Nice night - enjoyed the conversation and the group of wines. Glad to try so many Levets and see how they evolve over time. Thanks again.
Thanks, Tony, for organizing, and everyone for all the great wine. Food was very good as well. And nice to meet all of you. In case anyone wants to refer back to the thread later, my bottle was the Paul Jaboulet Aîné Côte Rôtie Domaine des Pierrelles 2009.
Great gathering, thanks for having us! I think the favorite for me was the 1998 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage. All that smoke and earth that I love. The Gaillard was interesting in that it had a strong dill note on the nose for me, which is odd coming from French oak, no?
Just echoing what has already been said… had a great time last night. Thanks to Tony for setting up and to everyone for their generosity. We had a great group of wines that made for some very interesting flights.
I agree with Ethan, the 05 Chavaroche really opened up as the night went on. Probably my WOTN.
Really looking forward to the next one.
I was amazed how well everything worked out especially with 14 people. Plenty of wine for everyone to sample. Thanks to whoever brought the 2002 Roger Pol, a great way to start the evening.
Levet is always a personal favorite of mine; tonight was no exception. The only exclusion was the 2011, which I found to be very stemmy along with the 2008 Rostaing Cote Rotie. The Journaries showed more floral, high-toned fruit and mineral notes. While the Chavaroche, the earthy/sauvage tones stood out more. Yum, Yum!
The 2003 D’ampuis was much more interesting than the 2004; the 7% Viognier adds freshness to the wine especially in a ripe vintage.
The 2009 Juge Cornas is a big wine with good concentration but I was picking up a lot of oak. Maybe this just needs time.
I thought 2006 Domaine du Colombier Hermitage was boring and one dimensional but very well made.
Great time!
Great night; thanks for organizing Tony!
Excellent wines and company!
My favorites were:
2012 Benetiere Condrieu
2009 Juge Cornas
2003 & 2004 Guigal Cote Rotie Château d’Ampuis
2011 Delas St. Joseph Sainte Epine
Look forward to the next one!!
-Dennis
I thought the Delas was the most modern producer of the night. The Epine was lush and fruity with no excess oak. Something I would drink sooner than later.
My palate was spent by the time we passed the Delas. I have another bottle at home and right now the plan is to revisit it maybe in a year to see how it has developed. And certainly, not after drinking 16 or so wines beforehand. I had heard good things about it but, alas, didn’t enjoy it as I had hoped.
Ok, we should agree a theme and try to get the next one scheduled before everyone gets too busy. It’s almost mid month. Feb can get busy with Valentines Day, Presidents Weekend, and school breaks.
Right now any night but Feb 22 should work for me.
Ellen
Tossing out themes:
Zinfandel (or relatives by another name)
Tuscany - Brunello specific or keep it open
Central Coast CA
New World Cabernet - excluding California.
Argentina - who doesn’t love a good Malbec?
Nebbiolos that are not Barolo.
Something Pacific Northwest that brings us up to Wash State and Oregon
Australia but since we just did Syrah maybe we plan it for later.
Totally biased opinion here but Loire could be a good theme in future. Lot’s of different options: Cab Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sav Blanc, Gamay, Pinot Noir…
If people want to go new world, Sonoma and/or Santa Barbara would be good for everyone. Again lots of options in terms of varietal.
Tuscany also has good varietal options if you allow supertuscans
I like Ethan’s idea of Northern Italy excluding Barolo/Barbaresco but I am biased. Lots of varietal options, white and red.
Sounds like a great night!! Nicely done folks!
I definitely want to try and make the next one. Loire, Tuscany, Northern Italy, Sonoma. All great options.
With that said, doing Northern Italy and excluding Barolo and barbaresco is a bit of a tease no? 
With that said, doing Northern Italy and excluding Barolo and barbaresco is a bit of a tease no? [/quote]
Nah, plenty of varietal options to choose from like Legrein, Freisa, Gattinara, Amarone/Valpolicella, Arneis, Kerner, Ruche, Gewurztraminer, etc.
Oh I know. Plenty of options. Just usually none of them as great as Barolo and barbaresco.
I have some interesting options for sure though so am totally fine with whatever is decided. We always seem to drink great wines regardless of theme…
My vote goes to either Sonoma or Northern Italy minus Barolo/Barbaresco.
Tsk tsk carino…mi dispiace. What do you think is the variety used in Gattinara?
Right, the varietal for gattinara is nebbiolo but if it isn’t grown in Barolo (DOCG) they can’t call it Barolo. Similar to Brunello. You can have Sangiovese lots of places but if it is not grown in Montalcino can’t be a Brunello.
I’m game for a Northern Italy. Plus, if we stick with another Italian restaurant, the food pairings should work well. I think many of us saw Monday that the pasta dish, while delicious, didn’t pair too well with the Rhones. If it were an Italian wine, there would have been more acidity to cut through the bitterness and it probably would have worked better for that dish. The rest of the meal (especially the steak AND the marrow) paired quite well. The Italians do know how to make wine that goes with their foods.
I do like Sean’s idea about Loire valley and would be up for that too.
I’m a fan of the Loire idea (we talked about it at the dinner) but N. Italy, Central Coast, or PNW sound cool too. That said, I’m probably out of the country for most of February for work, so unless it happens within the first week I might have to miss this one.
I have a few Antoniolo’s from 07 that have been sleeping for a few years. Wouldn’t mind checking in on those. I like the idea of exploring some of the other Varietals from Northern Italy as well.