WTN: 4th of July wines

We had a 4th of July party yesterday. Beastly hot (90s and humid), but at least our yard has a lot of shade, so enough people sat outside that air conditioners could keep inside cool as a respite. We were worried re thunderstorms, but they held off. Betsy and I prepared kalbi, halibut with a martini butter, chicken yakitori, hot dogs, sausage,squid/arugala salad, mango salsa, guacamole, broccoli salad, poat dot (grilled corn with a fish sauce/scallion glaze), and of course people brought lots of stuff (Jay’s cold tomato/lemongrass soup with watermelon and herbs won my DOTD award, a pasta salad with blueberries, broccoli and tomatoes won the Strange DOTD award). Overall the wines showed well, though we didn’t open enough of them!

Bubbly
2000 Huet Vouvray Petillant
This is getting a bit creaky, apple cider and herbs, drink up. B-

2010 Bera Moscato d’Asti
Hey, just the thing for standing next to a hot grill on a hot day. Light petillance, sweet but balanced, light and slurpable. B+

NV Cantina de Sorbara Lambruscho di Sorbara
Pleasant, frothy, grapey, didn’t really sing to me on it’s own but probably pretty good with charcuterie on a picnic. B-

White
2011 Franck Peillot Chardonnay (Bugey)
Crisp, chalky, clean, this is quite good. B+/B

2001 Paolo Bea “Santa Chiara”
I found this more interesting than good, though it was more a lack of freshness compared to the 2009 than actual deterioration. B-/C+

2009 Paolo Bea “Santa Chiara”
What are chances that someone would bring another vintage of this not very commonplace wine? Herby, honied, citrus zest. Yummers! B+

1993 Huet “le Mont” Vouvray Demi-Sec
what a pleasant surprise (well, not really a surprise, but not a touted vintage). Full, honeycomb, quince, orange peel. I did discover that I liked more in AC than standing outside by grill, where it felt heavy. But inside, B+

2009 Pinon “Cuvee Tradition” Vouvray
You know, I didn’t really pay enough attention to this but it really showed well, with fresh acidity and waxy/wooly notes. B+/B

1989 Zind Humbrecht “Herrenweg de Turckheim” Gewurztraminer
This is an Olivier wine, but before he went hogwild for ripeness. Balanced, exotic, spicy, good length. B+/A-


Pink
2011 Chapoutier “Belleruche” Cotes du Rhone Rose
Simplistic, candied. C+

2011 Ravines Pinot Noir Rose (Finger Lakes)
Strawberrries, flowers, nice light rose. B

2011 Hart Wine Cellars Rose
Hey, best Steuben/Cayuga blend I ever tasted! Actually, a pretty tasty little wine, nice red fruits, musk and herbs, good acidic backbone, B

Red
2009 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie
Served well chilled, surprisingly open, black raspberry and smoke, very good. B+/B

2007 Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin VV
Decanted a bit, showed very well, balanced, long, great for a village wine.B+

2005 Joquet “Clos du Chene Verte” Chinon
Full, herbal, rich dark fruits. Fun. Could use time, but nice now. B+

1982 Domaine de Chevalier
Some concern this might be corked, I didn’t think so, though I’m fighting remnants of a cold- to me it just had a funky edge. Elegant, mature, maybe fading a tad, but I enjoyed. B+/B

1985 Magdelaine
This made up for a so-so showing of an 1982 Sat. Nicely balanced, medium-bodied, long. Classic old style St Emilion. A-

Fun day, despite the heat. Bonus points to the intrepid city folks who made it up!

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.

edited to add weird salad ingredients

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds fun. We tried to go for a hike, but it was too muggy and buggy to be enjoyable.

Nice notes on a nice day. I must have missed the Huet Petillant, which would have been interesting even if you say it was not in prime form.

I really liked the 09 Santa Chiara but then again those wines are always such fun. I last had it in the fall when I thought it was a bit on the primary simple side, but it had nicer depth yesterday. I could have kept drinking it all day, but there was so much more!

The ZH Gewurztraminer was another favorite, because I do like Gerwurz but just never buy any, and certainly don't have many opportunities to drink them with that much age. Not sure I would have been able to tell it was a Gewurztraminer blind. But then that could just be me.

The Joguet and the Magdelaine were also really nice, although in very different ways. Obviously the Magdelaine was in more prime-time nicely-matured form and I was more than happy to take two pours.

David, you were brave to even thing of hiking yesterday

Rahsaan, glad you and yours could come-that's one cute kid! I kept telling people to open what they wanted- the Huet was in cooler, finally did it myself. I agree the Gewurz-ness wasn't that obvious- exotic, but not really lychee nutty.

Glad you liked my rosé. This was the first time I put this blend together and was so pleased, I blended together a second batch, which I bottled last week.

Glad you liked my rosé. This was the first time I put this blend together and was so pleased, I blended together a second, which I bottled last week.

Yes, it was my first time tasting one of your wines and now I see what all the fuss is about! Nice stuff.

"Martini butter"? A return to the Rat Pack days??

Santa Chiara is nice upon release, but I'm done aging them. I'll only buy what I can drink up in the next year or so after release.

Surprised the Joguet is open already.

[David M. Bueker]

It's a little surprising to me that the Huet was cracking up a bit. I thought that stuff was supposed to be close to immortal. Glad I drank my last 2000 up last year (though I felt guilty about it at the time).

Surprised the Joguet is open already.

That's what I said, but Dale remarked on the generosity of the fruit that will see it through various stages.

Point of interest? What did other people really think of the 82 Chevalier? Something happened at Chevalier that year and a very large percentage of their bottles had some kind of chemical problem and really were not drinkable. I know I had some of them and probably still have a couple as examples of "bad" wines.

Lou,
I think Jay said he was disappointed at showing a bit compared to when he double-decanting it midday, when he said it had a gorgeous nose, IIRC.
Rahsaan can speak for himself! I know some others enjoyed it.

Last night I grilled more yakitori that never made it out of fridge Wed, with leftovers and leftover wine. I had forgotten one wine- the 2009 Simon Bize Bourgogne was a nice rich but balanced Chardonnay, held well overnight.
The others on day 2:
'01 Bea : truly hadn't budged, tasted exactly like Day 1.
Howie's '11 Rose- this actually showed very very well, I think I liked more than Day 1 (when I already liked)
'07 Fourrier -some oxidation creeping in, but still pleasurable
'05 Joquet - even better, good argument for aging.
'82 DDC- It's dead, Jim