Jason's House
Tasted Thursday, October 19, 2023 by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine with 103 views
So.....this was set up as a sort of "Judgement of Paris" but in Eagan, MN rather than Paris, although the concept was somewhat similar. The idea here was to have several flights that pitted a French and US wine against each other. The thought was to have a Chardonnay flight, 2 older red flights and a newer red flight.
In retrospect, the red flights should have been either all older or all newer.....mixing the two was a mistake, IMO. I guess wine works both ways....have younger wines first, and they partially mask or dilute the fruit in the older wines. Have the older wines first, and they mask/dilute the tertiary or secondary flavors in the newer wines. Hence, I will try to keep liked aged wines in each tasting. Lesson learned!
A great night with some great wines, great food, and of course, great friends! Hope you enjoyed the story and received a little vicarious enjoyment from reading about the wines! This was an excellent example of how different our palates are, and everyone had their favorites! One thing that was kind of surprising was that no one was loyal to either side and each wine stood on its own, i.e., most people (I believe everyone) voted for at least one US wine and at least one French wine!
Till next time....Cheers!
NV Jacques Selosse Substance 97 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Not sure if this bottle was a hair below the last one, or if the "WOW" factor was slightly less having had this wine before. Still, an excellent wine for my palate and I am a big fan of this style. Not sure I can put my finger on why I love this wine, but probably because I find it so different from many others. Yes, I have oxidative and reductive Champagnes in the past, but this is different, while it is totally in that style, it still retains some youthfulness and a lot of complexity, minerality and fruit. This is what I imagine a top aged white Burgundy with a little effervescence would taste like.
Nuts and bolts: This wine was golden in color, showing its age...2010 disgorgement. The bubbles were so fine, they were hard to observe, but very present on the palate, albeit, it came across as a delicate Champagne. Plenty of baked apple, citrus, Unami and saline, with hints of fresh ginger and honeycomb. Just as delicious as I remember. An expensive Champagne, but worth the money in my book. Wish I had a lot more! Easy 97 for my palate!
Read 4 Comments / Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 95 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
This was drank along side a Substance. While it from the same mold as Substance, i.e., reductive and oxidative, this retained some of the freshness of a younger Champagne, but also lost some of the complexities of Substance. It was fun to see which one people preferred, and the crowd was divided! I was clearly in the Substance camp, but I could understand why others would prefer this more traditional style (not really traditional, but more so than Substance).
The nuts and bolts on this Champagne: Had the fine bubbles, but a little more visible than the Substance, and not as deep of a golden color. Not sure of the disgorgement date on this wine, but would guess more recent than Substance. For me, the freshness came across more in this wine, but it slightly lacked in the finish, which wasn't as long as as Substance. This wine had some brioche notes, some citrus, saline and some stone fruit, but not as much Unami and lacked the ginger and honeycomb notes. As previously stated, the finish was medium (compared to the long finish of Substance). A very pleasant wine that would have undoubtably shown even better if not drank along side the Substance. Solid 95 for my palate, and a pleasure to drink!
Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue