TNs--Fred in T.O., BdM CC, PYCM St. Aubin, Negri Sfursat, Knoll, others

[Mike_Grammer]

The group reconvened for lunch at Dragon Boat to have a last get-together with Fred Schwartz before his return to Atlanta. Joining us this time in addition to the people at last night’s dinner were Dave’s son, Ethan and Jeff’s wife, Vivien.

Didn’t take formal notes this time, so this will be a bit more free-form impressions.

2006 Bouchard Corton Charlie was sadly a little oxidized and not showing properly. Unfortunately, a mag of what was sure to be an interesting Portuguese white from Jay was corked. 2004 Bonneau de Martray Corton Charlie starts off with promising minerality in nose and mouth. I did find it rather sharp at the sides of the cheeks and wondered for just a bit if this one was premoxed too, but such was not the case. Instead, as it sat in the glass, it developed much more length, some roundness and structure, while keeping a spiciness about the yellow fruit. 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin Morey St. Aubin les Chatenieres went in the other direction—started with a floral-tinged white fruit nose and a fine, quite musky feel which was quite different from other St. Aubin I’ve had, but with air time, this wine actually tightened up and became quite a bit leaner and sterner. An interesting transformation. For me, another very enjoyable 2008 Burg. 2010 Marc Morey Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets was a re-taste for Dave and I from a big overall tasting in the fall. Now, with proper atmosphere and with some more time in bottle, this was very nice indeed, showing good minerality, pit fruit side and a fine tanginess on the tongue, without a distracting sweet side that I had seen in it before. Solid. 2007 Knoll Smaragd Loibner Berg Gruner Veltliner, on the other hand, while yes having abundant flower, what I would designate as a coriander/cilantro—certainly fresh-cut herbs—side and some of the white pepper on the nose, in the mouth it is rather over-rich and again has that sweetness that has become a (somewhat unhappy for me) hallmark of this vintage. It is very well-made wine, it’s just hard for me to think of it as a Gruner. 2004 Nino Negri Sfursat Valltelina had a really sparkling bouquet of roses, bright strawberries and some cherry and plum underneath, but needs much more time and is somewhat strict right now to taste. Jeff also brought a Vouvray for us to try with the food, it was very much on the sweet side, but OK as a summer sipper maybe. And he also brought 25 year Linkwood from Gordon & MacPhail which was quite strong (although only 43%) for this distillery—I do find a tremendous spectrum gets covered by Linkwood products, and a 25-year Glenfarclas (I think Connoisseur’s Choice, but Jeff can correct me) which was remarkably smooth and very classy, more so than pretty much any other taste I’ve had from this house. Very appreciative to have the chance to try 'em.

I can’t have the crab–allergies–but the others assured me it was splendid.

A bientot

Mike

[dcornutt]

Nice!

[Mike_Grammer]

We try

So looking forward to our visit in a month down there.

[Tran_Bronstein]

I’m gonna free form this as well with a little added commentary as well. This second spontaneous brunch get-together showed me the importance of varying wines at get-togethers and offlines. Just like at tasting events, there can be too much of a good thing.

I certainly hope that doesn’t sound ungrateful because it’s not meant to be. All the contributions were extremely generous. I think this has more to do with my inexperienced palate than anything else. I was blown away by the Burgundy Chardonnays and the Aubert the night before. But once another three Chardonnays from Burgundy showed up the next morning it was somewhat difficult for me to reach the same level of excitement. A little variety as well as some breathing room is called for with such close proximity between events.

IMHO, the Burgundy Chardonnays got a disservice from me because they were all so close to each other. It also made them seem a bit less special given the overabundance of the stuff. You can knock me for my sweet tooth all you want, but the sweet wines I bring always seem to benefit from the fact that they break up the monotony of the dry offerings everyone else brings. Variety is indeed the spice of life. End of mini-rant. Onto the wines, food and pics:

2007 Knoll Smaragd Loibner Berg Gruner Veltliner – Wow. This is one of the few times a wine with residual sweetness actually made me think it was better off without the sugar. I usually find Gruner Vetliner dry and bracing. This was sweet but fat and lacked the vibrancy and acidity I usually find in Vetliner. This engendered a discussion with Heather who as a professional somm found the wine absolutely technically correct. It had everything you would find in a Vetliner of this age. I really think I need another taste to judge this properly.

2004 Nino Negri Sfursat Valltelina – An Amarone style wine made from Nebbiolo. Loads of sweet dark cherry and coffee flavor and great texture but it lacked a touch of ripeness and silkiness I associate with well-aged Amarone so I agree with Mike that this will develop it with more time.

2011 Bougrier Vouvray – Jeff brought this way out of its league bottle and lovingly referred to it as “El Cheapo.” In truth, it wasn’t a bad wine but it definitely showed its quality level at $14.80 a bottle. Decent flavors of peach and mango with some sweetness and good acidity in a very light body. It was very much a beginner’s wine. It was actually an okay wine and was even a decent pairing with our seafood but it just got blown away by everything else. In fact, I have just two $20 CDN bottles of Vouvray in my collection – the Domaine D’Orfeuilles biodynamic Demi-Sec and the Bourillon-Dorléans Demi-Sec and for a mere $6 - $7 more respectively they just completely blow this out of the water.

2004 Bonneau de Martray Corton Charlie, 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin Morey St. Aubin les Chatenieres and 2010 Marc Morey Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets – All of these were excellent white Burgundys but unfortunately they had a hard time standing out in my mind as I had by now reached white Burgundy overload and I feel its unfair to the wines to comment on them. For what it’s worth, I did finish both my glasses and was pleased. I just think I would’ve enjoyed them more on a different occasion rather than the morning after having already had 3 amazing ones the night before. We probably should have changed up the theme once we knew we were all getting together again.

Though I didn’t bring any sweet wine this time, Jeff saved the day with an special treat for us which I personally didn’t know he was going to bring – three of the absolute finest two decade old whiskies I have ever had the pleasure of trying.

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Highland Single Malt – While I’m not a big peated whisky fan, I do really enjoy well-aged peated whiskies that properly use their peat as a spice that enhances the whisky instead of overpowering it. The Bowmore XXV immediately comes to mind and this one joins it in greatness. Warm, toasty and flavorful with incredibly smooth texture and subtle but sweet peat enhancing the whisky’s malt flavor. Incredibly well done and a shockingly great match with our crab which I did not expect at all and only tried on Jeff’s recommendation.

Linkwood 25 Year Old Speyside Single Malt – Exceptionally strong whisky, sweet and flavorful. Pure unpeated flavor that may be enhanced by some light sherry cask finishing. Stunning stuff that really should be sipped over a long period. Quite the tossup between this and the Glenfarclas as to which was my favorite.

Nikka “Yoshi” 20 Year Old Single Malt – A privilege to try, this was my first Japanese whisky ever and was an absolute powerhouse. Where the Glenfarclas was subtle, this was all about power and strength. Dark copper color, ultra rich texture, concentrated malt flavor, very sweet and unbelievably strong peat flavor that actually got stronger and stronger in my mouth long after I had swallowed the whisky. I looked at the bottle and only then realized it was a 52% ABV cask strength, but honestly it was so smooth you’d never know that without looking at the bottle.

Even with that knowledge, I had absolutely no desire to dilute this with spring water at all but perhaps I should have as I ended up liking the Glenfarclas better overall. Make no mistake, however: diluted or not, this easily bests many other Scottish whiskies I’ve sampled both through friends and from the LCBO. Scottish distillers should be looking over their shoulder.

This also, BTW, adds to my point about the variety. We didn’t have a single spirit the night before and this special surprise just blew me away due to the variety it added to our overall experience and of course the sheer quality of the whiskies.

[Tran_Bronstein]

Oh yes, the food. Whereas the night before was varied between pork, seafood and duck, this brunch was all about the shellfish. King crab and lobster ruled the day and as I mentioned already were amazingly good matches with the whiskies of all things. They were also pretty good with the white Burgundys and even the Vouvray in spite of its simpleness.

Only the Nebbiolo based Amarone style wine didn’t go well with the seafood so that was sipped separately between platters being served.

Again, a big thank you to Freddy from Atlanta for gracing us with his company, giving us an excuse to do these wine get-togethers and contributing his wines. Thanks to everyone else for their wines as well and especially to David He for arranging everything at the Dragon Boat. THanks to the restaurant as well for their amazing food and service and hospitality.

[Mike_Grammer]

You speak very well, Tran, and I myself was remiss in not noting the terrific food and service at Dragon Boat–familiarity and all that, I guess, since I’ve been fortunate enough to have been here a few times already with Dave.

White burgs–don’t look at me–I’m the one who brought the Gruner to change it up! And I love white burg, so there’s never such a thing as “too much”. But your point is certainly taken—in fact, I’d publicly pondered that very question reading over a series of notes on night after night of amazing wines that Jeremy Holmes posted—I was thrilled that he and others could be thrilled by so many of those wines successively while wondering how I, even with all I’ve tasted, could bring myself to properly appreciate. Ah, well, it’s part of the glory of this hobby that there is always room to learn.

I was quite intrigued by your take on the 2 Scottish whiskies, as I felt the opposite to some degree—I didn’t detect any peat myself in the Glenfarclas and I actually think I got some in the Linkwood. I’ve had the Yoshi 20 before, and agree it’s demanding stuff. Generally, Japanese malts for me have been a little behind their Scottish brethren, with a notable exception, a Yamazaki special select of about 12 years or so that they only sell at the distillery door and that I’d sell a child into slavery for, but they generally give a good account of themselves.