Frozen Friday TN's: Joguet, Roumier, Gresy, Vins de Vienne

[Michael Malinoski]

A couple of weeks back, we had a whole bunch of people lined up for a frozen Friday night jeebus at King Fung II in Brookline and then for various reasons people started dropping like flies. Eventually, our organizer himself bailed on us--leaving a fearsome threesome and a drop-in guest to try and work our way through massive amounts of pre-ordered Peking duck. The dining room (such as it is) was absolutely frigid, so thank goodness the food was hot, the company warm and the wine flowing.

2001 Weingut Hirsch Riesling Alte Reben Zöbinger Gaisberg. There is a nice bouquet here of peach flesh, nectarine pit, stones, waxy lemon peel and a hint of musky kerosene. The wine has a fleshy, pithy texture on the palate. The white peach and Fuji apple flavors stay pretty tightly balled up for the most part, but do start to show a bit more volume with time and air. The acidity is not especially crisp, but does seem to provide sufficient tension. The finish is dry and balanced, sporting a gently bitter accent of pit fruit. It is an enjoyable wine, but the best advice is to give it a bit of air or a few more years in the cellar.

1999 JJ Prum Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese Mosel Saar Ruwer. This wine sports a highly expressive nose of blue slate, gasoline rag, bright tingly lemon zest, sulphur and zippy spices. It shows some spritziness initially, but otherwise feels solid as a rock on the palate—with a granite density and stony flavors to go with a fine-tuned hit of sugary sweetness. However, these components don’t seem especially well-integrated at this time, especially as the night proceeds. In particular, the wine feels like it doesn’t quite have the stuffing to fit into the large frame it has built. It is hard to explain, but the wine feels sort of like a series of fine stereo components that aren’t quite wired together correctly. A few nights later the leftovers show more sweetness--with white peach, blue slate and soft kerosene in high relief--but the wine has lost its verve. My guess is that this probably wasn’t the best-kept bottle, so I’ll plan to open another soon to calibrate the impressions.

1995 Joguet Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos. So, Charles drops by on his way home from work to pick up some take-out food for his wife and to visit with us for an hour or so. And, naturally he brings along 2 bottles of wine (this and the Hirsch)! The color of this Cabernet Franc is a bit cloudy garnet, with hints of further bricking at the rim. There is an intriguingly earthy and rustically charming nose to this wine that I just love--featuring notes like loamy dirt, clean horse barn, old baseballs, tobacco leaf sap, dried cherries and accents of frozen persimmon. I went back to this wine a lot during the evening, just to inhale some of its old world goodness. In the mouth, it comes across as a bit thin and acidic at times, with an old, faded fruit profile of dried cranberry, smoky black cherry and tea leaves. It doesn’t show much depth or any sort of bass notes, but there is enough palate character hanging around to make it at least enjoyable.

1999 Domaine G. Roumier Morey St Denis 1er Cru Clos de la Bussiere. The nose here is rather discrete and tight for the most part, providing occasional glimpses into some interesting sous bois character and black raspberry fruit. Later on, it gets a bit more expressive as it folds in some aromas of suede and melted dark caramel, though it stays pretty dark and murky. On the palate, something is just not right. The wine feels flat, with no lift to it and really no sense of charm. What is there is dark, cool and earthy, but pretty one-dimensional. That is especially the case on the rather pinched and almost non-existent finish. The texture manages to show off a nice velvety feel, but that is really the best one can say about this bottle. I took the leftovers home to my in-laws the next day and none of them wanted to drink more than a sip, so I feel pretty safe in saying this could not have been a good example of this wine.

2001 Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Martinenga. The color of this wine is a pale garnet, but I remember it being pretty much this same level of paleness upon release, as well. The nose is very open and giving, presenting a rather feminine and perfumed profile of soft rose petals, dried red cherries, warm baking stones, aged bridle leather and a hint of iron ore to keep it grounded. It is darned pretty, really. In the mouth, it exudes a similar inner mouth perfume that is immediately appealing. It feels gentle and accessible, but that is a bit deceiving, as one can also sense a good amount of stuffing hiding in support. Soft chalky tannins and fine acidity provide a sense of structure that the delicate red fruit and flowery flavors glide across easily. This can certainly be drunk and enjoyed now, but should also have little trouble with some mid-range aging.

2001 Les Vins de Vienne Cote Rotie Les Essartailles. This is just a nice bottle of wine. It opens with a very strong and immediately engaging nose of cooled bacon grease, leather, sweet blackberries, gardenia flowers, white pepper and rich espresso roast. In the mouth, the first impressions are of tingly briery berries and crushed black pepper on the attack. That fans out to a dense and fuller mid-palate of purple and black fruits and classy cocoa powder—with fine but ever-growing tannins that coat the teeth. Still, this has fine acidity and freshness that never wavers and the whole package manages to feel finely balanced.

1980 Warre Vintage Porto. Ok, so when one is freezing one’s butt off is it better to just call it a night and head home to a warm bed or to seek warmth from within supplied by a vintage port? Well, the call was made and Philip did the honors of opening the bottle. The nose is all macerated dark cherries, old sawmill and melted caramel. In the mouth, it shows good harmony between the fruit, spirits and wood--really popping on the palate with its dark cherry liqueur, melted chocolate and big spice box flavors. It is mouth-filling, harmonious and long, with no real tannic interference or overt spirits to get in the way of one’s enjoyment. I am confident we made the right choice…

With that, we packed up our massive amounts of leftover duck to keep us warm and headed out into the cold.

-Michael

[Comte Flaneur]

Interesting selction and nice notes as always Mike what was you wotn?

[Michael Malinoski]

You know, I usually indicate WOTN but to be honest nothing really jumped out as a clear-cut favorite. I think the Cote Rotie was the most complete wine, but I liked how the Barbaresco was drinking. It was between those two for me. I think Philip went for the Cote Rotie and Karl went for the port as WOTN.

[Roberto]

Mike,

I've that the '99 Roumier Busierre several times and while it is not outstanding I think that you might have had an off bottle. I find it to be on the rustic side but with sufficient fruit. Nice notes by the way.

Roberto

[Michael Malinoski]

Roberto, I am sure that was not a representative bottle, but I have since heard from others like yourself that the wine is pretty tight, dense and unforgiving at this stage of the game, even for pristine bottles. Probably much better in 5+ years. This one was just flat.

Kind regards,
Michael