Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Scott & Anne-Marie, Victor
It began with a dream.
Jay dreamed of getting some of those bottles out of his house.
There were a lot of them. The dogs had to climb over three cases to reach their doggie beds. An OWC 6-pack had to be moved from the microwave to the oven to the dishwasher, depending on which device needed to be used that day. Jay himself had to move two magnums just to reach his toothbrush. Something had to be done.
Simple guzzling is not an answer. These are bottles intended to share with special people, in honor of other times, in a spirit of caring and camaraderie, and, perhaps, with a dash of showmanship. (Did you know that Jay and P. T. Barnum share a kindergarten graduation date, some years apart?)
What to do?
Specialty Bottle, Inc. to the rescue.
Along with the third member of the Virtual Tasting cabal, Jayson, we acquired enough 3 oz Blake bottles to hold 4 bottles of wine - this time, two from Jay and two from me. Jay and Arnold then drove around town to deliver the bottlings, bearing arcane marks, to a brace of willing winos for a blind event. (Timestamps on the coordination emails are a little spotty but it appears the excursion took them around 3 hrs.)
As expected, several people were eating dinner at the start of the event and we had some technology matters to resolve, but it all went really well. It was a great pleasure to see everyone and to have a common experience to banter about. And from there off into the usual wide world of Life, work, gardens, etc.
We drank in the order dictated by some coin flips:
Jay's "C" - Drouhin 1993 Morey Saint Denis GC "Clos St Denis" - Victor picked this out immediately as Burgundy but it's not so easy to identify the village or the vintage! The wine is dark, youthful, meaty, though perhaps not so meaty as Gevrey can be, so several of us plunk for NSG. After guessing a half a dozen more places in the Cote d'Or we eventually land in MSD. We did somewhat better on the vintage because the wine had potent acidity so we made it back to 1993 with only a minimum of help from Jay. Outstanding bottle, it got better and better with air. Jay noted this wine is really made by Jouan for Drouhin.
Jeff's "Blue Dot" - Gonon 2010 Saint-Joseph - Screams syrah, hard to imagine it could be anything else. Very blue-fruit, palate neither especially old nor especially young but has some slightly raspy tannins, and later shows a touch of sweetness (suggests from a warm year). Many people call it Cornas. Another outstanding bottle.
Jay's "R" - Roagna 1996 Barolo "La Pira e La Rocca" - Yeesh, aversive nose of spoilage and sewage. Jay encourages us to push through, and indeed the palate is sound, also meaty and rather food-friendly. Others are calling Barolo but I swear there are pyrazines in here (does nebbiolo come from Chinon?). We are all amazed at the vintage reveal... is this what is meant by the 1996s being immortal?
Jeff's "Red Dot" - Allemand 2004 Cornas "Chaillots" - In the morning this was very closed and showing a hint of brett, but all was well by tasting time: this was all red fruit with bright acidity. In time there were faded roses and sous bois, and eventually a hint of Band-Aids shows up. This was suave and silky and yummy but I'll admit I've had better bottles.
Of course, no one restricted themselves to their Blake pours. I did not catch everyone's private tipples but I know Jayson was drinking Godme Champagne and, as I knew my theme, I also opened Dom. Tunnel 2005 Cornas "Vin Noir" (from some of Juge's holdings, this still has the depth and flavor intensity of those old vines, very pure and whistle-clean (too clean?)).
Here is a good snapshot from the start of the event (click to embiggen):
It began with a dream.
Jay dreamed of getting some of those bottles out of his house.
There were a lot of them. The dogs had to climb over three cases to reach their doggie beds. An OWC 6-pack had to be moved from the microwave to the oven to the dishwasher, depending on which device needed to be used that day. Jay himself had to move two magnums just to reach his toothbrush. Something had to be done.
Simple guzzling is not an answer. These are bottles intended to share with special people, in honor of other times, in a spirit of caring and camaraderie, and, perhaps, with a dash of showmanship. (Did you know that Jay and P. T. Barnum share a kindergarten graduation date, some years apart?)
What to do?
Specialty Bottle, Inc. to the rescue.
Along with the third member of the Virtual Tasting cabal, Jayson, we acquired enough 3 oz Blake bottles to hold 4 bottles of wine - this time, two from Jay and two from me. Jay and Arnold then drove around town to deliver the bottlings, bearing arcane marks, to a brace of willing winos for a blind event. (Timestamps on the coordination emails are a little spotty but it appears the excursion took them around 3 hrs.)
As expected, several people were eating dinner at the start of the event and we had some technology matters to resolve, but it all went really well. It was a great pleasure to see everyone and to have a common experience to banter about. And from there off into the usual wide world of Life, work, gardens, etc.
We drank in the order dictated by some coin flips:
Jay's "C" - Drouhin 1993 Morey Saint Denis GC "Clos St Denis" - Victor picked this out immediately as Burgundy but it's not so easy to identify the village or the vintage! The wine is dark, youthful, meaty, though perhaps not so meaty as Gevrey can be, so several of us plunk for NSG. After guessing a half a dozen more places in the Cote d'Or we eventually land in MSD. We did somewhat better on the vintage because the wine had potent acidity so we made it back to 1993 with only a minimum of help from Jay. Outstanding bottle, it got better and better with air. Jay noted this wine is really made by Jouan for Drouhin.
Jeff's "Blue Dot" - Gonon 2010 Saint-Joseph - Screams syrah, hard to imagine it could be anything else. Very blue-fruit, palate neither especially old nor especially young but has some slightly raspy tannins, and later shows a touch of sweetness (suggests from a warm year). Many people call it Cornas. Another outstanding bottle.
Jay's "R" - Roagna 1996 Barolo "La Pira e La Rocca" - Yeesh, aversive nose of spoilage and sewage. Jay encourages us to push through, and indeed the palate is sound, also meaty and rather food-friendly. Others are calling Barolo but I swear there are pyrazines in here (does nebbiolo come from Chinon?). We are all amazed at the vintage reveal... is this what is meant by the 1996s being immortal?
Jeff's "Red Dot" - Allemand 2004 Cornas "Chaillots" - In the morning this was very closed and showing a hint of brett, but all was well by tasting time: this was all red fruit with bright acidity. In time there were faded roses and sous bois, and eventually a hint of Band-Aids shows up. This was suave and silky and yummy but I'll admit I've had better bottles.
Of course, no one restricted themselves to their Blake pours. I did not catch everyone's private tipples but I know Jayson was drinking Godme Champagne and, as I knew my theme, I also opened Dom. Tunnel 2005 Cornas "Vin Noir" (from some of Juge's holdings, this still has the depth and flavor intensity of those old vines, very pure and whistle-clean (too clean?)).
Here is a good snapshot from the start of the event (click to embiggen):