Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Jayson, Jeff
Racines NY offered a flight of Loire pours on Tuesday: wines by Philippe Tessier. If you've ever drunk Cazin's "Cuvee Renaissance" in the company of Chris Coad then the Tessier name is familiar: he's the other guy making Cour-Cheverny.
Indeed. I hear that he's not quite organic, uses a bit of package yeast, etc, always just crossing our holy lines in the sand. Nevertheless, they are supposed to be pretty wines so Jayson and I will give them a try.
Philippe Tessier 2018 Cheverny Blanc - 80 Sauv Blanc/10 Chard/10 Menu Pineau, vivid and fresh, pretty much sauvignon blanc with the corners rounded off a little, glou-glou and satisfactory for that
Philippe Tessier 2017 Cour-Cheverny - all romorantin; grapefruity, your tongue feels like it's been squeezed from the sides, a squirt of lemon in the finish, much more interesting (though, one must admit, not as good as Cazin's)
Philippe Tessier 2017 Cour-Cheverny "La Porte Doree" - the old vines cuvee (40+ years) and this wine is three or four steps up: creamy texture, sturdy but not beastly, lots of depth and richness, wow wine, a vivid demonstration of what old vines can do for you
Philippe Tessier 2018 Cheverny Rouge "Le Point du Jour" - PN and G; there is some florality here but overall this is kinda closed and showing tannic, gotta find another year to drink this one
Philippe Tessier 2018 VdF "Chemin Noir" - the name is a pun on the old rumor that pineau d’aunis is really chenin noir (it’s not); this is the first bottling for these vines (7 yrs old) and it shows: typique but simple, clean but there is a whiff of VA, a promising new bottling
The sampler ended there but:
Philippe Tessier 2015 VdF "Phil'en Bulle" - Eben pours us a pet-nat lagniappe, 90 Romo/10 Menu Pineau, I don’t taste anything special here, perhaps the carbonic acid (from the fizz) is playing rough with my perception of the romorantin cut, I am open to being convinced but this particular bottle isn’t doing it
Now that we're six glasses in we're finally underway. We peruse the lengthy bottle list and find a wine we'd like to spend time with:
P. Cotat 2014 VdT Rose “Chavignol” - boy, do we know how to pick ‘em: the nose is full of beeswax and red berry basket; there's good texture and persistence in the mid-palate; and then the finish runs over half a minute and changes at least twice: it’s all pinky-red fruits for 10 seconds then slides off that into a kind of resiny licoricey thing for 10 seconds then resolves down to a minerally palette... this is so good; we get it decanted so it opens a little bit ahead of our drinking it down; great bottle
We swap a glass of Cotat for a glass of Oregon pinot being enjoyed by our neighbors at the bar. One of them, another Jeff, is an investor in Hiyu Farms Winery and that is, indeed, what they are having. It is classic Oregon pinot noir, a trifle closed or faint, with a slightly unpleasant dollop of oak in the finish. If they keep trying, they might get there. Anyway, the four of us gab about Cotat and Hood River, wine and our day jobs, significant others and friends... and the Small World Isn't It phenomenon leaps out: Jayson and Jeff both attended the same mutual friend's wedding. SWII?
A final note regarding the food: Jayson and I ordered a few simple plates -- jamon and tomato on toast, razor clams with XO sauce, a slab of foie gras with heirloom beans -- and they were all very good.
Racines NY offered a flight of Loire pours on Tuesday: wines by Philippe Tessier. If you've ever drunk Cazin's "Cuvee Renaissance" in the company of Chris Coad then the Tessier name is familiar: he's the other guy making Cour-Cheverny.
Indeed. I hear that he's not quite organic, uses a bit of package yeast, etc, always just crossing our holy lines in the sand. Nevertheless, they are supposed to be pretty wines so Jayson and I will give them a try.
Philippe Tessier 2018 Cheverny Blanc - 80 Sauv Blanc/10 Chard/10 Menu Pineau, vivid and fresh, pretty much sauvignon blanc with the corners rounded off a little, glou-glou and satisfactory for that
Philippe Tessier 2017 Cour-Cheverny - all romorantin; grapefruity, your tongue feels like it's been squeezed from the sides, a squirt of lemon in the finish, much more interesting (though, one must admit, not as good as Cazin's)
Philippe Tessier 2017 Cour-Cheverny "La Porte Doree" - the old vines cuvee (40+ years) and this wine is three or four steps up: creamy texture, sturdy but not beastly, lots of depth and richness, wow wine, a vivid demonstration of what old vines can do for you
Philippe Tessier 2018 Cheverny Rouge "Le Point du Jour" - PN and G; there is some florality here but overall this is kinda closed and showing tannic, gotta find another year to drink this one
Philippe Tessier 2018 VdF "Chemin Noir" - the name is a pun on the old rumor that pineau d’aunis is really chenin noir (it’s not); this is the first bottling for these vines (7 yrs old) and it shows: typique but simple, clean but there is a whiff of VA, a promising new bottling
The sampler ended there but:
Philippe Tessier 2015 VdF "Phil'en Bulle" - Eben pours us a pet-nat lagniappe, 90 Romo/10 Menu Pineau, I don’t taste anything special here, perhaps the carbonic acid (from the fizz) is playing rough with my perception of the romorantin cut, I am open to being convinced but this particular bottle isn’t doing it
Now that we're six glasses in we're finally underway. We peruse the lengthy bottle list and find a wine we'd like to spend time with:
P. Cotat 2014 VdT Rose “Chavignol” - boy, do we know how to pick ‘em: the nose is full of beeswax and red berry basket; there's good texture and persistence in the mid-palate; and then the finish runs over half a minute and changes at least twice: it’s all pinky-red fruits for 10 seconds then slides off that into a kind of resiny licoricey thing for 10 seconds then resolves down to a minerally palette... this is so good; we get it decanted so it opens a little bit ahead of our drinking it down; great bottle
We swap a glass of Cotat for a glass of Oregon pinot being enjoyed by our neighbors at the bar. One of them, another Jeff, is an investor in Hiyu Farms Winery and that is, indeed, what they are having. It is classic Oregon pinot noir, a trifle closed or faint, with a slightly unpleasant dollop of oak in the finish. If they keep trying, they might get there. Anyway, the four of us gab about Cotat and Hood River, wine and our day jobs, significant others and friends... and the Small World Isn't It phenomenon leaps out: Jayson and Jeff both attended the same mutual friend's wedding. SWII?
A final note regarding the food: Jayson and I ordered a few simple plates -- jamon and tomato on toast, razor clams with XO sauce, a slab of foie gras with heirloom beans -- and they were all very good.