TN: In the Cellar Again (Dec. 1, 2012)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: SFJoe, .sasha, Fatboy, Sharon, Jay, Jeff

A few simple souls with some simple sustenance (e.g., the culatello was the domestic, not the imported; we don't know what animal the tripe came from).

Taille Aux Loups (Jacky Blot) NV Montlouis Petillant "Triple Zero" - taut, chalky, crisp, slightly fizzy, SFJoe says this is a venerable house ("...older than Chidaine!") but has not been imported much; anyway, this was very pleasant

Dom. de Chevalier 1979 Graves - it only took a half hour in the decanter to wake this lovely fellow up; excellent balance between primary (dark red berry) and secondary (earth, tobacco) flavors

Scherrer 2007 Syrah "Sasha" RRV - after two hours in the decanter this was just starting to reveal itself; pretty floral nose, silky texture, rather lightweight for CA syrah (amusingly, the back label apologizes for the lack of heft compared to pinot noir); Fatboy instantly picks up a whiff of tea, on entry, but also finds all flavor falls off dramatically, even before swallowing ("This wine is my idea of Hell.")

Dom. Bertheau 2010 Chambolles-Musigny 1er "Charmes" - Other than Fatboy correctly guessing that the yeast program is 'natural', no one could get a bead on this wine at all; I did not have the opportunity to follow it as long as the others but what I tasted was Californiated and kinda anonymous (and a whiff of buttered popcorn, too).

Ganevat 2009 Cotes du Jura "Chalasses Marnes Bleues" - savagnin, and darned purdy

Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Clos de la Boudriotte" - rouge; Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to make stinky, closed, reduced pinot-based wines, Don't let 'em pick red grapes in a white-grape terroir or drive them old trucks...; well, somewhere under all that nasal sewage there was a medium-weight, sweet-fruited wine; it's gonna take a decade for this to clear up on its own
 
Scherrer does not make it easy, but, strewn through his syrah varietal notes there is a bunch of information on the 2007 Sasha bottling.

Firstly, Sasha is a vanity name. The wine is actually a blend from two sites, the Timbervine and Calypso vineyards.

The Timbervine vineyard was farmed by Joe Mesics, now deceased. Another site says of it, "Joe Mesics and Eva Auchincloss own and farm this timber-lined hillside Syrah vineyard, which is perched high above the Russian River just beyond the town of Forestville on the steep southeastern slope of Black Mountain."

The Calypso vineyard is farmed by Otis Holt. Another site says of it, "Calypso Vineyard is located in the heart of the Green Valley, the coolest and foggiest region in the Russian River Valley." Google Maps shows it slightly northwest of Sebastopol.

Now, from Scherrer:

...about Calypso: "[Otis] did his homework and selected many clones beyond my suggestions. This fine, tiny vineyard is growing in about as cool a place as I would put the variety, which is where I think the finest versions are found. It will sometimes have a hard time yielding great red wine in cold, wetter vintages such as 2011, just as in many places in the Old World have had to contend with. But that’s where our rosé saves the day. Depending on what Nature gives us, we can have something special and pleasurable every year."

...about 2007: "In 2007, I had plenty of blending options and chose to combine different blocks from different vineyards in such a way that I did not have ANY vineyard designate Syrahs, just two different, beautiful bottlings. It is probably marketing anti-genius, but I feel it made the best wines this year and will probably continue this when appropriate."

...about the wine: "The 2007 Sasha bottling was mostly from Calypso, but there was more than the 5% allowable from another vineyard preventing us from designating the vineyard on the label."

...about the name Sasha: "[In the early days of making syrah at Scherrer, t]here was not enough fruit to ferment in our larger 3-Ton tanks so we used small portable tanks that I have for just such purposes. We had a habit of taking turns naming the tanks rather than numbering them. The one Don [Bliss] named ‘Sasha’ (he still has given me no explanation for the name) always seemed to produce really pretty, feminine wines. Later, we found ourselves saving him/her for the promising, pretty lots. We implicitly agreed that ‘Sasha’ should be a nice name for a wine someday."
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
attendees: SFJoe, .sasha, Fatboy, Sharon, Jay, Jeff
Click to expand...

Semi-annual meeting of the inner sanctum of the secret .sasha bored, who deliberate and promulgate the terms of the creepily conformist vibe around here.
 
Great notes, Jeff.

However:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Ganevat 2009 Cotes du Jura "Chalasses" "Marnes Bleues" - yes, it said both on the label, dammit (the first indicates chardonnay while the latter indicates savagnin) so who the hell knows what it is...
Click to expand...

"Chalasses Vieilles Vignes" is chardonnay, and "Chalasses Marnes Bleues" is savagnin. No quiproquo*, as the French would say. It's savagnin (ouillé), and blows my socks off, that one does.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
attendees: SFJoe, .sasha, Fatboy, Sharon, Jay, Jeff
Click to expand...

Semi-annual meeting of the inner sanctum of the secret .sasha bored, who deliberate and promulgate the terms of the creepily conformist vibe around here.
Click to expand...

Hush.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
attendees: SFJoe, .sasha, Fatboy, Sharon, Jay, Jeff
Click to expand...

Semi-annual meeting of the inner sanctum of the secret .sasha bored, who deliberate and promulgate the terms of the creepily conformist vibe around here.
Click to expand...

Hush.
Click to expand...

No, the world needs to know.
 
one minor complaint about "Sasha" - label does not come off in hot water
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Great notes, Jeff.

However:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Ganevat 2009 Cotes du Jura "Chalasses" "Marnes Bleues" - yes, it said both on the label, dammit (the first indicates chardonnay while the latter indicates savagnin) so who the hell knows what it is...
Click to expand...

"Chalasses Vieilles Vignes" is chardonnay, and "Chalasses Marnes Bleues" is savagnin. No quiproquo*, as the French would say. It's savagnin (ouillé), and blows my socks off, that one does.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Will fix.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:


Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Clos de la Boudriotte" - rouge; Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to make stinky, closed, reduced pinot-based wines, Don't let 'em pick red grapes in a white-grape terroir or drive them old trucks...; well, somewhere under all that nasal sewage there was a medium-weight, sweet-fruited wine; it's gonna take a decade for this to clear up on its own
Click to expand...
This is no better after a day on the counter with a cork in it, for those scoring at home.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:


Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Clos de la Boudriotte" - rouge; Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to make stinky, closed, reduced pinot-based wines, Don't let 'em pick red grapes in a white-grape terroir or drive them old trucks...; well, somewhere under all that nasal sewage there was a medium-weight, sweet-fruited wine; it's gonna take a decade for this to clear up on its own
Click to expand...
This is no better after a day on the counter with a cork in it, for those scoring at home.
Click to expand...

No worries, I am sure we'll multiple posts from folks, reporting on how 95 Budriotte rouge is doing at home.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:


Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Clos de la Boudriotte" - rouge; Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to make stinky, closed, reduced pinot-based wines, Don't let 'em pick red grapes in a white-grape terroir or drive them old trucks...; well, somewhere under all that nasal sewage there was a medium-weight, sweet-fruited wine; it's gonna take a decade for this to clear up on its own
Click to expand...
This is no better after a day on the counter with a cork in it, for those scoring at home.
Click to expand...

What the hell does my sex life have to with your wine, old bean?

Aux armes, citioyens! Get the investment bankers out of our bedrooms.

Emily Latella
 
The Clos was beautiful, the Sasha finally opened up at around the third hour, I loved the Barbadillo Vors Palo Cortado, and even fatboy found nice things to say about the 2001 Scherrer OMV zin.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
The Clos was beautiful, the Sasha finally opened up at around the third hour, I loved the Barbadillo Vors Palo Cortado, and even fatboy found nice things to say about the 2001 scherrer omv sin.
Click to expand...
Apparently, the onslaught of bottles did not slow down when I left.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Speaking of sex life, that 2002 Clos Rougeard Clos wasn't bad at all.
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The wine was so good, it had a reason to exist.
 
The Olek-Mery is mature, the '02 Rougeard has a way to go.

Not that everything has to be ranked in a hierarchy.
 
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