WTN: Jacques' pool party-Burgs, Bdx, Riesling, Piedmont,etc

Jacques and Jill hosted their annual pool party Sunday. Cloudy, but it didn't rain during pool portion of the day. Wonderful hummus, guacamole, lobster, crab, fish, shrimp, scallops (and 4 mayonnaises for the seafood- classic, saffron, curry, and outrageous black truffle). Great food, and some good wines mixed in with the PremOx disasters

1999 Carillon "Les Perrieres"  Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Pointed out as PremOxed before I tasted, and yes it was, though not as awfully as 2 later wines. In a pinch I could drink this. C+

2000 Domaine Leflaive "les Pucelles"  Puligny-Montrachet 1er
More like it. Pears, hazelnuts, rich, very nice. B+

2005 Pernot  "Les Folatieres"  Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Lively, fresh, bright, B+/A-

1999 Drouhin "Clos des Mouches" Beaune 1er blanc
Beautiful clear/light color in bottle, as soon as I poured I knew was gone- color rapidly darkened. Totally oxidized, smelled like cheap sherry. I bought 3 early, drank one and loved, bought 2 more, 3 out of last 4 sucked, so about 40% - figure that puts the acceptable ones at about $100 per. Damn. D
.
1994 Pape-Clement Blanc
I smelled the oxidation as it poured, totally gone. I'm running across as many oxidized Bdx blanc as Burgs. Mark felt it was premature, that '94 wasn't a vintage to age, I disagree, as the good ones rock. And I've had a very good PC from same source this summer! D

2001 JJ Prum Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese
Lots of sulphur/matchstick on nose, that zippy 01 acidity, nice length. I preferred Donnhoff for now, but the Prum has longer future A-

2002 Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer ("fill in th blank") Spatlese
Got village, not vineyard. Lovely, creamy, sweet lime and tropical fruit, rich and powerful. Mark thinks it needs a bit more acidity, and compared to the Prum it's soft, but it's still lovely and drinks so well right now. A-

2009 Paumanok Chenin Blanc
This was supposed to be blind, but foil slipped off in cooler, and I couldn't in good conscience pretend to guess. Crisp, acidic, apples. Nice summer wine. B

2002 Sauzet Bourgogne Blanc
Never even poured, sherry nose wafted from bottle

2004 Louis Michel "Grenouilles”" Chablis GC
On the rounder/richer side of Chablis, Tropical fruit, some grapefruit, I liked more than some neighbors. B+

2002 Simonnet-Fevre "Les Preueses" Chablis  GC
New producer to me. My immediate reaction was lemonade! Some found austere, me - I was just happy these Chablis weren't oxidized! B

2001 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile -375er Anniversary" Riesling
Some internet debate about how these were drinking, so I decided to try with a group. Actually I didn't find this closed at all, though there is lots of potential for upside. Someone said this showed RS, I felt it was totally dry. Peaches, ginger, a little incipient petrol, wet stones on finish. Long, rich. Very tasty, though I thought there was a sense of something more coiled up there. My theory is drinks well, but will age even better. A-

2006 Carillon "Les Perrieres"  Puligny-Montrachet 1er
I'm a little surprised at finding this showing a fair amount of oak (as my impression was Carillon didn't use much new). But this is nice, with that 2006 ripeness, yet still showing some Puligny stoniness. I think of 06 as an early drinking vintage, but this should be able to age- but then the 1999 should have, too! Tasty, but maybe better to drink young and not take a chance. B+

2004 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling
This is the dry bottling. Big, powerful, petrol. Pretty impressive dry Rheinhessen. B+/A-

We headed up to the house, and the rain did start. Jacques did a yeoman job of grilling some beautiful thick steaks, and had prepared corn, caprese, and green salad. Later a nice cheese plate appeared, and we went through some reds:

1998 Vieux Chateau Certan
Lusher than most VCC, vibrant black plum and berry fruit, ripe tannins, nice length. Nice wine with a future. B+/A-

1970 Ducru-Beaucaillou
I've had a lot of these, and this was an especially good bottle, thanks Mark. Lovely cassis fruit, lots of cigarbox and earth, a little smoke. Beautiful texture, nice length. A/A-

1978 Domaine de Chevalier
My bottle. Black cherry and plum fruit, lots of tobacco, leather notes. I liked a lot, but the fact that I got a little ashtray on the back end makes me fear this might be just cresting and starting to slide. Others with more experience disagreed, thinking it will hold. I have several, and plan on drinking with pleasure over next 2-4 years. B+

1999 Domaine de Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot
Thick, sappy, big. Still some tannins. Exuberant fruit, some oak still evident. This was one of the more controversial wines of night, some really liked. I thought Mark summed it up best with "nice Cali PN." B/B-

2000 Drouhin Volnay-Chevret
More my style. Some found this bretty, I didn't. I thought classically styled, medium bodied, fine. Like many 2000s, drinking well. I liked more than most. B+

1996 Sandrone "Cannubi Boschis" Barolo
I'm a bit on the fence on Sandrone, but I quitre liked this one. Red fruit, tar, cedar. Nice length, present but ripe tannins. B+/A-

1999 Cascina Luisin "Rabaja" Barbaresco
I've liked Luisin in past, this seemed a bit shut down. Fairly traditonal, medium bodied, red fruit, but not showing a lot. B- for now, but time might show more.

1979 Marcarini "La Serra" Barolo
I've had older Brunates, but think this is the oldest Marcarini La Serra I've had. I'll make an effort to try more, this was a gorgeous Barolo. Red fruit, lots of orange zest, earth, tar, coffee. Light impression, yet with plenty of concentration. Complex and lovely, and my WOTN, even edging that glorious Ducru. A

2004 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino
Showing tight and tannic, a little oak, middle of the road stylistically. B-?

1996 Sociando-Mallet
Begining to drink well,. cassis and a little herbal note, tannins beginning to not dominate, nice. B+

As we were going out the door (I was catching a ride with Dave and Linnea), John stopped to make sure we tried his 1983 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese. I'm really glad we did- lovely bottle. Peaches, apples, smoke, lampoil, petrol. Delicate sweetness, fine length. Delicious. A-

What a fun and delicious time! Great food, great company, great reds, some good whites to make up for the disappointments of the PremOx babies. Thanks to Jacques and Jill for their hospitality,and to all for their generosity.

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. 

Do you spit out with so many wines to try? A dazzling array.

Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube.

There was a Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spätlese that year as well. (And both are absolutely lovely wines!)

Re. 94 Bordeaux Blanc, just realized I've had a few (surprises me, as I don't drink much Bordeaux - let alone Bdx blanc, or older ones for that matter!), and there've been a couple of very nice ones. In fact Ben Goldberg had opened '94 Pape Clement Blanc at a tasting some time back and I'd really enjoyed; really a shame the bottle you tried was oxidised. And old Ducru rocks!

Sounds like a nice time, thanks for the notes.

There was a Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spätlese that year as well. (And both are absolutely lovely wines!)

Good call!

Thanks for the notes, Dale, you were, as usual right on the money for the most part - my main disagreement is that I prefer by far the Vougeraie to the funky Drouhin. I think that Vougeraie was very precise and focused, and that may have taken the focus away from the origin, but for me it is a lot more Burgundian than any other New World Pinot.

A few wines you missed:

1998 Clos de l'Oratoire - very dark and brooding. Good fruit but still hiding under a lot of oak
2005 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve - All ripe fruits, delicious but a little sweet for my taste
1982 La Conseillante - Exactly what a mature Bordeaux should be; great nose of earth and leather, beautiful color, lovely to the taste.
1970 Yquem - no, we were not waiting for you to leave to open this, but next time you should stay a bit longer , you never know what could come out of someone's bag. Fully mature, complex and layered. Tangerine sweetness and a delicious wine to end the evening.

JC,
I think the only wines I actually spit were the oxidized Burgs, and the 98 Clos de l'Oratoire. But I aimed for small pours (except for the repeats on the Ducru, Marcarini, Trimbach, and Donnhoff), and it was over 5-6 hours.

Jacques, I did taste the 1998 Clos de l"Oratoire and 1982 La Conseillante. The CdlO just showed too low acid and oaky for me, it was my least fave Bdx, I guess I blocked it out. The Conseillante was gorgeous, I have no excuse for missing that, except I was concentrating on those steaks!