TN: couple good bachelor wines (Lafarge, Donabaum)
 

Betsy went to Maine for a chamber concert this weekend, and Wednesday I
was eating alone. A quick marinade of a salmon steak in a soy/mirin
combo, then the fish on the grill with a couple ears of corn (a little
early for corn, but I'm impatient). The wine was the 2001 Michel
Lafarge Bourgogne, a wine that has consistently shown well despite
being a tough year for Volnay ( I believe most of these vines are just
outside Volnay proper). A little acidic and even slightly tannic when
opened, a half-hour in glass lets out a pure clean wine. Cherry and
black cherry fruit with some clean damp earth and light spice aromas.
This is wine that makes me happy. A-
PS Wine went well with the fish, but funnily not the corn! Something
about the (reasonably sweet for early June) corn made the wine taste
thinner and sharper.

Thursday I had thawed a piece of Alaskan halibut, then found out David
would be eating with me. As he hasn't recently been eating cooked fish,
I also grabbed a couple pork chops. Both the fish and chops were
brushed with a bit of vermouth/evoo, and grilled along with some summer
squash. To bridge the pork/halibut divide, I chose the 2002 Johann
Donabaum Loibergarten Gr=FCner Veltliner Smaragd. Great GruVe typicity-
not so much lentil as sweet petit pois, with a clear and present
overlay of white pepper. Besides the pea there's green plum and a bit
of tropical fruit, and the finish has some clear mineral, if not the
pure wet stone of say Nigl. Very nice wine, A-/B+

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

DaleW wrote:
> Betsy went to Maine for a chamber concert this weekend, and Wednesday I
> was eating alone. A quick marinade of a salmon steak in a soy/mirin
> combo, then the fish on the grill with a couple ears of corn (a little
> early for corn, but I'm impatient). The wine was the 2001 Michel
> Lafarge Bourgogne, a wine that has consistently shown well despite
> being a tough year for Volnay ( I believe most of these vines are just
> outside Volnay proper). A little acidic and even slightly tannic when
> opened, a half-hour in glass lets out a pure clean wine. Cherry and
> black cherry fruit with some clean damp earth and light spice aromas.
> This is wine that makes me happy. A-
> PS Wine went well with the fish, but funnily not the corn! Something
> about the (reasonably sweet for early June) corn made the wine taste
> thinner and sharper.
>
> Thursday I had thawed a piece of Alaskan halibut, then found out David
> would be eating with me. As he hasn't recently been eating cooked fish,
> I also grabbed a couple pork chops. Both the fish and chops were
> brushed with a bit of vermouth/evoo, and grilled along with some summer
> squash. To bridge the pork/halibut divide, I chose the 2002 Johann
> Donabaum Loibergarten Grüner Veltliner Smaragd. Great GruVe typicity-
> not so much lentil as sweet petit pois, with a clear and present
> overlay of white pepper. Besides the pea there's green plum and a bit
> of tropical fruit, and the finish has some clear mineral, if not the
> pure wet stone of say Nigl. Very nice wine, A-/B+

Dale,
I well remember (as does Mr. Google) this wine from the Winemonger
tasting at VinoVenue earlier this year -- it was probably my favorite of
the night. I can't say that I got any petit pois in it, but de gustibus.
That reminds me that I think I have a bottle of it, but I'll have to
retrieve the cases I shipped back from CA to see for sure...

Took me a minute to find your notes (it's Donabaum) :)

We might have some descriptor discrepancies, but both agree on good
wine! Whether I get black cherry and you get raspberry (ok, so apricots
and sweet peas are more different!) what really matters to me in
another person's notes a
1) patterns I've noticed of whether we like the same things in a
particular kind of wine
2) tell-tale descriptors (it doesn't matter so much to me if one says
toasty oak or vanilla, both will clue me in to oak)
3) Overall descriptors of acidity, tannins, finish, and quality

But you know all that!

Best to family. Are you all settled back in?

DaleW wrote:
> Took me a minute to find your notes (it's Donabaum) :)

Arrrggghh!


> But you know all that!

Yup, I do. Given how different our tastes run, I know that you ignore
my TNs anyway :P

>
> Best to family. Are you all settled back in?
>

Almost. 6 more boxes to unpack and a backyard jungle that'll require
hours of weeding to get back to its erstwhile splendor. Oh yeah, I need
to finish insulating the new wine cellar too (3" strip at top of walls,
ceiling and put an insulated door on the thing) -- no idea when I'll
have time to do that, what with the demands of child rearing and work,
but it'll have to happen before summer arrives in earnest.

Mark Lipton