TN: SOBER at my house

By the way, Jason is a former contributor here, Jaybert41.

Abe Schoener is the name of the Scholium project guy.

Was the Lagrange Pomerol or St Julien? I still have a few bottles of the 1990 Pomeerol that are still drinking well. IIRC it is/was a Mouiex property.

Oops, I left off appelation on one where it really matters! It was the St Julien, which I've liked even more in past. I seldom see the Pomerol, but tht doesn't excuse sloppiness! :(

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

IIRC, Jason started at the French Laundry, came to NYC as part of the Per Se opening team, then back to TFL. And the wine is on the list at TFL, Bouchon, and Per Se- quite a vote of confidence.

I like SOBER's format a lot (Mark Golodetz devised). There are 9 of us. Host provides dinner. He also has a budget of up to $150 per attendee for wine. Host can source, or choose from own cellar. Everyone tends to be quite generous in any case, but it lets those with younger/smaller cellars play on a fairly level field. In my case, on wines I had acquired in last 2-3 years, I figured based on my purchase price. On the others, I went a little under lowest winesearcher. Bubblies and dessert were my treat. I figured $945 for the still whites and reds, so divide by 9, collected $735 -I didn't collect from Betsy :)

Makes it not seem like I just wiped out cellar, now I can go shopping!

And last time the format meant I could source a '83 Cheval Blanc, beyond my normal budget. Last night a few folks argued I was too low, but I felt others have been extremely generous. I mean, one night John served the '79 Lafleur, the value of which by itself was about what we all chipped in (and then had top '85 & '88 Grand Crus, '78 Haut Brion, '82 Gaja, etc etc).

In general my wine friends are all pretty generous. But this method kind of insulates against the idea that someone is less giving than others.

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.

Tonight's update (had a few ounces of most wines leftover, no preservation other than cork in bottle):

Whites:

For dinner tonight. Betsy got another dozen littlenecks, some more spinach, and flshed out the leftover broth from night before. The leftover Pur Sang was holding well- hints of oxidation,but a nice muscular face of SB overall.

'96 Laville Haut Brion- the light oxidation of last night is now full- blown madierazation.

A sip of the Courier was lively enough for me to leave remainder for tomorow

Reds '90 Trotanoy- a bit more giving than night before, but some definite oxidative notes

'90 Lagrange- downright pruney, into vinegar jar

'83 La Mission du Haut Brion- still a big stern, structured wine, but more obvious fruit.

'90 Pape Clement- still rocking. A touch pruney, but overall still clear, ripe, enticing.

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.