Seattle Jeeb 4/28

J

Jim Diven

Jim Diven
The Seattle/Bellingham folk assembled Saturday night for what was in the end way too much wine for me. I was very taken with the early wines, and failed to pace myself for later. So my comments will trail off on what were likely some of the best wines of the night. I’m sure others can fill in. Ashamed, to admit I conked out early sticking my wife with shepherding our guests. Sorry to be rude folks, I felt better the next day for it, but I missed a few wines. I’ve listed the wines I remember below, and I think I got most of them, but will fix as needed.

Llopart Cava Brut
I didn’t study the bottle, and it wasn’t here the next am, so Lee will have to tell us which bottling and vintage (if any). This was very nice, light and crisp.

N.V. François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Méthode Traditionelle
I’m ignorant of how to determine the bottling date, but this was a recent purchase so likely from whatever is the latest. Nice contrast to the Llopart for me, apple, honey, slightly yeasty vs the lighter zing of the Cava.

2004 Luneau-Papin Muscadet Le L D'Or
This was really good, but suffered slightly tasted with the Briords. A little rounder, fatter, probably by comparison only. Still a very, very good wine.

2004 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Clos des Briords
As I think Brian posted on the Muscadet thread, this was brilliant. That extra little jolt of acid made the whole thing complete. Stellar with the fresh shucked oysters brought by the Bellingham crew, and everything else on the table too.

1996 Huët Vouvray Sec Le Mont
I thought this was fabulous as well, but in a completely slutty way next to the Muscadets. Terrific salinity at first, with all that honey and a little nuttiness. Great with some of the cheeses.

2002 Alice et Olivier De Moor Bourgogne-Aligoté Corked

We moved on to some young Jura wines and a fairly unique Oregon Pinot

2007 Puffeney Arbois Trousseau Les Berangeres
2010 Domaine de L'Octavin Arbois Commendatore Les Corvées
2009 Domaine des Cavarodes (Etienne Thiebaud) Arbois St-Roch
2010 Teutonic Wine Company Pinot Noir Laurel Vineyard

With its cranberry tartness, the Teutonic could have gone with the Beaujolais, but did just fine here, for me it fitting in between the light, juicier L’Octavin Trousseau, and the bigger, richer, firmer Cavarodes. Enjoyable flight.

2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon Côte du Py
The wine that caused the Jeebus, with BJ completely pessimistic about the provenance of all left coast bottles, this was absolutely clean to my tastes and this was his bottle, we didn’t have to open any of mine. There was a glass and a half left yesterday and it drank very, very well last night too.

1999 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py
This was quite nice when I opened it a about 6, and even better when it was polished off around 9 I guess. Comments folks?

1993 Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Spéciale La Tourtine
I’m finishing this tonight 2 days in the fridge, I’m guessing its still going to be okay, if not downright good still.

1990 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale
1990 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers
Ashamed to say I have no comments for these. I’ve had the Cornas before and it was excellent.

1993 Huët Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu
1989 Ch“teau Soucherie Coteaux du Layon Chaume
I missed these, but the next morning there was a pretty good dent in the Huet, and very little gone from the Soucherie So I think folks were done by then (I know I was), and being selective. Second night, both wines were fairly good, but a little surprising to me for having only moderate sweetness, especially so for the Huet which I understand was originally released as Cuvee Constance. I sure they both lost a bit overnight as neither was particularly acidic. The Chaume had quite the heavier mouthfeel, and tasted of nuts and marzipan, and nothing close to the depth of the Huet by any means. The Huet with a lighter mouthfeel had all the nuts, marzipan, but the honey and moreover minerality as well - superior. The lack of sweetness really surprised me, as well as the acidity, though I blame myself for the latter.
 
2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon Côte du Py
The wine that caused the Jeebus, with BJ completely pessimistic about the provenance of all left coast bottles, this was absolutely clean to my tastes and this was his bottle, we didn’t have to open any of mine. There was a glass and a half left yesterday and it drank very, very well last night too.
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I don't know if it was totally clean, but it didn't stick you all up in its armpit after its morning jog either, as BJ would have had us think.

1993 Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Spéciale La Tourtine
I’m finishing this tonight 2 days in the fridge, I’m guessing its still going to be okay, if not downright good still.

1990 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale
1990 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers
Ashamed to say I have no comments for these. I’ve had the Cornas before and it was excellent.
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I had an exchange with Brad about this yesterday. These made absolutely no lasting impression on me either, I think as a result of just too much wine on the table. I think its interesting that people around here universally trash big industry tastings as being a disservice to understanding and appreciating wines and then when we get together we pretty much do the same thing, albeit with food, and with really fabulous bottles that deserve a lot more time and attention. I suspect all three of these were really special bottles and would have stayed with me for a long, long time if lingered over. But as it was, while I enjoyed all them I don't feel though I know anything more about them, or even have a reference point.

As for the Teutonic, these are the most exciting Oregon wines I've had in just such a long time. More in the vein of Jura Pinot (or even poulsard) than Burgundy. 11% alcohol, pale brick red, and just fascinating on the palette for about $20. Cannot recommend them enough.

The Octavin was pretty awesome in a glug-glug-glug sort of way.

Thanks Jim and Yvette! A really lovely evening.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
You guys need New York livers.
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Yeah, yeah. Expected that. Not a liver thing, just starts to feel like swish and spit to me at that point. For me, any of that last flight deserves more attention than half a glass and the 14th wine of the night slot.
 
Anyway, you kidding me? There's nothing to do 8 months of the year around here but drink and watch the rain come down.
 
Yeah, it was a bachannal for sure. OTT in a fairly big way. I felt bad for Yvette. I hope she didn't think we were all drunkards. Poor Mme L had a rough night. I think we stretched the eve out a bit too much and we probably needed to nurse smaller pours. I actually did fine, I saw all the bottles and tried to pace myself.

The food was just superb, from Brian's chickpea salad to the oysters to the insanely good beef. In with the best beef I've had. Thanks for that Jim.

I'm going to admit right here publicly that my palate might be too American for some of the more nuanced Briords. I enjoyed it but it didn't rock my world. Sorry all, not with the program.

The L d'Or didn't put out like it had in the past. It was good, but not as good as others. Probably just a phase.

Slutty is the right term for the Huet, especially in the nose. I am tempted to use a descriptor that I recently deleted in a different post.

The Chidaine was particularly good. What I like about Chidaine especially is that everyone seems like it and appreciate it, from geeks to beer drinkers.

I skipped the cava.

So Jim must have buggered out early as he missed one of the best wines of the evening, the 2007 Puffeney Arbois Trousseau "Les Berangeres". All the usual elements, autumnal and dirty and wonderful. What I appreciate about Puffeney is that he manages to skate the edge of a natural style without falling into the hole of a flawed wine. Rosenthal always seems to find these guys and this is no exception.

The l'Octavin was exciting, with a prick of CO2 that didn't mess with the wine. If you pursue this, make sure it's had good storage. Apparently
 
Brad, I don't know if you had a chance to try the Briords after it had been aired out a bit, because it was very shy on opening but really finished strong, just a gorgeous bottle. The L d'Or was very aromatic and pronounced on opening but sort of fell off the edge, where the Pepiere kept improving.

The Octavin Trousseau was quite gulpable and delicious. Red fruit, sprightly. Yum.

07 Puffeney Berangeres had a wonderful nose, deep, complex, beautiful. Seamless structure. A classic bottle.

The 09 Etienne Thibaude Arbois St Roch was very 2009. Super ripe nose and quite structured. It will be much better in a few years I'm guessing.

I thought the 99 Foillard was wonderful, all roses and dusty Morgon spice, completely ready to go.

The Teutonic Pinot was too dilly for me, a bottle a few weeks ago was much more to my tastes.

I thought the 1990 Gonon was flawed slightly. It was musty and I wondered about it being corked, but if it was good the next day then I guess it couldn't have been corked.

The 1990 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale was a great bottle. Bloody, meaty nose, alive and savory in the mouth. A perfect wine with that rib cap roast.

I liked the Bandol, MJ loved it.

Jim, thank you and Yvette so much for hosting, it was a great evening.
 
You know, I thought I was just having a hard time taking in the Teutonic, but that was actually my reaction. I have bought that wine from two sources, one which I thought ended up being good and the other questionable. Now maybe I just wonder if the wine went into an odd phase? Last summer it was nuts.

And I actually did not go back to the Briords so maybe that's a lesson for me.
 
I finished the Tempier tonight and it was good but i'm sure much better 2 nights ago.

Added the Puffeney to the first post. I thought there was another wine there and pretty sure I tasted it, but from the state I was in if the bottle wasn't here in the AM, it was getting missed. I have no recollection of the Trenel. I've bought a few Trenel wines from Champion in the past, none have been particularly good, but i'm keeping an open mind. BTW we finished both the l'Octavin and Cavarodes tonight, the troussard was a bit faded - any CO2 certainly long gone, the Cavarodes still pretty good.

Not sure about the Lapierre Brad, you seem very sensitive I guess. I dislike bretty wines in general, but what I tasted Saturday and yesterday was minor, many would actually say additive to complexity.

I ran into the guy who sold me the Foillard today and gave him more $$. Just could not live w/ the price I paid him.

Agree on the Teutonic. The Silvaner I brought to Joels Jeeb last year was a bit sweet, but their Maresh vineyard Pinot Gris has been terrific.

Have 1 bottle of the Robert Michael left, we'll pair it w/ that 91 Clape some time in the future.
 
Nice notes. It looks like Brad is just hyper sensitive to Brett, though I'm surprised he didn't find any in the Tempier.

Slutty isn't a descriptor I'd use for the '96 Huet Sec as to me, slutty implies open and easy and that wine has some severity to it.

As for the '89 Soucherie Chaume, a bunch of that has appeared on the market in the past two years and I've been disappointed with it as well. However, I have learned that the wine really needs a ton of air. I'm talking 12-24 hours in the decanter. If you don't do this, it comes off as fairly dry, disjointed and very funky with a lot of cheese-like aromas and flavors. With air the sweetness comes out and you actually get some quince. That said, even with air it has issues.
 
originally posted by BJ:

Slutty is the right term for the Huet, especially in the nose. I am tempted to use a descriptor that I recently deleted in a different post.
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The politburo may have to change your id from BJ to PJ.
 
Thanks to Jim and Yvette for being such gracious hosts.

The Llopart was the vintage cava, I don't recall which one. Bought it late last year.

The Briords was indeed a bit dumb when I first tried it, and got better with air.

Liked all the Jura wines. I was on the fence about the Teutonic Pinot -- could have used a bit more fruit. It had some interesting character, though.

The Trenel St Amour was remarkably devoid of fruit with too much tannin showing. Gotta say I found that surprising for 2002 St Amour, even if I'd never had the wine before. I found a bit of brett on the Lapierre, but not enough to spoil the wine for me.

The final flight of reds were all quite nice.

I had sips of the stickies but don't recall much. Too much wine indeed.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by BJ:

Slutty is the right term for the Huet, especially in the nose. I am tempted to use a descriptor that I recently deleted in a different post.
Click to expand...

The politburo may have to change your id from BJ to PJ.
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Ha!
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
Nice notes. It looks like Brad is just hyper sensitive to Brett, though I'm surprised he didn't find any in the Tempier.

Slutty isn't a descriptor I'd use for the '96 Huet Sec as to me, slutty implies open and easy and that wine has some severity to it.

As for the '89 Soucherie Chaume, a bunch of that has appeared on the market in the past two years and I've been disappointed with it as well. However, I have learned that the wine really needs a ton of air. I'm talking 12-24 hours in the decanter. If you don't do this, it comes off as fairly dry, disjointed and very funky with a lot of cheese-like aromas and flavors. With air the sweetness comes out and you actually get some quince. That said, even with air it has issues.
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I am I guess, not particularly sensitive to Brett. I have had many wines that have had far too much brett for me, and to me that is anything more than just a touch. But who knows to someone else that could be a ton. To me both the Lapierre and the Tempier had a very small touch of gaminess to them, in my view it did not detract, and perhaps added a bit.

Slutty is maybe not the best term, and as I said above, I thought the Huet Sec was outstanding. It was certainly not easy, though it was pretty open for business esp with 30-40 minutes of air. It was bigger and louder than the Briords, but of course they are very different wines. Does hedonistic mean anything? Probably not. Anyway, i'm happy to have another bottle, it seemed like it has lots of life left.

I didn't have the Soucherie until day 2, and there was only maybe 3 very short pours from the bottle. I didn't think it was bad at all, and not cheese like, yes some quince. It just did not compare that well to the Huet Premiere Trie which still had some cut on day two and even day 3.
 
originally posted by Jim Diven:
originally posted by Brad Kane:
Nice notes. It looks like Brad is just hyper sensitive to Brett, though I'm surprised he didn't find any in the Tempier.

Slutty isn't a descriptor I'd use for the '96 Huet Sec as to me, slutty implies open and easy and that wine has some severity to it.

As for the '89 Soucherie Chaume, a bunch of that has appeared on the market in the past two years and I've been disappointed with it as well. However, I have learned that the wine really needs a ton of air. I'm talking 12-24 hours in the decanter. If you don't do this, it comes off as fairly dry, disjointed and very funky with a lot of cheese-like aromas and flavors. With air the sweetness comes out and you actually get some quince. That said, even with air it has issues.
Click to expand...

I didn't have the Soucherie until day 2, and there was only maybe 3 very short pours from the bottle. I didn't think it was bad at all, and not cheese like, yes some quince. It just did not compare that well to the Huet Premiere Trie which still had some cut on day two and even day 3.
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Few wines compete well with a Huet 1ere Trie.
 
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