WTN: CRB Gamay, Rhone, Bdx, zombie Chenin, Chablis, etc

Wednesday night I made two decisions- never, ever, again to spill a package of mung beans, and to take Loire gamay off my buy list. After spending a loooonnngg time trying to find all the escaped mung beans, we sat down to a delicious simple roast chicken (Thomas Keller's method), a combo of roasted yellow beets, potatoes, and onions, and spinach. Wine was the 2006 Clos Roche Blanche "Cuvee Gamay" Touraine. On the plus side there's nice sweet berry fruit, nice mouthfeel, bright acidity, good length. A bit of mineral note. But the minus for me is there weird "potted plant" aroma (I don't know if it's pansy, geraniums, or actually potting soil) that I've gotten from Loire Gamay before. It's not particularly strong, but I find it a bit offputting. I have had similar experiences with this wine in other vintage. CRB Gamay is supposed to be a winegeek's dream, but I'm just a wannabe winegeek. Pleasant enough, but never exciting for me. I want my Gamay to be Beaujolais (or California pink). B/B-

Thursday Joseph Coulter and his wife Beverly were in NYC for one night. We've both been posting on alt.food.wine for many years, so decided to take opportunity to meet. Arv and Jen Rao joined us at Triomphe, and we had a very nice evening. Fun to realize people are as nice in person as online!

We started with a wine from Triomphe's list, the 2006 Nigl "Kremser Freiheit" Gruner Veltliner. Nigl's base/negociant bottling, but punches considerably above its weight. Good ripeness, but balanced by laser clear acidity.Sweet apple/pear fruit, some white pepper, very GV and very good. B+

Chris Wilford had waived corkage, we brought an assortment of wines. I brought the 2002 Domaine Billaud-Simon "Les Vaillons" Chablis 1er Cru because of an earlier dream matching of a Droin GC Chablis and an appetizer of chicken livers with sherry-braised onions. This wasn't quite as good a match as I remembered , but still find,and also did well with Betsy's scallops with foie gras butter and porcini. The wine was weightier and less bright than on release, but I still found it a clean rich Chablis. This might be a bit of an awkward time to drink, but with the white Burgundy pre-ox issues I'm less likely to try and age them. This did show significantly better at end of night, with more chalky minerals and more expressive frut. B early on,. B+ later.

The reds went around with the main courses (I had the filet, Betsy the signature coriander-crusted chops with foie gras stuffed prunes, both tasty):

1988 Ch. Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol)
(Decanted for an hour in afternoon, then back in bottle for a few hours)
Blackcurrant and plum, surprising acidity for Bon Pasteur, still some tannins. There's a little wood still present, but enough fruit to keep it in background. Good, not great, Pomerol. B/B+

1999 Gaillard Cote-Rotie
My favorite of night. There is a bit of a vanilla-y oak thing that I wish was toned down a bit, but underneath that there is a gorgeous Northern Rhone syrah character. Fresh blackberry fruit, loads of smoke and bacon- hey. double-smoked bacon! Gets some earth, leather notes with time. Good acidity. Young, but very promising,thanks Arv. A-

1976 Domaine d'Ambinos Coteaux du Layon
This looked good in bottle, but darkened a bit in glass. Arv sent my way for an opinion, I thought it showed some oxidative notes, but was mostly sound. That opinion changed 14 times during the time folks had dessert, this wine had more ups and downs than a roller coaster. I'd decide it was completely past it, then a sip would seem to be far livelier, with apple and quince fruit with an edge of honey. Ultimately, this was more of academic interest than fun to drink, but while the wine gets a C+, a couple of sips were damn good. Funky chenin.

Nice to meet Joe and Bev, and to see Arv and Jen. Wine was nice, but secondary..

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

Great notes! I have a Nigl Gruner Veltliner to open before Christmas--it's from 2000 but an Alte Rebe so hopefully not over the hill. I decided I shouldn't let it sit much longer. I have a few Sonoma Zinfandels I plan to open before I get to the GV.

I've had the foie gras-stuffed prunes dish at Triomphe before--wonderfully decadent dish. Glad to hear it is still on the menu.

take Loire gamay off my buy list...weird "potted plant" aroma (I don't know if it's pansy, geraniums, or actually potting soil) that I've gotten from Loire Gamay before.

Of course you can get plenty of gamay from Beaujolais and never miss having excluded Loire gamay. But, just for the record, I think CRB is one of the worst offenders in this case, so you might also enjoy other producers. In particular, gamay from Anjou has a very different quality, often so dark black and volcanic that you'd be hard pressed to find it the same grape as the CRB versions. (Maybe you had some of the Pierre Bise gamays when they were being imported to the US).

[David M. Bueker]

JC - the 2000 is likely at maturity. It's not the longest lived vintage, but your bottle should be quite good.

2006 Nigl "Kremser Freiheit" Gruner Veltliner. Nigl's base/negociant bottling, but punches considerably above its weight. Good ripeness, but balanced by laser clear acidity.Sweet apple/pear fruit, some white pepper, very GV and very good. B+

Dale, I think you've nailed my impressions of this wine exactly. I've enjoyed a few bottles of it this autumn. It is texturally in line with with many '06 entry-level GVs. I'm looking forward to some of the later-releases especially from the Wachau. I'm curious as to if the minerality of the single-vineyard wines will show well in this plumpish vintage.

"Potted Plant"

I like that expression, it's pretty accurate. I've had the CRB (mine was 2003 or 2004 I think) and thought it would have been great except for that....
Thanks for the descriptor.

. But, just for the record, I think CRB is one of the worst offenders in this case, so you might also enjoy other producers. In particular, gamay from Anjou has a very different quality, often so dark black and volcanic that you'd be hard pressed to find it the same grape as the CRB versions.

Dark black and volcanic? Can't say the first words that come to mind when thinking of gamay. But if I see the Bise will try,thanks

Dark black and volcanic? Can't say the first words that come to mind when thinking of gamay.

Exactly. Strange stuff for me.

The soil is volcanic, which may bring up all sorts of auto-suggestion elements, but it makes sense. So..