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Aaron

@sensible_cellar

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Cellar building on a youthful budget | Chicagoland

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@emmyro and me @latetedorbydaniel for her penultimate 30s birthday.

Wine was stellar (with loads of sediment, though). Enough energy and life to go around—not unlike the birthday girl ;) taken in La Tête d'Or by Daniel by @sensible_cellar

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a year ago

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5 years ago

Excited to share some of my favorite labels from on of my favorite labels—this, the 2009 “En Gedi” Grenache from Sans Liege. Produced by Curt Schalchlin, Sans Liege sources grapes from top Central Coast vineyards.
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But the wines defy expectations for single-Rhône varietals in California. Undeniably American—rich, concentrated, oak, tannin—Schalchlin’s wines are restrained in the presence of alcohol, allowing single-vineyard nuances to shine through. The result: remarkably age-worthy (and they need it) wines you’d never find in $25-$40 range from comparable producers in Gigondas or Paso.
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This specific bottle: friends @winebid for under $25 shipped. At that price, buy by the half-case. And decant the hell out of it.
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Shoutout also to the stunning artwork on the single-varietal labels. These come from Gustav Dore’s etchings for a mid-1800s edition of The Inferno. by @sensible_cellar

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7 years ago

2005 Nuits St Georges, the last Moillard vintage (I believe) before the label was sold from family ownership.
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Thorey is a northern climat in Nuits St Georges, thought to produce lighter, more elegant pinots than blockbusters in the south. You wouldn’t have known it with this bottle. Extracted and dense, rich and floral, and dry almost to a fault, this wasn’t exactly a paradigmatic NSG - though it was undeniably excellent Burgundy. I was ahead of the drinking window by a few years here, with the intense but smooth tannins indicating that this one just needed a little more time.
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And at $45 all in, you do hate to miss! But a fantastic deal from friends at @Winebid. This was a rare treat that would run you well over $75 at retail.
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#burgundy #burgundywine #pinot #pinotnoir #nuitsstgeorges #moillard #thorey #wine #redwine #2005vintage #vintage2005 #overeager #winecellar #winebid #wineauction #agedwine by @sensible_cellar

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7 years ago

2006 Grand Veneur’s “Les Origines” in Cheauneuf du Pape.
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Excellent CdP from 2006 vintage, which can get overlooked in its proximity to the famed ‘07. 2007 was a year when hot growing conditions and an evolving Americanization in production style (ultra ripe Grenache, new oak barrels, high alcohol content) issued in what critics, led by Robert Parker, insisted was a historic vintage. I wonder whether the throttling back of those production impulses in the last few years will lead to reassessment.
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Like most Chateauneuf producers, Jaume at Grand Veneur followed suit in the 2000s, producing wines that relied increasingly on ripe Grenache, new oak, and high alc. content. (Compare this with the absolutely killer 2000, for the same $40, to see what I mean). Good wines, to be sure, but a little anonymous?
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Nevertheless, some classic flavors here: jammy blackberry and cassis, heady alcohol, but pepper and gamey, iron-y notes abound. Only improved with time in the decanter. (For which, much thanks, and as well for an awesome dinner and service, to @pacificstandardtime in Chicago. We love you guys.) This could live easily in your cellar for another 5-10 years, so if you find one like this, e.g., on @winebid like I did for <$40, you’ll be bidding on it against me. by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

Not just any #oldchardonnay here, but @thevenet at 17 years. Thevenet, and their Domaine de la Bongran especially, is known for an almost literally unique viticultural style for Burgundy. The chardonnay grapes are very late harvest, which leads to exceptional ripeness of fruit and even some degree of botrytis in many vintages. (Depending on the vintage, there are enough fully botrytised clusters to produce a bottling of Cuvee Botrytis.) The press is slow and the ferment can last up to two years, with an additional year of cellar conditioning before release.
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The residual sugar and long ferment technique make these wines ideal for aging. That’s notable for two reasons. First, this is village level white Burgundy (there are no premier cru Maconnais or Vire Clesse vineyards, though rumors abound about a change for Maconnais generally) and can be had for $30 and sometimes well under per bottle. More importantly, the Thevenet family has produced the Bongran in this style for decades, and unlike many other white Burgundy producers in the 90s and early 2000s, did not yield to a variety of Americanization temptations that produced whites ready to drink much earlier, but far more susceptible to the dreaded premox. It’s a value, in other words, and a unique experience, to boot.
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2002, for example, is a great vintage in Burgundy, and unlike *many* Meursaults or Montrachets, at many times the price, this village level shows beautifully after this degree of aging. Certainly, there’s botrytis and camphor and petrol on the nose, but still floral. The palate is so interesting, with smoke, salt, and honey predominating, and a much thinner body than you’re anticipating, given the sauternes-y nose. A complete delight and revelation—and all for less than $25 per bottle from our friends @winebid. (And yes, that’s a @zalto. More anon.) by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

2003 Les Joyeuses by Domaine Michel Mallard
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This 1er Cru from Ladoix reminds me of two things: that not all good prices are good deals, and also, that, with time, a wine’s vintage can dominate its terroir and winemaking. 2003 was a fantastically hot vintage in Burgundy, which means either higher alcohol percentages, earlier harvests, or jammy, gummy wines that require a significant influence from oak to tame. Extra tannin, in other words, and consequently, pinot noirs that are not as reliably age-able as cabs and blends produced under similar in Bordeaux or Tuscany (or, as we’re learning, California).
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A nose of bright cherry, cola, a bit of dust and dank, and no small amount of spice. This wine is acidic and remarkably dry, and could work well with the right dish. A rich pasta dish, a funky brie, pork shoulder, even. Something fatty and rich that takes advantage of the wine’s acid and overwhelms a bit of the dry finish.
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On its own, though, it’s hard to regard this wine as enjoyable, at this point. At $18 per bottle on our friends @winebid (with the usual price of $45-$65) it’s a fair price that can work, with the right culinary preparation. taken in Wheaton, Illinois by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

2008 Brewer-Clifton “Gnesa” Chardonnay

@brewerclifton is a favorite producer out of the Central Coast of California. In fact, they’re 100% produced in Sta. Rita Hills, and have been there long before Sta. Rita Hills was had an AVA designation. IN FACT, they’re 100% estate produced—so, if we were in a more expensive price bracket and wine region, we’d be using terms like ‘monopole’ or ‘lieu dit’. .
Their wines are bulletproof: single-vineyard, much closer to terroir driven than a lot of stereotypical Pinots and Chardonnays from this AVA. Indeed, I think the Chardonnays are unlike most California Chardonnays I’ve had, at the <$40-$50 price point, anyway. This “Gnesa” vineyard is a case in point. Unmistakable oak character, but this driving minerality and flinty quality, along with some unexpected funk, pear, orange peel. Fantastic.
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And the moreso because I’m drinking it at the 10 year mark—oak fades, alcohol integrates, soil character takes over—which is seldom treated as a feature of American white wine buying. But there’s no doubt that wines like these are made to age; this had another two years of life, no question, and given how little we know about the longevity of American chardonnay, who can say what the upper limit might be? But this uncertainty is an opportunity: I bought this for $25 on @winebid, which is less even than the release price, and far less than retail, and most importantly, it drinks better.
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If I can neg on this wine or producer at all, it’s that they stopped this vineyard in 2013. The next owners will have their work cut out for them. by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

Precise and smooth, both rich and sharp, well-aged Meursault is impossible to imitate. So it was with this from @olivierleflaive, one of the oldest and most revered producers in Puligny-Montrachet and which releases a couple of smaller bottlings from Meursault, like this one. Among the top chardonnays in Burgundy (along with Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet) Meusault wines are known for having a more savory quality than the other two appellations; hazelnut, saline, butter, almost a ‘fattiness’, which we often associate with American chardonnay, and that, in the absence of a restraining minerality and salinity, can come across as over-oaked, especially at the usual $50+ price point. The Charmes vineyard, the largest 1er cru vineyard in Meursault, perennially avoids these problems, running up as it does right against Puligny-Montrachet and retaining some of the stonefruit and floral qualities noted in that appellation.
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This particular bottle was very nearly perfect: limestone, an oyster-briney quality, along with lemon, cream, and honey, and a slowly-drying finish. No sulfer or smoke, nothing oxidative. I’d trade half the white wines in my cellar for a half-case of this.
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I picked this up from @winebid, which featured a wealth of older white burgundies this summer, at prices ranging from $25 (!!) to $50. Good luck finding a recent-vintage 1er Cru Meursault for less than $75. Then imagine aging it yourself for 10-15 years. And then…selling it for half what you paid for it? A lot of people are leery about buying older white wines, for fear of premature oxidation. It’s a legitimate concern. But frankly, these wines are very nearly undrinkable even at the 5-year mark, so concentrated and overpowering are the profiles. Oxidation risk, therefore, is inherent in a wine like this, if you have any interest in consuming it at peak. With red Bordeaux, we take the same risks for granted, despite concerns about brett, corking, etc. That similar ‘risk-taking’ isn’t the norm is what lets a few of us capitalize on buying and drinking perfectly aged wines like these at, in some cases, less than half the recent-vintage release price. by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

Herman Story was one of the first small, culty wine labels I discovered when I was working in the restaurant industry. Small production, unique labels, cool bottles, wine club access to the rarer stuff, and a small crew. With some attention from the wine magazines, and consistently high scores, Herman Story’s wines aren't quite as hard to find as they were back then. The Nuts and Bolts (their entry-level, and excellent, Syrah) and On the Road (a Grenache, and my favorite offering) are somewhat widely available, at least in Chicago (see: @binnysbev). But you may have to hunt a little bit, or contact them directly, for some of the single-vineyard stuff, which include this Grenache from the Larner Vineyard in Santa Barber.
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Like many offerings from Herman Story, this grenache is made in a robust, high-alcohol style (15.7% here, IIRC), and most of the wines see a good bit of new French oak (ranging, according to their website, from 70% to 100%). That adds tannins, structure, and makes for wines that can drink a liiiiitttle dry if you pop and pour or drink too young. And that’s advice I’ve read not just in interviews with From, but in a host of reviews: wait as long as you can to drink these wines. This Grenache, a 2009 with plenty of cellar conditioning, spent about two hours in the decanter and was still pretty big. Indeed, it was robust, fruit-forward, floral, and yet with a lot of the gaminess that characterizes young CdP or especially Gigondas. And, I mean, I know this isn’t a technical description, but it was flat-out good. Despite the wine’s being just huge, I loved what I had with dinner, but even more, the last glass I had on its own. I felt I’d really just tasted the beginning of where this wine could go—and that’s a $35 bottle with nine years of age. There are $75 CdPs, to say nothing of $100 oak bombs you can buy on the regular in Napa Valley, you can’t say that about. .
I believe I snagged this particular bottle on @winebid, which, as I said about Copain a few weeks ago, is one of the best places to find @hermanstorywines single-vineyard offerings with bit of age on them at a good price. by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

A couple of these @binnysbev in Lakeview were a remarkable find. Just scanning their rieslings, I could not believe what I saw: 19-year old spatlese from @weingutbalthasarress at $24 per bottle. A unparalleled deal. If you’re in the area and like good things, they had 3-4 bottles left. Though I can’t imagine they’ll last too long.
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Bit of a concern that these were on the shelf rather than in cellar. I haven’t tried one yet, but once I do, will return with notes and a few words about the great Balthasar Ress.
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#binnys #chicago #lincolnpark #chicagowine #wine #whitewine #germanwine #riesling #germanriesling #spatlese #agedwine #1999 #1999vintage #vintage1999 #winecellar #winedeal #dessertwine #fingerscrossed taken in Binny's Liquor Depot 3000 N. Clark by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago

Copain is a small-ish, artisanal label, with vineyards predominantly in the Russian River and Anderson Valleys in California. Apart from the quality and value, which have been excellent consistently for me, Copain is noteworthy in contemporary wine culture for two reasons: in the early 2000s, it was one of the pioneers in single-vineyard winemaking in the U.S., and it’s winemaker, Wells Guthrie, has been an advocate for the In Pursuit of Balance-style of winemaking since long before it was cool. These commitments result in wines that are consistently terroir-driven and stylistically distinct from what you’d usually expect from pinot and syrah in California—wines that are drier, earthier, and minerally, before showing off the ripe, dark fruits.
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The Tous Ensemble is the entry-level line from Copain, and for my money, it’s almost unquestionably among the best values in American wine. I can’t say enough how much I love the syrah, and aged long enough, the pinot would pass muster as a 1er cru Santenay in a ripe vintage. What other winemaker produces a line of <$30 bottles that age beautifully for 10+ years? And better yet, it’s a great introduction to a style of winemaking that’s deliberately Old World, even as it embraces the qualities unique to American viticulture.
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If you’re intrigued, keep an eye out for these on the second-hand market. You can often find older bottles, and even older bottles of single-vineyard offerings, for exceptional prices. Look to places like @WineBid, which has had a glut of the single-vineyard offerings lately at <$40 prices, and @ChicagoWineCompany, where I bought this particular bottle.
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#syrah #pinotnoir #copain #russianrivervalley #russianriver #kendalljackson #californiapinot #californiasyrah #chicagowine #valuewine #cellarable #winecellar #tousensemble #singlevineyard #californiawine #americanwine #coterotie #hermitage #stjoseph #terroir by @sensible_cellar

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8 years ago