Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
It started just Jay and I. Then .sasha finished administering his secret board and stopped down. Then a few more folks stopped by with bottles and glasses. Hootenanny ensued.
Well, maybe not so much hoot or much nanny, but we had roast chicken, porchetta, fougasse, and conversation about Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hong Kong while sipping....
Pinon 2014 Vouvray "Les Trois Argiles" - very pretty, focused, just barely sweet; I don't have experience with his other bottlings in '14 but Jay says this is drinking better than the Silex now and that the Deronnieres will require more time to come around
Dom. de la Grapperie 2011 Pineau d'Aunis "Adonis" - With the demise of CRB upon us I have started hunting for a decent pineau d'aunis to drink. Dom Belliviere is the girl with the curl and I sometimes do not have patience with that. I'd say this bottle comes close to scratching the itch: varietally correct flavors of white pepper and pink berries, not so crystal-clear as CRB but I'm not averse to a small dose of funk. I think the slightly muted quality might be due to winemaking and not the quality of the underlying fruit, which shows no signs of surmaturite or rot. A qualified success.
Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste 1995 Pauillac - Robust, tannic yet, lots of tobacco and dark (brandied?) cherry, still lots of life ahead, yummy now. Jay has served this before (Jayson's bday in April) and the case seems reliable.
De Forville 1979 Barbaresco - The cork ripped in half, crumbled into bits, then fell in the bottle. The first round of decanting managed to exclude the Piedmontese hillside of sludge in the bottle, as well as the large pieces of Portuguese torture implements, but we had to resort to coffee filters -- three of them, plus two decanters -- to finally clear the wine of debris. Thank Bacchus it was worth it: the wine was gorgeously fragrant, bright red fruit and summer flowers, tannins resolved into a silken carpet on the tongue, alluring and feminine nebbiolo, wow
Jaboulet 1988 Hermitage "La Chapelle" - And here's a manly man wine: lean, sturdy, also red-fruited but more citrus and grip, ever so slightly deft, which redeems it
Dom. St. Cosme 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Redemption, however, has only so much elastic in it. This is too dark, too clean, the flavors are glossy and sweet. Nah.
Dom. de l'Arlot 2010 Nuits-St-Georges "Clos des Forets" - 375 ml. An attempt to recover some balance at the end this shows great depth of flavor (the expected dark berries but accented with orange pith) but also a little bitter; probably too much tannin to be really likable now; lots of promise
Well, maybe not so much hoot or much nanny, but we had roast chicken, porchetta, fougasse, and conversation about Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hong Kong while sipping....
Pinon 2014 Vouvray "Les Trois Argiles" - very pretty, focused, just barely sweet; I don't have experience with his other bottlings in '14 but Jay says this is drinking better than the Silex now and that the Deronnieres will require more time to come around
Dom. de la Grapperie 2011 Pineau d'Aunis "Adonis" - With the demise of CRB upon us I have started hunting for a decent pineau d'aunis to drink. Dom Belliviere is the girl with the curl and I sometimes do not have patience with that. I'd say this bottle comes close to scratching the itch: varietally correct flavors of white pepper and pink berries, not so crystal-clear as CRB but I'm not averse to a small dose of funk. I think the slightly muted quality might be due to winemaking and not the quality of the underlying fruit, which shows no signs of surmaturite or rot. A qualified success.
Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste 1995 Pauillac - Robust, tannic yet, lots of tobacco and dark (brandied?) cherry, still lots of life ahead, yummy now. Jay has served this before (Jayson's bday in April) and the case seems reliable.
De Forville 1979 Barbaresco - The cork ripped in half, crumbled into bits, then fell in the bottle. The first round of decanting managed to exclude the Piedmontese hillside of sludge in the bottle, as well as the large pieces of Portuguese torture implements, but we had to resort to coffee filters -- three of them, plus two decanters -- to finally clear the wine of debris. Thank Bacchus it was worth it: the wine was gorgeously fragrant, bright red fruit and summer flowers, tannins resolved into a silken carpet on the tongue, alluring and feminine nebbiolo, wow
Jaboulet 1988 Hermitage "La Chapelle" - And here's a manly man wine: lean, sturdy, also red-fruited but more citrus and grip, ever so slightly deft, which redeems it
Dom. St. Cosme 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Redemption, however, has only so much elastic in it. This is too dark, too clean, the flavors are glossy and sweet. Nah.
Dom. de l'Arlot 2010 Nuits-St-Georges "Clos des Forets" - 375 ml. An attempt to recover some balance at the end this shows great depth of flavor (the expected dark berries but accented with orange pith) but also a little bitter; probably too much tannin to be really likable now; lots of promise