Short notes on lots of wine on New Year Weekend

[jal]

2010 Geoffroy Blanc de Blancs Brut 1er Cru 'Volupté' , eh, a little disappointed, kind of blah and nondescript. Not worth the price for me. 88

2005 Harlan the Maiden red wine: thick nose of cassis and blackberries, concentrated, glossy, layer after layer of deep fruit but also very manipulated and comes with a bad headache, the two advils I took after that did not help. 88 for me, but 92 for the others who loved it

2014 Larmandier Bernier Terre Vertus 1er Cru Brut Nature: excellent champagne, I have had mediocre experiences with this house always finding their sparklers thin and weak, this one came with all the stuffing. 93

1995 Togni Cab: Earthy, tannic, structured, complex, and not giving much even after a couple of hours. Perfect for the intellectual pursuers not for those who want to enjoy their wine. 90

1998 Nenin Pomerol: Beautiful perfume, very seductive, fully resolved tannins, nice structure, impeccable balance with delicious fruit. Not too complex but very easy to drink and love. Give me Bordeaux anytime. 93

2017 Elio Grasso Langhe Nebbiolo Gavarini: another great showing for this awesome nebbiolo. violets and tar on the nose, dark inky color, dusty tannins, very complex with delicious fruit, mainly cherries. 92

Need to detox for a few days now.

[JCNorthway]

Pretty nice weekend line-up, Jacques. I'm curious about the Grasso Nebbiolo. Is that one that you buy regularly to have some experience with consistency? I'm curious because the current release vintage seems to be the 2019, which I'm tempted by based on your comments about the 2017.

[jal]

Hi Jon,
So no, I had not purchased this before, I bought a bottle last year and was blown away by how good it was. After a little research, I found out that no 2017 Elio Grasso Rüncot Riserva was made and all the grapes went into the Langhe. Other vintages may or may not be great, I have no idea, but I did buy six more bottles of the 2017 after that initial experience.

I posted on it when I first bought and tasted:

viewtopic.php?p=90900#p90900

viewtopic.php?p=90913#p90913

[JCNorthway]

So if the Runcot Riserva grapes went into that Nebbiolo, it must have been really concentrated compared to the usual blend. I must have been snoozing when you posted that last year.

[jal]

Yes, dark and concentrated. Some notes on CellarTracker describe it as light ruby, I don’t know but these people may need glasses, nothing light about this wine.
It is also very pure, no oak at all, aged only in stainless steel.

[Harry C.]

Jacques, before bigger reds, try a Claritin an hour before. May help prevent the headaches after.

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for your notes Jacques.

I bought a six pack of the 2017 Elio Grasso Langhe Nebbiolo Gavarini based on your first note, but I still have them in storage. I must take them out and try one when I come off my fast in February. It escaped my notice that this wine is declassified Rüncot Riserva. How exciting!

Jon the 2019 vintage in Piedmont compared to the 2016 Piedmont vintage is as the 2019 vintage is in Bordeaux to the 2016 Bordeaux, so there won’t be any declassification in 2019.

Also interested in your 1998 Nenin note, Jacques. You don’t see many notes on Nenin, which I often find to be an austere wine, overseen by Leoville Lascases. But the combination with the 1998 vintage seems like a winner.

[jal]

Thank you Harry, I will try it next time.

Ian, the 1998 Nenin was I believe the first vintage produced under the new Delon ownership, not sure. There was nothing austere about the wine, it was very open and great fun to drink. My note is very sparse but Arv wrote a much better note on the same wine a few months back:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9707&p=96229&hilit

[Blanquito]

All 17 Elio Grasso is sold out, at least in the US. I was going to buy some, but decided to pass!

I enjoy reading about 98 RB wines as I build anticipation for the 25 year retrospective in 2023!

[AKR]

I picked up one of those 2019 Elio Grasso langhe DO level wines but have not tried it yet, and with all the stuff on the 'to drink' list, it might be a while....