Berserkerfest 2024 - Wine list, photos, and a few birth years

WINE TALK
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August 17, 2024. White Plains. How much wine did the assortment of Berserkers, Relatives, Bar Association lawyers, Westchester Foodies and members of the board of a bank client drink? You tell me whether to count DMs as 1 or 4, and Mags as 1 or 2. You can decide for yourself. Here is the photo and the list. All wines from my cellar except that I do not remember buying the Jean Edwards Sauvignon Blanc to perhaps Karen Troisi violated the rules and stuck that in. I will write a narrative about the event later, but I wanted to get this up to start a thread. My favorite was the 2007 Quilceda Creek. #2 was the 2003 Pape Clement Blanc. I tasted less that half of the wines over 7 hours, so my WOTN may not be indicative of what was the best. I apologize to whoever drank the God Only Knows. I opened it about a month ago, drank only half the bottle, put a cork in it and lost it in the back of the refrigerator. I planned to use it for sauce, but someone found it and must have decided to pull the vacuum rubber seal.

BF 2024 Wines revised
BF 2024 Wines revised1920Ă—1371 235 KB

From Left to Right

Back Row

2021 Tercero Cinsault Rose, 2018 Myriad Dr. Crane Elysian, 2000 Carillon Puligny Montrachet (double mag), 2015 Saxum JBV Magnum, 2014 Saxum Broken Stones, 2004 Copain Syrah, 2016 Jean Edwards Cellars Petite Sirah Cooper’s Cuvee - Black Paw, SQN Male Syrah, 2007 Quilceda Creek Cabernet (mag), 2007 Raffault Les Picasses (mag), 2003 Leoville Barton. 2006 Hospices du Rhone HAG Corton Dr. Peste Faively, 2022 Keller Troken, 2021 Carlisle The Derivative, 2014 Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Gualtallary, 2005 Dustchke Tokay.

Middle Row

2018 Myriad Rose, 2003 Pape Clement Blanc, 2011 Aubert Ricthie Chard, 2016 Bionic Frog, 2013 Black Sears Zinfandel, 1975 Cos d’Estournel, 1951 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo. 2000 Grand Mayne, 2005 Ch. Meyney, 2013 Carlisle Petite Sirah, 2019 SQN Distenta I Grenache, 1996 Turley Black Sears Vineyard, 2009 Howell Mountain Grenache, 2011 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese, 1975 Gruaud Larose, 2010 Cayuse God Only Knows, 2022 Jean Edwards Dalla Gasperina Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, 2006 Pegau Reservee, 2009 Carlisle RRV Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard, 2005 Hospices de Beaune Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Cuvée Jéhan de Massol Bouchard (Hospices Auction Group); 2005 Saxum James Berry Vineyard

Bottom Row

2002 Drouhin Premier Cru Chambolle Musigny, 2021 Cayuse Viognier, 1989 Ch. Meyney, 2008 Pierre Moncuit GC Millesime, 2009 Kapcsandy Roberta’s Reserve, 2010 Valdicava,996 Turley Black Sears Vineyard, 2009 Outpost Grenache, 2011 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese, 1975 Gruaud Larose, 2010 Cayuse God Only Knows, 2022, 2022 Jean Edwards Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Dalla Gasperina Vineyard, 2006 Pegau Reserve, 2009 Carlisle RRV Zin Carlisle Vineyard, 2005 Hospices de Beaune Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Cuvée Jéhan de Massol Bouchard (Hospices Auction Group), 2005 Saxum James Berry Vineyard.

And then there was a half bottle on 1995 Port that’s been in the sealed decanter that I opened a few months ago and poured when someone said he was born in 1995. I did not open the 1995 Grange despite his begging and pleading.

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Epic!

I’m curios if you tasted any of the Howell Mtn Zinfandels? Black Sears vineyard is a special place for that grape. I’ve never had the opportunity to see how they are when aged.

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All the time. Black Sears is one of our “discoveries.” We have been buying it back to the 2009 vintage. We also have Outpost Howell Mountain zinfandel going back even further. It gradually morphs into a claret, but I suspect that that doesn’t happen until 20 years out. The Turley Black Sears Zin, which was 28 years old, was a bit over the hill, but I bought it at auction five or 10 years ago, and I can’t speak for prior storage. I have never been disappointed by a Howell Mountain Zin, and I believe that the terroir provides a Spicy backbone instead of a fruity backbone. That may be a function of the soil, or the cooling fog that comes over the mountain from the west.

Here is a picture of the Black Sears Zin Vineyard, with Chris Jambois from the winery wearing the Berserker helmet. I took it on May 3, 2012 at 12:30 pm West Coast time.

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Pretty sure the SQN with the rooster is 2019 Distenta I Grenache - my favorite of the evening, sooo mouth wateringly plush and full of spicy, red fruited juiciness. Closely followed by all 3 Saxums, with the Aubert Ritchie IMO the luscious pick of the whites.

Thanks for hosting a wonderful event Jay.

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You know you’re a wine berserker if “Berserkerfest [with] photos” means pictures of bottles not people

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“Berserkerfest” is misspelled in the topic title.

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Actually it’s spelled perfectly given the circumstances that led to the post.

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Ask Neil (or Neal) Mollen about it. He will be glad to explain to you that we don’t proofread our own work. We do what’s important and we have junior associates who don’t do what’s important do the proofreading. Thanks for your help. :grinning:

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that looks like one heck of a party right there! Well done :sunglasses: :wine_glass:

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Oh all right. Here is A photo of a member of the board of directors of a Bank, who attended the berserker fest.

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Oh… so I guess the misspelling is like a secret handshake, sort of like knowing Costco store numbers.

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Nope, it means why point it out…what value does that add? Do you think you are the only one that saw it? Because you are the only one that decided to point it out…and again, why?

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This topic is being officially banned from this thread. It was a joke and I added the Mollen reference for historical perspective so that we old folks could rush to google and figure out how to spell plus ce qu’il change plus c’est la meme chose.

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This was incredible and so fun! Thank you for hosting and sharing your wines, Jay!

The Quilceda Creek Cab, Cayuse Viognier, and Raffault Picasses were some of my favorites. The lamb was incredible.

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I managed to grab a taste of the lamb.

As usual, Jay and Rebecca hosted a wonderful event. It’s always nice seeing old friends and making new ones.

I finally met Karen from Jean Edwards. I’ve been enjoying her Sauvignon Blanc for years. It’s been a while, but last night I managed to place my order :grapes:

See you at DiFara’s in NYC on Fat Tuesday 2025. You can google the date.

dh

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That photo is badass

Muy bueno, amigo. Not quite MEOW-level number of bottles :grin: But muy bueno. Glad to hear it sounds like everyone had a great time.

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Anyone remember how this showed?

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It was delicious drinking very well. I think it’s in a good spot a great mix of fruit, acidity with some rs but balance is key. My impressions were just from memory no formal notes, there was a lot of vino.

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A lot of people left stuff. A Mikasa wine glass, assorted bowls, assorted other serving pieces, a metal gravy boat spoon, assorted corkscrews (I can’t find my Durand so if anyone knows where I put it, please advise), a large round yellow platter, a metal lemon squeezer, a copy of plastic stemmed wine glasses, and probably other stuff. if you left anything, please advise.

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Happy to see one of my wines poking out there in the upper left corner! Hope that rose showed well - and hope to be able to attend this one of these years . . .

Cheers

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