TN: Da Other Prof and Old Sancerre (Apr 12, 2012)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: Jonathon, SFJoe, Cliff, Rahsaan, Brad, Chris, Lisa, Jay, Jeff

It started as an excuse to pour some OTH Sancerre for Da Prof but it ended as the Great Jeebus Heist.

The theft began, strangely enough, with a complaint from Brad about excess sweetness that no amount of simmering or frying would expunge. The momentum (inertia? indifference?) of the rest of the participants rapidly led to the dissolution of the previous fried-chicken-enabled plan.

Thus, we found ourselves in Brad Kane's hovel -- construction on every sidewalk, detours on every street, hot water siphoned by mouth into buckets and hand-carried into the building from a wood-fired cauldron out front, etc.

On the other hand, inside Brad's apartment Soul Flavors Northeast there is much to cheer about: there is abundant floor space here! there is yummy food here! there are no flash photos being taken here!

And there is wine here, some of it good and some of it iffy:

P. Cotat 2000 Sancerre "La Grande Cote" - very licorice and herbal, lightweight body and light texture, you sure this isn't vermentino?

F. Cotat 1989 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes" - the guest bottle of honor; double-decanted in the morning; early in the evening this shows rich and chalky and glyceral but by the end of the evening (er, um, 6 hours later) it is showing overt signs of oxidation and thinning

Felsina 1988 Chianti Classico Riserva "Berardenga" - corked

Ch. Graville-Lacoste 2009 Graves Blanc - a freebie bottle, perhaps I am the only one to have tried it because it looks mighty full by the end of the evening; good acidity but bland; at least it isn't oaky; you get what you pay for

Jansz NV Sparkling Rose - all together now: "This is the best Tasmanian sparkling rose wine I have ever tasted..."; it certainly is just about the palest pink I have ever (nearly) seen, bland

Trimbach 2003 Riesling "Clos St Hune" - lots and lots of material here, no sugar, clunky, it's trying to do the old soft-shoe in orthopedic brogues

J. J. Prum 2002 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese - yum, vibrating and vigorous, not all that sweet, many years ahead for this one

Muller-Catoir 1989 Mussbacher Eselshaut Scheurebe Auslese - a little heavy; fruity, nutty, a bit of raspberry and sugar and talc; is this a child's breakfast cereal?

Pavelot 1999 Pernand-Vergelesse "Les Vergelesses" - way young, way strong, practically a wild cherry cough drop, persistent, altogether too open

Dettori Tenores 2005 IGT "Romangia" - 16% abv, Sardinian horror show made from cannonau, full-on nose of paint thinner, astringent, nasty

Laurel Glen 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon - lovely, fully ripe, foursquare cab

Bea 2007 IGT "San Valentino" - vivid, red-fruited, suave and light, a bit spirity but still wow

Brezza 1996 Barolo "Castellara" - shut down, clean enough but not charming

Dal Forno Romano 1995 Valpolicella Superiore - really well-made spoof-a-rama: incredibly potent, extracted, oaky, and coconutty

Dom. Tempier 1999 Bandol "La Migoua" - dark berries, slightly dusty and brooding; caught a tough spot between the raucous Italo-Zin and the Maxi-Vouvray

Huet 1996 Vouvray Moelleux "Clos de Bourg" "1er Trie" - moderately sweet but what stands out is how steady the palate is: no 'attack' or 'middle' or 'finish' it just takes you up the mountain, let's you see the view, and takes you down again; "This is a very, very young wine."-SFJoe

Dom. des Petits Quarts 1996 Bonnezeaux "Le Malabe" - acidity is just a tad sharp and the whole is crimped by a slight metallic taste; less intense than the 96 Huet but I'm quibbling: it's still a luxurious wine

Huet 1985 Vouvray Moelleux "Clos de Bourg" - open for a week, smells like boiled shrimp shells, Lisa says it's corked

Vino de Pasas 1927(solera) Pedro Ximenez - rather simple palate of brown sugar, Brad finds hints of apricot and raspberry lurking among the raisins and dates
 
This was quite fun. Although you know we had several professors in the house!

I agree about the Pavelot, it was shockingly open. Someone suggested heat damage but it didn't taste that way to me. I'm going to open another bottle this weekend.

I liked the Sancerres. I wasn't quite sure which I preferred, but then I stopped trying to prefer.

And I liked the Bandol more than you. Which was news to me as I have never been a huge Tempier/Bandol fan before. Perhaps I drank it in a different sequence, but it stood up very well next to the Barolo for my tastes, as the Barolo was closed and muddy when I got around to it. But the Tempier was rich, resolved, yet still vibrant and not funky. I enjoyed.
 
I did enjoy the Tempier; I regretted its position between two heavy-hitting wines, and it was hard to go back to it after the Huet.

The Barolo was a dud.

Ah, yes, there were several profs there! I tend to refer to Jonathan as "Da Prof" but I'll try to be more careful next time.
 
SFJoe, so how was the bottle of 2000 Cotat compared to the one I recently brought to dinner? I have a team working on decoding Jeff's note but maybe you can tell me.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
TN: Da Prof and Old Sancerre (Apr 12, 2012)attendees: Jonathon, SFJoe, Cliff, Rahsaan, Brad, Chris, Lisa, Jay, Jeff

F. Cotat 1989 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes" - the guest bottle of honor; double-decanted in the morning; early in the evening this shows rich and chalky and glyceral but by the end of the evening (er, um, 6 hours later) it is showing overt signs of oxidation and thinning

J. J. Prum 2002 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese - yum, vibrating and vigorous, not all that sweet, many years ahead for this one
Click to expand...

Late Mox
Cotat's magnum I had a few weeks ago was completely oxidized.

Pre Open
Prum's 2002s are now showing beautifully. Try the GK if you can find it.
 
I think I missed a number of these wines. I remember Jeff telling me not to bother with one because it was too spoofy. I guess that was the Dal Forno. I should have tried it just on the principle that it was Dal Forno. Joe and I were talking about something being off about the Pavelot. He is the one, I think, who suggested heat damage. I used my usual alibi explanation when I think something is off and don't have a clue as to what it is: "must be something microbial."

I liked both Sancerres and the 89 was worth the trip for me, but then I didn't go back to it at the end of the evening. The Clos St. Hune seemed heavy to me as well, but I figured that it was suffering for me in comparison to the 97 I had had that Tuesday at a DC Jeebus describe elsewhere by Ian.

If I had tasted more CA cabs like the Laurel Glen in my life, I would have more in my cellar. It's not that it makes one want to go all elegiac. Jeff's description is right on target. It's just that it does what a nice wine is supposed to do.

But I'd like to thank everybody for putting this together. It justified coming to a Victorianist conference.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
Jeff,
You may be a little earlier to the well on the Hune.
Or not.
Best, Jim
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My second experience with this wine and it showed similarly. I don't hold out much hope for it turning into a swan. But if you own any it's a better bet than drinking it now.

The Bea was far and away my favorite. I've never been a dal Forno fan (give me Quinterelli any day).

The Laurel Glen was good but will continue to improve over at least the next decade.

There seems to have been a lot of TCA in Tuscany in the '80s judging by my recent experience.

I left before the sweeties came out.
 
Thanks, Jeff, for the notes.

'89 decanted just before departure from home. It was a little tired by the end.

.sasha, this '00 was just where it should be, though I found more weight than Jeff.

The Pavelot was just slightly toasty around the edges to me.

The '96 Huet was just a monument.

And Filippo, my mags of '89 have all shown very well. One left, I think.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I think I missed a number of these wines. I remember Jeff telling me not to bother with one because it was too spoofy. I guess that was the Dal Forno. I should have tried it just on the principle that it was Dal Forno. Joe and I were talking about something being off about the Pavelot. He is the one, I think, who suggested heat damage. I used my usual alibi explanation when I think something is off and don't have a clue as to what it is: "must be something microbial."

I liked both Sancerres and the 89 was worth the trip for me, but then I didn't go back to it at the end of the evening. The Clos St. Hune seemed heavy to me as well, but I figured that it was suffering for me in comparison to the 97 I had had that Tuesday at a DC Jeebus describe elsewhere by Ian.

If I had tasted more CA cabs like the Laurel Glen in my life, I would have more in my cellar. It's not that it makes one want to go all elegiac. Jeff's description is right on target. It's just that it does what a nice wine is supposed to do.

But I'd like to thank everybody for putting this together. It justified coming to a Victorianist conference.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you'll get to have some good fried chicken on your next trip.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I think I missed a number of these wines. I remember Jeff telling me not to bother with one because it was too spoofy. I guess that was the Dal Forno. I should have tried it just on the principle that it was Dal Forno. Joe and I were talking about something being off about the Pavelot. He is the one, I think, who suggested heat damage. I used my usual alibi explanation when I think something is off and don't have a clue as to what it is: "must be something microbial."

I liked both Sancerres and the 89 was worth the trip for me, but then I didn't go back to it at the end of the evening. The Clos St. Hune seemed heavy to me as well, but I figured that it was suffering for me in comparison to the 97 I had had that Tuesday at a DC Jeebus describe elsewhere by Ian.

If I had tasted more CA cabs like the Laurel Glen in my life, I would have more in my cellar. It's not that it makes one want to go all elegiac. Jeff's description is right on target. It's just that it does what a nice wine is supposed to do.

But I'd like to thank everybody for putting this together. It justified coming to a Victorianist conference.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you'll get to have some good fried chicken on your next trip.
Click to expand...

Only if Brad isn't invited or someone cooks it him or herself, I expect.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
Joe, why did you double decant the '89 Cotat?
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Experience with the wine. It has fairly traditional levels of SO2, and can show tight at opening. I have double decanted all of them for years. It may be time to stop that with my last few.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Yixin:
Joe, why did you double decant the '89 Cotat?
Click to expand...
Experience with the wine. It has fairly traditional levels of SO2, and can show tight at opening. I have double decanted all of them for years. It may be time to stop that with my last few.
Click to expand...

I honestly see no need to decant it. Granted, I didn't get to try the wine until about two or more hours into the evening due to kitchen duties, but the fruit was largely gone and alcohol dominated the wine by the time I got to it and, to be honest, the two previous 750 bottles of it I've had at your place have shown similarly since that stellar mag you opened a few years back.
 
Thanks for the write-up, Jeff. The Huet was easily the wine of the night for me, but I also liked the '02 Prum, '96 Petits Quarts and '89 Muller-Catoir, though I've had fresher bottles of the '89 in recent years. Still, that wine always puts a big smile on my face. The Laurel Glen was probably my favorite red of the night. Classic style with good fruit that's not jammy at all. It does show a little bit of '93 coarseness on the finish. The Tempier was also quite nice, as was the PX.
 
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