Last night Ramon Cabrera put together a little gathering of cassoulet
fans (well, a couple people got other mains) at La Sirene in SoHo.
Nice evening, with a good group. I have a bit of a cold, but still
found most of the wines quite enjoyable. My mussels and cassoulet were
both tasty, I also enjoyed some great cheeses that Marina brought. The
wines:

1999 Rollin Pernand Vergelesses
Oxidation is taking this over, some caramelly/nutty/sherry notes, too
bad, but it seemed to me there was good acidity and structure
underneath. NR

2003 Philippe Colin "En Remilly" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
This shows the vintage. Not a lot of oak, but fat and round. Some
butterscotch and pear, drinkable but non-descript. B-
*
2001 Zind-Humbrecht "Rotenberg " Pinot Gris
We discussed sweetness level, to me this seemed Spatlese-ish. Ripe
sweet peaches and yellow plums, a pleasantly oily texture, excellent
length. Has that gingery spiciness you sometimes get with PG. I liked
this a lot. For me ZH is a bit like Schoenberg or Ornette Coleman- I
like to try occasionally, I recognize the brilliance behind it, but I
don't want to make it a mainstay (I'll stick to Bach, Coltrane, and
Trimbach for my standards). Still, quite tasty. A-

1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
not exciting. *B

2001 Pegau "Cuvee Laurence" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Tannic, but rich red fruits and lots of herb. Good length, showing a
bit of oak. The tannins are a bit drying on the finish, but its better
with the cassoulet. B/B+
*

1997* Ridge Geyserville
*Warm, easy, ready. Someone questions whether its fading. To me it is
mature but quite alive. Spicy, juicy, tasty. B+

1982 Renato Ratti "Marcenasco " Barolo
*Seems light at first, but there are still some firm tannins
underneath. Perfumed, floral, with surprisingly dense red cherry and
raspberry fruit. Tar, earth, a really lovely Barolo. My WOTN. A-

2001Vernay Cote-Rotie
*Midweight Syrah, black berry fruit, a lovely smokiness. Just a hint
of vanilla, this may be considered modern but not at all over the top
for me. Some grilled meat, delicate but with real body. I think this
is the first Vernay red I've tried. A-/B+

Hey, a pretty good night when I like all the reds. Food was good,
company was great. And Betsy was designated driver- whoo hoo!
Thanks to Ramon for organzing, and to all for the wine and company.

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.
*

On Oct 31, 10:48�am, DaleW > wrote:
> Last night Ramon Cabrera put together a little gathering of cassoulet
> fans (well, a couple people got other mains) at La Sirene in SoHo.
> Nice evening, with a good group. I have a bit of a cold, but still
> found most of the wines quite enjoyable. My mussels and cassoulet were
> both tasty, I also enjoyed some great cheeses that Marina brought. The
> wines:
>
> 1999 Rollin Pernand Vergelesses
> Oxidation is taking this over, some caramelly/nutty/sherry notes, too
> bad, but it seemed to me there was good acidity and structure
> underneath. NR
>
> 2003 Philippe Colin "En Remilly" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
> This shows the vintage. Not a lot of oak, but fat and round. Some
> butterscotch and pear, drinkable but non-descript. B-
> �
> 2001 Zind-Humbrecht "Rotenberg " Pinot Gris
> We discussed sweetness level, to me this seemed Spatlese-ish. Ripe
> sweet peaches and yellow plums, a pleasantly oily texture, excellent
> length. Has that gingery spiciness you sometimes get with PG. I liked
> this a lot. For me ZH is a bit like Schoenberg or Ornette Coleman- �I
> like to try occasionally, I recognize the brilliance behind it, but I
> don't want to make it a mainstay (I'll stick to Bach, Coltrane, and
> Trimbach for my standards). Still, quite tasty. A-
>
> 1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
> Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
> not exciting. �B
>
> 2001 Pegau "Cuvee Laurence" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
> Tannic, but rich red fruits and lots of herb. Good length, showing a
> bit of oak. The tannins are a bit drying on the finish, but its better
> with the cassoulet. B/B+
> �
>
> 1997� Ridge Geyserville
> �Warm, easy, ready. Someone questions whether its fading. To me it is
> mature but quite alive. Spicy, juicy, tasty. B+
>
> 1982 Renato Ratti "Marcenasco " Barolo
> �Seems light at first, but there are still some firm tannins
> underneath. Perfumed, floral, with surprisingly dense red cherry and
> raspberry fruit. Tar, earth, a really lovely Barolo. My WOTN. A-
>
> 2001Vernay Cote-Rotie
> �Midweight Syrah, black berry fruit, a lovely smokiness. Just a hint
> of vanilla, this may be considered modern but not at all over the top
> for me. Some grilled meat, delicate but with real body. I think this
> is the first Vernay red I've tried. A-/B+
>
> Hey, a pretty good night when I like all the reds. Food was good,
> company was great. And Betsy was designated driver- whoo hoo!
> Thanks to Ramon for organzing, and to all for the wine and company.
>
> 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.
> �

Correction- the Vernay was the '99

"DaleW" > wrote in message
...

> 1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
> Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
> not exciting. �B


Had a 1982 of the same a few weeks ago - much the same apart from tannins
resolved into nothingness!
Almost Pinot noir like in colour and softness.

pk

On Oct 31, 10:48 pm, DaleW > wrote:
> 2001 Zind-Humbrecht "Rotenberg " Pinot Gris
> We discussed sweetness level, to me this seemed Spatlese-ish. Ripe
> sweet peaches and yellow plums, a pleasantly oily texture, excellent
> length. Has that gingery spiciness you sometimes get with PG. I liked
> this a lot. For me ZH is a bit like Schoenberg or Ornette Coleman- I
> like to try occasionally, I recognize the brilliance behind it, but I
> don't want to make it a mainstay (I'll stick to Bach, Coltrane, and
> Trimbach for my standards). Still, quite tasty. A-

Agree - ZH wines are magnificent and really impressive to taste, but
they'd be hard to drink on a regular basis. Pretty much the vinous
equivalent of eating foie gras for lunch and dinner non-stop, IMO.

I do hold those wines in highest regard though especially with age -
after some boring wines, or if a sense of palate-ennui sets in, it's
fantastic to sit down with one of those bottles and enjoy them.

Nice notes and sounds like a fun dinner (then again anything combining
good wine and cassoulet gets my salivary glands going very quickly).

Cheers,

Salil

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:48:58 -0700 (PDT), DaleW >
wrote:

>1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
>Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
>not exciting. *B

Darn. I recently picked up a bottle of this (from the same guy in
Seattle you did?). Given that '89 was a pretty solid year, I had
higher hopes.

I also have a bottle of the 1982 Cayrou. Maybe it's time for a
"flight" test.

JJ

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:53:23 -0000, "PK" > wrote:

>"DaleW" > wrote in message
...
>
>> 1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
>> Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
>> not exciting. ?B
>
>
>Had a 1982 of the same a few weeks ago - much the same apart from tannins
>resolved into nothingness!
>Almost Pinot noir like in colour and softness.

Stop! You guys are killin' me!

JJ

On Nov 2, 5:11�am, wrote:
> On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:48:58 -0700 (PDT), DaleW >
> wrote:
>
> >1989 Ch. du Cayrou Cahors
> >Black fruit and some leather, tannins mostly resolved, pleasant though
> >not exciting. �B
>
> Darn. I recently picked up a bottle of this (from the same guy in
> Seattle you did?). Given that '89 was a pretty solid year, I had
> higher hopes.
>
> I also have a bottle of the 1982 Cayrou. Maybe it's time for a
> "flight" test.
>
> JJ

This wasn't from Garagiste, either CSW or Astor in NY. I didn't think
it bad, and it was up against stiff competition, certainly cheapest
wine on table.