TN: Jeebus of the North (Jan 15, 2018)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: Tim, Carl, Dennis, Jeff

Lansing, Michigan. Another state capital that isn't the state's biggest town, or its most-famous town, or a vibrant hub of activity in the new milennium. It is the home of the Spartans but that kind of talk is best saved for the Jeebus bored.

Lansing, Michigan, on this evening of MLK Day is snowy, cold, quiet. My flights landed two hours late but I was told to come on over to the restaurant anytime, the guys are eating slowly.

I arrive and the gang's all here and, indeed, in an hour and a half they've opened most of the wine but only eaten as far as the starters. I like these guys already.

The Disorderly community is tight-knit: Tim appears to be Pooh-Bah and knows all the good local ITB'ers (Curt and Carl, current; Dennis, previous), who in turn prevailed upon a local restaurateur to give us a break on BYO prices, and so we are sitting at a table at Soup Spoon. The restaurant may make its hay with hearty and varied soups but it also offers excellent pan roasts and braises.

So, with schnitzel, short rib, and venison meat loaf aforethought, I catch up on the wines:

Rene Geoffroy MV Champagne Brut 1er "Expression" - disgorged July 2013, this tastes a lot like pinot meunier with its citrus, chestnut and funky aromas; the wine treads the line nicely between too AFWE and too bready; I like this (cyberstalking the wine I find: 43% pinot meunier, 32% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay; 65% of the fruit was from 2010 and the rest from 2009 and 2008; 30 months on its lees)

Mystery Wine: White - it wasn't a mystery at 7pm but it was by the time I got there; OK, OK, torment the visiting geek... the nose is tangy but not sharp, a bit of wax and maybe apricot, rather tactile in the mouth; unusual, not bad. So, some guesses: rousanne (for the texture), chenin blanc (but not grown in the Loire), vermentino (in a low-acid style), or, what I plunked for, a low-acid Chablis maybe from a not-so-good year. And it is... riesling from San Luis Obispo: Union Sacre 2016 Riesling "Fraulein"

Mystery Wine: Red - First sip: dilly oak, so Rioja. Next sip: shows a strong cabernet finish, raspy dark berries and earth. While mulling it over, I notice that the acidity is starting to poke up into the roof of my mouth and that reminds me that Tim had previously mentioned he might bring a certain wine known for its vivid acidity so... it is Umathum 2001 Frauenkirchner Ried Hallebühl, a titan of zweigelt grown in pebbly iron-laced soils, and it is impressively nice

Robert Michel 1997 Cornas "La Geynale" - still grippy, this has smoothed out a bit in 20 years, it's stern and blue-fruited with hints of thyme and other herbs... and we all just drank it right down

Baudry 1999 Chinon "Les Grezeaux" - immediately on opening this is pretty hearty, green peppery, horsey; a bit much for Tim ("Only if you like 'em really French."); he hands me the bottle to take home; Day 2: no longer downwind from the stables, the pyrazine assault is mitigated with a bit of sweetness and pleasant mid-weight cabernet flavors under all.

Taylor-Fladgate 1977 Vintage Port - doing very well at age 40: spirity cherries and brown sugar, the fruit is faded but the wine is silky and lithe and still strong (more yoga than judo), an excellent finishing cup

Thank you to Tim, Carl, and Dennis for a convivial evening. Thanks also to Soup Spoon for the good food and easy service. Thanks, finally, to Curt, who arranged it all but could not attend.
 
Sounds like you're settling in. When I saw Mystery Wine, I thought they might have slipped you some Michigan rieslings. Maybe you'll try some during your sojourn.
 
Went here tonight with non-geek workmates. This is a wine- and cocktail- friendly restaurant just north of Lansing. The owner is certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers and he offers 150 wines by the glass. (Nod to the Coravin.)

We order a few starters and mains and then decide to do bottles:

Mawby "M. Lawrence" NV Dry Rose Sparkling Wine "Sex" - Are you ready? Pinot, chard, and muscat hand-harvested, whole-cluster pressed, fermented in stainless, blended with reserve wine, fermented a second time in a closed tank, then filtered, dosaged, and bottled. The wine is pale pink, definitely brut, genetically frooty. Clean, nicely made, if a little OTT. It was popular with the non-geeks at the table; pretty sure my non-geek spouse would like it, too. This is a product of a Michigan winery, by the way, a recommendation of my local factotum. (Nod to Tim.)

Nino Negri 2013 Valtellina Superiore "Quadrio" - 90% chiavennasca (== nebbiolo) and 10% merlot, raised 20 months in large Slavonian oak barrels; the nose is mild but the palate is definitely nebbiolo; the merlot adds just a little extra body and sweetness; perfectly nice mid-weight wine to have with the likes of pork stroganoff and duck ragu.
 
Larry Mawby's méthode traditionnelle wines are worth seeking out. They're usually in the $20-$30 range and while they won't blow your mind they're always enjoyable. He makes a pinot noir rose called Grace that is quite the counterpoint to "Sex."
 
I've been a long time lurker of WD and lurked previously at Wine Therapy. I've been reading and enjoying Jeff's tasting notes for years. When he posted that he was coming to the Lansing area, I had to reach out to him with some recommendations. Sure, Ann Arbor has some cool things going on, and I get there often. But one can eat well and find good wines/beers in the Lansing area without having to drive an hour.

When Jeff tossed out the suggestion of a Jeebus, I made some calls to find a venue. Michigan has some silly alcohol laws. BYOB was allowed a few years ago but only at places that already have liquor licenses. Anyone want to guess which lobbyist group wrote that law? I talked to my buddy Curt, the owner of Vine and Brew (as good or better than any wine/beer/spirits store in Ann Arbor), and he was able to arrange a modest corkage fee for us at Soup Spoon Café.

Jeff was running late because of flight delays and he even suggested we cancel given his likely late arrival. Nonsense. This is the Midwest. We take things easy. The restaurant was open until 10pm. We would gather, open a few bottles, slowly eat some starters, and hold off on the main dishes until Jeff arrived.

I stopped taking wine notes years ago so I have nothing detailed to add. Jeff's assessment of the wines closely matches my impressions. The champagne was excellent and complex. The Riesling from CA was interesting and was Karl's offering. Karl, Dennis and I were enjoying it, but at one point I said "If this had been served blind, I would not have guessed Riesling." This is coming from someone that drinks a lot of German and Austrian Rieslings. Then it hit me; we could test my conjecture on Jeff. So, we hid the label from him and had him guess. His guesses where good given the taste and texture of the wine. The wine simply did not taste like Riesling. Must be the San Luis Obispo terroir.

Given his late arrival, Jeff did not have time to procure some bottles so I let him pick some things from my cellar. The Cornas was drinking well. Still very dark in color, rustic and savage like an old school Cornas should be. The tannins have softened with age but the acidity is prominent in a good way.

The Umathum is a beautiful wine for my palate and shows that well made reds from Austria can benefit from age.

The Chinon was a science experiment I had forgotten about. I picked it up around 2002 at Chamber's Street Wine on a trip to NYC. It was an interesting wine to drink but showed me again that Cabernet Franc (and Cabernet Sauvignon) are not my grapes even with bottle age. Of course, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions.

The Port was a treat. Thank you Dennis.

It was a pleasure to meet Jeff and share a meal/wines with him.
 
Oh, yes, beers! I was in two Lansing alcohol-selling venues and both of them had acres of beers. I poked around but I was way out of my depth and hopped back to the wine side of the shops pretty quickly.
 
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