TN: That Spring Chicken (July 1, 2017)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: Marc, Suzanne, Ira, Winton, Brad, Lisa, Jay, Jeff

Jay's bday. He's plenty jolly, being in the cool cellar and not outdoors in the heat. And we've gotten smart about bringing our own glasses to this ever more disheveled cellar.

Is Marc still here from last week? He only smiles and won't say.

Ira, we all know, is definitely still here from last week.

We replenish the groaning board, swap some snipe about better and worse Ah-Sos and away we go:

Dom. Pepiere 2014 Muscadet "Clisson" - excellent, seashells and yellow fruit, open for business, great great wine

Dom. Colin-Deleger 1994 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "En Remilly" - full and rich, properly oxidized for its age, still not my thing

Dom. F.X. Pichler 2002 Riesling Smaragd "M" - Qualitatswein "L" F5067/03, full and rich and also vivid and honeyed... and will be fine in another 5 years, too

Dom. Dauvissat 2008 Chablis GC "Les Clos" - nose is not bad but the palate is flat and tinny, premox victim

Joly 1995 Savennieres Moelleux "Clos de la Coulee de Serrant" - sweet and oxidative, the wine is overtly manipulated and while a little oxi works with sweet most of the time... this ain't one of those times

Clos Roche Blanche 2003 Touraine Gamay - gorgeous, all dirt and brown leaves, one of Jay's favorites today

Coudert (Clos de la Roilette) 2002 Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" - gorgeous, cranberry and minerals, dry and vigorous, still going strong

It's not my imagination, is it, that Bacchus is giving Jay a good ride today?

Huet 2002 Vouvray Demisec "Le Mont" - beautiful, apricots and honey, vivid acidity, chalk way into the finish, pretty good bottle

Huet 2005 Vouvray Demisec "Clos du Bourg" - sweeter and heavier than the 02, still good

Vallana 1958 Vino Spanna, Traversagna - gorgeous, tutti-frutti (tilting towards red), slight sour mash tang makes some folks grumble but this is great

Ch. La Dominique 1979 St-Emilion Grand Cru Classe - severe, tobacco-inflected, robust, spry old charmer

Dom. Marquis d'Angerville 2002 Volnay 1er "Caillerets" - beautiful, vinous, mineral dust over red berries, ready

Dom. B. Amiot 2000 Chambolle-Musigny - nice (sorry, notes are getting sparser by now)

Dom. de la Cote Sainte-Epine 2013 St-Joseph VV - corked

Robert Weil 2001 Kiedrich Grafenburg Riesling Auslese - 34003 010 02, 375ml, OMG, botrytis and golden raisins, wow

Dr. F. Weins-Prum Erben 1985 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - 2 576 566 19 86, 375 ml, pretty, face-powder and flowers

Zilliken 1985 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese - 3 553 083 786, 375 ml, gorgeous, though acidity is a bit sharp

Trimbach 1990 Riesling "Cuvée Frédéric Emile" VT - it would have taken quite a lot to muscle one's way past all that auslesen and this wine didn't do it

Happy Birthday, Jay!
 
Beautiful, Jeff. Thanks. Too bad about the Trimbach, but that is a pretty hefty row of thunder cannon Rieslings.

And Happy Birthday indeed, Jay!
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
TN: That Spring Chicken (July 1, 2017)attendees: Marc, Suzanne, Ira, Winton, Brad, Lisa, Jay, Jeff

Jay's bday. He's plenty jolly, being in the cool cellar and not outdoors in the heat. And we've gotten smart about bringing our own glasses to this ever more disheveled cellar.

Is Marc still here from last week? He only smiles and won't say.

Ira, we all know, is definitely still here from last week.

We replenish the groaning board, swap some snipe about better and worse Ah-Sos and away we go:

Dom. Pepiere 2014 Muscadet "Clisson" - excellent, seashells and yellow fruit, open for business, great great wine

Dom. Colin-Deleger 1994 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er "En Remilly" - full and rich, properly oxidized for its age, still not my thing

Dom. F.X. Pichler 2002 Riesling Smaragd "M" - Qualitatswein "L" F5067/03, full and rich and also vivid and honeyed... and will be fine in another 5 years, too

Dom. Dauvissat 2008 Chablis GC "Les Clos" - nose is not bad but the palate is flat and tinny, premox victim

Joly 1995 Savennieres Moelleux "Clos de la Coulee de Serrant" - sweet and oxidative, the wine is overtly manipulated and while a little oxi works with sweet most of the time... this ain't one of those times

Clos Roche Blanche 2003 Touraine Gamay - gorgeous, all dirt and brown leaves, one of Jay's favorites today

Coudert (Clos de la Roilette) 2002 Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" - gorgeous, cranberry and minerals, dry and vigorous, still going strong

It's not my imagination, is it, that Bacchus is giving Jay a good ride today?

Huet 2002 Vouvray Demisec "Le Mont" - beautiful, apricots and honey, vivid acidity, chalk way into the finish, pretty good bottle

Huet 2005 Vouvray Demisec "Clos du Bourg" - sweeter and heavier than the 02, still good

Vallana 1958 Vino Spanna, Traversagna - gorgeous, tutti-frutti (tilting towards red), slight sour mash tang makes some folks grumble but this is great

Ch. La Dominique 1979 St-Emilion Grand Cru Classe - severe, tobacco-inflected, robust, spry old charmer

Dom. Marquis d'Angerville 2002 Volnay 1er "Caillerets" - beautiful, vinous, mineral dust over red berries, ready

Dom. B. Amiot 2000 Chambolle-Musigny - nice (sorry, notes are getting sparser by now)

Dom. de la Cote Sainte-Epine 2013 St-Joseph VV - corked

Robert Weil 2001 Kiedrich Grafenburg Riesling Auslese - 34003 010 02, 375ml, OMG, botrytis and golden raisins, wow

Dr. F. Weins-Prum Erben 1985 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - 2 576 566 19 86, 375 ml, pretty, face-powder and flowers

Zilliken 1985 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese - 3 553 083 786, 375 ml, gorgeous, though acidity is a bit sharp

Trimbach 2007 Riesling "Cuvée Frédéric Emile" VT - it would have taken quite a lot to muscle one's way past all that auslesen and this wine didn't do it

Happy Birthday, Jay!
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A fun time in the cellar! As an fyi, the Trimbach FE VT was the 1990, not the '07. My last bottle and so glad Jay got to try it as he's never had it before and it showed beautifully.

The '02 Huet started off nicely, though not quite the shower that the '02 LHL Demi was on the 19th annual birthday jeeb. Also, with extended air it did start to lose its luster. The '05 was lovely in its fatter style

I didn't find the '79 La Dominique so severe. Sure, some tannins hit at the beginning, but a mouthful of food tamed them and the wine bloomed nicely with air, with the tannins softening, the fruit coming more to the forefront and integrating nicely with the tobacco and earth.

I didn't like the '03 CRB as much as you and Jay, though I really enjoyed the Coudert.

The Prager was terrific and the trio of German Rieslings showed nicely, with the Weil easily taking top honors there.
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
As an fyi, the Trimbach FE VT was the 1990, not the '07. My last bottle and so glad Jay got to try it as he's never had it before and it showed beautifully.
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Correction made. Thank you.
 
Thanks to everyone who attended. It was a delightful afternoon.

My wines of the night were the 2003 Clos Roche Blanche, the 1958 Spanna and the 1990 Trimbach VT (did you really drink it after the Auslesen?) but while those were magical there were a lot of good to spectacular wines on the table.

For over a decade I've regretted not laying down any 2003 red Loires and the CRB only reinforced that opinion. A touch less of the trademark minerality but perfectly balanced acidity and fruit. Glorious. Like the 1958 Spanna it just filled my senses with beauty. The 1990 Trimbach VT was equally amazing in its own way with yellow plum and power, minerality and complexity to spare. The regular FE can sometimes seem a bit severe but that is not an issue for the VT. I'm very grateful for the chance to finally try it.

Dom. Pepiere 2014 Muscadet "Clisson" - I thought this, like many recent release Clissons, needs time. Drink the Pepiere or the Briords now, revisit the Clisson in 5.

Ch. La Dominique 1979 St-Emilion Grand Cru Classe - Loved this gentle old wine. I've been recommending drinking up your 1979s for over 10 years now. I'm probably still wrong.

Dom. Marquis d'Angerville 2002 Volnay 1er "Caillerets" - beautiful vibrantly young (but not closed) Burgundy.

Dr. F. Weins-Prum Erben 1985 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - this was my clear favorite of the three Auslesen.

Oh, and a special thanks to the new Chelsea Wine Storage management for providing plenty of questionable design decisions for us to enjoy making fun of. Kudos, I guess.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
The 1990 Trimbach VT was equally amazing in its own way with yellow plum and power, minerality and complexity to spare. The regular FE can sometimes seem a bit severe but that is not an issue for the VT. I'm very grateful for the chance to finally try it.
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I wish I had known. I promise it won't be your last time tasting it.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

Dom. de la Cote Sainte-Epine 2013 St-Joseph VV - corked

Happy Birthday, Jay!
Click to expand...

Jay, how funny is that?
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I know, right?

Anyway, thank you for the attempted present. And well done on clearing the corked wine out of your storage. And well done to me for not holding onto it for years.
 
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