WTN: This tastes like dirt. I didn't know I liked dirt.

[David M. Bueker]

Every once in a while we have these dinners for work, and 99.9% of the time they are at a steak house in Hartford with overpriced, boring (!) wine.

Last night I had the hcance to set up one of the dinners, and was able to do my favorite local Asian BYO, and bring the wines myself. While a number of the folks (e.g. our two California visitors) liked wine, not many knew much about it.

With the sushi:

2005 Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons
Very crisp and minerally, mostly lemon fruit and a very long finish. This was delightful, and a good match with the fish.

With the last of the sushi & the other apps:

2008 Pali Sunset Rosé
A blend of Pinot Noir and Grenache, this was its best showing for me to date. Lots of strawberry and watermelon fruit. Dry but not austere. This was guzzled. I should have brought two bottles. My favorite line of the night, was when someone took a sip and said "Hey, it's not sweet! This is really good."

1st red (for the white/rosé phobic)
2007 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill
Wow is this good. I think this is my favorite young St. Innocent Pinot Noir since the 2002 vintage. Lost of red and black fruit, a touch of smokiness and a wonderful harmony on the palate. This is too good. First bottle drained of the 3 initially opened.

When our main courses came out I opened two more bottles to satisfy the thirsty crowd:

2007 Messmer Riesling Halbtrocken
Top quality Pfalz Riesling from a liter bottle, what more could you want? This was just barely off dry, and really complemented the food. Since it was not in the traditional fluted bottle there was no visual issue about "sweetness", and everyone tried this & liked it. Great summer sipping value, especially when it's 90+ degrees and the humidity is in the sauna levels.

2005 Edmunds St. John Rocks & Gravel
Honestly I opened this up last so that I could take the remnants home to examine more closely. Oh well that didn't work out. People loved the St. Innocent, but they went crazy for this wine. Great balance, fantastic fruit & wonderful earthy tones. Another great line from the night: "This tastes like dirt. I didn't know I liked dirt so much." I poured myself about an ounce to check for corkiness (obviously none of that), and that was the last time I saw the bottle. Final great line from one of the women present: "My husband likes California wine, but I like European wines. We could both enjoy this."

It was a lot of fun to share the wines with friends from work, and I hope I can get them to explroe a little more the next time we do one of these little get togethers.

That 07 Messmer Halbtrocken is a really tasty, food-friendly wine - and a great value. I'll be on the lookout for his 08s after what I've heard about the wines in the Pfalz this year.

Nice reactions to the ESJ. Who knew a low brow version of a Cotes du Rhone could bring so much pleasure?

[David M. Bueker]

It's interesting that you bring up the "low brow Cotes du Rhone" comment again. I deliberately avoided it, despite the fact that I found the R&G to be a better, more integrated wine than all the (outstanding) 2007 Cotes du Rhones I have tried to date (some of which have been very highly rated).

Couldn't resist - but agree, I've had a couple of bottles in the past and prefer it to most CdRs I've had (that doesn't include any 07s yet, but I've had a lot of others from other solid years like 05) as a balanced, refreshing wine.

[David M. Bueker]

I love the R&G, and consider the 2005 the best version I have had.

Steve's too modest and unassuming a guy to tell anybody this, but he achieves that special dirty effect by actually adding in a certain percentage of dirt from each vintage into the wine as it ages.

Steve's a fanatic when it comes to terroir, and he thinks the only way to ensure the continuing connection of the wine to the land is to maintain that physical connection. That's why you'll always see those grape lugs heading from vineyard to winery with a smaller truck trailing behind with a load of rocks and gravel. Many's the time when I've seen him carefully and precisely measuring out the rocks, the gravel, and a soupcon of sandy loam every now and then, in just the right proportions. Steve's a stickler for those details!

It's just another step that Steve takes to establish that terroir. When you taste a Foothills wine that Steve makes---you really can taste the Foothills in the wine!

Just ignore that dark sediment that Steve's wines tend to have (wink, wink). And whatever you do, seriously, if Steve issues you a generous invitation to come and enjoy the romance of the wine business by helping him clean out the old barrels, make sure you have something else on your schedule that day. Word.

[David M. Bueker]

Just ignore that dark sediment that Steve's wines tend to have (wink, wink).

Les mastications de la terre

Just ignore that dark sediment that Steve's wines tend to have (wink, wink).

Les mastications de la terre

Things tend to sound so much more elegant in French, don't you think?

I switched stems, started using the Schott Zweisel break-resistant ones, because I kept losing Speigelaus when pouring ESJ reds too quickly, and a piece of gravel would shatter the glass.
Thanks for update.
Dale "count me as a lowbrow" Williams

What , is it April Fools' Day already?

[David M. Bueker]

What , is it April Fools' Day already?

Nah, just a belated happy birthday.

And I read where 2007 Northwest Pinots were sub standard and diluted....who knew???

Drew

Waitress, this coffee tastes like dirt.
Well, it was just ground this morning.
Ba-dump

And I read where 2007 Northwest Pinots were sub standard and diluted....who knew???

Drew

That's a bunch of BS. I've had a couple of dozen excellent 2007 Oregon pinot noirs. (Of the 100 or so I've tasted).

[David M. Bueker]

Harry, Harry, Harry...

As for the 2007 vintage in Oregon - if this wine is what sub-standard and diluted tastes like I will take it every year.

And I read where 2007 Northwest Pinots were sub standard and diluted....who knew???

Drew

That's a bunch of BS. I've had a couple of dozen excellent 2007 Oregon pinot noirs. (Of the 100 or so I've tasted).

I have very little experience with 2007 Oregon Pinot Noir but here are the links to some of the articles that speak about that 2007 vintage.


http://presentmagazine.com/full_content ... =yes&pbr=1

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/549205

http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index ... _over.html

Drew