Essex County Wine Society

THE WINE PRESS 

ESSEX COUNTY WINE SOCIETY

Early Summer 2008

Dear Friends and Fellow Wine Lovers:

During the Spring of 2008 the Essex County Wine Society had two singular events: an old Burgundy tasting on April 10, 2008; and our 35^th anniversary dinner on May 4, 2008 at Copeland Restaurant in the Westin Governor Morris Hotel in Morristown, N.J.  The Old Burgundy tasting was led by our own “old” Burgundy expert,  Richard Steinberg, sourced from a British merchant and imported for the occasion.  We began with a 1986 Meursault (Liger-Belair S.A.) which had some nutiness of age which was well appreciated by some.  Red wines from 1919-1997 followed.  Our first wine, 1919 Volnay (Sichel) had appropriately aged containers;  the wine, however, had a very high fill for age and a color which seemed  much too purple for a wine almost 90 years old. Whatever it was, Burgundy or not, the wine was drinkable.  The next two wines were a 1937 Vosne Romanee Les Malconsorts (Jules de Canniere & Cie.) and a 1949 Pommard Rugiens (Conferie de Chevaliers du Tastvin – Joseph Drouhin).  Both wines had the classic change from primary fruit aromas to bouquets which suggest truffles and   mushrooms and flavors of beef boullion and pencil shavings.  The 1937 seemed better liked by some.  We then had four wines from the 1960s: 1961 Clos du Vougeot (Innes Smith bottling); 1962 Vosne Romanee (Martial de Laboulaye bottling); 1964 Chambolle Musigny (Confrerie de Chevaliers du Tastevin -  Ets. Saint Ferdinand); and 1964 Chambolle Musigny (Bruck).  All showed appropriate age and some were toasty and sweet.  At least two had some unattactive bitterness.  The good but rather difficult vintage of 1976 was represented by a Beaune premier cru – Montee Rouge (Leon Viollard).  The wine was quite drinkable with some residual fruit though it faded in the glass over time.  The 1989 Gevrey-Chambertin – Les Champonnets (Dom. Lucien Boillet &Fils)  was distinctly smokey and chewy, showing residual tannins.  The last wine, now eleven years old, the 1997 Eschezeaux (Dom. E. Rouget) had a sweetness and an elegance and was the favorite of the evening for some who prefer younger wines.

All in all, this was quite an informative evening of wine.

The highlight of the year was the 35^th anniversary dinner.  The chefs at the Copeland Restaurant produced excellent accompaniments to the extraordinary wines from our cellar.  The Bollinger Special Cuvee (n.v.) was big and earthy in the house style and served as a good introduction to the dinner.  Our 1989 Chateau d’Yquem with the sumptuous foie gras course was superb.  We had had the 1996 A. Rousseau Clos de la Roche at a previous dinner and again it showed quite well.  Our four 1990 Bordeaux first growths, which were served to be shared by two since we only had four bottles of each, lived up to and  perhaps surpassed their reputations.  Both the 1990 Margaux and 1990 Cheval Blanc were accessible and perhaps were the favorites of the group.  The 1990 Lafite and 1990 Latour were more tannic and, while excellent, perhaps needed more time to be at their peaks.  The meal concluded with a 1994 Dow’s vintage port which seemed ageless.

Alas, because of the marked increase in price of first growth Bordeaux, we are afraid that this kind of dinner will never be repeated again by our society.

Next year’s events will include a classic ECWS mix of new and old world wines, white (2) and red (5), and two dinners.

September 14, 2008  Fall Dinner

October 2, 2008 Austrian Whites (Moore-Roland)

November 6, 2008 Australian Shiraz (Rudbart & Lekkala)

December 4, 2008 2005 Bordeaux Reds (Schwarz)

January 8, 2009 Cabernet Franc (Appert)

February 5, 2009 2001 Barolo (Aria)

March 5, 2009 2005 2^nd Label 2005 Bordeaux  (Schwarz)

April 2, 2009 2006 Burgundy Whites (Saroff)

May 3, 2009 Spring Dinner

Again we request all those who receive the Wine Press by mail to allow us to send it by e-mail. Please e-mail anyone of us, at the following addresses, to give us your current e-mail address.

Rlx2ericksonrl@msn.com   hmenaker1@aol.com  gilbauer@yahoo.com

The undersigned note that this will be the last Wine Press under our authorship.  We have enjoyed our time as co-presidents and we leave the society in the good hands of the new officers, Gil Bauer, president.

Enjoy your summer.  See you in the fall.  Stay cool and remember, life is too short to drink bad wine.

In vino veritas and a votre santé

Bob and Howard

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