Impressions September 2018

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.

But he's kidding, of course.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.

But he's kidding, of course.

Are you sure about that?
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
Great set of wines and notes.

But I’m also with Jim: “leave the points, take the cannoli.”

I’ve been reluctant to crack my my measly two bottles of 1996 Giacosa Villero. Last time I had it — Feb 2017 at the Tartiflette Fête — it was excellent in a fairly primary way, but I still didn’t think it was ready.

I'm sure it will go for as long as you want, but I wouldn't call the wine primary. To me, it is hitting a sweet spot. I'm not really all that into wines that have gone completely tertiary. I had a 1990 Brovia Rocche the other night that I found OTH, more or less. I want some vibrant fruit still left in the wine while the structure has moved to the back in a supporting role with a little bit of development but without losing things like floral notes.

I agree (somewhat), but 96 was such a beast of a year that I could see it as primary, not that I've had any Giacosa from that year.

My sense was it has a lot more to express but I can understand why folks enjoy it now. I can wait.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.

But he's kidding, of course.

Are you sure about that?

As sure as I can be from words alone.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.

But he's kidding, of course.

Are you sure about that?

As sure as I can be from words alone.

Good enough for me. But some folks may want to test your hypothesis to an error of not more than 5% uncertainty.

And to Jonathan’s point his confidence, in reality or jest, is charming. In fact, it sets a benchmark for charm.
 
originally posted by VLM:
If we didn't think we were accessing something objective, why bother to even communicate about it?

There are two parts to a tasting note. The first is your description of how the wine tasted. There are obvious and well-known ineluctable subjectivities to taste (we just don't all have the same apparatus), but there are enough commonalities so that people do glean information. Hence communication occurs.

Then there is your evaluation. The only real reason to communicate it is for entertainment value. As for points, well, they are worth a giggle.
 
Down the rabbit hole again. To elaborate on Jonathan’s point about communication, your communication about your experience drinking a wine and your placement of that experience into context and community-shared values and my history of having read your notes and drunk at the same table and with your past notes and some understanding of your preferences all deliver (a lot of) value to me. And I might think I’m right about my assessment of the wines I drink, including my own compulsion to assess and compare and rank. And you may feel the same about the wines you drink and compare and rank. But objectivity (without a clear definition of what that is here) has little meaning in a macro sense.

After all of these years, I’ve learned that my palate is highly aligned with Pavel’s and a few others and was highly aligned with Coad’s, but I’m not sure of anything else unless I take the view (which I sometimes do) that my tastes are universally the objective truth.
 
originally posted by VLM:

2014 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine (9/2/2018)

What more needs to be said about the wines of Pépière? Showing Grand Cru weight and depth as well as cut. The site is Grand Cru for mélon and in the hands of the young master, Rémi Branger, following in the footsteps of Marc Ollivier. (92 points)

there is always something else to be said about the wines of Pépière

in this instance, it's that we can't talk about when to drink them in absolute terms. 2007 Clos des Briords last night would have been quite useless with oysters (if not as useless as Doggerdy's hypothetical 1961 Chateau Latour), but was superb and brilliantly appropriate next to scallops with tarragon in cream sauce. Any loss of vibrancy and nervosité that might have come up as a topic of discussion had this been served as a lonely aperitif or with a Maine Belon was a necessary condition for the emergence of creamy texture, powdery minerality, and slightly darker-than-on-release & deeper flavors, with something savory just starting to replace an outright salinity. Know how to pair your Muscadet: the politburo is watching.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by VLM:
I don't think of the points I assign as a benchmark so much as the objective truth about the quality of a wine.

The ultimate hubris in WD circles, mon ami, no?

But such completely unwarranted confidence, from a statistician no less, is sort of charming.

The point of the kid, of course.

Vote on updating the handle to CLM (Charming Little Monkey)?
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
About two years ago I had a very advanced 2012 Rollin Sous Fretille, which was the last of three bottles from that vintage. The other two bottles had shown nicely not long before that. It is just one bottle, so don't rush to conclusions...

This is a tough one; ageing these will provide a unique experience as Ian points out by example [...]

Jeez, someone here agreed with me. Soooo disorienting.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
About two years ago I had a very advanced 2012 Rollin Sous Fretille, which was the last of three bottles from that vintage. The other two bottles had shown nicely not long before that. It is just one bottle, so don't rush to conclusions...

This is a tough one; ageing these will provide a unique experience as Ian points out by example [...]

Jeez, someone here agreed with me. Soooo disorienting.

I agree too and am trepidatiously cellaring a few of the 2014 Rollin whites. And backfilled a singleton of the ‘11 CC at a very attractive price. And a few bottles of Lamy-Caillat. We’ll see if dipping a toe back into Cote D’Or white Burgundy pays off.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
About two years ago I had a very advanced 2012 Rollin Sous Fretille, which was the last of three bottles from that vintage. The other two bottles had shown nicely not long before that. It is just one bottle, so don't rush to conclusions...

This is a tough one; ageing these will provide a unique experience as Ian points out by example [...]

Jeez, someone here agreed with me. Soooo disorienting.

I agree too and am trepidatiously cellaring a few of the 2014 Rollin whites. And backfilled a singleton of the ‘11 CC at a very attractive price. And a few bottles of Lamy-Caillat. We’ll see if dipping a toe back into Cote D’Or white Burgundy pays off.

I have access to Rollin CC 2014 and 2015 at nice pricing and am considering it. I need to buy in counts of 6 to get the best pricing though, which makes me hesitate a bit...
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by VLM:

2014 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine (9/2/2018)

What more needs to be said about the wines of Pépière? Showing Grand Cru weight and depth as well as cut. The site is Grand Cru for mélon and in the hands of the young master, Rémi Branger, following in the footsteps of Marc Ollivier. (92 points)

there is always something else to be said about the wines of Pépière

in this instance, it's that we can't talk about when to drink them in absolute terms. 2007 Clos des Briords last night would have been quite useless with oysters (if not as useless as Doggerdy's hypothetical 1961 Chateau Latour), but was superb and brilliantly appropriate next to scallops with tarragon in cream sauce. Any loss of vibrancy and nervosité that might have come up as a topic of discussion had this been served as a lonely aperitif or with a Maine Belon was a necessary condition for the emergence of creamy texture, powdery minerality, and slightly darker-than-on-release & deeper flavors, with something savory just starting to replace an outright salinity. Know how to pair your Muscadet: the politburo is watching.

I love this.

We drank the 14 Briords and the ‘10 L d’Or about a month ago with “small” Pacific NW oysters cooked on the grill. Small in quotes because they are actually much larger than Shigoku or Kumamoto oysters.

When the shells popped opened, the oysters were topped with melted butter, garlic and Parmesan cheese and eaten as soon as possible. The LP was maybe a better match with the grilled oysters but both worked very well.

Have you read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles? The wine and food sections in the story would be appreciated by disorderly folk.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by VLM:

2014 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine (9/2/2018)

What more needs to be said about the wines of Pépière? Showing Grand Cru weight and depth as well as cut. The site is Grand Cru for mélon and in the hands of the young master, Rémi Branger, following in the footsteps of Marc Ollivier. (92 points)

there is always something else to be said about the wines of Pépière

in this instance, it's that we can't talk about when to drink them in absolute terms. 2007 Clos des Briords last night would have been quite useless with oysters (if not as useless as Doggerdy's hypothetical 1961 Chateau Latour), but was superb and brilliantly appropriate next to scallops with tarragon in cream sauce. Any loss of vibrancy and nervosité that might have come up as a topic of discussion had this been served as a lonely aperitif or with a Maine Belon was a necessary condition for the emergence of creamy texture, powdery minerality, and slightly darker-than-on-release & deeper flavors, with something savory just starting to replace an outright salinity. Know how to pair your Muscadet: the politburo is watching.

To be clear, I don't really think of Clisson as raw oyster wine and I don't age Briords that long anymore.
 
originally posted by VLM:
To be clear, I don't really think of Clisson as raw oyster wine and I don't age Briords that long anymore.

Thus my note in your thread as opposed to someone else's. A worthy subject.

Agree on Clisson, or at least haven't found the right oyster.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by VLM:
To be clear, I don't really think of Clisson as raw oyster wine and I don't age Briords that long anymore.

Thus my note in your thread as opposed to someone else's. A worthy subject.

Agree on Clisson, or at least haven't found the right oyster.

What's wrong with Clisson and oysters? Too broad?
 
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