Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Craig, Gary, Ben, Victor, Sasha, Alex, Jayson, Jay, Jeff
NB. notes from memory so patchy
Jay, like several people, still has a case or two at Chelsea Wine Storage for various logistical reasons. Time had come to wrangle some of those bottles so he summoned The Usual Suspects to jeeb like the old days.
We visit the old haunts for victuals -- Dickson's, Amy's, Lucy's, Buon Italia, The Lobster Place -- and get down to some serious work brushing aside those nasty old tree plugs:
Dom. Pepiere 2004 Muscadet "Clos des Briords" - served blind using a ridiculously large Burgundy balloon stem as a decanter; spoiled, though not as badly as the bottle on Wednesday
Egon Muller 2015 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - first out of Jay's case and a goodie: a whiff of petrol then a really big fruity nose, expressive palate, the vintage is worth the hype if you judge by this bottle
Paul Pernot 2000 Puligny-Montrachet 1er "Les Pucelles" - Jayson thinks we need more whites so bring this out, white Burgundy does not drive me to ecstasy so if I say it's nice enough
Dom. Baudry 2014 Chinon Rouge "Les Grezeaux" - Let's drink like a Monkey: young, fresh, full of green-tinged cabernet and juicy acidity, it takes till well through the mid-palate for the dirt to push its way past all the fruit, I should buy more of this, Sasha says to buy the Guillot, too
Dom. Jouan 1996 Morey-St-Denis 1er "Clos Sorbe" - an infrequently-seen house and, to judge from this bottle, they were lighting matches and throwing them in the cuve, would the sulfur blow off (...which it is refusing to do...) there is an excellent wine here, clean and gently fruity, this desperately needs a sojourn through a copper funnel
CUNE 1975 Rioja Reserva "Imperial" - in a pretty state of decline, red berries gently mashed into wet black earth, not entirely ringing my bells though
And, suddenly, a theme leaps from the table and possesses those with stocks of wine at hand:
Ch. La Dominique 1979 St-Emilion Grand Cru - by-the-book old claret with leather and tobacco and a tiny but unfortunate tinny note that bothers me more than others
Ch. Haut-Brion 1979 Graves - OMG, an excellent bottle, it's hard to pull the flavors apart because it drinks as one experience
Ch. Haut-Bailly 1979 Graves - not as substantial as the Haut-Brion but a fresher bottle so more vivid if not more complex
Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 1979 St-Julien - corked; it's different from different glasses but there is no redeeming it; damn
Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 1979 St-Julien - Victor says to try another... maderized, also damn
And they were still opening bottles when I left.
NB. notes from memory so patchy
Jay, like several people, still has a case or two at Chelsea Wine Storage for various logistical reasons. Time had come to wrangle some of those bottles so he summoned The Usual Suspects to jeeb like the old days.
We visit the old haunts for victuals -- Dickson's, Amy's, Lucy's, Buon Italia, The Lobster Place -- and get down to some serious work brushing aside those nasty old tree plugs:
Dom. Pepiere 2004 Muscadet "Clos des Briords" - served blind using a ridiculously large Burgundy balloon stem as a decanter; spoiled, though not as badly as the bottle on Wednesday
Egon Muller 2015 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett - first out of Jay's case and a goodie: a whiff of petrol then a really big fruity nose, expressive palate, the vintage is worth the hype if you judge by this bottle
Paul Pernot 2000 Puligny-Montrachet 1er "Les Pucelles" - Jayson thinks we need more whites so bring this out, white Burgundy does not drive me to ecstasy so if I say it's nice enough
Dom. Baudry 2014 Chinon Rouge "Les Grezeaux" - Let's drink like a Monkey: young, fresh, full of green-tinged cabernet and juicy acidity, it takes till well through the mid-palate for the dirt to push its way past all the fruit, I should buy more of this, Sasha says to buy the Guillot, too
Dom. Jouan 1996 Morey-St-Denis 1er "Clos Sorbe" - an infrequently-seen house and, to judge from this bottle, they were lighting matches and throwing them in the cuve, would the sulfur blow off (...which it is refusing to do...) there is an excellent wine here, clean and gently fruity, this desperately needs a sojourn through a copper funnel
CUNE 1975 Rioja Reserva "Imperial" - in a pretty state of decline, red berries gently mashed into wet black earth, not entirely ringing my bells though
And, suddenly, a theme leaps from the table and possesses those with stocks of wine at hand:
Ch. La Dominique 1979 St-Emilion Grand Cru - by-the-book old claret with leather and tobacco and a tiny but unfortunate tinny note that bothers me more than others
Ch. Haut-Brion 1979 Graves - OMG, an excellent bottle, it's hard to pull the flavors apart because it drinks as one experience
Ch. Haut-Bailly 1979 Graves - not as substantial as the Haut-Brion but a fresher bottle so more vivid if not more complex
Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 1979 St-Julien - corked; it's different from different glasses but there is no redeeming it; damn
Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 1979 St-Julien - Victor says to try another... maderized, also damn
And they were still opening bottles when I left.