The Old Chardonnay continues: Chalone vs…Chalone?

Things have really been heating up in the store closeout bin. As I mentioned earlier, we recently acquired two cellars. Anything of significant perceived market value goes on to the old and rare racks, which leaves some other stuff destined for the closeout bin. Yesterday I saw a large selection of Chalone Chardonnay from the 1980’s, and picked up a few bottles, as well as a bottle of 1988 Roger Lassserat 'Clos de France' Pouilly Fuisse, with a tag stating that it was shipped by Kermit Lynch and imported by – Chalone Inc. I will always have fond memories of Chalone, since the 1986 Chalone Pinot Blanc is the first quality wine I remember sipping as a youngin’, the first wine that left a detailed mark in my tasting memory bank.

So the comparison yesterday was between a 1985 Chalone Chardonnay and the aforementioned 1988 Lasserat Pouilly Fuisse. The former had something between an 18k and 24k gold color, a baked apple and werthers original nose and flavors that, while mature, still showed life, as well as its ripe, central coastal California ubringing. The Pouilly Fuisse smelled of wet clay and chalk (one co-worker likened the nose to Kraft Mac & Cheese, which was actually a good call) and showed lots of creamy minerality, though not much else on the mid-palate. Disjointed, weird acidity on the finish. Later on with dinner, the wine showed better, while the Chalone became tiresome to drink. Both wines weren’t without their merits, but for the most part this was more of an academic exercise rather than one in pleasure. I’ll consider this head to head, France vs US, Chalone the winery vs Chalone the importer/distributor battle, a draw.

The New New Yorker

An admission - I'm not a particularly literate person. There are times when I am not reading a book. My intellectual curiosity sometimes does not extend beyond my comfort zone of topics: music, food, wine, politics, language, travel, life in the Bay Area. If a co-worker mentions an article read in The New Yorker, I may be interested but chances are that I have not read said article. It's just one of those things, I have never religiously read The New Yorker. That may change though, based on what I have read so far from the September 22nd issue. It was lying on the coffee table, with its eye catching cover cartoon, an allegory of the everyman tortoise descending down the subway, while the financial exec hare hails a cab. In the issue, there appears to be some terrific Sarah P satire, a wonderful article on an influential independent Russian radio station, and an entertaining piece on Spike Lee (if a bit long-winded, meandering and superficial). All in all, though, some quality magazine reading. I'm into it.

Next up. more time reading novels and visiting museums, perhaps. Maybe it would help if I commit to the occasional literary or art post?

We apologize for the technical difficulties

Several of you have recently brought to my attention that this blog does not show up-to-date posts on google reader or the new 'follower' widget. While I have been trying to figure this out independently, I have had no luck. Admittedly I am not incredibly savvy on the interweb and do not know how to get a straight ahead answer on blogger's help board. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to comment. In the meantime, I'm sorry if you would prefer to read this blog via google reader or 'following' (what exactly does that mean, anyway?) and are currently unable to do so. At least if you want to read material from 2008. Thanks for your patience. I am sure that I will resolve this issue before several more large financial services companies go bankrupt or are bailed out by the US Treasury.

Old Californians: 1992 Mount Eden Pinot Noir Edna Valley, 1983 Scharffenberger Brut Mendocino

I continue to be surprised by the slow aging trajectory of California wines, or at least the ones from good producers made in or prior to the early 1990's. I'm not talking about Cabernet here, which of course has the capacity to age well for a few decades, but about Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and even Chardonnay. Incidentally, I had three bottles of Cronin Chardonnay a few weeks ago: an '85 Napa which was dead, an '85 Alex Valley (probably Stuhlmuller vineyard) which still had rich, tasty golden fruit and plenty of life, and an '84 Santa Cruz Mtn that also was lively and bright, with lovely acidity. Well in the past few days I have had some more old California wine, one which I expected a lot from and one of which I expected little, if anything, of interest.

Let's start with high expectations first. The '92 Mount Eden Edna Valley Pinot was part of a cellar recently purchased by K&L. Since it was not produced from the venerable estate's prized Santa Cruz Mountain fruit, we were retailing the wine for a modest $19.99. The color showed relatively young, with just a touch of bricking. Deep aromas of plum, dark cherries and spice carried over to the palate, but fruit was all there was. Ripe, bordering on sweet Edna Valley fruit. Definitely still there, but without any complexity or the amount of acidity I enjoy in Pinot Noir. A bit of heat on the finish (13.6% abv). It tasted better with sauteed chicken breasts, but still a bit of a disappointment. I guess that's what you get for expecting a lot from a Pinot Noir grown from grapes at a lattitude similar to that of Sevilla.

Now for the surprise showing. The 1983 Scharffenberger Brut was pretty good! I imagine the grapes came from the Anderson Valley. Some funky, impure, elmer's glue type aromas eventually blew off to reveal spicy apple pie notes, with some toffee and lemon curd as well. On the palate the wine had a soft bead, but still with enough effervescence to refresh. Decent attack, lacking a good bit in the mid-palate, but with a very cleansing, lemony, acidity on the finish. Simple but rather tasty. Well worth the $10 closeout bin price tag. Am I going crazy here or does moderately priced California sparkling wine from long ago actually age well?

Mobb Deep - Temperature's Rising

What a classic track from the Infamous. I was trying to decide between this and the Q-tip produced re-mix. A tough choice, but ultimately this version won out. Somethin' to kick back and nod your head to.

Goodbye, Didier Dagueneau.

It is tough to eulogize someone whom you have never met. It is somewhat less tough to eulogize someone whom you have never met, but whose work you respect and admire. My very limited experience with Didier Dagueneau's work involves three wines: 2003 Pur Sang, 2004 Blanc Fume and 2005 Pur Sang. All three wines were deeply thought provoking, and I would say that two of the three were amongst the best expressions of Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tasted. I have not yet tasted Dagueneau's most famous achievement, Silex, though I look forward to drinking it one day and toasting the maestro.

Most of what the media said about Dagueneau was that he was a trailblazer, a man who took chances both in winemaking and in his personal life. A man with wild, unkempt hair, dressed in overalls, who some might call 'unpredictable.' In a field of wild personalities, Didier apparently stood right at the top in both his ability to impress with his wines and confound with his eccentricities. As much as we wine lovers will miss him, I think of all of the young vignerons with whom he shared knowledge and offered encouragement. Francois Chidaine, I am told, was particularly close with Didier, as I imagine were many other winemakers.

To the family of Mr. Dagueneau, his colleagues in the Loire valley and anyone else who has come to know and love the man, I'm deeply sorry for your loss. The wine world is losing one of its most passionate and talented vignerons all too early.

An AC Wednesday morning

Nothing like some shouting, terrific harmony and overall weirdness to get you through hump day.



Scroll down, I was up late posting a few new things last night, including notes from the Dressner tasting (probably need to edit for name and vintage accuracy for a few wines). If you were on here looking for new stuff since last Friday, thanks for dealing with the lack of activity over the past few days everyone.