WTN: Loire X 3, Bdx, MSR (at a Russian gala)

My friend Alex used to have a restaurant in Paris, he's no longer in the business but likes to cook for 100 now and again. So every year he does a dinner at a local church to raise money for the church's social outreach programs (including mine).The dinner is paired with a concert, this year the theme was Russian. Alex made a dinner centered on a beef stroganoff, with a salmon appetizer and "strawberries Romanoff." My brother-in-law arranged the music, his Manhattan String Quartet did Shostakovich's #4 in D Major, Betsy did the Rachmaninoff "Vocalize", plus some combinations of the musicians did parts of a Borodin quartet, a Tchaikovsky sextet, etc. Music was great, food very good, and wine pretty tasty.

There were 2 wines included in menu:
2006 Pepiere Muscadet
Not much more to say about this that my mulitple notes before- fresh fruit, salinity/minerality, great length for a $10 wine. B+

2006 Domaine Saint Vincent Les Trezellieres Saumur-Champigny
Bright and easy, cherry fruit and a little green herb, unassuming but a good basic food red. B

As I was sitting with some friends who like wine, I brought another Loire:
1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon
Black raspberry and cherry, ripe but no 1990 surmaturite. Sufficient acids, tannins mostly resolved, a pointe for my tastes. There espresso beans and woodstove notes, plus a bit of barnyard. Not overwhelming brett for my tastes, I like this, gets an A- from me, but if you went to UC-Davis you'd probably score lower.

And, knowing that Chris (the other cellist) was a Bordeaux guy, I also brought a wine for when I joined the musicians as they had a late dinner:
1998 Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol)
Lots of oak, lots of tannins. Lush black plum fruit. Cocoa and tobacco. Some graphite on the nose. Needs time. A little bit more polish and oak than my preference, but still a very nice wine. If you don't like wines made by UC Davis grads you'd probably score lower. B+/A-

Sunday I had to do a little presentation at a local synagogue, then spent afternoon using an alcohol-based primer on David's old room (he was 14 when we bought house, painted room black and dark red). Tired when I finished, but had promised Betsy I'd do dinner. A quick trip to store netted a lively lobster and some shrimp. Soon the lobster was no longer lively, his meat and the shrimp joined some udon noodles in a dashi based stock, with broccoli and green beans on side. Wine was the 2004 Willi Schaefer Estate Riesling #1. Light and lively, apple and citrus. Clean slatey finish. Classic MSR. Beautiful balance of acid and sweetness. Yum, yum. Great for QbA. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks Dale.

I think I finally have your "easy grader" thing figured out. Many wines seem to qualify as solid B+ and even A- minus, but when it comes to the elusive A you are one tough cookie.

Thanks Dale.

I think I finally have your "easy grader" thing figured out. Many wines seem to qualify as solid B+ and even A- minus, but when it comes to the elusive A you are one tough cookie.

Speaking as someone who assigns grades for a living, I don't find that very surprising. Most classes form a fairly reasonable Poisson distribution, with only 5-10% getting a solid A. I confess to not subjecting Dale's posts to a statistical analysis with appropriate T-tests, but his grade distribution doesn't look all that different... except he awards far fewer Ds and Fs (so, yes, he's a creampuff )

Mark "Cut 'em off at the knees" Lipton

Dale,

I appreciate your notes on the 1998 Le Bon Pasteur. I have a lone bottle that I have been saving and it appears that it can benefit from more bottle age. Ever since the 1982 Horizontal, I started liking this producer and have had enjoyable experiences with their other vintages. I’ve not had the 98, though.

BTW, about your amusing comment on UC Davis, well, I’m not a UC Davis grad, but am familiar with the campus as I used to have a former co-worker/friend who went and continued to live there when my family was living in Northern California a few years back.

RC

Hi, Dale, thanks for the notes! The MSR sounds great, will try to find some when next in town.

Sorry I missed this year's 100 person dinner, despite being - finally and formally - retired from the goddess watch...

Yes, do move that 96 Gerin to "drink" - I forgot to mention that all those reds were opened 3 hours before serving, so check it periodically after you open it, as the 3 hours may have been too much.

See you soon!

[I confess to not subjecting Dale's posts to a statistical analysis with appropriate T-tests, but his grade distribution doesn't look all that different... except he awards far fewer Ds and Fs

Those are all the wines he leaves in the store.

1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon
Black raspberry and cherry, ripe but no 1990 surmaturite. Sufficient acids, tannins mostly resolved, a pointe for my tastes. There espresso beans and woodstove notes, plus a bit of barnyard. Not overwhelming brett for my tastes, I like this, gets an A- from me, but if you went to UC-Davis you'd probably score lower.

Sounds like a good showing, reminds me of a bottle from 2 years ago, but I guess you're not projecting much future complexity?

Ramon,
UC Davis is a fine school, and I'm sure has done a lot for viniculture (is that a word?). I just like watching the expressions on some wine grads' faces when someone likes a wine showing a little brett-"But its flawed!!!!"

David,
to me A means unequivocally great, a landmark wine for me. Good bottles of '83 Cheval Blanc, '82 Mouton, '93 Lafarge Clos des Chenes, assorted CSH, Donnhoffs, etc etc. Wines I think I'll always remember. I'd say solid As are more like 2%.

Mark and Rahsaan,
basically Rahsaan has it right. I buy wines I like, shewing the curve. I used to buy wines because of labels, or because it was a Grand Cru Burgundy (nevermind it was a Laboure-Roi), or someone said it was a great vintage. Now I buy because I like the producer, someone I trust has said this is a good wine, etc. I don't think there's less bad wine out there, but I don't run into it as much. But even a wine I hate stylistically won't get a D or F. I save Fs for truly undeniably flawed wines, and I think there are far fewer of them out there these days (except Coturris)

Oswaldo,
shooting you an email re Dec

Sounds like a good showing, reminds me of a bottle from 2 years ago, but I guess you're not projecting much future complexity?

It takes a better man than me (admittedly, there are plenty) to project complexity. I thought this was a delicious, moderate complex wine with resolved tannins. Maybe it will gain some extra complexity, but for my tastes it's so good now, why wait?

Dale,
Not sure about the UC Davis comments but great notes. Am a little surprised about the good score on the '98 Bon Pastuer. In general '98 was tough with some exception in the right bank. Lots of oak and lots of tannins seems very odd for this producer and atypical for a Pomerol. I took a pass on '98 and have always questioned my decision.

I was interested in 1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon as I have two bottles of '96 and do not know when to open. Unlike most winos on this board I have a lot of trouble with CF from the Loire, too many green notes for my palate. The '96s are the only two bottles of Loire CF in my cellar with the exception of one bottle of '04 Clos Roche Blanche. Any help on the drinking window would be appreciated.
Walt

I was interested in 1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon as I have two bottles of '96 and do not know when to open.

To be safe you could wait. 96 was obviously a much higher acid year than 90, and although I wouldn't call it "green" it may nonetheless be less to your liking. However, last that I recall, many of the 96s (like their counterparts in Burgundy) were still cranky and with only upside in their future.

Dale,
Not sure about the UC Davis comments but great notes. Am a little surprised about the good score on the '98 Bon Pastuer. In general '98 was tough with some exception in the right bank. Lots of oak and lots of tannins seems very odd for this producer and atypical for a Pomerol. I took a pass on '98 and have always questioned my decision.

I was interested in 1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon as I have two bottles of '96 and do not know when to open. Unlike most winos on this board I have a lot of trouble with CF from the Loire, too many green notes for my palate. The '96s are the only two bottles of Loire CF in my cellar with the exception of one bottle of '04 Clos Roche Blanche. Any help on the drinking window would be appreciated.
Walt

Actually, I tend to go with the conventional wisdom that '98 is probably the best Right Bank vintage from '91 to '99 (Suckling would vote for '95). Pretty much all of the serious Pomerols are pretty tannic now, but I opened this because I knew it would appeal to the cellist winelover. Certainly lots of oak on a Bon Pasteur is no surprise to anyone- it's Rolland's flagship after all!

I think its a shame if you missed out on '98 Right Banks, if you like ripe but structured vintages like '82 & '90, same mold. Some of the smaller satellite wines are coming into their own. Graves is also very good. Medoc is much more spotty, but there are more good ones than I originally thought.

I'm with Rahssan, '96 red Loires can be cranky now. I have the '96 too, it's deeply buried.

I'm with Rahssan, '96 red Loires can be cranky now. I have the '96 too, it's deeply buried.

Is there any '96 red from France that isn't? Well, my '96 Rhones are ready to go, if not farther along than that, but my Burgs and Bdx are staying under close wraps for the near future.

Mark Lipton

[James Roscoe]

Thanks Dale.

I think I finally have your "easy grader" thing figured out. Many wines seem to qualify as solid B+ and even A- minus, but when it comes to the elusive A you are one tough cookie.

I have always found Dale to be one of the toughests critic on our forum. I also think he is also one of the most consistent critics as David's comments suggest. I find Dale's descriptions to always be fair and on target, even when my palate disagrees with his. Keep up the good work Dale!