and me. One could break out all the grand cru Chablis and take it farther. I’d be a yes for all those also.
I helped that guy—Swedish or European—source a couple hard to find ones but didn’t get the promised invite. It was Joe somebody . . . I think 20 years ago.
No Romanee conti, no Romanee, no Montrachet no Chevalier Montrachet (have one in the cellar) no straight Charlemagne, no Criots Batard, no Bienvenue,
All other ticked. I assume it will not change for the reds…but whites could move forward.
I have had all of them but not sure it really added to my knowledge of Burgundy.
The straight Charlemagne is made by Jadot from the original area but not really different from other versions of Corton Charlemagne to my taste buds. The closest to what I would imagine is original Charlemagne is the white dirt wine in Pernand owned by Rapet and Bonneau du Martray. This is just a guess.
There are many 1er cru wines that I seek out and enjoy. I actually enjoy them more than many of the Grand crus. I drink very little Grand Cru now. When I do drink Grand cru, in general, I realize there is a reason why they are listed as such.
FWIW.
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Agreed. I think I learn more that has been helpful to me by learning producers that I really like.
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Thanks to a number of incredibly generous friends, I’ve had them all except for straight Charlemagne and La Romanée and I may have had one or both over the past 25 years and just don’t remember.
alan weinberg wrote:
I helped that guy—Swedish or European—source a couple hard to find ones but didn’t get the promised invite. It was Joe somebody . . . I think 20 years ago.
I remember him posting a lot of notes on Ebob and then he stopped. Joe Belmaati. A bunch of notes in Cellartracker from 2004 and none more recent than that. He sure had a lot of good wine in 2004!
good memory! Wonder what happened.
Did a bit of digging around and found a writeup of the 10-years-on tasting session for the Montrachet project at Mad about Wine: Joe's 1999 Montrachet Horizontal Tasting
How many days/meals for the “every 1er cru” project? Maybe village at a time?
Cheers,
fred
Ever the bright ray of sunshine here to brighten up posts.
I wake up for this.
Just slightly more than half of them. If anything, it’s surprising to see that more people have had La Tâche than Criots.
I’ve had all of them too. Surprised how many ppl haven’t had Clos de tart or Lambrays.
Btw the price increases in Lambrays have been the worst in all of burgundy; 19 is 250% the price of 17.
I don’t think I have tried La Romanee and uncertain that I have ever tried Clos de la Tart
No kidding—$500 for ‘19?!?! That’s Dujac territory.
I’m getting an idea…
nobody else has either—look for Clos de Tart instead!
Funny esoteric story—long ago I had some bottles of Dujac labeled Clos la Roche—when I visited Dujac, I asked Jacques why. His wife preferred the sound of it, and that’s how she ordered labels, though years later authorities forbade the name and it’s back to Clos de la Roche.
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All but la Romanée for me
It would be great if instead of total votes, we could see how many different people voted.
I’m reposting my Greatest Wine Dinner for the 34th time, just because… and because of La Grand Rue, which was not a Grand Cru when I tasted it… and especially for the memories…
There are three of the Grand Crus in here (2 at the time):
Summer of 1982. Sally and I are in France. This is my first professional buying trip, and the first time Sally and I have been away alone together in the 5 years since our son Matt was born.
Our last night in France. It had been blazingly hot in Bordeaux and incredibly was not much cooler in Paris. We’ve booked our only Michelin starred dinner of the trip, at Vivarois, *** (three stars!).
Late July, 8:00 PM, outside temperature over 90F, restaurant almost empty as we enter. One table of about 10 Japanese, one other couple and us. I’m dying in coat and tie. The Japanese, all ditto, aren’t too perky either nor the other couple. Waiter brings menus and we order: Curried oysters for Sally (house specialty), bloc of foie gras for me (can’t resist no supplemental charge). Another couple breezes in. I get the impression of a well-travelled American man, in white jacket, with younger French date. The restaurant door has been left open and a sad floor fan is not moving much of the hot air. Man sits, then stands and takes off his jacket. Me, the man in the other couple, and 10 Japanese simultaneously do likewise, looking gratefully at our liberator.
Sommelier, looks and walks just like Charlie Chaplin, deadpan. I order a bottle of 1976 Late Harvest Gewurz. No change in his expression, except that we could feel his whole mood change; now he’s alive and interested, and his warmth quotient has gone up 1000%. I’ve ordered the only thing on the extensive list that goes with both apps - LH for the foie gras, Gewurz for the curry. Next, translated from his bad English, my non-existent French and Sally’s occasional help:
“Monsieur likes wine?”
“Oh, yes!”
“I have some good half bottles in the cellar that are not on the list. Would you like me to serve you some?”
“Yes, but I should know the costs.”
Instead of the dreaded, expected, “don’t worry about the cost”, the sommelier looked me straight in the eye and said:
“Monsieur, I will not hurt you.”
I trusted him.
“Bring 'em on!”
The food was wonderful, but completely lost. I cannot remember a single dish other than the appetizers that provoked the wonder. I will never forget the wines, all in 1/2 bottle:
1976 Batard Montrachet, Leflaive
1971 Chablis Grand Cru ‘Les Clos’, Long-Depaquit
1969 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru ‘Grande Rue’ Lamarche
1964 Chateau Cheval Blanc
1961 Hermitage ‘La Chapelle’, Jaboulet-Aine
The bill came. It had three lines.
2 covers
1 Gewurz LH
1 ‘vins divers’
The ‘vins divers’ came to $50 American. As I left, I tried to thank the sommelier. He said “It is I who owe you the thanks because you like good wine. Few of my customers, even French, care about it.”
Dan Kravitz
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Am in same situation as Maureen.
Dan—you tell some great stories. You should collate and write a new version of Adventures along the wine route from your perspective . . .
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