Pretty unremarkable stuff except for another exceptional bottle of 2007 Salinia syrah Heintz Vineyard. Silky, savory, well shaped and delicious. Really poised wine. It's a shame no one will seemingly touch CA syrah because I think this would raise a few eyebrows. I guess I'll have to drink it all.
What did you drink tonight?
- Thread starter Kay Bixler
- Start date
Kay Bixler
Kay Bixler
Yeah, I think so. Not sure where it's going though.
scottreiner
scott reiner
Syrah and Grenache are the red grapes for me in Cali. Today, AFAIK, there are more great Syrahs, though....
scottreiner
scott reiner
I really like everything Hureau is doing. But for under $20 the Tuffe is amazing everyday fare.
Try the 2012 Hobo Sceales Vineyard (organic, dry farmed, ~100 year old vines, at least 50% whole cluster) or for something completely different, Broc Cassia Martian Vineyard.
Wind Gap also makes a wine from Sceales that is supposed to be excellent as well.
I'm with Jon on this one, I think grenache may have more potential in CA.
scottreiner
scott reiner
I like what Broc is doing, and will have to get my hands on some Hobo.
Kay Bixler
Kay Bixler
1996 Savary Chablis Vieilles Vignes is going strong, full of bread dough, marzipan and lemon, seamless. With grilled lobster! The remains of the bottle a day later are even better.
Jay Miller
Jay Miller
The 2012 Kruger Rumpf Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Eiswein was piercingly acidic and didn't really seem that balanced. First wine after more than 2 weeks.
U
Unknown
Guest
be sure to update the no-premox wiki!
p.s. does this mean i need to taste from this producer at the grands jours on monday?
georg lauer
georg lauer
Would you mind sharing a fee quick impressions after? We had to move our trip so cannot be at the jours but will be visiting in April. Would be nice to get directed to something unknown/unexpected.
GG
U
Unknown
Guest
I shall try, although I assume the pace will not allow for any kind of detailed notes.
Are there specific producers you want me to look out for?
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
1996 Charles Joguet Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos was gently discombobulating; lovely deep dark fruit and leather, tertiaries softly cooing in the wings, racy, lithe and fresh on the licker, bright acidity coupling with ethereal weight, way more than the sigma of its constituents.
Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
With my slight dyslexic lean, I first read this as "... more than the stigma of its constituents," which was almost better.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Stigmata are sexy.
georg lauer
georg lauer
Thank you! No details needed. But if after the event you remember the one or other producer who made an impression and that might not be on everybodies list that would be great.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Crocus stigmas are even better.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Saffron crocus stigmas are jaundiced.
Another vexing bottle of 2002 Rougeard Brézé. It has a gunpowder thing on the nose, that I think is sulfur and Jim thinks is wood. It's probably both. The acidity is also prominent and a bit prickly, or spritzy, as Jim put it. We decanted it, which helped. The nose was always captivating, but the palate was jarring. At the very end, it showed its best, but the acid was still very intense. This wine was ELECTRIC as a young wine, though much woodier (the famous bottle from when Nathan met Levi at Lyle's was very woody). So, it both disappointed and intrigued. Maybe it needs another 20 years before we even think about it, maybe it'll never live up to the promise it seemed to show. Like I said, vexing.
My first bottle of 2005 Mugnier Maréchale was much easier to understand. I thought that maybe this would be a 2005 that was starting to show something and we weren't disappointed. It is certainly too early to start digging in to these, but I've been curious for a while and I've got more. Opened for an hour or so and then decanted at the restaurant. The whole cluster is apparent from the nose and the palate is staid but with real finishing fruit that lingers, all good signs. As the night went on the nose opened with more fruit and spice, much more a Mugnier wine than something I would nail as Nuits, but then again, Faiveley put their house style on it too and no one else has made it in my lifetime, so who knows. Maybe the Mugnier version is it. Well, in a very real way, it is it. Someone trying to make Chambolle in Nuits. For all that, it is a wine of immense promise and was interesting and enjoyable. I took one for the team so you don't have to. I think 5-7 more years should get it in a place for me.
2012 Huet Haut-Lieu Sec on the porch in the sun catching up with Jim. I don't really get the consternation around the Huet 2012s. This wine has always been delicious. It's a nicely generous version of Sec, with all the flavors you'd expect. Some rough edges that may not be smoothed out, but a fine enough tipple. Served its purpose well.
My first bottle of 2005 Mugnier Maréchale was much easier to understand. I thought that maybe this would be a 2005 that was starting to show something and we weren't disappointed. It is certainly too early to start digging in to these, but I've been curious for a while and I've got more. Opened for an hour or so and then decanted at the restaurant. The whole cluster is apparent from the nose and the palate is staid but with real finishing fruit that lingers, all good signs. As the night went on the nose opened with more fruit and spice, much more a Mugnier wine than something I would nail as Nuits, but then again, Faiveley put their house style on it too and no one else has made it in my lifetime, so who knows. Maybe the Mugnier version is it. Well, in a very real way, it is it. Someone trying to make Chambolle in Nuits. For all that, it is a wine of immense promise and was interesting and enjoyable. I took one for the team so you don't have to. I think 5-7 more years should get it in a place for me.
2012 Huet Haut-Lieu Sec on the porch in the sun catching up with Jim. I don't really get the consternation around the Huet 2012s. This wine has always been delicious. It's a nicely generous version of Sec, with all the flavors you'd expect. Some rough edges that may not be smoothed out, but a fine enough tipple. Served its purpose well.