WTN: Varied wines on a lovely Labor Day

The most important thing for a good backyard party is the people, but good weather helps a lot! Labor Day was lovely, clear with temps in mid-70s. I grilled my morcilla, strip steaks, skirt steak in fish sauce, hot lamb sausage, brats, dogs, Cambodian corn, squash; in addition others brought chorizo and longaniza. I had some salmon but it never made it to the heat. Betsy made soy/chile/honey wings, and we made guacamole and farro salad, others brought deviled eggs, a couple of seasonal tomato and corn salads, panzanella, pork belly, quiche, and much more. Desserts included tres leches cake, plum tart, cookies, and more

The winegeek karma was good, and lots of nice wines were around (I had a whole cooler of whites that almost all remained unopened). We got very very lucky. In rough order of my tasting

2005 Joguet :Clos de la Dioterie” Chinon (mag)
I double decanted a couple of hours before party, so wine I had the most opportunity to watch evolve. Plenty of structure left in magnum, but lots of pleasure as well. Cassis and kirsch, mocha, tobacco leaf. This is a big big Cab Franc, but carries it well. B+/A-

2020 Forstreiter “Tabor” Gruner Veltliner Reserve (Kremstal)
Generous and full, plenty of green pea and white pepper GV character. It’s maybe just bit richer/riper than my GV idea, but I did enjoy. B/B+

1967 Calissano Barolo Riserva Speciale
Not a producer I know, but really nice showing. There’s some browning but didn’t come across as oxidized. Tar, rose petals, and fruitcake. Resolved tannins, good acids, tangy spicy finish. B+

Dale Blind # 1 - Everyone liked from start, but guesses were all over the place (Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Cal Cab) before they got to Bordeaux, and of course no one goes immediately to Moulis (and when they do, they guess Poujeaux). But a really good showing- cassis and black cherry, green tobacco leaf, a menthol herbiness. A pointe, delicious, fun. 1983 Ch. Chasse-Spleen A-

1985 Rene Loyau Vouvray Sec
Don, ever the history buff, says this is the Vouvray winery Kermit Lynch visited in “Adventures.” What fun, I’m excited to taste, see it open on table, whoa, no one told me this was corked! Sad.

Jay blind #1 - I was busy decanting and grilling and missed what others guessed on this early, my first impression with the herbs and green pepper was Cab Franc, but Jay nixes my guess. Someone gets Cal but we don’t get producer (I don’t think I’ve ever seen this producer before). Lean black currant fruit, bell/chipotle pepper, good acids, nice length. 1985 Quail Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. B

Dale blind #2 - I was doing this to be mean/tricky but ended up really liking the wine, much to my (and everyone’s) surprise. Mark got PN and Burgundy, Jay Cotes de Nuits, but took a minute to get Gevrey. And then to get vineyard, though Jayson got once I said “I’d guess most of you have seldom tasted a bottle labelled this vineyard, but you’ve hard many more wines from this vineyard”. No one gets producer, but surpasses expectations. Light on its feet but with some gravitas, berries and flowers, incense and smoke. Gives me a bit of hope for a couple other Ilans I’ve been staring at. 2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyeres-Chambertin B+/A-

2016 Benoit Lahaye Violaine Champagne
Pear and candied fruit, a bit of red berries, complex finish, nice. A-

1984 Phelps “Eisele” Cabernet Sauvignon
This was a bit shook up from travel, but showed well. Black currant and cherry fruit, but defined by classic Napa herbiness - mint, menthol, eucalyptus, a hint of pepper. Full and long. B+/A-

Jay Blind #2 - I was flipping steak so missed initial guessing, so by first sip I knew (a) it was Graves and (b) it wasn’t DDC or Pape Clement. Since it was Jay I guessed Haut Bailly, but turns out that had been eliminated. So I went with La Louviere - its all about knowing who brought. Social engineering! My guess was 1985.Nope. Dark berries, cigar ash. Not as long as say the 1990, but a nice wine. 1989 Ch. La Louviere B

2022 Chevillon “Les Cailles” Nuits St George 1er
Whoa, this is young and structured, but think will eventually be brilliant. Dark berries, coffee, woodsmoke. Big tannins but with fine grain, with good acids making this quite balanced. This has A/A- potential to me, but maybe a B for current drinking

2017 Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese feinherb (mag)
Lively, exotic, full and long. B+/A-

2022 Wasenhaus Spatburgunder
This is a “hot” producer I’ve not had before. Hey, this is interesting. A little funk on the nose, crunchy red fruits, a hint of anise, chalky finish. B+/B

2022 Guion “Candide” Bourgeuil
Classic CF in a glou glou mode, black raspberry and autumn leaves, hint of bell pepper, tandy finish. B/B+

Dale Blind # 3- completing my oddball trifecta, but this time I lose. Cork has not done its job, this is showing oxidation as generic old red wine, no reason to have people guess. 1990 Ch Lagrange (Pomerol) 375 ml C+
(surprisingly, I thought considerably better after 2-3 hours in decanter during cleanup

2020 Roches Neuves (T. Germain) “L’Echelier” Saumur Blanc
Grapefruit and apple cider, a bit of wool, good but without the verve I wanted. B

There was a 375 of ‘12 Prum GKA that folks were swooning over, but I had tried (and loved) one of Jay’s bottles a few weeks ago so I skipped.

Despite great weather a smaller crowd that usual (I think I figured out 29), but the quality was there! Great group.

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.

[David M. Bueker]

Excellent lineup!

...Gives me a bit of hope for a couple other Ilans I’ve been staring at. 2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyeres-Chambertin B+/A-

...

2022 Wasenhaus Spatburgunder
This is a “hot” producer I’ve not had before. Hey, this is interesting. A little funk on the nose, crunchy red fruits, a hint of anise, chalky finish. B+/B

Sounds like a great afternoon, sorry I couldn't make it. Would have been interesting to taste a Maison Ilan. I've never had one and interesting that you still have more! I guess it makes sense that there had to be some good wine underneath all the psychodrama, given the sites.

And nice that you could taste Wasenhaus. I was also thinking of bringing a Spätburgunder, although older and in a different style. The Wasenhaus wines are certainly delicious, I've never complained there. It's just the price. That 2022 base-level you had was $50-55 in the US, not sure if you think it merits that. But again, depending on perspective, we've all gotten used to rising prices, so who knows.

What a fascinating lineup of wines, Dale. And a Maison Ilan -- wow! Agree with Rahsaan that Wasenhaus pricing has certainly put me off a bit, though would be fascinating to compare their treatment of the Kanzel vineyard to Möbitz's. And I'm pretty sure that that '83 Chasse Spleen was one of the first Bordeaux purchases we ever made, though needless to say consumed it long before now.

that was a blast, thank you for hosting and organizing! (plus the ride from the train station)

terrific food, I loved the corn salad and I'll have to try the wings recipe that Betsy gave me. My thoughts on the assortment...

Joguet - loved this, went back to it later and it was in such a great groove. Still quite young with a lot of richness to the fruit and a fair bit of tannin remaining, but so much depth here. One of the best I've had from Joguet.

Forstreiter Tabor - I think I liked this more than you, but I also really like the richer/almost oily texture there. Texturally reminded me of a richer/older style white Burg (I wonder how much of that is the winemaking, how much is the ~150 year old vines there.)

'67 Barolo - really pretty, slightly dusty/faded aspect to the fruit but there was still enough fruit there to be very enjoyable and it held up nicely.

Maison Ilan - was pleasantly surprised (and very amused) at the unveil. Much better than I would have anticipated had I seen the label, no sign of the '11 greenness there though it also didn't have the kind of aromatic depth or palate presence I'd expect from a grand cru. The smoky/meaty aspect really stood out a lot here.

'89 La Louviere - really loved this, this was one of my favorites of the day. Very classic Graves, the tobacco/gravel/smoky elements were jumping out in spades and I could have sat and smelled this all night. I guessed Graves quickly on this, then (because it was Jay) immediately guessed DDC or Haut-Bailly and was 0/2.

'83 Chasse-Spleen - also liked this a lot, the fruit here was a bit more dusty than in the La Louviere but really liked the overall balance and finesse.

Preferred both of those to the '84 Phelps, which I thought a bit blocky and charmless compared to the two Bdx. A nice wine, but didn't really stand out to me. Of the Cali Cabs, I may have preferred the Quail Ridge slightly, but perhaps that's also my birthyear bias.

Wasenhaus - I really liked this, had it right after Don opened it and revisited much later (a short while before I left). On the first pour, loved the freshness and brightness of the fruit, though there was also a slight candied element. That had integrated more when I revisited, and it had developed more of a savoury/herbaceous and earthy element a couple of hours later. Looked up the price after (mid-low $50s on CT), I don't think it's unreasonable - for me, felt on par with a lot of decent village Burgs that I see at similar tabs.

Chevillon - So good, nothing really to add to your impressions. Made me realize that I don't have enough of those wines (have a bunch from older vintages, probably should search out some more '22s if others are like this.)

Prum - this was the '12 Wehlener Sonnenuhr GKA, and I was very much in the 'swooning over' camp. So clear/bright for a GKA - all fruit and mineral and flowers, just a faint honeyed element, I was surprised at how little botytis there was here. Love this style of Auslese.

Wasenhaus ... (mid-low $50s on CT), I don't think it's unreasonable - for me, felt on par with a lot of decent village Burgs that I see at similar tabs..

I guess it depends on your reference. I find their base Spätburgunder to be in the vein of a basic Beaujolais, simple gluggable juice. And I find their higher-end single-vineyards to be more analogous to higher-end single-vineyard Beaujolais. The Burgundy leap is much further.

One wine I didn't write anything down for was the 2007 Huet “Le Haut Lieu” Vouvray Demi-Sec. I thought it a friendly wine, but really totally mature and ready, not going to be one of those 40-60 yr Huet DSs.
For me the Wasenhaus was tasty, but I wouldn't pay $50+ except as an experiment, and thought character was more Beaujolais than Burgundy. Like Enderle and Moll, if it was cheaper, I might buy some.
Salil you liked the La Louviere more than I did, but part of that was it was revealed soon after I got a pour, and I kept mentally comparing it to the 1990. Was really great to see you.

Wow, you folks get notes up in a hurry!

Dale, the party was great.

And good to see everyone (esp. you, Salil); I may be starting to make friends with your neighbors....