Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Jay+Arnold, Lisa, Jayson (a visitor), Eden+Scott, Jeff+Jim, Gil, Nano+Jumielle, Scott+Ann-Marie, Suzanne+Kenny, Jayson, Don+Melissa, Seth, Tse Wei+Diana, Brad
It is Jay's annual Spring gathering. The lechon (roast suckling pig) and sisig (crispy squid filling for lettuce wraps) are staples of the event; as are the gougeres whose cheesey scent leads us to Jay and Arnold's apartment. (We can find it, even if the building doorman can't.) Some new yummy comestibles this year are a selection of Eric Bordier butters (plain and two seaweed) and a delicious green salad prepared by Tse Wei and Diana.
The day offered peek-a-boo sunshine so we began on the patio, then moved indoors when the raindrops started to fall, then moved back out an hour later.
It was a great pleasure to see everybody and break bread together (among other things).
Vilmart 2004 Champagne Brut 1er Cru "Coeur de Cuvee" - magnum; Chalk Central!, very yellow-fruit, crisp, brilliant wine, "One benefit of not having had a party last year is that the Vilmart had another year in bottle" -Jay
Weltner 2012 Rodelseer Kuchenmeister Riesling Trocken GG "Hoheleite" - bocksbeutel; Qualitatswein from Franken, glass-stoppered and screwcapped, Hoheleite is the GG piece of the Kuchenmeister vineyard; very full in the mouth, a lot of extract (is that possible in a white?), not very floral or tangy today so kinda flat
Boxler 2009 Vin d'Alsace Riesling - another riesling that is very intense, green grapes, dusty minerals but not drying, very long finish
Chidaine 2002 Montlouis "Clos Habert" - shot
Chidaine 2005 Montlouis "Les Tuffeaux" - good, rather mild (as I have come to expect when aging this vineyard -- this is one time I'll vote to drink young!), some florals but only a minimum of charm
Boulay 2010 Sancerre "La Cote" - meh (I know I'm supposed to like this more but it was a hot year in Chavignol and the wine is blowsy)
Keller 2016 Scheurebe Kabinett - 4 275 043 07 17, shockingly peach! this is the stuff of Bellinis (if a Bellini were made with scheurebe), perhaps a whiff of banana in there?, for all that it's a dry wine
J. Boillot 2002 Volnay 1er "Les Caillerets" - when I needed a glass to go with a plate of food I chose the Volnay because Volnay usually over-performs... and this one is beautiful, black cherries and dirt, not quite in the Corton style but not too far off, damp earth, a touch of licorice root
Gaec-Gallet 1999 Cote-Rotie - excellent, traditional Cote-Rotie (meaning, plums - but dry - and no porky smells), Brad posted on FB about brett but I didn't smell it, I'd be very happy if I had a few more of these in my cellar
Montevertine 2004 IGT - the regular rosso; very nice super-Chianti, mixed berries and earth, and enough acidity to work at the table, even a table loaded with roast suckling pig
Arcadian 2001 Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard - nicely aged, easy to drink, a little hot in the finish, "Like lacquer" -Seth
Lopez de Heredia 1995 Rioja GR "Vina Bosconia" - Jay says this is the current release!, gorgeous, everything in balance, mostly red fruit with a wisp of underbrush and wet stones, great wine
Brun 2009 Moulin-a-Vent - I stood this up a couple days ago and double-decanted it off the sediment (there was very little sediment but an awful lot of blackish tartaric crystals inside the neck), alas, not much different from the previous 09 Brun showing: grapey, tannic, fat, slightly bitter ((maybe my bottles are spoiled?))
Dom. des Miquettes 2014 St-Joseph "Madloba" - "Thank you" in Georgian, this wine sees 6 months in amphora; tannic, taut and sour, did anybody like this better than me?
Joguet 2005 Chinon "Clos du Chene Vert" - very typique: good Chinon with a whiff of schoolpaste brett
Breton 1976 Chinon "Beaumont" - biodynamic and 12%, by the way; vivid and vivacious, and dark! how can this be so youthful?, some green pepper in evidence but gorgeous
Muga 1996 Rioja GR "Prado Enea" - leather and earth, maybe some orange peel, but also very young and grapey
Cincinnato 2017 IGT Nero Buono "Ercole" - cement dust and blueberries, middleweight in my book but Tse Wei thinks it's too intensely flavored to pass for 'middle'; yet another wine a bit young and discombobulated
Beaucastel 1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - not the best bottle ever and I did not persist
Donatien Bahuaud 1960 Muscadet "Cuvee des Aigles" - OK, this is the Don Rice we all know and love: negociant muscadet from 1960... alive, if just barely, memorable mostly for the conversation it sparks about 1960 wine (there's a lot of 1960 babies here) and also that it is not "sur lie" (which came later)
Graci 2018 Etna Rosato - no note!
Rhys 2008 Chardonnay, Alpine Vineyard - Jay wanted chardonnay for some food or other and this was his selection: very rich, unctuous, mango, nicely made
Selbach-Oster 1997 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese* - 2 606 319 007 98, pure and minerally, and reasonably sweet, but the acids have softened a lot
Maximin Grunhauser 1983 Abtsberg Riesling Auslese - corked
Smith-Woodhouse 1977 Vintage Port - inadvertantly I tasted this first of all: typique, I thought it showed a bit soft but other people thought it was a bit hot
Laberdolive 1923 Domaine de Jaurrey Bas-Armagnac - pre-phylloxera Folle Blanche from the next-to-last harvest (of the vines, not the domaine!); starting to dry out, not as bright as other pure folle blanche but with more interesting mid-palate notes and texture; thank you, Jay, for the fascinating pour
I didn't get a really good look at that Boxler label. I've since learned that there is a naming convention on the labels that provides better info on the wine's origin.
ETA: Wines I missed:
'01 Christoffel Auslese
'01 Meulenhof Spatlese
'02 Huet CDB Demi-Sec
It is Jay's annual Spring gathering. The lechon (roast suckling pig) and sisig (crispy squid filling for lettuce wraps) are staples of the event; as are the gougeres whose cheesey scent leads us to Jay and Arnold's apartment. (We can find it, even if the building doorman can't.) Some new yummy comestibles this year are a selection of Eric Bordier butters (plain and two seaweed) and a delicious green salad prepared by Tse Wei and Diana.
The day offered peek-a-boo sunshine so we began on the patio, then moved indoors when the raindrops started to fall, then moved back out an hour later.
It was a great pleasure to see everybody and break bread together (among other things).
Vilmart 2004 Champagne Brut 1er Cru "Coeur de Cuvee" - magnum; Chalk Central!, very yellow-fruit, crisp, brilliant wine, "One benefit of not having had a party last year is that the Vilmart had another year in bottle" -Jay
Weltner 2012 Rodelseer Kuchenmeister Riesling Trocken GG "Hoheleite" - bocksbeutel; Qualitatswein from Franken, glass-stoppered and screwcapped, Hoheleite is the GG piece of the Kuchenmeister vineyard; very full in the mouth, a lot of extract (is that possible in a white?), not very floral or tangy today so kinda flat
Boxler 2009 Vin d'Alsace Riesling - another riesling that is very intense, green grapes, dusty minerals but not drying, very long finish
Chidaine 2002 Montlouis "Clos Habert" - shot
Chidaine 2005 Montlouis "Les Tuffeaux" - good, rather mild (as I have come to expect when aging this vineyard -- this is one time I'll vote to drink young!), some florals but only a minimum of charm
Boulay 2010 Sancerre "La Cote" - meh (I know I'm supposed to like this more but it was a hot year in Chavignol and the wine is blowsy)
Keller 2016 Scheurebe Kabinett - 4 275 043 07 17, shockingly peach! this is the stuff of Bellinis (if a Bellini were made with scheurebe), perhaps a whiff of banana in there?, for all that it's a dry wine
J. Boillot 2002 Volnay 1er "Les Caillerets" - when I needed a glass to go with a plate of food I chose the Volnay because Volnay usually over-performs... and this one is beautiful, black cherries and dirt, not quite in the Corton style but not too far off, damp earth, a touch of licorice root
Gaec-Gallet 1999 Cote-Rotie - excellent, traditional Cote-Rotie (meaning, plums - but dry - and no porky smells), Brad posted on FB about brett but I didn't smell it, I'd be very happy if I had a few more of these in my cellar
Montevertine 2004 IGT - the regular rosso; very nice super-Chianti, mixed berries and earth, and enough acidity to work at the table, even a table loaded with roast suckling pig
Arcadian 2001 Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard - nicely aged, easy to drink, a little hot in the finish, "Like lacquer" -Seth
Lopez de Heredia 1995 Rioja GR "Vina Bosconia" - Jay says this is the current release!, gorgeous, everything in balance, mostly red fruit with a wisp of underbrush and wet stones, great wine
Brun 2009 Moulin-a-Vent - I stood this up a couple days ago and double-decanted it off the sediment (there was very little sediment but an awful lot of blackish tartaric crystals inside the neck), alas, not much different from the previous 09 Brun showing: grapey, tannic, fat, slightly bitter ((maybe my bottles are spoiled?))
Dom. des Miquettes 2014 St-Joseph "Madloba" - "Thank you" in Georgian, this wine sees 6 months in amphora; tannic, taut and sour, did anybody like this better than me?
Joguet 2005 Chinon "Clos du Chene Vert" - very typique: good Chinon with a whiff of schoolpaste brett
Breton 1976 Chinon "Beaumont" - biodynamic and 12%, by the way; vivid and vivacious, and dark! how can this be so youthful?, some green pepper in evidence but gorgeous
Muga 1996 Rioja GR "Prado Enea" - leather and earth, maybe some orange peel, but also very young and grapey
Cincinnato 2017 IGT Nero Buono "Ercole" - cement dust and blueberries, middleweight in my book but Tse Wei thinks it's too intensely flavored to pass for 'middle'; yet another wine a bit young and discombobulated
Beaucastel 1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - not the best bottle ever and I did not persist
Donatien Bahuaud 1960 Muscadet "Cuvee des Aigles" - OK, this is the Don Rice we all know and love: negociant muscadet from 1960... alive, if just barely, memorable mostly for the conversation it sparks about 1960 wine (there's a lot of 1960 babies here) and also that it is not "sur lie" (which came later)
Graci 2018 Etna Rosato - no note!
Rhys 2008 Chardonnay, Alpine Vineyard - Jay wanted chardonnay for some food or other and this was his selection: very rich, unctuous, mango, nicely made
Selbach-Oster 1997 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese* - 2 606 319 007 98, pure and minerally, and reasonably sweet, but the acids have softened a lot
Maximin Grunhauser 1983 Abtsberg Riesling Auslese - corked
Smith-Woodhouse 1977 Vintage Port - inadvertantly I tasted this first of all: typique, I thought it showed a bit soft but other people thought it was a bit hot
Laberdolive 1923 Domaine de Jaurrey Bas-Armagnac - pre-phylloxera Folle Blanche from the next-to-last harvest (of the vines, not the domaine!); starting to dry out, not as bright as other pure folle blanche but with more interesting mid-palate notes and texture; thank you, Jay, for the fascinating pour
I didn't get a really good look at that Boxler label. I've since learned that there is a naming convention on the labels that provides better info on the wine's origin.
ETA: Wines I missed:
'01 Christoffel Auslese
'01 Meulenhof Spatlese
'02 Huet CDB Demi-Sec