WTN: Madison Squar…Monosodium glut…err…MSG

[David M. Bueker]

• 2018 Dirty and Rowdy MSG Chalone - USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone (8/25/2021)
  Opened last night spur of the moment, and followed over two nights, this is about as close to my revered ESJ Rocks & Gravel as I have tasted. It’s different, as Hardy’s wines have never had quite the same level of stuffing as Steve’s, but the soul is there, the savory is there, and the balance promises at least mid-term aging. That said, it’s delicious now, so it will take willpower (or an excessively filled cellar!) to allow me to hold a bottle more than a couple of years.

I had the eerie experience, tasting with Hardy once, and while I had my nose in a glass of one of his wines I found myself suddenly disoriented: "wait!" I thought--"is this my wine?" Spooky. And, totally a delight!

[David M. Bueker]

I do see some passing similarities once in a while between your wines and Hardy's, but this was the first clear kinship, likely because of the blend.

Your mid-1990s Mourvedre wines and Hardy's D&R Mourvedre are very different, even accounting for time!

yes, no doubt regarding those mid-'90s wines. They were made from Mourvedre plantings that I was never particularly happy with, which was why I stopped beating my head against that particular set of walls. Our '93 Les Cotes Sauvages, on the other hand, struck me as a wine that reflected an approach and a neurosensory reaction to my raw materials that I think is likely similar to Hardy's.