytis was on another level. It has transformed since last tasted a couple years ago. Wow. Most of my bottles were slightly weepy around the cork when they were delivered, which concerned me at the time. No matter. Fantastic.

97 cuvees shared many of the same flavors, in differing ways. Ripeness at its limit, orange, peach, honey, quinine, wildflowers, chalk. 97 moelleux showed the least at the moment (for moi).

99 - one need not write off a lighter vintage at the vallee de Cousse.. A useful wine to have around, and interesting in its own right.

I was bummed about the 2002. Still, I try to taste through the tca. Sometimes you can. Not tonight.

09s - this pair helped me understand why the two terroirs are now bottled separately. I preferred the Silex this time for its focus, (not to underestimate the Tradition-everything is there).
 
originally posted by Don Rice:

09s - this pair helped me understand why the two terroirs are now bottled separately. I preferred the Silex this time for its focus, (not to underestimate the Tradition-everything is there).
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wait, you mean they are separated in case one of them is corked? :-)
 
originally posted by .sasha:
originally posted by Don Rice:

09s - this pair helped me understand why the two terroirs are now bottled separately. I preferred the Silex this time for its focus, (not to underestimate the Tradition-everything is there).
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wait, you mean they are separated in case one of them is corked? :-)
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Not that you'd know the difference, or care. ;-)
 
originally posted by BJ:
Just when I thought WD had gone belly up with inane newbie commentary this post hits. I believe!
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I type my fingers to the bone every day for you, and some Chris Coad hussy sashays into the room and you're off like the Girl With the Faraway Eyes.
 
One thing that puzzles Kane is the fact that no one seemed to have a lot of the recent vintages on hand to bring. Like, no one had the '05s through the 08s. The answer, we decide, is fairly simple: we can't keep our hands off them, we just drink them until they're gone and say "Whoops, should've squirreled some away. Ah well, next year I will." And then we do the same thing next year.

I suspect this pattern would not entirely displease M. Pinon.
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That's my excuse.
 
I don't know how Don was able to discern the subtleties of Pinon's multiple bottlings in 2009 through TCA ( that's why he is Don and we are not ), but for me the difference between those two in 2009 can be observed from across the room. Particularly if you light a match.
 
No need with the 2009 .sasha - Dan brought an alternate bottle. That's why he is Dan and we are not. (ha)

I tend not to give up on a wine immediately if there's a *little* tca. There might be something there, given a chance. Why not try?
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Robert, Chris, Kay, all on one thread. Who says you can't go home again.
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All we need now is Eddie Wrinkerman and Wanda Crowhurst.
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Hrmpph. What about P Nougree and Virginia Guadalupe?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Don Rice:
No need with the 2009 .sasha - Dan brought an alternate bottle. That's why he is Dan and we are not. (ha)

I tend not to give up on a wine immediately if there's a *little* tca. There might be something there, given a chance. Why not try?
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You know you're preaching to the choir, no? .sasha won't give up on a wine even if there's a lot of TCA. The man is loyal to a fault.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by BJ:
Just when I thought WD had gone belly up with inane newbie commentary this post hits. I believe!
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I type my fingers to the bone every day for you, and some Chris Coad hussy sashays into the room and you're off like the Girl With the Faraway Eyes.
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Man, this fatted calf sure is tasty. May I offer you a morsel?
 
For what little it's worth my absolute favorites in a night of delightful wines were the lovely November and the stunning 1997 Botrytis.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:

Ah, now, here's one of the great wine bargains of the past century, a François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Tradition 1997. I stick my nose in the glass and start giggling like Christoph Waltz, "Hahaha, what fun!" Lightly tropical, pineapple mixed with chalk and chamomile, still very youthful. Racy, balanced and ripe, really pleasant to drink, just a great mouthful of off-dry chenin blanc. I could drink this all night and all day until the end of time.
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You drink and post, I open mine and like! The bored works!
 
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