TNs: Chidaine, Dauvissat, Liquid Farm, Kutch, Bachelet, etc

WINE TALK
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Had a nice dinner and set of wines last night with six great folks over at Playground here in the OC. Just several of us eating family style, talking wine, about the airlines business, Arnie’s cool Cab cellar and trying to guess the Hermitage based-wine that Bruce brought blind–anything was fair game with a simple of theme of bring something AWFE! All in, terrific way to spend a Thursday evening, with a fun group of people and have some bottles and small plates. Thanks for coming down all of you. PS–I was surprised on how I landed with the two LF chardonnays below. I squarely went on the side of The Four, which I would not have expected. It roundly beat the White Hill for my palate, with the WH just showing kind of boring, yet The Four was engaging, well balanced and terrific.

  • 2002 Domaine Denis Bachelet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (7/24/2014)
    I enjoyed this and it needed some air to unwrap, which after a couple hours it showed better and better. Dried cherry, juicy, medium weight, with good grip, youth, herb and great acidity. This is what I would expect and enjoy from Burg. Terrific.
  • 2006 Stéphane Vedeau Hermitage J. Boutin “Arena Mica” - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (7/24/2014)
    This was served blind and those around the table took cracks at guessing the wine. We ended up landing with Northern Rhone, which was close. I had offered a guess of Fonsalette. Light florals, nice mix of red and blue fruit, medium weight with a delicate finish. This showed well and it was a great wine to finish the table before we ordered dessert.
  • 2007 François Chidaine Vouvray Le Bouchet - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (7/24/2014)
    2nd bottle this year, this one via Dennis–thank you. Pineapple, ripe peach, light caramel, light caramel, stone fruit and lime skin. In that demi-sec feel but like with Chidaine, when served at best temp, this shows terrific.
  • 2007 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (7/24/2014)
    First of 2 bottles I bought a few years back. This one showed well. Lemon edged, nice energy with good ripeness. Light mineral, very good…retasted the following day, I dig the bitter citrus note that shows up in the wine, it appears in the finish and kind of folds into a slatey note. Really just a fun wine. I’m certain that if I was not spreading my wine budget to CA, champagne and the loire, that I would dig hard into Dauvissat at the higher end but it’s a numbers game and it’s just not doable. Drink window here? Lots of life left here so no rush, and putting the tangent of pox aside and all of that, this wine has 5-8 years left on it I am sure.
  • 2009 Kutch Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/24/2014)
    This seemed a little fumey to me at first, as if the ripeness was a bit higher than I would think but it was a matter of context I believe, as I was also drinking a 2002 Bachelet Corbeaux next to it. However, as I sat with this Kutch, I ended up digging it. For a fair comment, we drank this about 75 degrees, what I thought was the room temp, which isn’t what I’d do normally. At this temp, when I expect to see flaws or a wine that isn’t cloaked with a cool temp, this held up well. Blue and red fruit, intensity, yet structure and tannin in the finish that tells me the wine will age for much longer.
  • 2012 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Four - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (7/24/2014)
    Drank next to the 2012 White Hill, and tonight, this Four beat that wine. Surprsied me, as I would expect to gravitate to the White Hill’s expected leaner profile. The Four tonight showed toasty in the aromatic, a barrel-like note but nothing I’d call as oaky. Yellow apple, spicy, great balance and just better depth in this vintage, at least tonight, than the 2012 White Hill.
  • 2012 Liquid Farm Chardonnay White Hill - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (7/24/2014)
    Drank alongside the 2012 Four, which tonight I preferred that wine. For this White Hill, I found some fennel/anise on the aromatic, with yellow apple, an herb note and pear. Good push of acidity from lemon/lime and balance but it didn’t thrill me like other past White Hill, and it lacked some depth that The Four showed tonight, coming off a little more glossy than I would expect.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Wish I could have made it, but I guess I’ve got to make a living.

Funny about the LF Four. The past few times I’ve had it I’ve enjoyed it significantly more than the WH. Most people describe it as more rotund or woody than the WH, whereas I have found it more complex and pleasing. I’ve always scratched my head when I hear the WH compared to Chablis, since I’ve never/ever found the WH to be similar to Chablis, but I enjoy it immensely regardless and it will be a staple in my cellar in the coming years.

In my opinion, I would drink the WH on a week night or a casual weekend get-together, and it would always over-perform in that context, but I would reach for the Four for those occasions where I wanted a more complete experience.

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I understood the comparison with the '11 WH (which had some Chablis-like characteristics), but not the '12. That said, I enjoy both and never expect either to be interchangeable with Chablis.

I have yet to open a Four and have a real soft spot for anything Chidaine or Dauvissat, so these notes are useful to me. Thanks FMIII

4

JUST for clarification, my Cab collection is down to ONLY 52% of my cellar these days [snort.gif]

Loved the Chidaine. Paired really nicely with the spicier dishes we had. The Vincent Dauvissat was my second in the old world “flight”.

Moving into the new world, the Four was killing at dinner. Lots of complexity and depth, great flavor profile. The White Hill did not show any personality and fell far behind the other whites on the night.

The Kutch was much bolder than the other wines was perhaps was slightly above Frank’s AFWE line. I liked it of course. [cheers.gif] I’ve had several bottles, from the vineyard and Kutch did a wonderful job expressing its terroir.

As always at Playground, great food, and as always with Frank and his guests great company.

5

In the end, LF is a breath of fresh air for CA Chardonnay. They simply produce delicious Chardonnay. Further, as far as producers go, Jeff and Nikki are one of kind, and I’ve enjoyed every interaction with them.

6

Had my first LF tonight. Have been wanting to try and the white hill was on the wine list at what I think may be a pretty darn good price ($54). Was spectacular.
Wet stone, flint, acid and fruit in balance. A great chard and a reason to consider CA chard. While I’ve enjoyed mount Eden and others similar - their price IMO are ridiculous for a white. So I may have to explore LF!

7

Don’t miss out on the Rose. Great wine at a great price point!

8

Just had the LF rose last night, very good. Funny Frank, at first I preferred the White Hill in the LF lineup…but recently I’ve had some great bottles of Four. Depends on what the food pairing is I think.
That being said, love Dauvissat wines and Bachelet is great stuff

9

Great observations by all. Surprised a bit to see the Four overtake the White Hill—is that the extra 6 months or so in bottle now? Would love Nikki to jump on with some thoughts. Opening a bottle of my 12 Golden Slope next weekend in Atlanta for the gang down there.

My ExcelTracker (I know, I’ve been bad) shows only a 2010 Kutch Savoy—guess I couldn’t keep my mitts off the 09s. :slight_smile:

Most 07 Chablis I’ve been having has been terrific—the exception being a couple Vaudesirs, and I think that’s more my disinclination towards the vineyard. The Bachelet and Chidaine sound great.

Haere Ra,

Mike

10

My wife and I really enjoyed the wine, the food but mostly the friendly conversation. I’m not sure what came over me but by the end of the evening I found I was almost enjoying the red Burgundy! I may have to turn in my “Bigger is Better” club founders membership!

[snort.gif]

11

I enjoyed talking the airline culture with you, Dennis. And, let’s get something straight here, in public. If you elect to start buying wines that taste of putrid acidity, that are barely ripe and are offensively lean, and then realize you have a cellar of wines that are NOT of this new, gross and utterly offensive style, just make sure I am NOT to blame for any frustation your shift in style may cause you, your inventory or your wife!

[help.gif]

12

I’ve blamed Frank for years for my increased spending. Thank God his palette changed. BEST day EVER!
[cheers.gif]