Swimming in wines

[jal]

Annual pool party in the middle of a monsoon. Sky cleared up enough late afternoon and we did all go to the pool for some cannonballs. Here are some short notes:

With appetizers of hummus, guacamole and a seafood platter:

1997 JL Chave Hermitage Blanc
Wins the most powerful white wine of the night award. What a treat.

1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne (mag)
Premoxed, still drinkable but barely

1992 Drouhin "Folatieres" Puligny-Montrachet 1er
DOA

2005 Pernot "Folatieres" Puligny-Montrachet 1er
A beauty; young and vibrant with delicious minerals. Best Puligny of the night

2000 Domaine Leflaive "Pucelles" Puligny-Montrachet 1er
My favorite Puligny from my favorite producer, a little lost in the shuffle today but still powerful enough to stand up on its own

2006 Matrot
Nice, I love Matrot's Meursault but prefer the 2004 and 2007. Round and ripe, nice texture

2000 Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre Chablis 1er
I like it, but the other two Chablis overshadowed it. Minerals and steely fruits but a bit austere

2001 Raveneau Butteaux Chablis 1er
Gorgeous! Power elegance, minerally as well as ripe. Wow!

2001 Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre Chablis 1er
Beautiful structure, a tad less powerful than the Butteaux, delicious

1996 Ch. d'Epire "Cuvee Speciale" Savennieres
Mark didn't know whether it was a dessert wine or not, turned out to be quite dry and absolutely yummy

2008 Joshua Starry Night Viognier
Oily and with good acidity for a Viognier, not hot at all. I like.

With steaks, corn on the cob and a tomato mozzarella salad:

1970 Calon Segur
Excellent mature Bordeaux, a favorite around the table.

1982 Gruaud Larose (two bottles)
One bottle showing better than the other, a perennial BWE favorite. Cordier funk of mushrooms, but a delicious wine.

1982 Branaire-Ducru
Also excellent, one of my favorites. Better than the first of the Gruaud bottles but the second bottle puts things right. Still a delicious treat.

1997 Sandrone "Le Vigne" Barolo
I like this a lot, a little modern but nice mouthfeel.

1999 Sandrone "Le Vigne" Barolo
Some preferred this to the 97, not me. I found it closed tight.

2004 Dugat-Py Charmes-Chambertin
I like it a lot in spite of the green notes.

1973 Mastroberardino Taurasi
I can't get past the V.A. others like it more than me.

2007 Radio-Coteau "La Neblina" Pinot Noir (Sonoma)
A burst of red fruits! I love this wine though it's not everyone's cuppa tea. Not hot or alcoholic - everything in balance. Yum!

1995 Giacosa "Santa Stefano" Barbaresco (white label)
The best non Bordeaux of the night - another great treat.

1998 Beaucastel Blanc Rousanne V.V.
Always a mystery, but this was more open than usual. Elegant mouthful with a powerful backbone. Goes very well with the cheese course.

With a blueberry tart and a peach pie we opened a 1998 Coutet, by now it's all a blur and I can't even remember if I like it or not.

A nice day with friends, some adorable kids around the pool. Even Nicolas called in the evening to say hi.

[Jay Winton]

Another excellent party and some interesting wines. Sorry you can't join us in Maine.

[stefan]

Sounds like another of your legendary BWE pool parties, Jacques. Lucie and I are sorry we could not make it--we are on the other coast visiting stefanJr, Irena, and baby Shea.

stefan

[DavidG]

Sounds like an awesome lineup of wine and food - just what you need to chase away the stormclouds. One of these days we will be able to join you, but thanks for the chance to enjoy it vicariously!

[William P]

Jacques, where is the GL evolutionarywise. Does it have a life or should I finish my last bottle?

[jal]

Jacques, where is the GL evolutionarywise. Does it have a life or should I finish my last bottle?

Bill, the two bottles of Gruaud Larose were quite different; one was clearly past its prime while the other was exactly as I remember the last few bottles I had; vibrant and delicious. I say that the wine, if stored properly, is delicious now and will be delicious a few years from now. It may develop some secondary nuances and if so you may or may not like it better depending on your taste.

I have another two bottles that I will keep for a few more years.

[Nicklasss]

I'm sure it was a nice party. The wines seem pretty good, but I know the company was better. I hope that next year, we'll make it. Only 4 Bordeaux? This is not enough. That put some pressure on me to attend next year to ''correct that fact''.

And yes, i thought about calling, to get a bit the feeling of the party, talk to Jal who was in good company and hear Jill nice french speaking.

I will post TN of my holidays soon, but on Saturday, as I could not attend your party, we did a dinner with our parents and opened a wine with a big signification : the 1996 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes, that Pappadoc gave me at the 2008 Jal pool party. A really nice wine, really complex (little red/dark berries, animal, flowers, earth and humus) and with resolved tannins but still a nice acidity. Probably can hold for another 5 years. TN : 90.

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

It was a fine feast...bordeaux wine enthusiasts, friends and family of several generations...

Having the privilege of being invited to this event I knew the wines would not be ropey...and I was quietly toasting England's flukey and undeserved Ashes victory in the cricket. I wanted to savour the moment because by December (10 0r 11, I'm not sure) the Aussies would have won 'em back

Just after we arrived the heavens opened, but we sat inside dipping into some delicious humous, sipping on some whites.

After the tropical downpour, by the pool we enjoyed some whites, with an assortment of fish and seafood including robster, king plawns, striped seabass (allegedly) from Nantucket...(yes, Limericks do come to mind...)

Bonneau Du Martray Corton Charlie 99 en mag - slightly poxed...not badly so but as Dale observed it tasted like a tired 25 year old not a vibrant ten year old as it should be C

Chave Hermitage 1997 - this was a bit too forward and botrytised - but nice apricot tones...had better bottles of this B

Leflaive Puligny Pucelles 2000 - after a wobbly start this opened up nicely, oak integrating, appley fruit B+

Pernot Puligny Folatieres, 2005 - young, primary, oak not integrated at all, more backward than the 06, good potential B++

Drouhin Folatieres 92 - completely shot NR

Then we had three Raveneau(s)...Montees 00 and 01 and Butteaux 01 and the Butteaux (A-)was the readiest and the pick because it was drop dead gorgeous; the 01 Montee (B++) was ahead of its elder brother the 00 (B+)

Matrot Meursault 2006...for $25 this was excellent B+

D'Epire Cuvee Speciale Savennieres 1996...by this point a change to chenin was refreshing and this was superb; thought it would be off dry but it wasn't...was not embarrassed at all in this elevated company of burgundy superstars...B++

Joshua Starry Night Vognier 2008...B

Think the Butteaux was my favourite white on the afternoon...and it was lovely by the pool.

At about six Jacques fired up the barbie and brought out his monster steaks, killer dips and amazing cheeses, we cracked into the reds:

Dugat-Py Charmes Chambertin 2004, it had a green menthol streak but otherwise good, though a modern oaky style, not to everyone's liking...I suspect this will shut down very soon..hate to think what it cost...B+

Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 97 - superb, slick and modern, drinking very well now, tho' not as good as the 96 A-

Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 99 - this was a bit less ready, a bit more extracted and 'pruney' - nice but the 97 was better B+

Gruaud Larose 1982 - one bottle was better than the other - but very nice and fully mature with familiar Cordier Brett - this is not a perfect wine by any means, but it is old fashioned claret at its apogee A-/A--

Branaire Ducru 1982 - right up there with the Gruaud, giving nothing away - lovely mature St-Julien A-

Calon Segur 1970 - this was my favourite wine of night - I am hopelessly in love with good 70, 75 and 78 clarets and this was singing...not as opulent as the Gruaud, but if you are a hard core claret aficionado that is no bad thing - A

Mastroberadino Taurasi 1973 - this had so much VA that it was off-putting - but the experts round the table thought this was good NR

Radio-Couteau La Neblina Sonoma Pinot 2007 - modern, somewhat anonymous, 21st century NW pinot "radio ga-ga?"- a bit confected B

With the cheese Beaucastel VV 98 Rousanne...surprisingly mature...B+

Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano 1995
- Earlier I was sitting in the pool next to Mark, who is in the wine trade. So I asked him...'what is the difference between white and red label Giacosa'? His response was instantaneous: 'Oh about $100'...so this was a white label (the cheaper one, one of mine), and this is just getting into its stride, a wine with very good length. A-

We then entered into a bet as to who, between Totenham and Arsenal would end up higher in the premier league. If Arsenal do, I win a bottle of Sandrone Le Vigne 97, if Spurs do Mark collects on a bottle of VCC 98...I think I will be collecting around March/April next year.

Coutet 1998 - a nice sauternes to finish, rarely disappoints B+

My wotn was the Calon Segur, while the Gruaud, the Branaire, the Santo stefano and the Butteaux slugged it out for second

It was a brilliant day and many thanks to Jacques and Jill, who worked tirelessly to entertain us, but everybody mucked into to make it a memorable event.

[PappaDoc]

I brought the first tasted of the two btls of the 82 Gruaud Larose. I had bought it some six months ago from one of my customers for $125.00. He was moving away and sold most of his wines. It was very good on opening but didn't have the massive structure and fruit that other 82 Gruauds I've had. It fell apart in an hour, I think the wine was stored at too high of a temp. The person told me it had been in a passive cellar since 1985. Oh well, glad I didn't buy any other wines from him.

Dale brought the 73 Taurasi Mastrobernadino Riserva ,I had give it to him a year ago. I bought a case on a "Buyer Beware, No Refund !" I bought one btl two years ago and it was tremendous. I went back to the store and bought the case for $20.00 a btl! The store owner told me that they were VERY VARIABLE, some good, some bad, some great. This was the last btl, it was bad unfortunately. The total went 6 great ( could last another ten years), 3 good ( about two years left) and 3 D.O.A.. All in all it was a great buy and I'd do it again in a heartbeat as these Riservas sell for $250 a btl when you can find them.

Oh well the 01 Montee I brought was tasty at least :>)

[Tom In DC]

(Note to self: Gotta wrangle an invite to the J&J pool party one of these days...)

Sounds like a great time, same as it ever was!

[jal]

(Note to self: Gotta wrangle an invite to the J&J pool party one of these days...)

Hmmm..... that won't be too difficult to arrange....(Note to self: invite Tom and Gail to the next party)

[brodway]

Sounds like another great pool party. This is our highlight of the year. Wish we could be there, but we were basking in the Napa Valley sun and drinking some California grape juice. Hope to see you all soon. Cheers.

[jal]

You and Julie were badly missed Emil. See you soon my friend.