WTN: Gougenheim, Ormes de Pez

[Jenise]

2005 Chateau Ormes de Pez, St. Estephe, Cru Bourgeois
This is a CB I've been wanting to try for sometime, and was delighted to find it at Costco this weekend. LOVED IT--and I totally get what Covert loves about this wine. It's covered in dust. And not the kind of dust that builds up in the corners of your house, but rather the smell of dirt blowing in the wind. More exactly, the nose took me straight back to the years I spent on a project in Taft, California, a desolate little desert oil town in the San Joaquin Valley where when storms were coming the rain would push these walls of fine particulate dirt-dust in front of them, dust you couldn't see but could smell and taste as it mingled with the fresh smell of clean rainwater and it would sail in on the wind hours before the rain itself arrived. I loved that smell and this wine took me straight back to a night when I was sitting up late in my cheap motel room watching Five Easy Pieces, part of which was filmed at the very bowling alley across the street from said cheap motel, and an advancing storm pumped that wonderful aroma through my open window. THAT is what I smelled when I put my nose into my first glass of Ormes de Pez. That, and restrained berry fruit and savory herbs. This 05 is medium bodied and traditionally styled, and impeccably balanced with acid and fine-grained tannins. Must buy more.

2008 Gougenheim Chardonnay, Argentina
The Gougenheim wines of Argentina have all been so impressive, I couldn't resist this chardonnay when I saw it. Light yellow with true chardonnay flavors of pear and apple with seemingly little oak influence. Good acid helps balance a sweeter-than-expected finish.

[David M. Bueker]

all we are is dust in the wine

Sounds lovely Jenise. I'll ask my dad if his Costco has the same wine (our does not carry wine worth drinking).

[Jenise]

all we are is dust in the wine

Sounds lovely Jenise. I'll ask my dad if his Costco has the same wine (our does not carry wine worth drinking).

Interestingly, Costco's price on it is pretty high, almost $36. Whereas I can buy it from JJ Buckley
in California for $30.

[David M. Bueker]

That is unusual. The run of the mill Costco may not have a great selection, but the prices are usually rock bottom.

[Jenise]

That is unusual. The run of the mill Costco may not have a great selection, but the prices are usually rock bottom.

I know, which is why it was worth mentioning. Must be keyed off of what they paid vs. current market conditions.

Jenise, I know you know that it makes me supremely happy that you get les Omres de Pez. There might not be another sentient in the entire universe that gets it like you and I do. Kind of cool. Thanks!

Thanks for the nice note, Jenise. I’m a fan of les Ormez de Pez since I drank my first bottle of this Saint-Estèphe in the early eighties. When young, especially in weaker years, the wines of this appellation can often be astringent, hard, and tough, but rarely les Ormes de Pez, Haut-Marbuzet, and Marbuzet. Therefore these are my favourites from this appellation, and Cos d’ Estournel of course...

Jenise, I know you know that it makes me supremely happy that you get les Omres de Pez. There might not be another sentient in the entire universe that gets it like you and I do. Kind of cool. Thanks!

Thought I would say another word or two on this, Jenise, now that I am cold sober. Last night I was in a very pleasant mood. I had picked up a very hard-shelled, three-pound, female Maine lobster from the store as the crustacean had just arrived from the cool North Atlantic and had not yet been placed in the store tank. Those in the know know that you can pretty much gauge how long a lobster has been in the tank by the condition of its antennae. They get pinched a lot, and a lobster that has been around a while usually has both of them shortened. This is unsightly as well as a continuous reminder that you are eating something that has been gnawed at by others for days before you. This pretty three-pounder had the most beautiful long, intact antennae, like eyelashes on a nineteen-year-old beauty queen

She had an abundance of roe, both pink and black. I enjoyed her with lemon, butter, potatoes, coleslaw and 2006 Mer Soleil. A basic exquisite combo, much like the Fleur Burger treat of equal sophistication.

But back to the Les Ormes de Pez. There might be other people who get wine like we do, but maybe they feel fey about stating it so. It’s the business about transporting that makes it so special – and not every Bordeaux can do that; but, as I think you implied, a Bordeaux does it best. My wife, Lynn, and I enjoyed a fine old Burgundy on Friday night with juicy roast chicken; another basic, but delicious, dish, with butternut squash, sweet potato, pureed cauliflower, roasted tiny red potatoes and broccoli: a very basic but terrific plate to enjoy with a classy Burgundy. That kind of thing brings one to a quintessence of taste and comfort, but it is not transportational. Only a Bordeaux, and a very special Bordeaux, can do that. You and I talk about it; others don’t. You hear all about taste and the liquid qualities, but not transportation; what, to me, it is all about. that’s what was so delightful to me about your post.

[Jenise]

That kind of thing brings one to a quintessence of taste and comfort, but it is not transportational. Only a Bordeaux, and a very special Bordeaux, can do that. You and I talk about it; others don’t. You hear all about taste and the liquid qualities, but not transportation; what, to me, it is all about. that’s what was so delightful to me about your post.

In my case, feelings of rapture are all aroma-dependent. Taste will complete the experience, but that bit of euphoria you speak of, that tendency to tilt and swoon just by putting one's nose into the glass, is only possible with a great nose and there are actually a good many types of wines with which I've had that experience--Bordeaux just gets there the most often with me. And you just made me realize that the type of wines that interest me the least are the ones with which I've never had and therefore cannot look forward with any sense of heightened expectation, that experience. Like malbec.

[David M. Bueker]

In my case, feelings of rapture are all aroma-dependent.

How are you not a Burgundy fanatic?

[Jenise]

In my case, feelings of rapture are all aroma-dependent.

How are you not a Burgundy fanatic?

Affordability. Truly, one of the most amazing "tilt and swoon" experiences of my life was a horizontal tasting of 1990 Burgundies shortly after release--and going into that, I didn't care much for pinot noir. It was the first time I actually contemplated not drinking the wine at all so as to preserve the experience of just smelling them. And as a result of that night I purchased wine--two Leroys--that were each more than three times the cost of any wine I'd ever purchased before, but price be damned I could not live without them.

[David M. Bueker]

From the right producers I have found that the Burgundy aromatics can be surprisingly affordable. Of course the 2005 hype and the 2006 bought at $1.60 per € did not help, but I think we'll see some prices coming down & then some village wines will be quite accessible once either of us has any reason to buy wine.

[Jenise]

From the right producers I have found that the Burgundy aromatics can be surprisingly affordable. Of course the 2005 hype and the 2006 bought at $1.60 per € did not help, but I think we'll see some prices coming down & then some village wines will be quite accessible once either of us has any reason to buy wine.

"Once either of us has any reason to.... " Can you drink paint? I did take the last three 05 Ormes de Pezes off of JJ Buckley's hands yesterday. But otherwise, I don't need wine, I need paint. I just ordered 18 gallons of paint.

[David M. Bueker]

Can you drink paint?

Too much volatile acidity.

We just made the first payment on some new bedroom furniture, so I understand where you are coming from (at least a little bit).

--two Leroys--...I could not live without them.

I am still trying to get Burgundy. A couple of weeks ago I found a little local store that specializes in it, fanatically. I look forward to working with the proprietor to dial my taste in. BTW, the Burg I mentioned re my Friday night roast chicken was a Leroy.

A few years back a wealthy young man invited Lynn and me to visit him and his beautiful young wife at his rented beach house on Nantucket. A guy somewhat newish to great wine then who pronounced his Petrus, PET-russ. But he could afford the best. We dined at the Summer House and he pulled out an extremely old Burgundy, from the early 1900s, but I can't remember the year. I was even newer than he was to great wine, so I didn't focus on the label, or the year. When he poured it, he admonished us to drink up quickly because the fragile essence would die in less than a minute. When I smelled and sipped it, I remarked that it was the best thing I ever tasted. (It was truly transporational, because that Summer House moment is as fresh as if it happened yesterday.) With that, he poured the remainder of the bottle into my glass. He was right: in a minute, the wine had lost everything. If I could afford that sort of thing, I might expand my horizons.