Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Ira, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, John, Marc, Tyler
Woof, woof.
It is the dog days of summer.
The City is quiet, other than where the tourists throng. Ira successfully prevails upon Marc to host an extended tasting at the shop.
So we gather in the new place and carry-on as if we were in the old place:
Our wines reside in various towns in New Jersey, which is not the same as Aisle 2, but we pre-ordered a bunch to meet us there.
The table groans, albeit in a different key: less charcuterie, more cheese (Consider Bardwell's Rupert, Epoisse, a few more), smoked whitefish and Boulud pate, a nut mix that I have augmented with extra pistachios, and each of us thought the other was bringing bread. We did have a few fancy crackers and breadsticks but not really the kind meant to lay a slab of cheese on.
I arrive on time and pretty much everyone is already here. Jay is limping along but not too badly. John, of the store, is looking a little amused by us all. Marc is diligently scribing, scribing, scribing. Ira is picking a fight with Tyler; get a room, you two.
The shop, of course, was pretty quiet so whenever anybody came in, we said howdy and gave them a glass of something nice (usually the Cotes Sauvages), just for the sake of good cheer. One woman was very appreciative: this was her fourth stop today and all the others had been closed without notice.
Bacchus was quite mercurial, as you'll see, but we drank very well:
Pepiere 2002 Muscadet "Cuvee Eden" - foully corked
Closel 1998 Savennieres "Clos du Papillon" - dry, orange and marzipan and did I say dry yet?, later there's more flowers and some tin can (in a nice way); I like this wine
Barraud 2014 Pouilly-Fuisse "sur la roche" - a bit of butter blows off, yup that's chardonnay
Taittinger 2004 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Comtes de Champagne" - chalky, pure, delightful, but needed some time to get there
Alzinger 2001 Loibner Steinertal Gruner Veltliner Smaragd - just-so corked
Claire Naudin 2016 VdF "Le Clou 34" - aligote (in a nice way), pretty, chalky, a slight lemony aroma, nice at the table
Edmunds St John 1995 "Les Cotes Sauvages" - cinnamon, a hint of orange oil, spice and dark raspberry, slightly jammy but a wow wine
Cafaro 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon - heat damaged
Breton 2004 Bourgueil "Les Perrieres" - gorgeous, minerally nose reveals a little green pepper but the mouth has delicate texture and full-flavor, drink now!
Huet 2008 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Mont" - also pretty, I can't add anything to Jayson's recent note
Allemand 2004 Cornas "Chaillot" - meaty, vinous, orange peel with some pith too, beautiful, medium-heavy weight but the texture is so silky you can hardly tell
Luigi Baudana 2013 Barolo - a little lactic blows off, shows more and more typicity with air, graphite and quinine in the nose, sturdy acidity of course, I like this a lot
Pierre Moncuit NV Champagne Brut GC, Blanc de Blancs - disg. 7/17, a very forward autolytic nose but the palate is wan
Fontodi 1995 Chianti Classico Riserva "Vigna del Sorbo" - very quiet even after hours of waiting, something wrong?
Breton 1999 Bourgueil "Les Perrieres" - definitely the sib of the '04, a little further down the road towards sous-bois and milder acidity, still yum
Seehof 2017 Pinot Noir Trocken Rose - the note says "nice enough", sorry
Honestly, I don't remember too much about getting home. But I did. Rah.
Woof, woof.
It is the dog days of summer.
The City is quiet, other than where the tourists throng. Ira successfully prevails upon Marc to host an extended tasting at the shop.
So we gather in the new place and carry-on as if we were in the old place:
Our wines reside in various towns in New Jersey, which is not the same as Aisle 2, but we pre-ordered a bunch to meet us there.
The table groans, albeit in a different key: less charcuterie, more cheese (Consider Bardwell's Rupert, Epoisse, a few more), smoked whitefish and Boulud pate, a nut mix that I have augmented with extra pistachios, and each of us thought the other was bringing bread. We did have a few fancy crackers and breadsticks but not really the kind meant to lay a slab of cheese on.
I arrive on time and pretty much everyone is already here. Jay is limping along but not too badly. John, of the store, is looking a little amused by us all. Marc is diligently scribing, scribing, scribing. Ira is picking a fight with Tyler; get a room, you two.
The shop, of course, was pretty quiet so whenever anybody came in, we said howdy and gave them a glass of something nice (usually the Cotes Sauvages), just for the sake of good cheer. One woman was very appreciative: this was her fourth stop today and all the others had been closed without notice.
Bacchus was quite mercurial, as you'll see, but we drank very well:
Pepiere 2002 Muscadet "Cuvee Eden" - foully corked
Closel 1998 Savennieres "Clos du Papillon" - dry, orange and marzipan and did I say dry yet?, later there's more flowers and some tin can (in a nice way); I like this wine
Barraud 2014 Pouilly-Fuisse "sur la roche" - a bit of butter blows off, yup that's chardonnay
Taittinger 2004 Champagne Brut, Blanc de Blancs, "Comtes de Champagne" - chalky, pure, delightful, but needed some time to get there
Alzinger 2001 Loibner Steinertal Gruner Veltliner Smaragd - just-so corked
Claire Naudin 2016 VdF "Le Clou 34" - aligote (in a nice way), pretty, chalky, a slight lemony aroma, nice at the table
Edmunds St John 1995 "Les Cotes Sauvages" - cinnamon, a hint of orange oil, spice and dark raspberry, slightly jammy but a wow wine
Cafaro 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon - heat damaged
Breton 2004 Bourgueil "Les Perrieres" - gorgeous, minerally nose reveals a little green pepper but the mouth has delicate texture and full-flavor, drink now!
Huet 2008 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Mont" - also pretty, I can't add anything to Jayson's recent note
Allemand 2004 Cornas "Chaillot" - meaty, vinous, orange peel with some pith too, beautiful, medium-heavy weight but the texture is so silky you can hardly tell
Luigi Baudana 2013 Barolo - a little lactic blows off, shows more and more typicity with air, graphite and quinine in the nose, sturdy acidity of course, I like this a lot
Pierre Moncuit NV Champagne Brut GC, Blanc de Blancs - disg. 7/17, a very forward autolytic nose but the palate is wan
Fontodi 1995 Chianti Classico Riserva "Vigna del Sorbo" - very quiet even after hours of waiting, something wrong?
Breton 1999 Bourgueil "Les Perrieres" - definitely the sib of the '04, a little further down the road towards sous-bois and milder acidity, still yum
Seehof 2017 Pinot Noir Trocken Rose - the note says "nice enough", sorry
Honestly, I don't remember too much about getting home. But I did. Rah.
