Week 3 Virtual Tasting for Charity - Wines of the Loire for Semper Fi Fund - DEC11 - DEC18

[Jim_Stewart]

Jay, thank you for stepping up to the challenge! That was also a nice TN. Good to see you.

[Jim_Stewart]

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OK, we are done with the Week 3 charity tasting. Thank you to everyone who joined in, opened some Loire bottles, and posted about them. Every posted wine note earned a $10 donation from me to the Semper Fi Fund. Multiple wines in a post earned the $10 for each wine. A bunch of wine posts also earned a bonus donation of an extra $10. I had some fun with the bonus opportunities and with the whole thread, so thanks for playing along with the spirit of it. I calculated the total donations earned by the posts this week at over $500. I’m going to round that up to $600 for the Semper Fi Fund. Additionally, there is a dollar-for-dollar match by The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation going on through December 31 at the Semper Fi Fund, so this thread’s donation will be matched by them. Good stuff!
A happy and healthy 2020 to all!
-Jim

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[Robert.A.Jr]

The “C’mon man”
Jay Hack, if you open a Loire Cabernet Franc red still wine this week, and post a tasting note here that includes a photo of yourself with the wine, I will donate $20 instead of $10 to the Semper Fi Fund.
Michae1 P0wers, if you open a 2018 Pepiere Muscadet “La Pepie” this week, and post a tasting note here that includes a photo of yourself with the wine, I will donate $20 instead of $10 to the Semper Fi Fund.

Oh, that’s good. I will donate $50 to see Jay finally open a Loire Cab Franc.

Jay doesn’t like Cab Franc? Really? OK, I will match Alf’s $50 challenge to Jay, too.

I own some Loire so we’ll get some open to help you, Jim.

Good stuff Jim and Jay!

Post the donation link please!

Jay, try the Breton Franc de Pied one day. Lovely stuff.

[Jim_Stewart]

Here is a link to donate: https://semperfifund.org/

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

. . . Jay, try the Breton Franc de Pied one day. Lovely stuff.

You mean this wine:

• 2009 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil (9/30/2015)
  Purchased a few years ago at Zachy’s when Pierre Breton was pouring his wines. Pungo’d half a bottle because it is midweek, thus no air. Excellent balance and smoothness. Notable acidity. Fruit but not sweet fruit. There is also an herbal component that is very hard to identify. Color is light. Nose is subdued with an herbal/floral component. Excellent. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I forgot about the note. I have one more but I think it will keep for as long as I can hold it - probably at least 5 more years. Interesting that I gave them both the dreaded 89 points, but I admit to being a tough grader.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Here is Levenberg’s note on the 2009 Breton FDP:

KEITH LEVENBERG LIKES THIS WINE:
95 points
May 13, 2015 - Tremendous performance out of this, easily the most impressive and also the most substantial Breton Franc de Pied I’ve had to date. I had previously viewed this bottling as a tier below the Baudry or Joguet FDPs but perhaps the vines have matured to the point where I should reassess (or maybe the wine itself is just maturing). This offers a powerful blast of complex aromatics right from the first sip, both earthy and savory and maybe even spicy, too. It’s one of those wines where a lot of that personality moves into the background after a few minutes, so make sure you sample this one out of the gate instead of leaving it around to breathe all night. But from there the palate offers luscious fruit, significantly more concentrated and more layered than any prior vintages of this wine have been, with maybe a very fine bead of CO2 in there that you can barely notice through the fruit. You can get a sense through the fruit of some of the interesting things that were fleeting through those initial aromatics, savory root flavors and spice seasonings and what-not. But it’s really the sense of power I find most impressive relative to prior vintages that were more in the camps of “elegant” or glou-glou. This is the kind of stuffing that makes you think it’ll be virtually ageless and just coast forever on all that material, like the '59 Bordeauxs or something like that.


I bought a case of this stuff, it’s really good, around the 92 range for me.

[Jim_Stewart]

Done and done !

Acknowledgement from the Semper Fi Fund: Thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness with your donation of $600.00 on 12/19/2019. Your heart and dedication will help us aid the wounded, critically ill and injured service members of our nation, and their families. There are not enough words to express our gratitude for your being part of our mission — serving those who preserve our freedom.

Your donation means more than money to heroes and their families. Your donation means healing, HOPE, and support for those who have volunteered to go in harm’s way for peace, security, and our freedom. Also, your gift will have double the impact on our military families thanks to the generosity of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation through the Double Down for Veterans Matching Gift Campaign.

[Scott_Tallman]

Here is Levenberg’s note on the 2009 Breton FDP:

KEITH LEVENBERG LIKES THIS WINE:
95 points
May 13, 2015 - Tremendous performance out of this, easily the most impressive and also the most substantial Breton Franc de Pied I’ve had to date. I had previously viewed this bottling as a tier below the Baudry or Joguet FDPs but perhaps the vines have matured to the point where I should reassess (or maybe the wine itself is just maturing). This offers a powerful blast of complex aromatics right from the first sip, both earthy and savory and maybe even spicy, too. It’s one of those wines where a lot of that personality moves into the background after a few minutes, so make sure you sample this one out of the gate instead of leaving it around to breathe all night. But from there the palate offers luscious fruit, significantly more concentrated and more layered than any prior vintages of this wine have been, with maybe a very fine bead of CO2 in there that you can barely notice through the fruit. You can get a sense through the fruit of some of the interesting things that were fleeting through those initial aromatics, savory root flavors and spice seasonings and what-not. But it’s really the sense of power I find most impressive relative to prior vintages that were more in the camps of “elegant” or glou-glou. This is the kind of stuffing that makes you think it’ll be virtually ageless and just coast forever on all that material, like the '59 Bordeauxs or something like that.


I bought a case of this stuff, it’s really good, around the 92 range for me.

A bottle of the 2010 of this wine was one of the best bottles I’ve had this year. Too bad I only bought one bottle! Need to buy multiples of this year in, year out, but not as easy for me to find as it was 5-7 years ago…

[Frank_Murray_III]

Jim, I made my donation of $50 to the Semper Fi Fund in honor of you and Jay Hack’s consumption of said Loire wine. Thank you for taking on the week and for making Jay do something special.

[Jim_Stewart]

Robert A and Frank

[Robert.A.Jr]

Done! Great thread, great wines, great cause. Cool to see even Jay participate.