Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Jay+Arnold, Chris+Lisa, Jayson, Jeff
Rare. Storied. Legendary.
It has been a long time since there was jeebus at Beaucoin. Time to change that. I assembled a wine-friendly menu...
Nibbles: bread, olives, avocado-sardine dip, coconut cucumber salad
Starter: Le Fromage Sauvage: brie en croute with wild mushrooms
Main: Cake Forestier, skirt steak, carrots confit on a bed of endive
Dessert: none planned (but I have some artisanal malted milk balls ready)
...and sent invitations until my table was full.
The weather was predicted to be gloomy but clear. That would have been fine. Instead, it snowed 5-7". Fortunately, that didn't stop anybody.
First to arrive are Don and Melissa - you know, the people who traveled the furthest to get here. Don has his soprano sax with him and Melissa is wearing two pairs of sox. Next to arrive are the intrepid islanders, Chris and Lisa. They shake off the snow and settle in at the luau table. Next, Jay and Arnold, looking remarkably fresh and unruffled, stride through the door. Ah ha, they're not covered in snow because they drove here. Jayson is expected a little later due to an earlier engagement.
Every person has a story. So does every wine:
Egon Muller 2009 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - AP 3 567 142-2-10, from 375 ml, I did not taste it but the producer is a giant in the field (not a trellising joke)
Pepiere 2015 Muscadet "Clos des Briords" - from the vineyard that put the "Ahh..." in Muscadet, bright and cheerful and saline, maybe even better than the '14, and that's saying something, cuts beautifully through the sardine and avocado
Don tells us the story of Antoine Cristal, a businessman who bought a Loire vineyard in 1890, made it a clos, and then began one brilliant innovation after another: he was among the first to replant on American root-stock after phylloxera, he installed trellises (then new), he farmed organically (as we would call it), he refused to chaptalize (and foresaw that "chemists" would eventually make wine from "junk"), and, strangest of all, he built a series of parallel walls throughout the clos, planting the vines on the cool north side and training them through openings in the wall so the fruit basks on the warm south side. When M. Cristal died, he willed the vineyard to the Hospice de Saumur, and, to this day, two hospital employees tend the vines and make the wine. Also, nowadays there are rows of vines planted between the rows of walls so, as you might have guessed, there are two cuvees. More here.
Clos Cristal 2013 Saumur Champigny "Hospice de Saumur" - nice enough, good acidity, clean, straighforward cab franc
Clos Cristal 2013 Saumur Champigny "Les Murs" - also good acidic backbone but even brighter and more appealing, flavor profile more pure cherry, lightweight, delightful
But don't get too attached, Don adds, because the Hospital is broke and the Clos is available for rent via 25-year lease.
Meanwhile, I don't know whether I recall that Breton made wine from Les Picasses, another vineyard held dear by Loire-heads everywhere:
Breton 1996 Chinon "Les Picasses" - this bottle is in perfect condition and the wine is gloriously fresh and complex with hints of earth, mint, and shoe leather
And another brilliant estate, passing into legend as the number of remaining bottles dwindles:
Clos Roche Blanche 2004 Touraine "Cot Malbec" - from the days when the old and young vines went into the same cuvee, good but I was hoping to be wowed
And another brilliant, eclectic estate with a singular reputation:
Ch. Musar 1997 Rouge - the usual witches' brew of brett, VA, and a half-dozen other flaws; drinks well, kinda ripe for Musar
The following wine is the one that suggested the theme of this writeup. It is the springboard material for the most famous/infamous TN ever published. Will we catch the thong tonight?:
Overnoy 1993 Arbois-Pupillin - like standing downwind from Chinese New Year: so much sulfur!, there may have been a fruity lightweight wine under there somewhere but I just can't get past the yellow crystalline deposits forming on my upper lip
Here's another stunning wine and a sentimenal favorite from Brother Eric:
Texier 2000 Cote-Rotie VV - incredibly elegant, full of lavender and delicate red fruit, yum
The subject had been raised recently on WD about the qualities of old dolcetto so here is a contribution to that discussion:
Rinaldi, F. 1978 Dolcetto - double-decanted five hours ahead, very much alive in the nose and full-on austere in the mouth, a little grippy yet, autumnal flavor profile
While we're already in La Macchina del Tempo:
Minuto, Frat. 1964 Barolo, Riserva Speciale - double-decanted five hours ahead, too, but I seem to have no note?
The gods giveth and the Portuguese taketh away:
Ch. Soucherie 1996 Coteaux du Layon VV - corked; we stuffed a Baggie in it and swirled it around but meh
Can't let it end like that so I quick pop a wine made "in anecdotal quantities":
Ch. d'Arlay 2011 Vin de Paille - bottle #17 of 260, 375 ml, all aboard The Walnut Cannonball!: it's still raisin juice and the act of fermentation hasn't really disturbed that fact very much but there is decent acidity and, upon tasting, a powerful kick of walnuts, unusual and good
There is music, of course: Squirrel Nut Zippers on the stereo, Don and I play a "Greensleeves" duet. There is conversation: politics, travel, relationships, wine. There is travel back to home.
Rare. Storied. Legendary.
It has been a long time since there was jeebus at Beaucoin. Time to change that. I assembled a wine-friendly menu...
Nibbles: bread, olives, avocado-sardine dip, coconut cucumber salad
Starter: Le Fromage Sauvage: brie en croute with wild mushrooms
Main: Cake Forestier, skirt steak, carrots confit on a bed of endive
Dessert: none planned (but I have some artisanal malted milk balls ready)
...and sent invitations until my table was full.
The weather was predicted to be gloomy but clear. That would have been fine. Instead, it snowed 5-7". Fortunately, that didn't stop anybody.
First to arrive are Don and Melissa - you know, the people who traveled the furthest to get here. Don has his soprano sax with him and Melissa is wearing two pairs of sox. Next to arrive are the intrepid islanders, Chris and Lisa. They shake off the snow and settle in at the luau table. Next, Jay and Arnold, looking remarkably fresh and unruffled, stride through the door. Ah ha, they're not covered in snow because they drove here. Jayson is expected a little later due to an earlier engagement.
Every person has a story. So does every wine:
Egon Muller 2009 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - AP 3 567 142-2-10, from 375 ml, I did not taste it but the producer is a giant in the field (not a trellising joke)
Pepiere 2015 Muscadet "Clos des Briords" - from the vineyard that put the "Ahh..." in Muscadet, bright and cheerful and saline, maybe even better than the '14, and that's saying something, cuts beautifully through the sardine and avocado
Don tells us the story of Antoine Cristal, a businessman who bought a Loire vineyard in 1890, made it a clos, and then began one brilliant innovation after another: he was among the first to replant on American root-stock after phylloxera, he installed trellises (then new), he farmed organically (as we would call it), he refused to chaptalize (and foresaw that "chemists" would eventually make wine from "junk"), and, strangest of all, he built a series of parallel walls throughout the clos, planting the vines on the cool north side and training them through openings in the wall so the fruit basks on the warm south side. When M. Cristal died, he willed the vineyard to the Hospice de Saumur, and, to this day, two hospital employees tend the vines and make the wine. Also, nowadays there are rows of vines planted between the rows of walls so, as you might have guessed, there are two cuvees. More here.
Clos Cristal 2013 Saumur Champigny "Hospice de Saumur" - nice enough, good acidity, clean, straighforward cab franc
Clos Cristal 2013 Saumur Champigny "Les Murs" - also good acidic backbone but even brighter and more appealing, flavor profile more pure cherry, lightweight, delightful
But don't get too attached, Don adds, because the Hospital is broke and the Clos is available for rent via 25-year lease.
Meanwhile, I don't know whether I recall that Breton made wine from Les Picasses, another vineyard held dear by Loire-heads everywhere:
Breton 1996 Chinon "Les Picasses" - this bottle is in perfect condition and the wine is gloriously fresh and complex with hints of earth, mint, and shoe leather
And another brilliant estate, passing into legend as the number of remaining bottles dwindles:
Clos Roche Blanche 2004 Touraine "Cot Malbec" - from the days when the old and young vines went into the same cuvee, good but I was hoping to be wowed
And another brilliant, eclectic estate with a singular reputation:
Ch. Musar 1997 Rouge - the usual witches' brew of brett, VA, and a half-dozen other flaws; drinks well, kinda ripe for Musar
The following wine is the one that suggested the theme of this writeup. It is the springboard material for the most famous/infamous TN ever published. Will we catch the thong tonight?:
Overnoy 1993 Arbois-Pupillin - like standing downwind from Chinese New Year: so much sulfur!, there may have been a fruity lightweight wine under there somewhere but I just can't get past the yellow crystalline deposits forming on my upper lip
Here's another stunning wine and a sentimenal favorite from Brother Eric:
Texier 2000 Cote-Rotie VV - incredibly elegant, full of lavender and delicate red fruit, yum
The subject had been raised recently on WD about the qualities of old dolcetto so here is a contribution to that discussion:
Rinaldi, F. 1978 Dolcetto - double-decanted five hours ahead, very much alive in the nose and full-on austere in the mouth, a little grippy yet, autumnal flavor profile
While we're already in La Macchina del Tempo:
Minuto, Frat. 1964 Barolo, Riserva Speciale - double-decanted five hours ahead, too, but I seem to have no note?
The gods giveth and the Portuguese taketh away:
Ch. Soucherie 1996 Coteaux du Layon VV - corked; we stuffed a Baggie in it and swirled it around but meh
Can't let it end like that so I quick pop a wine made "in anecdotal quantities":
Ch. d'Arlay 2011 Vin de Paille - bottle #17 of 260, 375 ml, all aboard The Walnut Cannonball!: it's still raisin juice and the act of fermentation hasn't really disturbed that fact very much but there is decent acidity and, upon tasting, a powerful kick of walnuts, unusual and good
There is music, of course: Squirrel Nut Zippers on the stereo, Don and I play a "Greensleeves" duet. There is conversation: politics, travel, relationships, wine. There is travel back to home.