Thanks Marc. Should be a great time of year to visit Portugal. Yeah, that Porto/Lisbon travel thread has a lot of interesting posts. I’m a big fan of Luis Seabra wines. When we tasted with him, he provided a lot of info on the technical aspects of his winemaking. The sommelier from NYC who was also at our visit/tasting was really tuned in to that aspect. Me, not so much, other than being impressed with the obvious craft, science, and passion in his winemaking. With the wine drinking, I was DEFINITELY tuned in. As we were with his overall hospitality and the vibe/gestalt of our tasting visit.
Hope you have a great trip. Enjoy!
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A guess the producer challenge? 
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Haha, it’s William’s aligote 
It’s very good!
Excellent, love to try his wines as well!
Whites from Casa de Mouraz are some of my favorites.
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In the last week, 2010 Williams Selyem Precious Mountain and 2019 Kinsman Eades Voleuses.
Another somewhat “ugly” auction purchase with a disintegrating label. The first bottle of three was corked leading to less than high expectations.
Clean cork and easy pull let me pour this down a Glasvin Aromatic to reveal an evolved brick red color (apologies as the bottle was coming out of the fridge hence the frosted glass). As always with my current setup, everything was muted coming out of fridge temperature so I had to look at it and wonder for a good twenty minutes.
After some air and coming out to proper temperature, the nose is expensive/expansive! Beautiful complex spices, some ripe red berries, bramble, earth, a hint of beef bouillon and whiff of salinity. For a short second, I thought I was on to something great. As intoxicating as the nose was, the palate fell short. No fault here but showing some shortcomings: tart cherry and cranberry, dusty dry tannins and short finish. There is lip-smacking pleasure to drinking this as the high acidity and red crunchy berries take over but there is no depth, complexity or finish.
However…
This was a surprising standout with the meal. I made slow braised beef shank in my dutch oven and the pairing was unexpectedly amazing. Quick tour of the recipe: beef shank, onion, shallots, garlic, star anise, bouquet garni, chives, red szechuan pepper, 2000 Château du Glana and vegetable stock. 5-6 hours slow braise. Add fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnip. Continue braising until tender.
The wine was not chosen to go with the meal but it was in my fridge (stood up for a few days) and I needed to get it out of there. So the decision was made. And lo and behold… so good!
The nose was a perfect match to the aromas from the braised beef. The star anise and root vegetables worked very well with the spices and beef bouillon on the nose of the Aloxe-Corton. And then, the tart red berries on the palate cut through the fat and bone marrow and made everything come together. Pretty darn enjoyable evening! This was such a win that I congratulated myself with a small poor of scotch on a Tuesday night!
Gift from family. French whisky from Occitanie. Nose is blah. Palate is blah. I’ll find a way to empty the bottle. Friends beware.
Life is good.
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2019 PYCM Rully Les Cailloux. I opened it around noon, double decant. took it to dinner around 6 pm and the wine was absolutely SINGING. Ugh, white burgs like this are really what it’s all about.
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First ever trip to the Seattle area on business and found a local shop. Just wanted to try something small and local. This was a lovely bottle. Pure, old school, great wine. 12% red mt cab in this era, hard to believe.
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Trying to read the years on the labels…help an old man out?
With dinner last night:
For my main course (duck), a 2006 Louis Jadot Clos de la Roche, stood up for over 24 hours, decanted for sediment (of which there was hardly any) & an hour’s aeration in my cav before returning to bottle to be brought to the restaurant. Good bouquet, nice acid balance/cut for the rich duck course. Good stuff considering it’s relatively moderate price.
For the cheese and dessert courses, a bottle of 1989 Château Suduiraut. Good complexity and balance. Inexpensive, very good value for money aged Sauternes.
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Yes I need a higher resolution picture. From left to right;
2009, 2009, 2008, 2005, 2005, 2004, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1995 and 1996
The Mouton and the Ducru were in a class above the others but the 08 Pichon Lalande was pretty damn good as well
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You dine well!
Cheers.
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Once in a while. Thanks!
Catching up for the last week:
2020 Goodfellow WV Chardonnay - Excellent. The acidity is starting to calm down. Glad I have a lot left.
2016 Walter Scott Chardonnay Cuvee Anne - Needed a few minutes of air, but was then lovely - spicy, fruity, balanced acidity. The bottle didn’t last long.
2012 Belle Pente Pinot Noir Murto - Tired and a little over-ripe.
2017 Goodfellow Chardonnay Durant - In a great place right now. Rich lemon/citrus with good acidity without being heavy. Great length.
2019 Cameron Clos Electrique - On the edge of premox for me (I’m really sensitive to this). Other bottles of this I’ve had have been great - incredible concentration of flavors (citrus and apple), mouthfeel, and length, but this one had a hint of oxidation.
1982 Burgess cabernet, 2010 Chappellet Signature cabernet. The Burgess was purchased on release $12.99 and had excellent fill. Slight edge browning, huge amount of sediment. Still some fruit but it was fading. The Chappellet was excellent and has plenty of life left. Note sure how to post the pictures on this thread.
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2012 Ixsir Grande Reserve
This Lebanese wine is a blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Strong presence of dark fruit on the nose, followed by the same in the taste, but very balanced. The mouthfeel has no sharp edges and is very pleasant. Tasty wine that we both enjoyed tonight with walnut basil pesto. Already looking forward to another glass or two of this with one of our Omaha Steak Perfection Burgers at tomorrow’s dinner.
Recommended
Another cool lunch and then quick visit to my buddy’s wine shop that brought out a crazy bottle.
Château Lanessan 1990
If you like your Claret with fruit this is not for you. Very nice nose of old leather, earth, cigar tobacco and a hint of smokiness. It’s basically all tertiary, no fruit left. But sweet Jesus is the nose intoxicating. The palate is very much alive and all savoury: pyrazines, earth, root vegetables and leather. Still alive with medium acidity, fine grained integrated tanins and smooth finish. We had this with a nice saignant piece of beef and peppercorn sauce. Joy.
Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes 2006
This started out tight and closed: nothing on the nose, tart red berries and grippy tanins. Time and air brought out some darker fruit, oak spices, stemminess and a little bit of savory notes. Very good
Château Rauzan-Gassies 2009
A little overly fruity: ripe cassis all day long. Some nice minerality but the fruit is definitely ripe. A little too easy going. Not a hit with me.
Got to my buddy’s shop and he had something for me to try: brownish golden color, straight out of the fridge so the nose was a little suppressed: I go: Jura? Yes. Savagnin? Yes. Ouillé? No. 1996. No. 1979 Savagnin Non Ouillé, no producer, from a friend’s great grandfather’s cellar. Fresh walnut, some metallic notes and cheese rind. Oily mouthfeel with straight up acidity. Beautiful.
Glorious day.
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