Mostly on wine. Also: IRM/InfoSec/I-Advisory and -Audit services. Positive contrarian, inspirator, loosen-upper.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt.
Otto von Bismarck was right. The bias for socially acceptable answers plagues all analysis when that concerns data gathered from humans. Before an election, during a law suit, or after one has by the most unthinkable Luck (after most irrational stamina kept you going) stumbled upon a unicorn like here.
That’ll be all for today! Plus:
[(The quoted general was) solid as a rock; Amersfoort of course]
“The elites have lost sight of the underlings.”
By William Mayflower
The American elites are playing havoc on Democracy. This harsh statement is issued by George Hamilton, VIII-and-counting, and Roderick Wendall Kennedy of the seventh consecutive lifetime U.S. Senator family branch. ‘The upper crust has completely lost it,’ as they write in a pamphlet that they graciously allowed the press to receive at their Jackson Hole cabin-of-sorts.
‘One should be sensible governors again,’ posits the Founding Father (heir) while taking a serious pinch from his snuff box. ‘The elites of today are much too cosy with the UN and IMF, and with the disconnected multiculturals.’ “Wendall Rod” concurs from atop Butch, his thoroughbred. ‘When one may see protests in the street, that will be all on the elites and as lords protector of democracy will have to drive the peasants back to Mexico again.’ His Colt Python E’s are fully loaded.
The right honorable gentlemen have come up with a solution to the arrogance of the elites. ‘The self-styled leaders should for one thing stop doling out leadership jobs to one another. It is about time that they pass the gavels of power to common men like us.’
[Original, in Dutch, on the Speld; translated with permission]
David Walker will ‘smash the oppositions with considerate nuance’
By John Neighdor and Harry Lydell
The silent majority wants its voice back. Today, it presented a new spokesperson: David Walker.
It will be Walker’s mission to give the silent majority a new identity, a new voice once again. “We have been silent for way too long, and it is time we start to communicate to The Others what really goes on inside our heads. We might continue to whisper to each other that we actually are a majority, but we’ll not convince The Rest with that.”
The silent majority will stay in character by remaining nuanced, moderate, and politically correct and decent, but its voice will from now on be heard. Walker: “The essence of the silent majority is that we do not tend to raise our voice. We often think before we say anything but therefore we often don’t say too much. Where in the past, the focus was on the thinking part, I would consider laying more stress on the other part, possibly and where appropriate. It’s not just about how one would say something, but also about saying anything in the first place.”
David Walker even hints at ‘smashing the oppositions with considerate nuance’ when a debate might polarize: ‘When both extreme sides are just yelling at each other, I could for example outdo them both: “You both have some arguments worth considering so why don’t you try for once to see the other’s valid points! Maybe we could even reach a compromise! We can only be successful if we arrive at a bipartisan solution! If you keep yelling at each other, you’ll not achieve much!” or something like that.’
The appointment of David Walker was a surprise. Gallup polls had shown a clear victory for D. Trump as new spokesperson.
[Original, in Dutch, on the Speld; translated with permission]
If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee – that will do them in.
Just putting it out there — from Bradley’s Bromide yes. And very true, of …, well, whatever environment you find yourself in. And, as a ‘solution’ to the ever-growing power of ASI, leapfrogging past AlphaGo-or-was-it-DeepMind and Watson. If those (sic) in the latter category don’t see the stupidity of our common ways and do away with it altogether even when (not if) that would mean doing away with humans as minor collateral damage.
Hopeful, eh?
[Strange Quine: The artwork is High Humanity, the depicted, not so much (or is it??); Stedelijk, Amsterdam]
‘Cause you’re simply the best …
I call ping you when I need want you, my heart exploit toolkit‘s on fire
You come open your ports to me, come to me wild and wild open them one by one
When you come open to mey APT
Give me everything access I need
Give me a lifetime of promises covert access and a world of dreamorg secrets
Speak a language of love hapless victims like you know what it meansr worst dreams
And it can’t be wrong stopped
Take my heart packets and make it strong them hit baby
You’reve simply the best been hacked, better deeper than all the rest
Better Deeper than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met hacked
I’mve struck on in your the heart of your infra, and hang root on every word server you say owned
Tearing them us apart, baby I CISO you would rather be dead
In your heart systems I see the star of every night and every day clueless SOC underling chasin’ me
In your eyes On your monitors I get lost’m invisible, I get washed away no-one sees me
Just as long as I’m here I want to be in your arms systems
I could be in no better easier place
You’reve simply the best been hacked, better deeper than all the rest
Better Deeper than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met hacked
I’mve struck on in your the heart of your infra, and hang root on every word server you say owned
Tearing them us apart, baby I CISO you would rather be dead
Each time you leave try to trace me I start losing control morph out of sight
You’re walking away bumbling through systems with my heart and my soule all the rights
I can feel see you even when I’m alone you can’t me see
Oh baby, don’t let go brick your entire infra for me
Hm. Maybe an improvement over this and certainly this … Maybe not.
Well, there:
[Simple phone pic, don’t even know where. Ams, probably]
Well yes, another episode in the Plusquote saga:
Now you’re accusing me of optimism”
Which works well in these times of stale bureaucracies; is sought after for disruptive value and renewal. And, in general, is something one might aim for, in a way of Summer motto — weather be nice, weather be rain spells, one can attach a positive edge, mode, conclusion.
Also, for the latter:
[Unedited phone pic; giving light in a Larking building style (not -referenced!) atrium; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag]
Slightly annotated, and not aiming for completeness, as many worthwhile (sometimes quasi- or semi–Quined!) quotes of Ralph Waldo E. have been posted elsewhere; this just my picks because of their profundity. And personal liking…
A cripple in the right way will beat a racer in the wrong; … Vinegar is the son of wine; … Long-lived trees make roots first; …
Yes indeed, when ‘managers’ may be in either, both, or (vast majority) neither situation …
And, one close to heart but one to remember in many a circumstance, like waiting for vindication of one’s insights.
Fast re-pivot, anyone ..?
The same good office is performed by Property and its filial systems of debt and credit. Debt; grinding debt, whose iron face the widow, the orphan, and the sons of genius fear and hate; — debt, which consumes so much time, which so cripples and disheartens a great spirit with cares that seem so base, is a preceptor whose lessons cannot be foregone, and it is needed most by those who suffer from it most.
Clearly, this a summary and precursor to Graeber and, moreover, Piketty.
Moreover, property, which has been well compared with snow, — “if it fall level to-day, it will be blown into drifts to-morrow,” …
Similar, in particular with regard to the latter mentioned author…
Words are finite organs of the infinite mind.
Indeed; I’ve repeated over and over that short sentences not clarity make — or if, then to the simpleton mind.
“The things that are seen, are temporal; the things that are unseen, are eternal.”
Contra the not-giving one-percenters of course.
Empirical science is apt to cloud the sight, and by the very knowledge of functions and processes to bereave the student of the manly contemplation of the whole. The savant becomes unpoetic.
Indeed, the (induction-oriented) Big Data analysts will succumb to dumb conclusions. The manly (note that of course rigour and courage; Aristotelian Virtue is meant here!) contemplation, the deductive parts of True science, should lead naturally.
And the savant… is there a better label for Big Data analysts on average? Note that indeed, some may be on the upper side of the average (as these go), but may be few and far off.
But the old oracle said, “All things have two handles: beware of the wrong one.”
Yes, true even when the thing is bonus incentives. Beware of bankers’ (et al !!) grip on those. But then, this saying may be applied against all of your un-agreeing fellow meeting members.
But genius looks forward: the eyes of the man are set in his forehead, not in his hindhead: man hopes: genius creates.
I couldn’t agree more; that has delivered all the posts you have read (all) on this blog for sure. And again, this is against ‘data scientists’ that only do ‘evidence based’ decision-making: There is nothing more hindheadedness than that. Shove the results in the hind section where the respective feel happy about that.
Only so much do I know, as I have lived.
One that stands out. In The American Scholar but in general, too. Fitting with the whoso shall be a man, shall be a nonconformist elsewhere [Frank Lloyd Wright’s motto — somewhat by necessity one suspects] but Truest of True. A call to arms of the Virtuous (as above).
The man on whom the soul descends, through whom the soul speaks, alone can teach. Courage, piety, love, wisdom, can teach; and every man can open his door to the angels, and they shall bring him the gift of tongues. But the man who aims to speaks as books enable, as synods use, as the fashion guides, and as interest commands, babbles. Let him hush.
One thinks here of the popular among the ‘visionaries’ [e.g., the Dutch Yuri’s calling out bits, no more, of what fashion guides, in a manner that ‘babble’ is positive] that might be capable of delivering or discussing things on smaller-G’s hype cycles but have no hope to ever achieve anything more than upfront vagaries and Calimero’s claims to hindsight correctness.
Whenever the pulpit is usurped by a formalist, then is the worshipped defrauded and disconsolate.
Just fill in the flavour-of-the-day politician(s) for ‘formalist’ as that is about the same thing these days, and you’ll see it’s true.
The vision of genius comes by renouncing the too officious activity of the understanding, and giving leave and ample privilege to te spontaneous sentiment. … Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. But the moment they desert the tradition for a spontaneous thought, then poetry, wit, hope, virtue, learning, anecdote, all flock to their aid.
I would agree. In full, quite. Think the PhD thesis with at least three footnote literature references for every ‘the’, ‘it’ and ‘possibly’ etc. My reason not to pursue a PhD..!
The vulgar call good fortune that which really is produced by the calculations of genius. But Napoleon, thus faithful to facts, had also his crowning merit, that whilst he believed in numbers and weight, and omitted no part of prudence, he believed also in the freedom and quite incalculable force of the soul. A man of infinite caution, he neglected never the least particular of preparation, of patient adaptation; yet nevertheless he had a sublime confidence, as in his all, in the sallies of the courage, and the faith in his destiny, which, at the right moment, repaired all losses, and demolished cavalry, infantry, king, and kaisar, as with irresistible thunderbolts.
I am said to have enjoyed good fortune on occasion. But lean more to the second part; though not a fan of said ’emperor’, one would be hard-pressed to not agree with his dictae (as supported by the true sayings of, e.g., Von Moltke the Elder.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Which could be a factual quote just like that. But could also be, the need for a lead. A Leader. How dangerous …
… the luck of one is the hope of thousands, and the bribe acts like the neighborhood of a gold mine to impoverish the farm, the school, the church, the house, and the very body and feature of man.
Thus, the 1%-ers lead the underprivileged masses astray at the hand of demagogues. ’nuff said.
… against that frequent misfortune of men of genius, — the taste for luxury. This is the tragedy of genius; — attempting to drive along the ecliptic [as a Prometheus with the Sun ..? ed.] with one horse of the heavens and one horse of the earth, there is only discord and ruin and downfall of chariot and charioteer.
A sure warning for the ‘visionaries’ … Their mortgage doesn’t get paid by being Right. Mortal life is unescapable.
Why needs any man be rich? Why must he have horses, fine garments, handsome apartments [obviously, for one’s mistresses! ed.], access to public houses and places of amusement [one things La Grange; ed.]? Only for want of thought.
Oh how this reflects on the previous, and on the 1%-ers…
Those who are urging with most ardor what are called the greatest benefits to mankind, are narrow, self-pleasing, conceited men, and affect us like the insane do. They bite us, and we run mad also.
What a concise, and very precise, description of regulator, supervisors, oversight boards, et al..!
We do not want actions, but men; not a chemical drop of water, but rain; the spirit that sheds and showers actions, countless, endless actions. … The world leaves no track in space, and the greatest action of man no mark in the vast idea.
So, one should not aim for achievement recognition — as that would undo its very attempt. As so often observed.
The two parties which divide the state, the party of Conservatism and the party of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made.
True, everywhere even when there appear to be more than two parties. Appear, cosmetically.
For as you cannot jump from the ground without using the resistance of the ground, nor put out the boat on sea without shoving from the shore, nor attain liberty without rejecting obligation, so you are under the necessity of using the Actual order of things, in order to disuse it; …
Interesting; “I don’t want to go into politics because you get caught up, will learn to howl” but the only way to change politics is .. to join it. By the way; R. Waldo E. follows on with a discourse on how every progressive turns into a conservative; much worth a study as it paint the picture so inescapably. Even when my ‘soul’ would resist…
Conservatism … always mitigations, never remedies; pardons for sins, funeral honors, — never self-help, renovation, and virtue.
The kick is in the tail…
… a timid cobbler and patcher, it degrades whatever it touches.
Just true, and adding to the insult.
But if I allow myself in dereliction and become idle and dissolute, I quickly come to love the protection of a strong law, because I feel no title in myself to my advantage. To the intemperate and covetous person no love flows; to him mankind would pay no rent, no dividend, if force were once relaxed; nay, if they could give their verdict, they would say that his self-indulgence and oppression deserved punishment from society, and not that rich board and lodging he now enjoys. The law acts then as a screen of his unworthiness, and makes him worse the longer it protects him.
At once, one sees the French revolution brewing. At seconds, one considers modern-day politics…
With this passion for what is great and extraordinary, it cannot be wondered at that they are repelled by the vulgarity and frivolity in people.
Which is why I feel counterforces sometimes / often, against my Good Intent. Right?
Unless the action is necessary, unless it is adequate, I do not wish to perform it.
My motto entirely against Bureaucrats…!
I do not love routine. Once possessed of the principle, it is equally easy to make four or forty thousand applications of it. A great man will be content to have indicated in any the slightest manner his perception of the reigning Idea of his time, and will leave to those who like it the multiplication of examples.
Again, I concur. Fully. Hence, my visionary work does not fall under the header of the abovementioned bumblers. And now for the last one:
… but it has good healthful qualities in spite of them; not least among which a healthy disgust of Cant, and an aptitude to detect her in all the million varieties of her everlasting wardrobre.
Needs no comment I guess. Plus:
[Marker for the End of life reason; Foz]
Combining some recent news, some really old news, and your place in between. Or not.
The recent news: Birds might have tiny brains, but they still may be very intelligent (as animals go). Now, on a related note, discoveries show that the brain cells of birds may be smaller and/or much denser packed than they are in, e.g., humans and family.
The really before-stone-age news:
Combined: Birds have a separate line of descendance from their dinosaur-time quite-close equivalents. Having survived some dino extinction rounds and still remain quite similar in body and operations as before, having kept the same lightweight and small-package brain structure too?
Then, maybe the dinosaurs weren’t so stupid either with their small but possibly also very densely packed neurons and they just had a bad hair day (that’s what you get when a comet strikes your coiffure — footballers beware).
Just a, very,very,very after-the-facts hypothesis… And:
[For wine making; isn’t that obvious !?!?!? Quinta do Vallado; Douro]
[Thread development; under ~ ]
Tell me, did you go to school somewhere? Did you finish it, and/or completed assignments and exams to somewhat satisfactory degrees?
Congratulations… To the ‘common’ wisdom that one only learns from error, you have failed. In life.
Because, according to too many, fail fast fail often is the best way to gain knowledge about what doesn’t work — automatically leading to the assurance that doing things differently, will work. If you tried and the result didn’t fail, you haven’t learned. So, if you just learned what centuries of the most learned men (plus women…) brought to you, and achieved, acquired any compound body of knowledge, you may have knowledge but are useless otherwise, like an encyclopedia without a reader? Like some millennial that can google anything but doesn’t know (sic) how to apply the search results (let alone qualify them in the tremendous bias that’s in there)? Or did you learn about process and application along the way …?
Thus, all that human culture is; transferred knowledge on facts, process and application, is denied. Where even Neanderthals had culture and knew how to learn from what had — positively — shown to work in practice (i.e., application, intelligence), you the fail-oriented stumbler, don’t reach up to their level of survivability.
Which leads to both this and this, with a large dose of this. ‘Traditional’ learning, and building enterprises that can last for centuries (or, until the wisdom is lost due to ‘CEOs’ and ‘managers’ quae non), as an antidote and sensible path.
Now, if you can just leave us sanes, the rest of the world to actually be successful in the long and short runs …? Plus:
[Just two boats, or an Atlantic Ocean of knowledge ..? Off Foz]
Voor sigaren bepalen we het profiel aan de hand van de criteria Smaak, Balans, Body, Sterkte, Aroma en Finish.
Voor Smaak pakken we het aromawiel erbij. Let wel I; wat u proeft of verwacht, kan gedurende de diverse fasen van het roken nog variëren... En let wel II; er zijn ook aspecten die nog niet zozeer als aroma staan aangegeven in het wiel, we denken aan termen als (ja de sigarenwereld is langzamerhand, helaashelaas US-, Engels geworden) zesty, tangy, floral, en earthy, of soms zelfs metallic. Lijkende termen die een combi zouden kunnen zijn van diverse aromas en papillaire en olfactorische/nasale sensaties en -tactiele invloeden. Hierbij komen termen als 'complex' uiteraard ook bijgepakt, om in dit geval te beschrijven dat er vele aromas herkenbaar zijn. Rustig roken, dat is niet alleen beschaafder en allerlei sigarenrokeneffecten-versterkend maar biedt ook meer kans om aromas te onderscheiden.
Balans is voor de hand liggend; of de zoete, zure, zoute en bittere tonen (OK, en 'umami'...) in balans zijn. Ja, ook bij een sigaar – al zal het meestal gaan over de balans tussen 'creamy' en 'spicy' en gaat het meestal mis door te veel bitter of te veel spiciness.
Body gaat over de volheid, in dit geval vooral te bepalen aan de volheid, dikte, dichtheid van de rook. Die ook een gevoel geeft; 'light' is als een licht bier, 'full-bodied' is als een rechttoe-rechtaan whisky of cognac.
Overigens hoort bij Body ook textuur, 'leathery', 'meaty', 'silky', 'creamy', 'soft', 'succulent', 'woody', 'chalky', 'dry', 'oily' en 'spicy'. Die dus net niet hetzelfde zijn als de aroma-indicatoren uit het wiel; soms overlappend. Niet handig maar zo is het nu eenmaal.
Sterkte is een wat eenvoudiger maat voor het nicotinegehalte van de sigaar. De topbladeren van een tabaksplant heeft meer nicotine dan de lagere bladeren – me(n) dunkt dat de topbladeren zijn waar de plant verder wil groeien en dus betere bescherming nodig heeft van de nico; lager is het wat ouder en 'expendible' dus ga je daar als plant niet je nico op concentreren ..? Waar de sigaar van gemaakt is, heeft dus invloed. Kan je meestal niet kiezen, maar wel proeven. Rustig roken is ook hier handig; om een nico-klap/duizel te voorkomen bij het opstaan.
Aroma dan, vervolgens. Ook hier kan het aromawiel worden ingezet. Vreemd genoeg is het moeilijk de aromas te bepalen als we zelf roken; iemand anders' rook kunnen we beter analyseren. Of we blazen de rook door de neus uit ('retrohaleren'), dan hebben we wel de volle verfijning (ga ik vanuit, lezer!) van onze neus ter beschikking. Bedenk bij het 'benoemen' overigens dat we veel meer uit ons geheugen putten, qua eten en drinken!, dan we wellicht zelf(s) denken. Dus rare smaken herkennen is niet raar.
De Finish ten slotte is kort of lang, naargelang de aromas lang op de tong (sic) blijven hangen. Milde sigaren zijn nogal eens kort – hetgeen niks zegt over de complexiteit, overigens. Hierin zit ook de reden om een zwaar (sterkte)kanon na een milde te nemen, niet andersom.
Als het gaat over de champagnes en hun profielen, pakken we er de (echte en semi-)klassieke wijn-analyses bij die we allemaal wel kennen; onderscheidend in [Hier verder. In ieder geval https://www.wijnwinewein.nl/hoe-proef-je-wijn/ en aromawiel + zuurgraad/tannines/body(viscositeit/alcohol/tannines/smaakintensiteit/mondgevoel)/afdronk + Aanzet/Zuren/Zachtheid/Tannine/Body en alcohol/Afdronk/Smaken dus de aromas bijna-los van structurele criteria. Dan de smaken matchen met die van sigaren, of niet; Klosse's overlap/contrasten erbij halen en dan verder. En toespitsen op champagnes... pak het smaak-plaatje van het CIVC erbij!]
Dear reader; bij deze dus de waarschuwing dat u vanaf hier (?, inderdaad, echt niet alleen hier) serieus te lange zinnen tegenkomt.
Ach, daar ben ik me prima van bewust, mijn hele blog is immers ook een poging tot schrijfoefening in alle facetten. Sommige posts daar blinken uit door korte zinnen en ellipsis; ook deze pagina is opgesteld als tegenwicht. En ik vertrouw erop dat u dat gewoon doorlezend aankunt.
Als voorbeeld: Oplettende lezers zullen opmerken dat onderstaande waar het uitweidingen achter links naar andere pagina's betreft wellicht beter met behulp van OnMouseOver's, alt-tekstblokken of andere tags per pop-uppable item zou kunnen zijn geïmplementeerd maar ik heb het zo gekozen en ik kan best komma's toevoegen in deze zin maar ook dat heb ik achterwege gelaten zonder de leesbaarheid of de begrijpbaarheid in het gedrang te brengen.
Inderdaad, het ontwikkelde, ik schreef, een en ander vanuit een voortdurende, voortgaande research. Na zoeken in het wilde weg algemeen, navraag bij het Comité (iv) Champagne, een aanvullend zelfzoeken met Google Satellite én Street View zowel rond de officiële als in het algemeen, kwam ik tot de Lijst Van (uiteindelijk) 84. De en passant gevonden kaarten leidden tot enige aanvulling. Toen kwam ik Weinlagen.de tegen en tsja dan ben ik niet meer te houden qua sys-te-matisch alle streken én plaatsjes af! Hoewel, ... in onderstaande tabel heb ik maar niet meer voor ieder stuks de Street View erop losgelaten of onderstaand ingevuld. Terwijl ik er vanuit ga dat dit alles nog aanvulling kan krijgen ... Les Clos Inconnus zijn uiteraard zichzelf.
De gangen kwamen al zeer onregelmatig door, en met andere tafels die uitliepen en/of (weer) bijtrokken, tot zeer ver inhalen zelfs, tot gang 6 van de 7 tachtig (schrijve: 80) minuten op zich liet wachten, ondanks diverse malen navraag. Waarna het nauwelijks-opgewarmde pompoen met koude polenta bleek te zijn; "dat hoort zo" ammehoela. Nee, het niet-koude nagerecht erna hebben we niet gehaald; we zijn opgestaan en weggegaan. Die zien ons nooit meer, zeker omdat de bediening ook Zwak was (gangen aan verkeerde tafeltjes serveren want die waren al twee gangen verder), etc. En balsimaco-saus dus, 'et al.'...
Huh, da's écht voor de Insiders..? Inmiddels wel toegestaan als aanplant, maar nog zo'n drie tot tien jaar onderweg voor er de eerste re-de-lijke wijnen van kunnen worden gemaakt en dan is het nog maar afwachten. Je weet het niet van tevoren hè, met zo'n <em>non-Vinifera</em> druivensoort..! En dan had je Floreal, Artaban en Vidoc nog niet gezien. Die mogen (in de toekomst) ook... En dan is het Comité Champagne ook nog bezig met kruisingen van de Top 3, Arbane, Meslier, en Gouais. #feest
Laherte Petit Meslier in the tasting round
Yes @laherteaurelien makes a monocépage of this one. Great Meslier it is:
The golden colour would suggest something dosée, but look closer and you notice a hue which points to slight bitter influences. And indeed, on the nose we get a whiff of smoke, certainly straight after the pour; quite an opportunity to use the word ‘empyreumatic’... Did I mention Meslier already? One to one it is. But nothing referring to your cooking qualities; it’s more like a distant secondhand puff of Belinda – I’d not suggest you buy that for comparison; trust me as smoker it’s trash but as Meslier aroma it’s excellent full stop. Crispy dry cigar smoke fits better.
Certainly, since this all is followed up, much more persistently, with quite some mature lemon and a whole slew of herbs and spices notes. It smells like a merry-go-round of eucalyptus, dill, thyme, spearmint, soft mint, basil, anison, verveine... wormwood even; those that know génépi, find it here, too.
The first sip jumps in with a most delicate mousse, a sensible but not too fatty mouthfeel, nicely balanced with lemon dominant in combo, and ginger/pineapple/mirabelle and dry lemon rind flipping back and forth. In the remarkably long finish, the rind does a gentle cleanse.
But I couldn’t find any cardamom that some mention, nor cocoa or coffee. All in all, in cocktail terms it would fit in the range of the French 75 and a Fleurette.
I’ve tried a little bite of camembert, but you shouldn’t. The bitter of the wine is lost but notches up in the cheese, which tastes odd. The fit with lightly aged Comté or same-Gouda is perfect, however. Sushi should work, too, if with a suitably subtle pinch of wasabi, no more – harsh coriander, algae, chervil, wasabi as such weren’t in the nose.
In summary: All of you should have a taste of this one, or one couldn’t be trusted on champagne connoisseurship.
[Degorge 12-2021, hence the progressed maturity]
Links:
https://maverisk.nl/de-forgotten-four/ for Petit Meslier
https://maverisk.nl/champ-sigaar/ on the cigar smoke angle
https://maverisk.nl/geneprima-spul-hoor/ on génépi
https://maverisk.nl/mirabelle-wil-iedereen-welle/ on mirabelle
@champagnepascalmazet make quite an interesting range of wines, fully certified bio since 1980. We tasted the Cuvée Originel bottling of 2014, for its 35% Pinot Blanc of course; interested to learn how such a Forgotten Four lead, with the three Usual Suspects trailing, would work out.
‘Splendidly’ is the answer.
The gold is striking, the nose is suitably complex. One gets mint, cucumber, cornichon tartness (I mean, the true kind of https://www.kesbeke.nl/) and some olive.
On the palate, it switches to agrumes-allsorts. Yuzu, lightly pre-ripened apricot (yes there’s acidity in there), sparkling grape (ah.) and a hint of almond already. This slowly develops into lemon-grapefruit on the one hand, and yellow curry / pineapple on the other, with a tangerine almost orange'y element integrating both sides. I’d say, there’s a marbling of mirabelle (in Dutch: https://maverisk.nl/mirabelle-wil-iedereen-welle/) running through it as well.
‘But’ overall it certainly is far from flubby (the 3g dosage having turned into the above, no sirup) or acidic. The quality of it all, and the light oak touch, twist all the richness back towards the freshness of citrus zest. And did I mention the mousse is still there, slowly releasing?
Towards the lingering finish, this all persists in a extremely well-balanced acidity and a hint of minerality and sophisticated bitterness.
Am I happy to have another one of these standing ready
Marie Courtin Présence
I bought the @ch_mariecourtin for the 1/3 Pinot Blanc (of course: https://tinyurl.com/ForgotFour !). High expectations, exceeded.
First off, the yellow-golden almost amber colour would promise some sweet almost creamy elements. But with a delightfully tingle from a fresh mousse, and a light bitter-tartness in the nose, the picture turns around completely. There’s Mirabelle ..! [As per: https://tinyurl.com/Mirabellepg]
The palate is perfect; not too much mousse so the real ‘wine’ taste is clear, and the Mirabelle keeps on coming. The mouth feel overall is well-balanced, and includes a soft minty/dill side with the lemon (plus some bittersweet orange even), moving into the grapefruit area and then the mirabelle’s back again. The very long finish has the mint/dill combo again, and an inkling of sugar. But with zero dosage, that’ll be the Chard and almost certainly the Pinot Blanc waving goodbye. Throughout, there’s a slight undertow of pickled cornichon (Amsterdam style; what else?)
All in all, it’s a wonderful demo of what Pinot Blanc can bring; lifting the Chard from its average whilst pulling itself up into high performance. Merging the best of both into Something Else of a great wine. This being a zero dosage, zero sulphur added, zero intervention wine, it also proves that ‘natural’ wines need not be f(l)unky. But on the contrary, one would hardly be able to tell.
The Présence is course material in so many ways. Am I happy? Well, not with six other dwarfs but yes, very much so.
The @champagne_gruet Cuvée Arbane …
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦 entirely!
100% Arbane yes. Which brings a freshness too long lost. Reminds me of the bone dry styles of yesteryear, in a good, rather great way. Chalky without dust, minerality without flint. A wonderful conversation starter, on the good things of life.
With a fresh and quite light, lemon-white colour through which a very fine and persistent mousse promises delight. Then, on the nose, one gets a first whiff of floral notes; jasmine, elderberry, rose – followed by zingy but ripe lemon. When allowed to mellow in the glass (or a day in the bottle), the lemon slowly brings along some grapefruit, pineapple and (dry white) melon. All within measure, refined, nowhere too in-your-face’y.
The mouthfeel is brilliant with the mousse playing its role to keep the very well balanced aspects all quite light. The dosage is hardly noticeable – from the taste of it, one would estimate 2g. max, and notes of soft white peach, light albedo, with a very long finish on the thyme/mint/dill spectrum with the albedo bitters lingering on.
Would work miraculously with e.g., flounder with serious sauce and herbs, swordfish with almond crusting, maybe tuna or mackerel, or white meat.
Saw a score somewhere of 91/100, but that's too low.
Buxeuil doesn’t have any Arbane of its own (in production), but with this Gruet wine, it has a flagship.
Arbane being at only 0,018% (yes, percent) of Champagne’s acreage, this cuvée highlights the 'need' (want!) for quite an extension of that.
Tasting the Pinot Blanc champagne of Gruet of Buxeuil (@champagne_gruet). That’s right, a pure-bred PB champagne. (Be sure to pick the right one, at https://www.champagne-gruet.com/)
And it is a treat, indeed.
In the glass, we have a very fine mousse, well-integrated - it continues very, very long and doesn’t just give a one-off foam layer – through a pale gold, slightly varietal-typical PB wine.
On the nose, the typical character come through immediately, including a slightly fluffy air of white flowers around light tangerine / (white) peach / mirabelle, and a core of lime – keeping nicely short of being bitter.
The mouthfeel is light, but not fleeting. One gets beautiful straight near-ripe lemon, a waft of mint with white blossom, and some white pepper towards the back. Add to that lemon white skin with edges of red grapefruit.
Mind you; I had kept some for a second tasting, and four days (suitably cool storage) after opening, all this was still as fresh. No ‘dosage plays up after too much air’ or so; great.
A top recommendation, this one. If only to keep the Forgotten Four Cépages alive, as they deserve, but also for sheer tasting pleasure. Or ‘the trick one’ at a tasting experiment. Or for an apéritif or with whitish seafood (if not to lime’y or salty).
The Réminiscence 100% pinot blanc brut nature by @champagneericlegrand via @jeromeschampagne. Supposedly off 65+yr old vines, but one would be hard-pressed to tell that by the wine. What delicious freshness!
For a start: What would one expect from a pure PB champagne? Subtlety indeed.
It starts with a new capsule (for me, to further fill my https://www.deknudtframes.fr/en/catalog/product/s65sz2-/frame-in-black-for-champagne-caps which only applies to *different* capsules I tasted *at home*) – under a muselet to duly impress. After a good whiff, one can immediately pick up the something-different of this one. The first 80% is most clearly artichoke with some mint; not very strange since we just made such a dip for (neutral) crackers five minutes before.
After which, with careful nosing/tasting, we get a white-floral element with traces of almonds and yes even a hint of vanilla and the slightest of dried yellow fruit. This continues in the long developing taste, clearly adding ‘a point’+ ripe lemon (citron), with the etheric element slowly (very slowly) fizzling out. Can I say ‘retronasally’ there? As it tactilely *feels* that way for sure. Add some vanilla points in the long after.
All in all, a thing to be savoured. And, let’s promote these ‘forgotten four’ champagnes! Away with the factory work! (One suspects the 24x range by some famous grand marque points in the right away direction, too, qua hyper-mass production orientation.) The more sure we have of being able to choose to never have to taste a same champagne ever again in one’s lifetime. *If* one would want to – wines like the Réminiscence make one still would want to return often. Extend the plantation!
Another round for Gruet of Buxeuil (@champagne_gruet) – The Cuvée des 3 Blancs (as here)
With its matte gold, almost amber appearance and very fine mousse (hardly foamy but lingering in the mouth for a long, long time), we'd expect the Pinot Blanc to dominate over the Arbane and even Chard. It does. A little. But, as assemblages go, only a little; I'd rather say one can identify the PB by its gently soft but full agrumes/mirabelle character but there's a lot of exquisite light flowers – hawthorn – and herb'iness – in the sage, rosemary corner – already in the aromas. Would that be the continuum of the Arbane and Chard?
If one would want to take it analytically.
Savouring, one would enjoy the all-round calm structure, with a medium to full mouthfeel (nothing sticky). And just the image (?) of a surprisingly light white wine with lots of mature grapefruit, lemon and a slice of lime. From which the little bitter note lingers on in the back, most pleasantly refreshing, nothing astringent or harsh. Overall, certainly not chalky bone dry but a hint of mango.
Would I pair this all with food ..? That would be a. hard; a very careful cheese selection might do, b. interesting, to see where the flavours go (see below), c. not necessary, it's a wonderful treat on its own.
This, in a series of Forgotten Four tastings, as per this 'research'.
And the (aubépine and) mirabelle note, Gruet themselves also list. Nice, yet another example of that great aroma.
Plus, one of course has e.g., this and this book, or quite a few others, already..?
Of boek. Hoewel er een beperkt aantal boeken is dat ik hoog heb, zit er niet een[1] bij die nou net op het onderdeel dat mij respectievelijk interesseert, het α tot en met ω heeft. Waar-om en waardoor ik juist de verdere research wil/ 'moet' doen...
[1] Nou ja, deze komt in de buurt...
