Wild three days of wine

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tim
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Wild three days of wine

Post by tim »

Just finished a rather crazy three days of wine tasting. As a non-professional taster, it is quite difficult to taste through hundreds of wines in just a couple of days, needless to say there was a lot of spitting. But here are some thoughts from the days.

DAY ONE: Thanksgiving Morning and Afternoon

The Salon des Vignerons Indépendants is exactly what it sounds like: an expo of independent winemakers that sell their wines directly to the public. Twice a year they have an expo in Paris that last four to five days. There are somewhere between 500 and 1000 winemakers serving their wines, although many of those are serving multiple winemakers wines, so the total is probably much more. This is usually a good opportunity to get less expensive wines that you can drink regularly, or catch some really amazing things at reasonable prices. Normally I visit during the weekend, but by then many of the great wines are sold out. So I decided to go on Thursday since I was taking the day off for Thanksgiving anyway.

My first stop was Domaine Tortochot, a Burgundy producer based in Gevrey Chambertin. They were serving several Grand Crus, including the 2012 Mazis and Charmes, and 2008 Chambertin and Clos Vougeot. Fantastic, as always, this producer has consistently delivered powerful, complex wines that are quite representative of the terroir.

In all, I visited around 15 winemakers, and purchased from about 10 of them. Although some of the wine was expensive, most was 25 Euros and under. When you buy wine here, you actually buy it from the stand directly, so when you are finished tasting you need to go back and collect all the cases that you bought. Then you either pack it in your car, or you can take it over and pay a small shipping charge to have it delivered to you or your cave, which is what I did.

DAY ONE: Thanksgiving Evening

For the evening, I met up with a friend of mine and his girlfriend, and we attended Francois' Academie des Vins Anciens dinner. This is the dinner that Francois organizes twice a year to gather up lovers of older wine. Everyone is expected to bring their own wine, which is delivered in advance to Francois so that he can prep it for the dinner. Depending upon the number of people, the participants are broken up into groups of around 10-12 people so that everyone gets a good pour of everything served within their group.

My friends and I were in group 2. I brought several wines to cover for both my friends and me, which were paired with the other wines at our table. Francois and a couple others also contributed wines that were shared across the three groups. The wines from our group were:
1962 Moet et Chandon GV Champagne (shared); Coteaux Champenois Pol Roger; 1985 Hugel Riesling; 1964 Vin de l'Etoile Jura; 1969 La Mission Haut Brion; 1966 La Mission Haut Brion; 1964 Haut Brion; 1953 Haut Brion; 1962 Cos d'Estournel; 1969 La Tour de Mons; 1953 Ausone (shared); 1955 Beaune Emile Chandesais; 1969 Cornas Chante Perdrix Delas; 1979 Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone; 1947 Vin d'Algerie "le Hoggar" rose; 1964 BV Georges de Latour; 1955 Monbazillac; and 1933 Rayne-Vigneau.

The 62 Champagne was spectacular. Creamy, seductive, everyone was stunned at the quality and consistency. For several, this was the wine of the night. This became especially true as the remaining whites that we had in our group were almost or completely dead. It was very interesting to taste the 69 and the 66 LMHB back to back. Both were clearly the same style, and the 69 was very good in its own right. It simply lacked the structure and backbone that the 66 had. The 66 was vibrant, with the gravel nose and the well-integrated tannins. It could last for another couple decades. This was in the top three for the table as well.

The two Haut Brions were excellent, but not quite living up to the 66 LMHB. Tasting them right after the LM really showed the difference between the two Chateau, and the consistency of style for each of them. I had high hopes for the 53, and it was a solid wine, but it didn't quite perform up to expectations. The remaining Bordeaux were decent, with the Ausone the best of the three. Francois had donated a 53 Ausone to each group, but there was some bottle inconsistency. The first groups bottle was bad, and I think our group had the best of the three based on what other people told me. The Beaune had very different reactions by different people at the table, some loved it, some hated it. I was somewhere in the middle.

But the real winner seemed to be the 69 Cornas. This was a stunning wine, and although I am not particular to Rhone varietals, I have to admit this was great.

The Algerian wine was interesting. The 64 BV performed really well, and it was a welcome addition for the Americans attending the dinner, given that we were celebrating Thanksgiving. (Unfortunately, Francois wasn't able to arrange to have Turkey served for the dinner). Some reviews of the 64 have been remarkably bad, but this had great body, still fruit-driven, and still had a life ahead of it. I often think that older California Cabs need to be drunk in the context of other old wines, not in the context of newer California, it gives a completely different impression of the wine.

We rounded out with a couple of stickies. The 33 Rayne Vigneau was deep in color, and I must admit I was taken in by it. There is nothing like that complex caramel of a very old sauternes.

I wouldn't pick a wine of the night for myself, but I would agree with the consensus that the top three were the 62 Moet et Chandon GV, 66 LMHB and the 69 Cornas. The order of the three really is based on personal taste.

We also got to taste a few other wines from the other tables. Francois had another bottle of the 1907 Latour, which was good but wasn't as good as the bottle we had with stefan. There was also a DRC Grands Echezeau, I believe from the 70's. I only had a small taste but the little I had was amazing. This was Francois' wine of the night, if I recall.

We decided to leave a bit early at the end, before most did. We had arrived at 7pm and I knew that I had to be up for the Grand Tasting the next morning. When I looked at my phone, I realized that "leaving early" meant leaving at 12:30am. Yikes, time flies when you are sharing amazing wines in great company!

And on to the Grand Tasting in posts to come...
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Re: Wild three days of wine

Post by AlexR »

There is a Salon des Vignerons Indépendants in Bordeaux too, although far fewer of the producers come than to the Paris event.
I always go and enjoy discovering some lovely wines.

AR
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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I'm a huge fan of the Salon/expo. Usually I spend a bit more time there, but this year I had too many other things so I was very focused on the producers that I usually frequent, plus a few extra...
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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DAY TWO: Le Grand Tasting pt 1

Once a year, the writers and publishers of a wine guide, bettane+desseauve, put on an event called Le Grand Tasting. They invite a number of producers to exhibit and display their latest wines, as well as some of their collections. These are many of the large producers: Ruinart, Bollinger, Leoville Barton, Sociando Mallet, Valandraud, Faiveley, Bouchard, etc. who are on the top end of the market, but still reachable by the mass public. The tasting lasts for two days, and for 20 euros you can enter and taste as much as you want. It is a real steal of a deal.

In addition, they hold some special tastings that are an added cost. I usually attend a few of these, as they are both educational and allow tasting in a less chaotic format. On day one, I signed up for four classes: Argentinian wines, Chablis Le Clos, Krug, and Pomerol.

It was interesting to start off with Argentina, as the wines are just so different than the wines of France. Jean Guillaume Prats, formerly of Cos d'Estournel fame, led the tasting. Since he took over as CEO of Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines, he has focused on bringing French wine knowledge to their portfolio of wines across many New World regions, including Argentina. It was a very interesting tasting, particularly since several of the wines served are not exported. One of the messages of the tasting is that the wines are made for the cuisine of Argentina, namely big steaks.

The Le Clos tasting was remarkable. We tasted through Moreau, Fevre, Dauvissat, Pinson, and Billard Simon. What struck me the most was the difference in the wine styles, particularly with Dauvissat and Billard Simon. These were bigger wines, oaky, and I have been a fan for awhile of the Dauvissat Chablis. However, I got a much better sense of the terroir of Chablis with the others, particularly the Pinson. You could taste the oyster shells, the minerality. It reminded me of the scene in the Drops of God where the Grand Cru Chablis was served and made a surprisingly poor pairing with Oysters. The answer in the book was to serve a village Chablis, but I think they could have easily changed producers to improve the pairing. Fascinating.

Next we move to Krug. We started off with a Vintage Krug to serve as a benchmark. We then moved to several Grand Cuvee bottles, which absolutely were at the top of their game. The underlying message that I think Krug was promoting was that the Grand Cuvee is at the same level as single vintage Champagne. Then they went into more information about the little code on the back of every bottle of Krug that can tell you what vintages are in the bottle, how many vineyards, and when it was disgorged, all by scanning it into their iphone application. Quite interesting!

Finally, the last session of the day was Pomerol. We tasted Mazeyres 2005, Beauregard 2005, Clinet 2006, La Conseillante 2006, Rouget 2008, Gazin 2008, Clos du Clocher 2010, and Vieux Maillet 2010. It was interesting to see the years paired up the way that they were. The biggest wines were, not surprisingly, the Clinet and the La Conseillante. However, I must say that I really didn't like the style of La Conseillante, it had a floral nose that seemed to clash with the blueberry notes. Perhaps it is too young, because I recently opened an 86 with the same flavor profile, and I loved it. The Clinet, on the other hand, was great. You could also see the greatness of the 2010 vintage.

Apart from these tastings, I walked around the event and tasted through many different wines. Since I went early, I was able to spend some time talking with Murielle Andraud (wife of Jean-Luc Thunevin), namesake and winemaker of Valandraud. She was in particular showcasing her white wines, blanc de valandraud no. 1 and 2. I told her a little about BWE and our exploits with Bordeaux wines. She was very engaging and interested in what we are doing.

I also visited the Sociando Mallet stand, and I mentioned that SM was a favorite of BWE. I recalled that I thought it was one of our Wines of the Year, but I didn't remember precisely.

The Lynch Bages stand was a bit too crowded for my taste, so I didn't stop by, but I also didn't see JM Cazes or anyone I knew there either. There comes a point in the day where the popular spots get so crowded that you really can't do much other than grab a taste. And then there are the people that stand in front and have 1/2 hour conversations making it impossible for anyone else to taste, let alone chat with the winemakers or representatives. The one impression that I did take away is that there are some very solid White Burgundies in 2012, although with such low volumes that they are a bit hard to get.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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DAY THREE: Le Grand Tasting Part 2

The first session of the Grand Tasting was the heavy-hitter class, called "The Genius of Wine". The wines presented were: Champagne, Veuve Clicquot Cave Privée 1989; Pouilly-Fumé Domaine Didier Dagueneau, Silex 2008; Clos de Tart, 2005 en magnum; Château l’Evangile 2000; Château La Mission Haut-Brion 1985; Bandol, Domaine Tempier 2004; Angelo Gaja Piemont 2011; Château Gilette 1990; Veuve Clicquot 1990 Jeraboam.

This was a fascinating tasting, not just to see the differences between great wines, but also to get impressions of the styles of the winemakers. There was an interesting comment by one of the winemakers, that there is no such thing as a great vintage, but instead there are easy vintages and difficult vintages, and it is the responsibility of the winemaker to deliver in both. Another observation was how the two Bordeaux red wines stood out in terms of color, much more of the ruby red versus the purple of the others. The Dagueneau had the fruit expression that you would find in a top NZ Sauv Blanc, even though it was absolutely Loire. To me, though, the wine of the flight was possibly the Gilette 1990. The pure expression of sweetness and complexity shined following a lineup of amazing reds.

I did a bit of tasting before this session, including some of the Bouchard reds and whites. In this case, once again I had a preference for the 2012 whites over the reds. They were pouring the Le Corton, which is the only Grand Cru red that they offer, and it was a solid if not quite the level of outstanding.

After a break for lunch and meeting up with friends, we went back to do some more tasting and classes. We hit Leoville Barton, where we tasted through the lineup. They were serving the LB 2004, which was a perfect expression of Bordeaux. It was open enough to show the terroir, and as I don't have a lot of experience with the 2004 vintage, I was pleasantly surprised.

Next we went to a Riedel tasting. This is basically where you taste different wines out of different glasses, in this case three red wines. We had a Burgundy, a Rhone, and a Bordeaux, with the corresponding glasses. I've been to a number of these, mostly because you can take the glasses with you at the end, so it is a good way to get good Riedel's cheaply. And as always, the proper wine with the proper glass did make a difference.

Finally, we went to a special class of Bollinger, celebrating 50 years of the Bollinger R.D. They served the 2002, 1999, 1988, and 1973. With each successive glass, the Champagne became deeper and more concentrated. If there is one thing I took away from the past three days, it is that aged Champagne can be spectacular. There was some commentary that Bollinger is very tuned to the taste of the English, and James Bond was mentioned several times during the discussion. Time to seek out some aged Champagne.

At the end of the Bollinger session, we went up and chatted with Francois for a bit before heading out. Overall, a very fun and fulfilling few days of wine, although I can do with a break from marathon tasting for awhile!
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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wow
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Re: Wild three days of wine

Post by stefan »

Wow! That was a fantastic way to spend Thanksgiving, Tim.

Technical question: Was the Coteaux Champenois Pol Roger a NV Rose Champagne made with 100% Coteaux Champenois? I have never drunk such a wine. I though P-R made only vintage Rose and that usually is at least 50% Pinot Noir.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Hi Stefan,

The Coteaux Champenois was a still white wine, I presume made from Chardonnay. It was a NV from the 70's or 80's that came from Francois' cellar. I don't have a lot of memory about it other than that, but I'm sure that Francois took a picture of it, since he had a bottle for each table I believe. He hasn't posted the pictures on his blog yet, but I presume he will soon.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

Post by DavidG »

Wow is right! What a great few days of wine tasting. Thanks for the fascinating read, Tim.

I too have a question, about the Le Clos Chablis tasting. You mentioned a heaviness due to oak obscuring the terroir in the Billard Simon and Dauvissat. I thought oak was taboo in Chablis. Were these recent vintages and have they gone to the dark side with use of oak at some of the properties in Chablis?
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Coteaux Champenois is usually, maybe always, Pinot Noir and/or Petit Meunier. Generally it is a still wine that can be either white or red, but I know that P-R blends the Pinot Noir version, which I think is vinted as a normal red Pinot Noir, into its rose. What I did not know is that P-R made a still wine named Coteaux Champenois. I do not know if a Champagne can be labelled as Coteaux Champenois, hence my question.

David, oak can be, and often is, used in Chablis, especially in Grand Crus. Fevre was notorious for overoaking for the appellation, although it has moved away somewhat from wood. As Tim mentioned, Dauvissat also oaks. My taste tends toward houses that do not oak, such as Louis Michel, even if I also like some of the oaked Chablis.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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The Dauvissat was 2001 and the Billaud Simon was 2000. I am certain that Dauvissat used oak, with 10% of it new oak. I am not sure about Billaud Simon (they do use oak in some wines but not sure about the Le Clos). It seemed like it had an oaky characteristic to it though, although not nearly as strong as the Dauvissat.
Last edited by tim on Sun Nov 30, 2014 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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I don't think any Coteaux Champenois can be labeled Champagne, nor can it be sparkling. I believe it can only be still wine. When Francois publishes the photo, I will report back with what it says.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Tim, I checked on the 2002 Pol Roger Rose:

Pol Roger only produces the Brut Rosé in vintage years. The wine is a blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay vinified blanc from 20 1er and Grand Crus in the Montagne de Reims and Cote des Blancs regions. The remaining 15% is Pinot Noir that has been vinified "en rouge" and then added to the final blend prior to the second fermentation.

The 15% is Coteaux Champenois. It can be blended into Champagne, but of course that is much different from having Coteaux Champenois labelled as Champagne. I found a nice, short description of Coteaux Champenois at

http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-coteaux+champenois

It says there that the wine must be still. It also says that Chardonnay can be vinted as Coteaux Champenois but rarely is.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

Post by tim »

Stefan, that makes sense. Grapes from Coteaux Champenois can be blended into Champagne, but it cannot be called Coteaux Champenois if it is sparkling. I still presume that since ours was a white wine, that it was 100% Chardonnay, as the Pinot would be used for a red wine if it was labled Coteaux Champenois.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Hallelujah! What a nice weekend for you!

I had a small wine and cheese tasting at a military base and everything's was nice, especially The 2010 Fontenafredda Barolo and The multiple cheese.

Saturday and Sunday, looking The kids doing The Christmas tree was good enough for me.

And yes, today was my father birthday, we had a brunch In the morning, but of course no alcohol. He is now 69, and next week is Simone birthday, she will be 6. My parents will come for dinner and then we'll open something nice.

Busy time before Christmas.

Nic
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Thanks for the info on use of oak in Chablis. Who are the prominent producers who don't oak, or do all of them do it for their GCs?
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Stefan, Francois posted a picture of the Coteaux Champenois.

Image

It was a Blanc de Blancs, as shown on the label.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Interesting, Tim. Usually Champagne houses do not want to "waste" their Chardonnay on a still wine.
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Re: Wild three days of wine

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Thanks for the detailed and evocative diary, Tim. You make almost make me feel like I was there. Much better than a long string of TNs with no context.

Many of the bottles you mention seem too old for me, so I like to get your opinion.

Krug has been preaching for years that their MV Grande Cuvee is the star of their lineup and better than the vintage. I find that the MV definitely improves and deepens, becoming more "Krug-like" after several years of bottle age, and it can go much further. But I've never tasted one that compares to a great vintage Krug such as the '85, '89, '90 or '96.

Stuart
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