TN: SOBER at my house

Abe Schoener is the name of the Scholium project guy.

I opened one of my last bottles of 1970 Gruaud-Larose just this Sunday and still have some stored in the wine machine under prepurfied nitrogen. It was properly stored since release and had a fill well in the neck. The cork was sound, but was very soft and a bit difficult to remove. The color is still fairly deep with just a bit of age showing around the rim. The wine is still decent, but appears to be somewhat on the decline. It still has plenty of fruit and I would not argue with your mention of tobacco and leather. I noticed a slight herbal taste that might be called ivy, although I really do not know how ivy tastes. Whatever this taste, it detracted from the wine a bit for me. On your scale I would give it a B-. It is just a bit boring, and lacks the balance and complexity that this wine can have in the best years. It was better a few years ago, perhaps a B to B+ then. If I had a lot of this in the cellar, I would drink it up fairly soon. It has remained stable stored under the prepurified nitrogen for the last few days.

I figured as much, though I'd thought he was at Per Se. Did he move? Good to hear that he's making wine, especially as tasty as that one sounds. Fun notes, Dale. Did you supply all the wines? That's quite a hit to the cellar if so, but I suppose it all evens out.

Mark Lipton

It's easy to overlook the Pomerol as it's a property with a lot of ups and downs. I really like the 1990 as it has the typical richness of Pomerol merlot with the restraint that a good winemaker can impart through balance. I don't think it has the pedigree of St Julien in terms of soil and fruit but it can be a charming wine at a good price.

Thanks for data point. I thought a bottle at a vertical 2 years ago was a tad more lively, but otherwise close to yours

Great tasting, Dale, and thanks for sharing the notes.

Just a point about this name: some might find it vaguely disquieting. "Pure Blood." Does it evoke something racial? Is it a comment on the virility of the stuff?

None of the above. In fact it means "thoroughbred", as in a race horse. So the wine is lean, racy, and has long legs. (Many of you probably knew this already, but just in case.)

I'm not a big fan of catchy names like this, anyway.

-E

One more report on leftover:

Two days later, the Ellner Champagne showed quite poorly. Still some petillance, but the dosage was sticking out like a sore thumb. Oxidized/appley.

The Pinon rose on the other had still had zip and freshness. Nice backdrop to a chicken with 40 garlic cloves dish.

The Courier SB didn't seem any more oxidized than on day one- it seems to be the style. More minerally, still good depth. Glad I have more (even if it was $45, this is serious wine).

The Belliviere chenin, open 4 days, was showing just a touch of oxidation, but still nice.

So some of the mature reds lasted a day, some didn't. The higher acid whites did ok for 2-4 days, but were beginning to show a bit of wear. Winner for aging was probably a sparkling rose that had a tight seal, and runnerup a wine that already had an oxidative style. No surprises.