Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Brad, Don+Melissa, .sasha, Delia, Jay, Victor, Jayson, Pascaline, Manuel+Josie, Jeff
It is the Birthday Jeebus. Well, at least, it is the Nearly Birthday Jeebus. Three of us (Manuel, Jayson, Jeff) have birthdays within a week of tonight. So, here we all are at ABA Istanbul for Turkish food and quite a lot of non-Turkish wine:
La Grapperie 2011 Coteaux du Loir "Adonis" - typical pineau d'aunis wacky combo of dark earth and twangy acidity, yummy stuff, I brought this because we're gonna need a lightweight wine in here soon
Foreau 1997 Vouvray Demi-Sec - fresh and tangy, more lemon peel than orange marmalade, sweet but not honeyed or cloying, delightful bottle and much better than other recent examples
Prager 1992 Riesling Smaragd Weissenkirchner Klaus Trocken - SFJoe bottle; gorgeous mouthful of lemon curd and a long waxy finish, wine for grownups
Vouette & Sorbee 2011 Champagne Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Cuvee Blanc d'Argile" - magnum; disgorged 5/2/14; huge froth, tangy and crisp and chalky but still light on its feet, great
Boyer-Martenot 1996 Meursault-Perrieres 1er - from a legendary basement in Michigan, the wine is in perfect condition, unctuous and peachy, not at all tropical or overripe, and yet it reminds some people at the table that other years were better for white burgundy
Trimbach 1990 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - magnum; youthful, limey, tangy, the dang bottle could pass for a weapon but the wine is yum
Clos Roche Blanche 2008 Touraine "Cuvee Gamay" - corked
Dom. du Closel 1985 Savennieres - old-school chenin: lots of candle wax and honeycomb, layers of flavor (none of them oxidized on purpose), it's from a hot climat and it shows in the higher alcohol, "Can't get this today" -Brad
Ch. La Gaffeliere 1970 St-Emilion - it's the Old Bordeaux mix of dark berries, decaying leaves and stiff tannins, this one is a touch lactic for my taste
Ch. Magdelaine 1970 St-Emilion - now take the Old Bordeaux thing and jazz it with a bit of orange peel and step down the tannins in favor of more earth, that's better
Produttori del Barbaresco 1968 Barbaresco - fragrant at first but it goes kinda soft and shoe-polish-y and a little stewy. On the bright side, there is a story here: Manuel bought this bottle earlier today but then discovered that his nouveau hotel had no good wine tools to open it. So, the Latin Liquidator acquired two safety pins and a ballpoint pen and turned them into McGyver's Ah-So: jam the two pins down the side of the cork, thread the pen through their upper ends, and twist-pull. This mostly worked, amazingly enough, but the bottom end of the cork got suctioned back in so he decanted the wine ahead of time.
Bod. Franco-Espanolas 1970 Rioja Riserva "Royal" - completely different profile from the French and Italians: very red-fruit, sandalwood incense, tannins have resolved so the wine is gentle but the finish is long
Ch. Palmer 1970 Margaux - magnum; the OB with darkest black cherry and a hit of shoe polish
Ch. La Fleur-Petrus 1970 Pomerol - sweet, subtle, and pretty; this is a pleasant change from most of the other OB (which are good, of course, but a little bit relentless)
Jamet 1995 Cote-Rotie - whoa, another paradigm shift: this is suave, peppery, medium-weight, and takes a while to open; beautiful wine
Bod. Montecillo 1968 Rioja Crianza "Vina Monty" - my notes are deteriorating: all I have written here is "pretty"
Ch. Climens 1986 Barsac - oaky but luxurious, very full and rich, old-fashioned well-mannered woodiness which has enough oomph to be noticed on our exhausted palates
Pinon 1989 Vouvray Moelleux 1er Trie - acidity has softened a bit but this is clean, gentle, more mandarin than the Foreau, Brad calls a note of black licorice
It is the Birthday Jeebus. Well, at least, it is the Nearly Birthday Jeebus. Three of us (Manuel, Jayson, Jeff) have birthdays within a week of tonight. So, here we all are at ABA Istanbul for Turkish food and quite a lot of non-Turkish wine:
La Grapperie 2011 Coteaux du Loir "Adonis" - typical pineau d'aunis wacky combo of dark earth and twangy acidity, yummy stuff, I brought this because we're gonna need a lightweight wine in here soon
Foreau 1997 Vouvray Demi-Sec - fresh and tangy, more lemon peel than orange marmalade, sweet but not honeyed or cloying, delightful bottle and much better than other recent examples
Prager 1992 Riesling Smaragd Weissenkirchner Klaus Trocken - SFJoe bottle; gorgeous mouthful of lemon curd and a long waxy finish, wine for grownups
Vouette & Sorbee 2011 Champagne Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Cuvee Blanc d'Argile" - magnum; disgorged 5/2/14; huge froth, tangy and crisp and chalky but still light on its feet, great
Boyer-Martenot 1996 Meursault-Perrieres 1er - from a legendary basement in Michigan, the wine is in perfect condition, unctuous and peachy, not at all tropical or overripe, and yet it reminds some people at the table that other years were better for white burgundy
Trimbach 1990 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - magnum; youthful, limey, tangy, the dang bottle could pass for a weapon but the wine is yum
Clos Roche Blanche 2008 Touraine "Cuvee Gamay" - corked
Dom. du Closel 1985 Savennieres - old-school chenin: lots of candle wax and honeycomb, layers of flavor (none of them oxidized on purpose), it's from a hot climat and it shows in the higher alcohol, "Can't get this today" -Brad
Ch. La Gaffeliere 1970 St-Emilion - it's the Old Bordeaux mix of dark berries, decaying leaves and stiff tannins, this one is a touch lactic for my taste
Ch. Magdelaine 1970 St-Emilion - now take the Old Bordeaux thing and jazz it with a bit of orange peel and step down the tannins in favor of more earth, that's better
Produttori del Barbaresco 1968 Barbaresco - fragrant at first but it goes kinda soft and shoe-polish-y and a little stewy. On the bright side, there is a story here: Manuel bought this bottle earlier today but then discovered that his nouveau hotel had no good wine tools to open it. So, the Latin Liquidator acquired two safety pins and a ballpoint pen and turned them into McGyver's Ah-So: jam the two pins down the side of the cork, thread the pen through their upper ends, and twist-pull. This mostly worked, amazingly enough, but the bottom end of the cork got suctioned back in so he decanted the wine ahead of time.
Bod. Franco-Espanolas 1970 Rioja Riserva "Royal" - completely different profile from the French and Italians: very red-fruit, sandalwood incense, tannins have resolved so the wine is gentle but the finish is long
Ch. Palmer 1970 Margaux - magnum; the OB with darkest black cherry and a hit of shoe polish
Ch. La Fleur-Petrus 1970 Pomerol - sweet, subtle, and pretty; this is a pleasant change from most of the other OB (which are good, of course, but a little bit relentless)
Jamet 1995 Cote-Rotie - whoa, another paradigm shift: this is suave, peppery, medium-weight, and takes a while to open; beautiful wine
Bod. Montecillo 1968 Rioja Crianza "Vina Monty" - my notes are deteriorating: all I have written here is "pretty"
Ch. Climens 1986 Barsac - oaky but luxurious, very full and rich, old-fashioned well-mannered woodiness which has enough oomph to be noticed on our exhausted palates
Pinon 1989 Vouvray Moelleux 1er Trie - acidity has softened a bit but this is clean, gentle, more mandarin than the Foreau, Brad calls a note of black licorice
