WTN: Summer party with some delicious wines

[David M. Bueker]

My more formal tasting group held its annual summer party yesterday. It was a blast with great food (freshly dug steamers, smoked pork tenderloin, curried lentils, blueberry cake and crisp, etc), great conversation & a summer time power outage rescued by a generator!

And the wines did not suck. I did not try them all, but here's some highlights:

2004 Louis Jadot Puligny Montrachet
Gives a convincing argument for white Burgundy, at least at this young age. Quite fresh and mineral with good fruit and a dash of oak. Very good+

There were two other white Burgs, one of which (a 2005) was clearly oxidized, and a 2002 that was excellent, but the bottle disappeared before I got the info.

2008 Dr. L Riesling
A test bottle for a planned wedding reception purchase (daughter of a group member getting married this month) - it was quite nice if lacking in any particular hook. The overall balance was nice (soft for an '08), and it was just off-dry, so should be a crowd pleaser at a summer wedding. Good

1995 Laurent Perrier Champagne Brut
Incredibly young! This could have just been released. Mineral, some citrus & much too refreshing for safety. Excellent!

1996 Dom Perignon
I was troubled by this bottle, as was Laura. There were times when it seemed reduced/closed and other times when it seemed distinctly corked. There's fabulous material underneath, but I will not pass judgement on a potentially faulty bottle.

2008 A. J. Adam Drohner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett (magnum)
Drinking so well that the magnum was gone in about 30 minutes! Balanced, if also a bit soft for an '08, but that merely added to the drinkability. Seems like fine spatlese material from another era. Mineral, apple fruit & a long, long finish. Excellent-

1970 Leoville las Cases
Double decanted 3 hours ahead! Still showing some plummy fruit, very soft and with a persistent finish! Very good+ but overshadowed by

1970 Trotanoy
Same treatment as the las Cases, and showing even more fruit, more supple than soft & a faint exoticism that smacks of spicy oak a long time ago. Delicious, and one of hte best Bordeaux I have had in a long, long time.

Nice lineup, though damnit - I did not need to read such a positive note on the Adam mag when I'm trying to resist an email offering his 09s in magnum at the top of my inbox.

(Oh, and Trotanoy rocks from the few experiences I've had with it. Surprised it doesn't get talked about as much as a lot of the other top Bdx producers, though unfortunately the prices for that are still pretty steep.)

blueberry cake and crisp, etc...

Blueberries do have a way of finding a place in all sorts of dishes these days. We had a picnic yesterday and made blueberry muffins, blueberry cake, and have plenty laying around for smoothies, plain eating, etc..

Anyway, nice to hear the positive comments on the 08 Adam. Did you like his wines in general that year? I had read a few grumblings on these boards that 08 was not that great for his drier wines, not enough material.

[David M. Bueker]

I have liked all three Adam '08s I have tried: feinherb, kabinett & spatlese. I buy/drink very little actual Trocken from the Mosel, as I don't find them generally pleasurable.

"Freshly dug steamers", that's the part of your post that drew my attention. Lived in Milford Conn. as a youngster and on more than one occasion my mother would look at the local newspaper and send me at low tide to dig a bucket of steamers for dinner. One of Long Island Sound's great edibles and almost impossible to find on the West Coast.
Had a friend who was until a few years ago the local fish monger and he would get a batch for me but he's working at something else now. Some French bread, fresh corn from the farmers market was to me a bigger treat than going to the French Laundry. Good childhood memories are like that in one's mind.

[Jenise]

"Freshly dug steamers", that's the part of your post that drew my attention. Lived in Milford Conn. as a youngster and on more than one occasion my mother would look at the local newspaper and send me at low tide to dig a bucket of steamers for dinner. One of Long Island Sound's great edibles and almost impossible to find on the West Coast.
Had a friend who was until a few years ago the local fish monger and he would get a batch for me but he's working at something else now. Some French bread, fresh corn from the farmers market was to me a bigger treat than going to the French Laundry. Good childhood memories are like that in one's mind.

Come up to my beach. You dig, I'll steam.

Nice notes.
The Dr L is never exciting, but if the vintage isn't too soft it's usually a fine value since it can be found under $10
Trotanoy can unfortunately never be found under $10, but I love it.
HAd the 70 LLC recently, showed well, I have one bottle, but it's never been my fave 1970, nor my fave LLC.
After 2 winter outages (1 5 days), I bought a small generator last month. I hope never to use it!

[David M. Bueker]

Despite the subset of fantastic wines, the steamers were the "wine of the night." The guys who dug them up did an all day trip out to Cape Cod to get them.