FWIW in my one experience with one of their pinots the glass seemed to make a huge difference.
From a Zalto Burgundy my reaction was similar to Keith and David’s. From a Zalto Universal it was “just” a very good pinot.
DavidZ:
David, what are your thoughts, or those of others at the tasting, on drinking windows for these? I would love to find a source for more. I have a few bottles and most recently opened a '13 Liaison… so pure.
This actually came up. I have no idea. Part of me feels like this are almost like great roses, and you want to drink them young to capture the gorgeous pinot fruit, but I’m one of those folks who has had good experience with middle-aged Pinot Noir rose, and if those can age this can too. So . Certainly the Muschelkalk is the one most likely to age, I’ve now had the 2013 and 2014 of it and it has the most depth and length of the lineup, and less youthful flamboyance.
So you think it might be time to drink up the 2009’s of these?
FWIW in my one experience with one of their pinots the glass seemed to make a huge difference.
From a Zalto Burgundy my reaction was similar to Keith and David’s. From a Zalto Universal it was “just” a very good pinot.
Not to throw rain on the stemware voodoo parade, but I’m pretty sure I had mine out of the Zalto Universal.
CFu
April 28, 2016, 6:25pm
24
100 pts if you had it out of a zalto burg!
Dav1dZ
April 28, 2016, 6:27pm
25
No idea, but I am very jealous that you have those!
Then you’re in for a real treat once you try one from a Zalto Burgundy stem
S.Reinhardt from WA had a really bad stemware for the 2014 Grauburgunder
88 Drink: 2016 - 2018
That’s a wine I could drink with a straw and still be happy.
Love these wines. Don’t have any Zaltos at all and don’t seem to have suffered.
I just drank my last 2009 Muschelkalk last month and it was very good. No rush, really, but I don’t regret opening it.
The 11’ liason is starting to fall apart and has lost most of its deliciousness. Not at all what it was a couple of years ago…
Off topic, but how does Grapes The Wine Co actually work? I “purchased” 2 days ago, though since they don’t do online orders it says they would contact me. Nothing yet.
CFu
April 29, 2016, 11:47pm
33
you should get an email and you can call them or reply with your CC.
CFu
April 29, 2016, 11:48pm
34
DavidZ:
I went to a marvelous tasting at USQ Wines in NYC last week. The superlative wines of Enderle & Moll were poured, and Stephen Bitterolf led. I’m already sort of in the tank for Enderle & Moll, and the tasting just confirmed what I already knew - the wines are f*cking spectacular and singular. 2014 was a tough vintage in Baden but they still managed to make great wines - a Buntsandstein, from sandstone, that’s the most flamboyant, fruity, floral 11.5% ABV wine you’ll ever see, and an even better Muschelkalk from limestone that’s not as sexy, but has remarkable chalky depth. Nevertheless, 2013 was a better vintage, and the 2013 Liason - basically a second wine - blew me away. It sold out at the tasting before I could get my paws on a bottle. I walked home with merely a spectacular Grauburgunder.
So lets start with that Grauburgunder, because it was great at the tasting and great a few nights later at home. To be fair, it starts with a touch of acetaldehyde, but that is a minor - and perhaps its only - flaw, as this builds with fabulous peppery, pinot grigio fruit, an unctuous, leesy texture married to deep lemon fruit and tons and tons of pepper. This is the sort of wine you always dreamed that Pinot Grigio should be but it never is. My wife was starry-eyed over this. Stupendous QPR - it’s like $25.
Then tonight, after a few emails back and forth with the good folks at Grapes, revisiting the 2013 Liason. How they get so much red pinot fruit into such a light colored, light bodied wine is impossible to understand. This doesn’t taste like burgundy and it is not trying to be burgundian, but it is the purest expression of pinot I’ve had since a great bottle of Angerville Champans; perhaps the best way to understand this bottle is that it is a cross between that and a bottle of Overnoy. It is light as a feather, fragrant like frankincense. There’s some stem here - but not too much - and some oak here (only used barrels, but the wine is light so it shows) but just the right amount. It is fabulous, singular pinot and it is $33. Holy shit.
I’m pretty sure this is the best Pinot producer in the world outside of Burgundy, and one of the most exciting producers in the world period. I am completely besotted.
aight brosef, i ordered some 2013 liason from grapes purely on your rec as CT notes aren’t nearly as glowing. I’m hoping for good things.
Send Daniel an e mail daniel@grapesthewineco.com ,
Disclaimer. Daniel invited me to WineBerserkers.
Just put some '14s in the cellar today. Thank you Lyle!!
Has anyone had the Ménage à Trois yet?? I know there will be a name change…but would love to hear from anyone that’s had this wine in the past. It’s supposed to be a blend of Muschelkalk & Buntsandstein.
The 2012 Liason about the same. 1st bottle: beautiful. 2nd bottle: tad harsh, lost some charm. 3rd bottle: not much fun and felt fading. 4th bottle: ?not to exited to find out.
I realize it’s just the entry level, but what does that say about the higher end wines?
I had the same reaction that both Keith and David had as these are truly unique expressions of Pinot, just be cool if they aged a bit to see what secondary characteristics came out.
Just had a bottle of 2012 Liaison with dinner. Plenty of fun, plenty of energy. No idea what caused the differing experiences.
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