Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post Reply
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JimHow »

On the first Friday of November each year I get together with my old law school buddies in Boston.
We reserve a room at the Boston Park Plaza for a wine tasting of bottles from my cellar, then go out to dinner and a bar or two.

This year there were eight of us, I brought along:

1996 Pontet Canet: Wine of the night, perfectly resolved, very true to form Pauillac.
2004 Clerc Milon: This is a strong effort, still very young.
2012 St. Innocent Momtazi: Another top crowd favorite, the wine just never disappoints. Great "pure" pinot noir.
2006 d'Angerville Champans: Stunning Burgundy, so seductive and easy to drink, even for such a young wine. The St. Innocent gave it a run for its money though.
2014 Ridge Geyserville: A couple of the guys liked this, it's a really delicious wine.
2010 Brunello Carpazo La Casa: A little bit lost in the group, perhaps because it was too young, but it just didn't seem to have much complexity or nuance.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant afterwards and I ordered a nice Chianti from 2012 and a Barolo from 2011 that was super.

We were trying to decide which actor should play me in the upcoming Robert Redford produced movie based on the Elizabeth Strout novel "The Burgess Boys" that is based on a case I was involved in up here in Maine, the wife of one of my friends, who joined us for the wine tasting, decided on Owen Wilson, I don't really know who he is but I assume it has something to do with the hair….

It's great to get together with old friends, I've come to the conclusion that people in general are still the same person they were when they were 25….

We did alright for ourselves despite our three years of heavy drinking and dereliction, in the room we had the Mass. Commissioner of Insurance, the head of the Mass. Public Defenders Office, the leading elder law lawyer in Mass. west of Worcester, the leading ERISA law expert in Mass., and the head of the Maine indigent defense lawyers/benevolent dictator of Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts. We were not, um, the most devoted students.
Attachments
FullSizeRender-4.jpg
FullSizeRender-4.jpg (116.15 KiB) Viewed 2404 times
FullSizeRender-3.jpg
FullSizeRender-3.jpg (208.9 KiB) Viewed 2404 times
User avatar
JCNorthway
Posts: 1546
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JCNorthway »

Sounds like a great time. And really nice to remain in touch over the years with people from so much earlier in one's life. I'm thinking maybe your hair helps you establish credibility with those "indigent" clients. :)

Good to hear the 96 Pontet Canet was doing really well. Perhaps I need to start drinking mine sooner rather than later.
User avatar
Blanquito
Posts: 5923
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:24 pm

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Blanquito »

Looks like fun. The 96 Pontet Canet is brilliant. I suspect it will get even better for the paleo-wine lovers on the site. Did you think the Ridge 14 Geyserville was the "best ever" from there? For my money, the '13 could (someday) be my favorite, though year in and year out this is one of America's greatest wine, so it's a fine point.

And Jim, love the hair!
User avatar
AKR
Posts: 5234
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:33 am
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by AKR »

Phillip Seymour Hoffman should have gotten a call for the role too! nice lineup of wines.
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JimHow »

Ha I'm thinking more that guy who played the psychopathic killer in No Country for Old Men.
User avatar
William P
Posts: 1210
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:43 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by William P »

It's had to describe the bond between law school friends to others. It's nice that you have kept up with your group, my friends have drifted away to various parts of the country. BTW, nice lineup.
User avatar
Blanquito
Posts: 5923
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:24 pm

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Blanquito »

Javier!
User avatar
Nicklasss
Posts: 6384
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Nicklasss »

Nice to keep friendship for a long time.

Good selection of wines.

And we want to see these long hairs, dstgolf and me, in Québec City at the end of November.

Nic
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JimHow »

Ah yes, old law school friends, we were in our twenties in Boston and the world was ours, anything was possible.
Thirty years later and the bodies are a little worn and weathered but it's like time has stopped, everybody is exactly like they were in 1985, forever young.
It's a crazy phenomenon, I see it with BWE as well, I may not see somebody for a year or two or five, but it feels like no time has passed.
User avatar
Rudi Finkler
Posts: 221
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Saarland, Germany
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Rudi Finkler »

No no, in no way 'a little worn and weathered', but nicely matured like, let's say, a bunch of 1985 first growths.... :-)
User avatar
stefan
Posts: 6224
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:08 pm
Location: College Station, TX
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by stefan »

Jim, we went to Oregon for the weekend and went to the St Innocent member's guided tasting. One of the wines was the 2012 Fujin, which is a version of Momtazi. It is really good and I immediately bought a case. Basically it is Momtazi with more concentration and depth than the regular 2012 Momtazi.
User avatar
Chateau Vin
Posts: 1522
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:55 pm
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Chateau Vin »

stefan wrote:Jim, we went to Oregon for the weekend and went to the St Innocent member's guided tasting. One of the wines was the 2012 Fujin, which is a version of Momtazi. It is really good and I immediately bought a case. Basically it is Momtazi with more concentration and depth than the regular 2012 Momtazi.

Is Fujin a selection of better grapes from Momtazi vineyard or a separate vineyard? Also, do you think Fujin is better than Momtazi? I have had 2012 Momtazi and loved it...
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JimHow »

I absolutely love that 2012 Momtazi, it was finished off pretty quickly by the group the other night.
User avatar
JCNorthway
Posts: 1546
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JCNorthway »

Does anyone have information about, or experience with, 2013 and 2014 Montazi as compared to 2012?
User avatar
stefan
Posts: 6224
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:08 pm
Location: College Station, TX
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by stefan »

I drank the 2014 Momtazi alongside the 2012 Fujin. The 2014 has the typical Montazi dusty nose and is quite good and forward but, of course, lighter than the 2012. The 2012 is bigger and more intense both in the Momtazi aroma and taste than the 2014. Mark talked quite a bit about the Fujin, including some funny stories about the label, but I was too focused on the wines to absorb the information. The Fujin carries a substantial premium over the Momtazi, but these wines are so undervalued that this is a non factor for me. I want both.

The 2013 Momtazi should be good in time. Like most of the other SI 2013s it does not show that well now--the acid is too much for the fruit. BTW, Mark served the 2013 Freedom Hill PN. It is, as of now, the fruitiest of his 2013s and perhaps the best for current drinking. The funny thing is that he said he held it back for showing because FH doesn't show well shortly after bottling. I did not buy it because I already have too much SI 2013, and too much SI wine in general.

Besides the case of 2012 Fujin I ordered half cases each of the 2015 Pinot Gris, Pinot Blank, Shea Special Selection Pinot Noir, and Zenith Special Selection Pinot Noir.
User avatar
William P
Posts: 1210
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:43 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by William P »

Stefan, thanks for the notes on the 2012 Fujin. I was wondering how this wine would taste. I getting one in my latest member allotment. How was the 2014 Shea SS?
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by JimHow »

I see they have a mixed case discount, I think I'll order 6 bottles each of the 2014 Momtazi and 2012 Fujin.
What is the weather like in that Willamette Valley area in January and February, do they get a lot of snow?
User avatar
William P
Posts: 1210
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:43 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by William P »

Jim, I don't believe the Willamette is a heavy snow area. I know Portland is not and the Willamette is about 50 miles south. Still it is wet and cold.
User avatar
Blanquito
Posts: 5923
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:24 pm

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by Blanquito »

I'm done buying wine, say it three times...
User avatar
stefan
Posts: 6224
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:08 pm
Location: College Station, TX
Contact:

Re: Wine and revelry with the old law school gang in Boston.

Post by stefan »

Not too much snow, Jim. It is not a good time to visit there, as it is wet and cold.

Bill, I have not tasted the 2014 Shea SS. I was too late to order at the early price and decided to pass. I'll drink stefanJr's sometime down the road. We drank the 2015 Shea SS at the guided tasting. It has a very concentrated candied fruit blackberry flavor that threw me for a loop. It calmed down with the lamb ragout and went very well with that dish. The 2015 Zenith SS was very different; quite balanced and classy. I used to consider Zenith to be the least of Mark's vintage PNs, one to drink early to get a since of the vintage, but as the vines have aged the vineyard has produced more interesting wines under Mark's guidance. This 2015 SS version is perhaps the best yet. I bought it even though it is priced the same as the Shea SS.

To balance all the OR PNs I have been buying, today I ordered cases of 2007 and 2010 La Lagune and took an option on a second case of 2006 La Lagune because its price is so attractive--around $27 with my discount (the prices of the 2007 and 2010 are just OK but are local, so I don't have to worry about the ridiculous Texas shipping laws). Last night I cracked open my case of 2006 to see if I want more. I'll try a bottle later this week.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], ericp, Google [Bot] and 15 guests