Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Suzanne+Kenny+Perry, Chris+Lisa, Seth, Brad, Zach, Jayson, Jeff
Mmm, stinky cheese melted over potatoes and pork.
Hearty winter fare and reasonably wine-friendly. Suzanne and I acquire one real and one ersatz reblochon, a pound of Dickson's bacon (much meaty and smoky), and 8 pounds of potatoes....
click to embiggen
We start the afternoon with various sliced, cured meats (30-month prosciutto, culatello riserva, finocchiona, soppressata, duck rillettes) and other noshes (buttered radishes, marcona almonds and cashews, kalamata and provencal olives, cornichons). When the tartiflette are ready we call everyone to the table and serve a frisee salad along side. Much later, Suzanne's delicate pear tart is just enough dessert.
We generally proceeded reds to whites, figuring acidity to be more useful at this table than tannins.
B. Giacosa 1996 Barolo "Villero di Castiglione Falletto" - Suzanne double-decanted and took this off its sediment around 10a. I think she said it was very closed then. Well, by 4p it was open for business: wow nose of roses, fresh-turned earth (Brad says "tar"), pretty red fruit, tannins are just starting to melt, great bottle
Dom. H. Lignier 1996 Morey-St-Denis 1er VV - also pretty but in a completely different way: high-toned red fruit, dresser-drawer sachet mixed with a little celery seed and a little milk, vigorous and good
Dom. D. Bachelet 1985 Gevrey-Chambertin VV - funky nose at first but this grows on me... very strawberry, gentle tannins that are almost all gone, delicate, "Not bad for an old girl" -Suzanne
Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1994 Margaux - potent and aromatic nose of cassis and tobacco but delicate, even silky, on the palate, another red fruited wine; another surprising wine
Dom. L’Aigueliere 1995 Coteaux de Languedoc Montpeyroux "Cote Rousse" - a little school paste but then suave, grippy, primary; not my cuppa but I appreciate it
Ch. Montus 1995 Madiran "Cuvee Prestige" - when opened, unyielding; an hour later, this starts to show the cool blue fruits and famous tannins; a good, youthful bottle; I had to search high and low to find this nowadays and it was the only red wine that could stand up to the tartiflette
And now the whites:
Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Les Ruchottes" - maderized, good wine under there but too dark and too far gone
Dom. Raveneau 2004 Chablis 1er "Butteaux" - I found this uncharming and undistinctive, hard even to peg it as Chablis; clearly, something is wrong with me but others will have to sing its praises
Weingut Hirtzberger 2010 Hochrain Riesling Smaragd - vivid, crisp, ripe, wow, my favorite white, "The flint bomb!" -Zach
F. Chidaine 2002 Montlouis-sur-Loire "Les Tuffeaux" - This is so good. You could knock me over with a feather: I remember when these were released, I bought Les Tuffeaux instead of the much-touted Clos Habert. But then the wine had a long-ish sullen period with lack of acidity and lack of charm so I finished them off. But this is rich, fresh, tangy, not quite all the way to "luxurious" but close. Acidity is still middling-low but there’s a nice texture to this wine - a little RS maybe? - that reminds me of a good Riesling
Pol Roger 2002 Champagne Brut "Extra Cuvee de Reserve" - 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, this is vinous, bright, chewy, a whiff of ginger and bakery, I like this a lot
Weingut Leitz 2002 Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese - delicate and modest, its virtues are being shouted down by strong cheese and strong wine
And now the sweets:
Ch. de Rayne-Vigneau 1988 Sauternes - good balance, "GOOD BALANCE" -Chris, fairly lightweight, a tad oaky but gently sweet and tactile, lovely stuff
Dom. Huet 2015 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" - brilliant acidity but seems clumsy and unfocused today, I could barely tell what it was
Muller-Catoir 1992 Mussbacher Eselshaut Riesling Beerenauslese - open for 2 months already and even all that sugar and all that acid can’t protect it that long
A few snapshots and the obligatory Bottles Portrait (thanks to Brad):
.Brad had fun
.Suzanne means it!
panorama - click to embiggen
bottle portraits - click to embiggen
Mmm, stinky cheese melted over potatoes and pork.
Hearty winter fare and reasonably wine-friendly. Suzanne and I acquire one real and one ersatz reblochon, a pound of Dickson's bacon (much meaty and smoky), and 8 pounds of potatoes....
click to embiggen
We start the afternoon with various sliced, cured meats (30-month prosciutto, culatello riserva, finocchiona, soppressata, duck rillettes) and other noshes (buttered radishes, marcona almonds and cashews, kalamata and provencal olives, cornichons). When the tartiflette are ready we call everyone to the table and serve a frisee salad along side. Much later, Suzanne's delicate pear tart is just enough dessert.
We generally proceeded reds to whites, figuring acidity to be more useful at this table than tannins.
B. Giacosa 1996 Barolo "Villero di Castiglione Falletto" - Suzanne double-decanted and took this off its sediment around 10a. I think she said it was very closed then. Well, by 4p it was open for business: wow nose of roses, fresh-turned earth (Brad says "tar"), pretty red fruit, tannins are just starting to melt, great bottle
Dom. H. Lignier 1996 Morey-St-Denis 1er VV - also pretty but in a completely different way: high-toned red fruit, dresser-drawer sachet mixed with a little celery seed and a little milk, vigorous and good
Dom. D. Bachelet 1985 Gevrey-Chambertin VV - funky nose at first but this grows on me... very strawberry, gentle tannins that are almost all gone, delicate, "Not bad for an old girl" -Suzanne
Ch. Rauzan-Segla 1994 Margaux - potent and aromatic nose of cassis and tobacco but delicate, even silky, on the palate, another red fruited wine; another surprising wine
Dom. L’Aigueliere 1995 Coteaux de Languedoc Montpeyroux "Cote Rousse" - a little school paste but then suave, grippy, primary; not my cuppa but I appreciate it
Ch. Montus 1995 Madiran "Cuvee Prestige" - when opened, unyielding; an hour later, this starts to show the cool blue fruits and famous tannins; a good, youthful bottle; I had to search high and low to find this nowadays and it was the only red wine that could stand up to the tartiflette
And now the whites:
Dom. Ramonet 1995 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "Les Ruchottes" - maderized, good wine under there but too dark and too far gone
Dom. Raveneau 2004 Chablis 1er "Butteaux" - I found this uncharming and undistinctive, hard even to peg it as Chablis; clearly, something is wrong with me but others will have to sing its praises
Weingut Hirtzberger 2010 Hochrain Riesling Smaragd - vivid, crisp, ripe, wow, my favorite white, "The flint bomb!" -Zach
F. Chidaine 2002 Montlouis-sur-Loire "Les Tuffeaux" - This is so good. You could knock me over with a feather: I remember when these were released, I bought Les Tuffeaux instead of the much-touted Clos Habert. But then the wine had a long-ish sullen period with lack of acidity and lack of charm so I finished them off. But this is rich, fresh, tangy, not quite all the way to "luxurious" but close. Acidity is still middling-low but there’s a nice texture to this wine - a little RS maybe? - that reminds me of a good Riesling
Pol Roger 2002 Champagne Brut "Extra Cuvee de Reserve" - 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, this is vinous, bright, chewy, a whiff of ginger and bakery, I like this a lot
Weingut Leitz 2002 Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese - delicate and modest, its virtues are being shouted down by strong cheese and strong wine
And now the sweets:
Ch. de Rayne-Vigneau 1988 Sauternes - good balance, "GOOD BALANCE" -Chris, fairly lightweight, a tad oaky but gently sweet and tactile, lovely stuff
Dom. Huet 2015 Vouvray Moelleux "Le Mont" - brilliant acidity but seems clumsy and unfocused today, I could barely tell what it was
Muller-Catoir 1992 Mussbacher Eselshaut Riesling Beerenauslese - open for 2 months already and even all that sugar and all that acid can’t protect it that long
A few snapshots and the obligatory Bottles Portrait (thanks to Brad):
panorama - click to embiggen
bottle portraits - click to embiggen