TN: That Marc Fellow, Again (Mar 28, 2015)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: Marc, Ira, Ed, Sharon, Bill, Victoria, Jamal, Jeff

By the time I arrive in the cellar the party is in full swig, uh, swing. And the table is heaped with cheeses, breads, sliced meats of various kinds, a hot-smoked salmon -- folks really outdid themselves.

Vouette & Sorbée NV (2011) Champagne Extra Brut "Blanc d'Argile" - chalky, minerally, lemony, love it

Gunderloch 1993 Riesling Rothenberg Auslese Goldkap - not sure how I got a sweet-ish wine next but this had great texture, not all that sweet, ripe, clean, just about a wow wine

von Kesselstatt 1983 Riesling Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese - almost no flavor now; Marc and Ira said it never had much to begin with

von Schubert 1989 Riesling Abtsberg Spätlese Trocken - slightly strange nose

Schwengler 1999 Riesling Dürnsteiner Von Den Alten Steinterrassen Smaragd - I recall nothing about this wine

Pinon 1994 Vouvray - pop and pour, this was musty and needs some time to sort itself out; alas, I did not stay long enough to try it again

Nicholas Potel 2000 Volnay "Clos des Chênes" - definitely a cherry flavor profile but with the heft of a chateauneuf-du-pape; I have never been a Potel fan and this has done nothing to persuade me otherwise

Monpertuis 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Tradition" - and here is the chateauneuf that drinks with Burgundian suavity; not a perfect wine... the alcohol is hot on the back of my throat, the finish is not long enough

Pegau 2000 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee Réservée" - plenty of fruit here, this is simpler than the Montpertuis but, honestly, more enjoyable

Clerico 1997 Barolo "Pajana" - as Jamal said, you can pick it out as nebbiolo but you can't tell it's barolo

Huet 2002 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Clos du Bourg" - is it or isn't it? the table is divided: chenin neophytes think it's spoiled, Sharon says she and SFJoe had many worse ones, and I think it's on the edge (which is to say, really, it's spoiled because this wine should have been immortal or nearly so); interesting question around the table: is anyone buying recent vintages? not many, apparently

Nederberg 1983 Chenin Blanc - the bottle looks like it's been around the world in a steamer trunk but the wine is nice: recognizably chenin, sweet, some interest, nice; Marc says he hasn't seen one of these in ages

NB. Notes from memory. I may have a couple of the rieslings switched around; I hope other participants will jump in.

2015-03-28_18.00.41.jpg
 
I thought the Huet was drinking pretty well but had those subtle apple pie baking spice aromas that seem to suggest oxidation in its near future.

Funny, I felt the opposite about the CdPs. I really liked the Montpertuis and was unmoved by the Pegau.

The Clerico was the most atypical Barolo I've ever had. It didn't smell nor taste like Nebbiolo. At 17 years the color should be a little bricky too.

The Piñon showed some glimmers of opening up but I think the cellar temp may have scared it away. It was challenging for sure but some lovely Chenin character was lurking behind its closed exterior. More air, like 24 hours, and a slightly warmer environment might have coaxed out a more favorable showing..

A great time as always. Thank!
 
Opened a 94 and 97 sec side by side a couple weeks back. Both good bottles. Very different wines as you might expect.

94 was very active on the palate in a rough and tumble way, (malic, a touch tannic). The 97 was a gentler glass, more reserved and hinting toward floral. Kept going back and forth and can imagine preferring either one on a given day.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

Oddly enough, I agree with both Jeff and Bill about the Ch“teauneufs.
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Meaning that you liked them both or found both uninteresting?

Mark Lipton

p.s. Very weird. The “ is rendered correctly in my browser and in the quote window, but then gets borked when the quote is served up.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
Piñon
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¡ Olé !

Many thanks to Marc and company. But so many Rieslings!

Oddly enough, I agree with both Jeff and Bill about the Ch“teauneufs.
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Don't know where he tilde came from but I liked it. So it stayed.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

Oddly enough, I agree with both Jeff and Bill about the Ch“teauneufs.
Click to expand...

Meaning that you liked them both or found both uninteresting?

Mark Lipton

p.s. Very weird. The “ is rendered correctly in my browser and in the quote window, but then gets borked when the quote is served up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a couple of years ago you started having to use the HTML code for an "A" with circumflex. No idea why. Around the time you stopped being able to embed YouTube videos (wipes away discreet tear).

In any case, I thought that the Monpertuis was elegant but short and I liked it better than the Pegau, which was rounder and more crowd-pleasing (if you're that kind of crowd) but which I didn't like as well, though it wasn't the frightening Uncle Bobby's Gonna Gitcha thing I had feared.

I think I spent too much time at the bar at Veritas with my eyes bugging out, staring down that jeroboam of 2003 Cuvée da Capo.
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:

Don't know where he tilde came from but I liked it. So it stayed.
Click to expand...

My iPad always adds it to Pinon.

It should come as no surprise that I type it often enough to know that.
 
Huet 2002 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Clos du Bourg" - is it or isn't it? the table is divided: chenin neophytes think it's spoiled, Sharon says she and SFJoe had many worse ones, and I think it's on the edge (which is to say, really, it's spoiled because this wine should have been immortal or nearly so); interesting question around the table: is anyone buying recent vintages? not many, apparently
Click to expand...

Just had one of these a few weeks back and I suppose, if one were picking nits with twits, it could have been on the down slope of honey, but I thought it was a good example of middle-aged chenin blanc. In other words, prop-ah.
 
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