After sharing a pleasant bottle of Cave de Tain 2005 Cornas with a friend in midtown, I joined the fray at the front tables of Racines. Already there were Jay + Arnold, Sharon, Nathania, Oswaldo + Marcia + André. Later, Kirk arrived and kicked off a second round of de-bottling.
On arrival I tasted the remains of the dinner bottles: a friendly, charming, lightweight, carbonic Sébastien David 2011 St Nicolas de Bourgueil "Kezako" followed by a glass of the excellent Dom. Pepieres 2004 Muscadet "Clos des Briords". I joined the ensemble for dessert (something with pistachios and raspberries) and consumed it with a really delightful hipster Dom. l'Anglore 2011 Tavel "Cuvée Barricade".
When Jay wasn't looking we ordered two pineau d'aunis wines, Dom. Bellivieres 2012 "Rouge Gorge" and Puzelat year? "La Tesniere". Sharon smelled sulfur on the Bellivieres, though it did not show on the palate. We eventually dragged Eben Lillie into the discussion and, well, we're a little mystified. Eric Nicolas is, by all accounts, not averse to using a bit of sulfur but none of us could remember any of his previous wines showing like this. Perhaps it's some weird side-effect of the dismal 2012 growing season? Anyway, the Belliviere was definitely more tense, dark black-fruited, minerally, and dry than the relatively floral (almost candied) Puzelat.
Kirk, as you know, has the same effect on a room as Lawrence Welk. The Pierre Peters ? Brut Rose was precise, balanced, just-so ripe, great wine. The Chartogne ? Brut Rose was much tighter and rather unyielding.
As the bar closed down we got pours off a bottle of Kramp 1989 ?. The wine had very pronounced acidity and lemony zing. The flavor profile includes a whiff of petrol but not too much additional complexity.
...ready to edit when more details about the wines arises...