A nice group gathered to welcome an out of towner and his family (including very cute 3 year old Emma) at Noreetuh Sunday night. Started with Champagne and fried chicken
2014 Ledru Champagne
Lovely, full, snappy acids. Pear, peach, rye toast, aniseed , nice chalky finish. A-
2002 Vilmart Grand Cellier d’Or Champagne
Long and elegant, fresh pear and light almond, floral, really in a nice place. A-
2016 Chartogne-Taillet Couarres Champagne
Very full, almond and hazelnut, white nectarine and pear, a little oaky note on finish. B+
NV Gaspard Brochet Lion Tome V Champagne
I thought rose at first. Raspberries, bread, somewhat round, interesting finish. B/B+
Musubi (spam, spicy tuna, galbi, yellowtail, scallop, etc ), crab fried rice, asparagus with sausage
Blind white, good acids, Chardonnay, some oak, someone guessed Chassagne (I was actually thinking Chablis GC. 2021 Benoit Moreau Chassagne-Montrachet B+
Riesling time!
2011 Schafer-Frohlich Felseneck Grosses Gewachs
Great acids for 2011. Gingery, mineral, with vivid citrus fruits (grapefruit and orange), lemongrass notes. Fun, complex, and exotic. A-
2002 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Spatlese
Lovely. I think it’s been pointed out 2002 probably outdid 2001 for lots of Saar producers. Limeade and sweet pear, more lime zest, floral, yeasty, long. A-/B+
2001. Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Auslese #11
Lots of sugar here, rich exotic tropical fruit, good length B+
There was a 1983 Prum, alas it was corked.
Steak, cabbage, bok choy with mushrooms, wild boar chops
Times for reds!
2007 Lucie and Auguste Ligner Clos de la Roche
(this was the era of the Kellen/Hubert issues and there was discussion about who actually made the wine). OK. Redder fruits (raspberry and cranberry), a bit of spicy wood, but not real long. Some others liked more, some others liked less. B
2022 Mugneret-Gibourg Les Lutenieres Bourgogne
Lovely red plum fruit and a bit of cocoa, but there’s a pretty hefty overhang of wood here. With the Mugneret track record I’d bet it integrates nicely, but with recent price escalation this is not something I would chance. B- for drinking now, room for improvement, but immaterial to me.
2005 Rene Leclerc Lavaux St Jacques Gevrey-Chambertin 1er
Open for a 2005, good acids, there’s tannin but rather supple, this is better than I expected based on my knowledge of producer (and makes me want to try my 05 Combe aux Moines). Surprise best red of the night for me (some others liked less) B+
2015 de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er
Not a big Vogue fan and this didn’t change my views. Plenty of structure, big black cherry fruit, cedary oak, but nothing that signifies Chambolle. One person referred to it as the Bordeaux on the table. B-
Calamansi duck on duck fat rice
1999 Drouhin Charmes-Chambertin corked, dammit
1999 Gros Frere “Musigni” Clos Vougeot
Sweet candied red fruit, wood tannins, rather short. B-/C+
OK so not best night for reds
Next up, pair of Rieslings, same vineyard, different pradikats, different eras and producers.
1983 Simonshof Niedermenniger Sonnenberg Riesling Auslese
New producer to me.Lovely nose of yellow plums, lemon peel, and honeycomb. Softer acids, honied fruit on palate, maybe a bit thin on the finish but overall holding up well. B/B+
2020 Falkenstein Niedermenniger Sonnenberg Riesling Kabinett trocken
I actually do like Falkenstein a lot. But man this is one case where I think some RS would help. Mouthpuckering acids, even for me. Maybe I should have added a drop of the ‘83? This was more interesting than pleasurable at the moment for me. Still, some nice stuff under the acid. B-
Blind red- lots of fruit, lots of structure. Ripe red and black fruit (more red than black), a bit of oak. I don’t think Pinot Noir, there’s a smokiness that leads me to guess ripe vintage Syrah. I don’t think anyone thought of Gamay. 2018 Foillard 3.14 Morgon. B
Fun night, nice group of people, Noreetuh did a fine job as always. Rough night for reds but some excellent Champagne and Riesling.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.