Today was one of the first truly warm days of the year, reaching 61 F
(16°C) but rained almost nonstop. Undeterred by the moisture, Jean
convinced me to unearth the smoker from the garage and prepare the
season's first batch of grilled food, some jerk chicken using our
regionally infamous jerk paste. Because I am suffering from a mild
cold, we decided against beer or red wine to avoid histamines and
instead I convinced Jean to open a bottle lingering on our "open now" shelf:

2006 Dom. de Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine "Clos de Briords"
nose: minerals, green apples
palate: light, crisp, rounded, a touch of honey

Bought for $15 at Sam's earlier this year, this perennial QPR winner was
abnormally ready to drink (I'm still cellaring the '04, which can
probably age for another decade effortlessly). After 30-45 minutes,
though, I got a distinct, though subtle, whiff of TCA from the wine.
When I mentioned to Jean that it now tasted slightly corked, she
confided that she too had recently noticed the taint. This now makes a
half dozen bottles opened in the last month that have proved to be
corked, usually only barely. What have I done to deserve such a fate?
It's now clear to me that I've made Dionysos's shit list, but I don't
know why. Clearly, an offering is in order, though, so I'll have to
locate a lamb to offer up in the next month ;-) Jean remarked, though,
that for the wine to have been this appealing when it was: a) mildly
corked and b) paired with an unflattering match in jerk chicken is a
great testament to how good a wine it really is. And, yet again after
another sensational Muscadet, it makes me wonder why I risk my money on
Chablis any more...


Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Apr 1, 11:45 am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Today was one of the first truly warm days of the year, reaching 61 F
> (16°C) but rained almost nonstop. Undeterred by the moisture, Jean
> convinced me to unearth the smoker from the garage and prepare the
> season's first batch of grilled food, some jerk chicken using our
> regionally infamous jerk paste. Because I am suffering from a mild
> cold, we decided against beer or red wine to avoid histamines and
> instead I convinced Jean to open a bottle lingering on our "open now" shelf:
>
> 2006 Dom. de Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine "Clos de Briords"
> nose: minerals, green apples
> palate: light, crisp, rounded, a touch of honey
>
> Bought for $15 at Sam's earlier this year, this perennial QPR winner was
> abnormally ready to drink (I'm still cellaring the '04, which can
> probably age for another decade effortlessly). After 30-45 minutes,
> though, I got a distinct, though subtle, whiff of TCA from the wine.
> When I mentioned to Jean that it now tasted slightly corked, she
> confided that she too had recently noticed the taint. This now makes a
> half dozen bottles opened in the last month that have proved to be
> corked, usually only barely. What have I done to deserve such a fate?
> It's now clear to me that I've made Dionysos's shit list, but I don't
> know why. Clearly, an offering is in order, though, so I'll have to
> locate a lamb to offer up in the next month ;-) Jean remarked, though,
> that for the wine to have been this appealing when it was: a) mildly
> corked and b) paired with an unflattering match in jerk chicken is a
> great testament to how good a wine it really is. And, yet again after
> another sensational Muscadet, it makes me wonder why I risk my money on
> Chablis any more...
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Jerk chicken - nice! Although I can't help but think that a young
Riesling would have gone better with the heat in the dish. Sounds like
a lovely Muscadet, nonetheless.
As far as spending money on Chablis - there are plenty of minerals
elsewhere. A complete digression here, but I recently opened a 2004
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Riesling from Margaret River (all of $14
from Flickinger). Some kerosene, smoke, minerals and citrus at first
with a little petrolly funk - after an hour or two, I noticed the
petrol and slightly funky character had completely blown off, and it
had evolved into an Aussie Chablis equivalent - lemon oil and LOTS of
minerals.

Cheers,

Salil

On Mar 31, 11:45�pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Today was one of the first truly warm days of the year, reaching 61 F
> (16�C) but rained almost nonstop. �Undeterred by the moisture, Jean
> convinced me to unearth the smoker from the garage and prepare the
> season's first batch of grilled food, some jerk chicken using our
> regionally infamous jerk paste. �Because I am suffering from a mild
> cold, we decided against beer or red wine to avoid histamines and
> instead I convinced Jean to open a bottle lingering on our "open now" shelf:
>
> 2006 Dom. de Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine "Clos de Briords"
> nose: minerals, green apples
> palate: light, crisp, rounded, a touch of honey
>
> Bought for $15 at Sam's earlier this year, this perennial QPR winner was
> abnormally ready to drink (I'm still cellaring the '04, which can
> probably age for another decade effortlessly). �After 30-45 minutes,
> though, I got a distinct, though subtle, whiff of TCA from the wine.
> When I mentioned to Jean that it now tasted slightly corked, she
> confided that she too had recently noticed the taint. �This now makes a
> half dozen bottles opened in the last month that have proved to be
> corked, usually only barely. �What have I done to deserve such a fate?
> It's now clear to me that I've made Dionysos's shit list, but I don't
> know why. �Clearly, an offering is in order, though, so I'll have to
> locate a lamb to offer up in the next month ;-) �Jean remarked, though,
> that for the wine to have been this appealing when it was: a) mildly
> corked and b) paired with an unflattering match in jerk chicken is a
> great testament to how good a wine it really is. �And, yet again after
> another sensational Muscadet, it makes me wonder why I risk my money on
> Chablis any more...
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Sorry for the bad luck. I agree the '06 is atypically forward, but
still don't think it would have any problems aging at least short to
midterm.