Thank you so much for the double on the mags. I might open two on Thanksgiving.
I’m happy to be able to contribute. I don’t formally tithe, but most years donate about 10% of my income to worthy causes. Except for a few national / international organizations, Laura’s House is the only charity I support outside of my part of Maine. I’m grateful to you for your generosity and brilliant idea.
I’m not going to be able to maintain a pace of two a day… Chuck and Bonnie were over tonight, Eileen is going home tomorrow, I’ll be alone until just before Thanksgiving, but tonight we opened:
2009 Domaine Doudet Savigny-les-Beaune ‘Varmints’
Well cellared since release. Medium garnet color. Aromas had everything I wanted, red cherry, a touch of sous-bois. But the palate was a little high in acidity, with muted flavors that were neither primary nor secondary. This was very drinkable, but a little clunky. Rated 86.
2006 Cristom Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley ‘Jefferson Cuvee’
I expected less from this and got a whole lot more! Paler color, with some bricking. Aromas are outstanding, ripe red raspberry, a hint of black cherry, fully secondary but nothing tertiary. The palate is light to medium in body, tannins fully resolved, enough acid to keep it fresh, there is density and breadth along with it being light on its feet. The flavors evolve into earthy subtlety, this is a great example of mature Oregon Pinot. I think this is their entry-level. Bravo! Rated 91.5.
2019 Domaine Laboureau Pommard - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard (11/18/2022)
Darker fruited than than the Goodfellow we had with this. Slightly more tannic and more oomph too. Still this is lighter bodied, and has some faint savory notes. While there was a little more intensity with this wine, it also seemed a little watered down, if that makes sense. The Goodfellow, while slightly more delicate and lighter, did not seem that way. Pleasant and enjoyable, but at $60, this seemed expensive for what it was.
2019 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (11/18/2022)
Pale, translucent color. Lighter bodied, delicate and dry. Red fruited, elegant, pleasant, easy drinking wine.
2021 Domaine Charles Audoin Marsannay Rosé - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay Rosé (11/18/2022)
Taut and crisp with citrus and saline accents. Delicious. My buddy said Rose doesn't get any drier than this. The favorite wine of the night for all three of us this evening.
Made when Kelley Fox was the winemaker. Her winery website says she used no new oak by 2012 and it seems that is the case with this wine too. Darker color than I’ve come to expect from her wines. Medium bodied, still moderate tannins, very clean with no funk or dirt. Bright cherries and spice. It made us purr.
NV Frédéric Savart / Drémont Père et fils Champagne Éphémère 005 Blanc de Noirs - France, Champagne (11/19/2022)
100% Pinot noir disgorged with 3 g/l. Lots of toffee and caramel. Lots of acid too. Kind of disjointed to me. I’ve tried most of the Ephemere wines and none of them have really hit it out of the park for me.
Hey, hey, I successfully uploaded a photo - one for the technology Neanderthal club
The 2009 Hudelot-Noellat Le Petit Vougeot was my red WOTN yesterday; we paired it with a squab dish that was deelish, and the wine showed ripe fruit, good persistence on the finish. Feels like a wine that could age for another 10 years easy, although I’m not sure it gets any better than it is right now.
We started out with the 2015 Marie Courtin Concordance, which is a 100% Pinot Noir wine. I know Frank is a big fan of this producer so I was surprised to see that he hadn’t posted a note yet on this particular wine on CT.
At any rate, for what I believe is a low dosage Champagne, this really rang the bell last night. We had it by itself and also paired with a red snapper crudo, and everyone at the table enjoyed it quite a bit. I have one bottle left, and I will try to hang on to this for a while, as I’m curious to see how it will age - this was very harmonious last night.
Last Pinot of the night was the 2009 Pavelot Gravains, which we paired up with a pheasant ravioli that was one of the best courses of the night. In retrospect, I should have had the Hudelot-Noellat with this course. I enjoy Pavelot’s wines, but their inherent rusticity would normally lead me to pair this wine with something gamier like the squab.
2010 Biggio Hamina Deux Vert Vineyard, Yamhill AVA, OR
40% whole cluster and it shows. Very nice savory, spicy elements. The color leans pale with almost a hint of darn orange/brown like an aged Nebbiolo. The beginning of tertiary characteristics on the nose and palate. It’s probably five years too young and will last another ten.
missed the pic but opened up a really awesome Patricia Green Estate Old Vine 2018 last night at dinner with friends. The restaurant is known for having a wide range of food offerings, we had everything from asian style dumplings to mushroom voul-a-vent to enchiladas, and I knew that PG would complement all of it well. Dinner was delicious, being with friends was great, we saw Fiddle on the Roof after which is always a good time, and the PGC was singing as always. As we all know with PG, no hurry to open these but this wine was in a really enjoyable place now!
2016 Felton Rd Bannockbrun Pinot Noir: Still a baby but showing a a modest amount of development. Dark red fruits, some subtle oak notes, fine grained tannins, good acidity framing the long finish. Delicious but with lots of room to develop further
Posting pictures as placeholder, will fill in the notes when I’m back at a keyboard…
Windy Oaks Barrel Tasting - 2022, 2021, 2020 Santa Cruz Mountains Whole Cluster Pinot
2018 Windy Oaks Santa Cruz Mountains Sparkling Rosé of Pinot
2016 Copain Les Voisins Anderson Valley Pinot Noir - Typically Anderson Valley on the nose. Red fruit on the palate, medium tannins, medium plus acidity. Slightly feral, a hint of bitter streak - stem inclusion? Just about ready. Great value, paired well with Merguez sausage.
I really dig all of you embracing this challenge and taking it on as you have. I enjoy the photos, the comraderie and sharing.
So, Brig took a photo of my mug yesterday so I’ll let that stand for this post as I drop in a few notes from the wines we had open yesterday when he was over. I decided to open most of the Marie Courtin range, as a few guys had brought Resonance, and one of the guys is going through his somm qualifying so I wanted to give him some geeky grower Champagne perspective. I didn’t get notes on the Resonance (14 and 18) but the two that follow are leftovers from last night.
2015 Marie Courtin Champagne Efflorescence Extra Brut - France, Champagne (11/21/2022)
Opened yesterday. Just an ounce left for today's note. June 2021 disgorgement, 100% Pinot Noir done in old wood. No dosage, farmed bio. This bottle is consistent with the previous ones, both in texture and fruit. For texture, there is a glossy feel to the wine, what I almost could call oily but that would convey the wrong perception. Think of the wine as glossy, round, with a polish ti all of it. For the fruit, really hard to call this wine, as there are aspects that might fool me for Chard, such as the glossy apple and even what seems like a licorice note. Then, a mix of what seems like a pineapple (meaning the citrus) along with a red fruit, like a raspberry. This bottle has a unique edge to it and yet I don't see any reason why you can't enjoy it now. This is my final 15 Eff, gonna start looking for the 16.
2016 Marie Courtin Champagne Concordance Extra Brut - France, Champagne (11/21/2022)
My final bottle of the 16. 100% Pinot Noir. And, different from the past few I have opened, this is the September 2020 disgorgement. And like with the June 2021 disgorgement, there is some gold color here. But, where the similarity disappears is the wine's structure. This bottle, perhaps this disgorgement, has a distinct structure and backbone that is very present. Golden apple, even an edge of honey to it, but then a stone fruited like peach and cherry is thrust into the wine with the spine from the minerality. Man, the backbone in this bottle is notable, and it's been open for 24 hours under stopper. Finishes with some tangy lime citrus and saline. This is the bottle flair that wowed me back in June, this kind of quality. However, the source for those is long gone and I am just not excited about sourcing more from the later disgorgement and the advanced nature of that wine (at least to me and what I have found). Of note, this cuvee is sans soufre and so in 2016, in terms of my view into this, there is some bottle variation. I just wish they all tasted like this final bottle that is now gone!
We do not drink a lot of Oregon wine and was not familiar with this at all. Received as a gift.
This is definitely Pinot but on the lighter side with cherry and cranberry in a bright package that did not seem 8 years old. Not a wine to contemplate over but very enjoyable. Would be a great party wine.
Doing some research, this is a very reasonably priced wine widely available in the Pennsylvania state store system. It looks like it was made by Sarah Cabot who currently makes the Kirkland Pinot Noir.
Brought by one of our friends. From magnum. Deep dark garnet in the glass with dominant notes of black cherries and touch of cardamom and mint. Lovely wine with full body and loads of spicy black cherries and a long finish. I think it is drinking so well I don’t think it gets better than this.
