Friday I got out my tape measure for seat placement, and welcomed my local non-serious wine group. Everyone got a place with cheeses, smoked duck, soppresata. I grilled some sausages (lamb merguez, bratwurst, fennel) and squash, everyone had own tongs for retrieval
Jousset ?rose a Lies?
50/50 Groulleau & Gamay, pet nat. Good crispness, fresh strawberries and minty green herb, fun. B2005 Huet ?Clos du Bourg? Vouvray Sec Fred blinded us with this. At first pour it was worrisomely dark, with some strong cidery notes. It freshened up, Wool and wax, a little softer acidity than I expected, good finish, B/B+
The rest were my wines, served blind
2013 Brunet ?Arpent? Vouvray First guesses were Sancerre. Dry and high acid (at least compared to the ?05 Huet), fruit cocktail and honey, not a ton of complexity. B-1983 Jaboulet ?La Chapelle? Hermitage Really nice showing, I?ve had varied previous experiences. Tannins resolved, elegant and ready (others? first guesses were Burgundy). Black fruits, smoked meat, a little leather. I?ll drink others from this lot over next couple years (happily). A- .
2011 Lafouge ?La Chapelle? Auxey-Duresses 1er Young, red fruit, a little anise and smoke,tangy and long. Very good for vintage. B+(I?d originally thought I had a ?98 La Chapelle de LMHB, was going to have an impossible theme for the guys to guess, but I had drunk it, so the Sociando was a sub)
1986 Sociando-Mallet Still some grip, sturdy black fruit accented with gamebird, green herbs, and cedar. No hurry here. B+/A-Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.