TN: A small sendoff for Salil as he moves to flyover country and a happy birthday to Jay!

WINE TALK
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A small gathering at Chelsea Wine Storage this past Saturday as we say goodbye to Salil, who is moving to the heartland for a professorship and a celebration for Jay, who’s birthday was the day before.


  • 1995 Luneau-Papin / Domaine Pierre de la Grange Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Le “L” d’Or - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
    Showing beautifully. It’s mature and has taken on that Chablis-like character, though is in no danger of falling off soon. Lots of mineral, crushed oyster shells, citrus, star fruit and a strong spearmint note on the nose and palate. Vibrant with age-softened edges to the acid structure. Just delightful. A-.
  • 1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile Vendange Tardive - France, Alsace
    Fully mature and maybe even a little past peak, it shows plenty of petrol notes with an aged stone fruit character, citrus, mineral and hints of spiciness. Just a little bit of sweetness, but it’s balanced nicely by the acids and by a bitter citrus pith note on the finish. A bottle of the regular '89 FE tried within the past six or so months showed fresher. A-.
  • 2014 A.J. Adam Hofberg Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
    Still extremely young and spritzy at this point. I love the energy of this wine. Not particularly sweet and full of lemon drops, stone fruit and mineral. Snappy and full of sheer pleasure. A-.
  • 1969 Château Clos de la Philberdière Bourgueil - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil
    I apparently tried this a bit too late as those that tried it when first opened reported a better experience than I got about forty or so minutes later. It smells maderized, but on the palate there’s a surprising hit of intense roasted red fruit, but it’s fleeting and then one’s left with some drying tannins and very lemony acidity. An hour or so later and Don reported it had largely given up the ghost. C+/C.
  • 1985 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    Sadly, corked. NR (flawed)
  • 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    Always one of my favorite '89s and this bottle is singing! Beautiful aromas of sweet dark fruits, tobacco, earth and herb. On the palate, the tannins have softened and the wine is fully integrated and silky. There’s perfect ripeness to the cassis fruit without it being overstated. A bit of cigar box, herb and earth with a graphite streak. The elegance of this wine with the depth and length that it shows is one of its greatest characteristics. Absolutely delicious and at peak, but not leaving that spot for awhile. A.
  • 1997 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    There’s a pleasant core of bright cherry fruit here along with some oak spice, but there’s also a bit too much green showing and the wine is a tad rough around the edges and lacks complexity. Finishes with a hit of green astringency. Not bad with food, but I’d drink up as I don’t see this getting any better. Low B.
  • 1997 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
    A wine for fans of structure. Still quite tough with big tannins leading the way and not quite enough fruit to stand up to them fully at this point. What cherry is present is enjoyable, but there’s a lot more forest things going on in the form of earth, mushrooms and tree bark. Give it some more time soften and just hope there’s enough fruit remaining to enable it to show better than it does now. B+/B.
  • 1959 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon
    This producer is a bit maligned amongst my local group of Loireheads and, indeed, their wines can be a bit boring and industrial, but I’ve always enjoyed the '59 and I brought it since it was Jay’s birthday the day before and this is his conception year. There was a lot of this around in the late '90s/early aughts, of varying condition and I purchased this bottle in 2004. Good fill, but I maybe waited a little long. This was much more evolved and less fresh than previous bottles I’ve had. Lots of caramel here with stone fruits, pear compote and walnuts. It lacks some of the acid zip that other bottles have shown and overall, there’s a bit of a dullness about it. I believe I liked it more than others, but it’s not what it was. Solid B+.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the great notes. We here in flyover country promise to do our best to look after Salil. And by “do our best” we mean, “mock him mercilessly for living in Indiana”.

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Good luck

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What is a “Salil”?

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A Members Only jacket model who has switched careers.

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Salil rooting NYY from afar?

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Come on now, Corey. Don’t sell yourself short. Chicago is “fly to” country. Indiana, not so much. [cheers.gif]

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A place where Riesling goes to die. [grin.gif]

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Yeah. In any given snowstorm, about a third of the people in the country are stuck at O’Hare, so you can’t really count it as flyover country.

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Salil roots for whoever is on his fantasy baseball team.

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Several wine drinkers in the Indy area for him, not quite NYC though.

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Ah, that Salil. He, officially, is the only Member left in the Club. Damn he drinks well.

Believe it or not, I have never tried the '89 Lalande, yet the '89 Baron is an epiphany wine and an all-time fave, drank many them. Need to remedy that.

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I’ll admit to being a little disappointed by the 1989 Trimbach FE VT. I last had it about 10 years ago and agree that, while still delicious, it’s started on a downslope. It’s much more loose knit than I remember. This was a birthday present to myself.

You liked the Adam more than I did. A producer that I just can’t seem to warm up to.

My favorites were the L d’Or and the Gouges (which I obviously liked a lot more than you), closely followed by the Lalande.

The Bourgueil was a bit off on the nose but quite compelling on the palate.

Moulin Touchais never does much for me, but it was a generous thought so thank you.

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Nice notes, Brad, thanks. It was a fun afternoon – always a pleasure to get to wear a sweater in July in NYC, and not to have to worry about your red wine getting too warm.

I really enjoyed the Gouges and the Pichon Lalande. It was great to have a mature Gouges, I don’t know if I’ve had one before!

To me, the 1989 Pichon Lalande is one of the most enjoyable Bordeaux around. It’s a soft wine with classic Bdx aromas and flavors. Even though Pichon Baron is right across the street, the two 1989 Pichon’s are very, very different wines. The Baron at this point is still young, structured, and a bit brooding.

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He’s the president of the Lena Dunham fan club

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I am changing my name to Salil…

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Not even with your dick.