FINAL UPDATE: San Francisco - Friday 6/30 @ 7pm - Please see post #41

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41

this is great, i can’t wait. looking forward to catching up with friends and meeting new ones.

we are set for Friday 6/30 at 7pm.

Maybeck’s
3213 Scott St, San Francisco, CA 94123
415.400.8500

the attendees are:

george
richard
joel
ashish
ed k.
michelle
erin
betty
edj (ed-jay) - my brother
me

i will have burgundy/rhone in tow.

see you all soon!

42

the more the merrier champagne.gif

43

Thanks for taking care of the details, Ed!

I dug around a bit and also found a good bottle of 2013 Napa chard. Does anyone have a preference for 2012 cab vs 2013 chard?

44

no problem. looking forward to it.

no preference here.


[cheers.gif]

45

Any preference between a 98 Usseglio CnDP or a 97 La Jota Petite Sirah?

46

Both sound great! Sorry, I’m no help.

47

Petite Syrah for me.

48

I vote for Usseglio.

49

you guys are hilarious. [wow.gif]

both then? neener

see you soon!

50

I’m late! I’ll be there by 7:20.

51

That was quite the narrow wine theme tonight. Every single wine was wine and in a bottle. No exceptions. Great great time.

52

Eclectic.
20170630_213913.jpg

53

Transparency.
20170630_205628.jpg

54

Nice to see and meet everyone, thanks for putting this together, Edson. Cheers for all the excellent wines!

In the photo of Betty behind the glass, the guy to her left in the blue shirt and glasses was staring at our table for a while. I can only imagine what he was saying to his dining companion: “They must’ve ordered the entire wine list,” or, “How many bottles do 9 people need?”

55

He was just noticing that we were enjoying life.

56

Thanks all for the wonderful dinner and wines! It was great to see both old faces and new!

Here are my notes for the wines. So many excellent wines, it was hard to know what to drink! For me, the top wines were the two champagnes, the Marcassin, and the Jamet. The Gloria wasn’t far behind.

DINNER WITH EDSON - Maybeck (6/30/2017)

  • 2010 Ulysse Collin Champagne Les Pierrières - France, Champagne
    2910 base, disgorged 11/3/2014. Lovely aromatics, pear, white fruit, excellent minerals; palate is both fresh and richly textures, fresh, medium-plus acid, perfect age; medium-long finish. Lovely. 92-93 (93 pts.)
  • NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Disgorged 2014. Rich, oxidative nose, ripe Apple; medium mousse, elegant texture throughout, rich and slightly oxidative, bruised apple; medium-long finish. Lovely and classic Selosse. I still like the Initiale better, but this is a very nice wine. I think it just edged out the Ulysse Collin Pierrieres tonight, but for the price I might still prefer that. 93 (93 pts.)
  • 2011 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Pale ruby, clear; highly aromatic, red berries, some whole cluster?, roses, some spice; palate is light bodied, elegant, red fruit, some oak, medium acid; medium-long finish. Blinded this seems like burgundy, high quality due to the high oak?, could use just a bit more acid on the palate as it is just a tad soft. Very nice, maybe even young. I also wouldn’t be surprised if this was a California pinot given the acid. 94+
    Upon reveal, this was very nice! As expensive as this is, it might be worth the price. (94 pts.)
  • 1994 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Allen Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    Light ruby, slightly cloudy; moderately aromatic, red fruit, plenty still remaining, complexity is present but fading a tad; palate is light bodied, good red fruit, nice medium acid balance but lacks depth; medium length. Nice. 89-90 (89 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
    Very limited nose; palate is light bodied, red fruit, medium to medium-plus acid, light tannins, some red fruit but lacks depth and complexity; medium finish. Is this far too young? This doesn’t just seem closed though; it seems too simple. 85- (85 pts.)
  • 1996 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
    Light to medium ruby; aromatic, plenty of green bell pepper, capsicum; palate is medium bodied, red fruit, forest floor, plenty of green veggies, fresh medium-plus acid, medium alcohol, medium tannins, fully integrated; finish is medium length. Very nice, but overall a bit underripe, though that is the style, but also a bit uniform instead of expanding and complex. This has some of the purest green bell pepper that I’ve ever had in a wine. 92+ (92 pts.)
  • 2012 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
    Medium deep ruby; nose is aromatic, small berry clusters, black and white pepper, meaty; palate is medium bodied, medium to medium-plus acid, medium alcohol, lovely balance; medium-plus finish. Lovely, but still really young. A pleasure to drink tonight, but it really needs 5-10 years. 92-93+ (93 pts.)
  • 1997 La Jota Petite Sirah - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
    Similar to past note, highly aromatic nose with good complexity, slight bell pepper, good fruit; palate is medium bodied, fully integrated tannin, still some balanced fruit, plenty of cool climate complexity, but slightly bitter on the palate today; medium finish. Very nice, but certainly fully mature. Each bottle is a little different than the last. 91-92, with the nose better than the palate. (92 pts.)
  • 1982 Château Gloria - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    Aromatic nose, classically Bordeaux with black fruit, aging, soy, slight musk; palate is full bodied, fully mature, medium acid, lovely forest floor, perfectly mature claret; medium- finish. Lovely wine, drink soon, enjoyable but appears to be on the downslope. 92- (92 pts.)
  • 2013 Realm Cellars The Absurd - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Deep ruby; aromatic nose with blackberry, blueberry, highly ripe, some beat; full bodied, blackberry, super-ripe, high alcohol, but only 14.6% on the label; medium length. High octane, nice but similar to a lot of other high octane wines. 90-92 (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Signature - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Nice aromatic nose with plenty of spice, pepper; palate is dense for Grenache, high alcohol, a little syrupy, cherry syrup; medium finish. A bit too ripe for me. 86-87 (86 pts.)
  • 2012 Mi Sueño Cabernet Sauvignon Herrera Rolando Jr. - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Nice lovely nose with spice, black fruit, nice complexity and depth; palate is full bodied, black fruit but balanced, not overripe, medium alcohol, medium tannins, medium acid, fruit fades through the short-medium finish. I like this style more than the Realm. 89-90 (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

57

I just read Ashish’s notes three times and my disagreements are miniscule to nonexistent. I agree on the two low scorers. The Ponsot started out excellent in flavors, very 2008 which is not my preferred style at all, but devolved into flaws and actually metallic on the finish.

The 94 Allen was in good shape and was classic Burt Williams in flavor and richness but for what has been called one of his best wines ever, it and the Rougeard were kind of soupy and didn’t seem to hold anything in reserve. They went well together. I’d give an extra point to the Selosse but I have no other Selosse experience to compare it to. I didn’t try the Realm until late so it was too much of an outlier style wise after 1982 Medoc so I moved on after one sip, but I remember very intriguing flavors and I wish I had tried it earlier. Not over the top at all but the nose was thicker and less elegant than the Herrera. I was in the minority of finding the Jamet wonderful to drink now albeit quite young, not like other impenetrable young Jamets like the 2001 years back.

This was strangely the second time I had the Marcassin 2011 blind. The first time sweet delicious simple cherry juice. This time spectacular complexity getting into Syrah flavors with California style oak, I guessed Arcadian pinot at the end but at one point I had briefly thought of a very balanced Cote Rotie; after a few hours it became more plain old excellent pinot. I think they may have bottled by barrel.

58

I had a great time last night, it was great to meet Ed. Thanks everyone for sharing such wonderful wines and for the great company.

59

Thanks for setting this up, Edson! It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to the next offline.

60

Excellent notes, Ashish, thanks for taking them so thoroughly without missing out on any of the conversation.

I liked both Champagnes, with a slight preference for the Selosse because of the aged character which made it more interesting to me. The Ulysse Collin seemed 10 years younger and less evolved. I know they were both disgorged in 2014, but I wonder if the Selosse had been fermented earlier and aged longer than the Collin.

Both California Pinots were wonderful. The Marcassin was served blind, and I instantly thought red Burgundy. The acidity was low and the alcohol was high, but instead of switching my guess to a “Burgundian” style California producer (or Oregon/NZ), I stuck with Burgundy and thought maybe a 2009, 2010 or 2012 from Gevrey. Wrong! Loved the wine though. The W-S was in perfect shape. Hard to believe it’s a '94. Other than an '88 and a '90 Allen, this is in the top 3 of W-S wines I’ve had. The other Pinot on the table was the '08 Ponsot. This was so light, lean and tart, it didn’t fit in well with the others. Had this been on its own, it would’ve been nice to have with a meal, but it was overshadowed by such a flavorful table of wines.

The Clos Rougeard was super clean, not even a hint of brett. I thought this might have been the most interesting wine of the night. Also in perfect, youthful shape at 21 years old.

Of the Bordeaux blends, the Realm and Ch. Gloria couldn’t have been more different. The Realm was modern Californian without being overripe and over the top. The Gloria was classic, old school Bordeaux, mature, but on a plateau that should hold for years. I liked them both, with a preference for the Realm with our meal. I probably would lean toward the Gloria in a different setting with a different menu. I didn’t even see the 2012 Mi Sueño at our end of the table (but I guess it was, since I was across from Ashish), so I didn’t know it was there. I would’ve liked to have tried that. I went to a Mi Sueño night at a wine bar in downtown Napa around 2003/2004 and met the family. I haven’t had enough of their wines since.

I enjoyed all 3 Rhone and Rhonish wines, with the Jamet being the most complex and the one that changed the most over the course of the night. Full on Cote Rotie with elegance. The La Jota was fully mature but not at all over the hill. I liked this a lot. And I didn’t think the La Barroche was too ripe, but I did think it’s just turning the corner from youthfulness to adolescence. Definitely modern CdP, but I like that style.

See you all again soon.