Mostly on wine. Also: IRM/InfoSec/I-Advisory and -Audit services. Positive contrarian, inspirator, loosen-upper.
Actually, the speed of development of this, is bigger than it seems. Both on the impact and on the implementation side. It’s just that it’s out of sight for most.
Any suggestions how this impacts Security ..?
For now:
[Next time we’ll take fresh pics; DC]
OK, the third part of a series, on quotes of the guy that went from Publius to Publilius Syrus in a century, after having been forgotten [Oh! How unduly! How unfortunate! Hence this series] for a century or fifteen. As they’re handily numbered already and in fitting English (not too modern i.e. simplified, dumbed down), but quite a few may be enhanced by some frills of mine, I’ll take mine from an 1856 translation. Series 255-450 today:
255. The master is a slave when he fears those whom he rules.
No end to pointing at the politicians who overshout their fears on this one.
262. You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.
Ah. This is a proverb still in the low lands. Elsewhere, too ..?
266. Confidence, like life, never returns to him whom she has once left.
A word to the wise; and to youth in their inexperienced (due to total shielding off society by tiger mom/dad upbringing) happy-go-lucky ‘disruption’ maturing..?
271. Fortune makes a fool of him whom she favors too much.
Politicians again. Very much so. And Fortune’s wheel will turn!
284. It is a fraud to receive the trust which you cannot return.
Accountant, beware.
293. A noble steed is not annoyed by the barking of dogs.
Agree. The (mental) rabble shall not concern me.
294. The gladiator lays his plans after he enters the arena.
There you go again, you analysis paralysis project planners! “Even the best planned-out strategies crumble at first contact with the enemy” © Field Marshall von Moltke the Elder.
304. The anger of a righteous man is the anger most to be dreaded.
Which is to be understood in the ethics of a fully grown mature man (of that time), where there is a distinction between anger and evil; the anger is justified due to being aimed at a character flaw of the receiver. Not of the sender. To correct out of virtue, not to do harm for its own sake.
328. Honors are soiled when they invest the unworthy.
As we see when those utterly inproductive to society (certainly after deduction of incomes received oft not earned!) get the medals where the true society serving are neglected. The medal becomes a blemish.
331. To submit to necessity involves no disgrace.
To be sure, the necessity should not be made up as it often is. But, true, as necessity trumps character.
332. Honors adorn the worthy; they are a stigma to the undeserving.
But then, see 328. above.
338. When two do the same thing, it is not the same thing after all.
… A deep one, with many inroads into latter-day Disruption culture (wide sense).
351. A laugh at the unfortunate is a wrong done him.
This should be taken to heart by the 1% that looks down on the unfortunate that tried (really) but were unlucky. Oh … “heart … 1%” …
357. A cock has great influence over its own dung-hill.
Take that, those of you in charge!
358. Anyone can hold the helm, when the sea is calm.
Oh how all the boastful CEOs failed / fail, when the wind (of change) picked up!
369. A truly noble nature cannot be insulted.
Try me. Errrmmm…
371. A noble soul has no ear for unjust reproaches.
Smells like 293 and 369 to me. And, guard against the many tactics.
377. However humble your enemy, it is wise to fear him.
Yes indeed. Accidents sit in the smallest of corners. Disregards grow their anger (exponentially).
394. Crimes are encouraged by petty offences.
The basic tenet of fraud prevention. But, society cannot function if no petty offence is overlooked. But indeed, leads to the biggest of accountancy scams – though the most heinous of crimes being having bad character(s) at the helm, is the start of those.
404. Every excellence continues unknown, which fame does not blaze abroad.
An intelligent way of saying that no preacher is followed in his home town. Are there any of you who notice the Syrus numbering in a sense says the same? ‘404 Excellence Not Found’ here.
414. Libertinage and moral worth never go together.
So, when one’s off well enough to live a life of Liberal Arts (liberal read as ‘free’ of labor requirements, for income), these should be directed to the public good, not to alleviating one’s own idleness only. Remember Kevin Spacey’s “When life has been good to you, we have a duty to send the elevator back down.”
416. When vice is approved, it will soon become intolerable.
Bureacrats take note – your totalitarian process focus is the former.
425. When the lion is dead, even puppies can bite him.
Memento mori, you haughty; this reflects on careers also!
426. He who chases two hares will catch neither.
Good business advice. If the hare chased, isn’t efficiency because that is not an ulterior motive.
430. Dignities heaped on the undeserving, are a badge of disgrace.
A combination of 328 and 332 above ..?
437. The greater our strength, the less we know of the power of misfortune.
After Machiavelli, still valid! Because the strength of a man is not his worldly powers but his character.
442. Mighty rivers may easily be leaped at their source.
So… When negotiating or reconciling, by all means do go back to the underlying values, and dig deeper, and deeper, until you hit common ground. Build from there.
443. Excessive indignation is sometimes evidence of a great crime.
FIFA, anyone ..? True. Because bad character shines through, as mirror to 371 above.
To close it all off, for now!
[Yes air ducts could be designed boring, but why not like this? Paris La Défense]
OK, the second part of a series, on quotes of the guy that went from Publius to Publilius Syrus in a century, after having been forgotten [Oh! How unduly! How unfortunate! Hence this series] for a century or fifteen. As they’re handily numbered already and in fitting English (not too modern i.e. simplified, dumbed down), but quite a few may be enhanced by some frills of mine, I’ll take mine from an 1856 translation:
171. What happens to one man may happen to all.
So you’re never above another, also certainly not when the other experiences misfortune.
Also: If something can happen to one, there’s no safeguard against it happening to you, too.
178. The gain acquired at the expense of reputation, should be counted a loss.
That’s for the bonus grabbers.
185. While we often stop to think, we miss our opportunity.
186. Deliberation should be protracted, when the decision is to be final.
There’s a fine line between these contradicting and being insightful. Go look / think for it.
191. Whatever you can lose, you should reckon of no account.
Just a word for the (wanting to be) wise. Don’t attach.
196. Turn a deaf ear to calumnious reports.
Indeed. Calm down.
199. Reflect on every thing you hear, but believe only on proof.
Encouraging Close Reading and deconstructivist analysis of motives.
216. There is no need of spurs when the horse is running away.
So, in the flat interpretation, don’t overfund start-ups that look like going somewhere. In the deeper interpretation, don’t throw money at everything that moves.
221. An inglorious life is the next thing to death.
Live like there is no tomorrow, as there may not be. Don’t miser until death.
223. The party to which the rabble belongs is ever the worst.
Eternal. Certainly today. Everywhere.
237. Even when there is no law, there is conscience.
There you go, you totalitarian bureauc-rats! Conscience should prevail, not procedure.
239. Pecuniary gains first suggested to men to make Fortune a goddess.
In its truthfulness, (only) a step towards seeing the folly of reverence to those accidentally, most temporarily favoured by her.
242. The wise man corrects his own error by observing those of others.
Indeed, there’s no use to fail repeatedly to learn a little, as modern Disruptionists would have it. That’s just stupid.
254. Many consult their reputation, but few their conscience.
And then, reputation … bestowed, worthy?
To close it all off, for now!
[In similar vein]
Again an intermission. About interruption. Of interesting innovation(s).
Jsut to put it down like that; we tend to see only the successes – of the time being. But the once were warriors of disruption aren’t all, around, anymore. Be ware the next hypes…
[Edited to add: This here pic via Martin de Bie may be a first thing attempting to challenge little G’s hype cycle visual since that got traction, to depict innovation-to-disruption-scale developments. Other than the above list, returning to the underlying ideas not accidental Inc’s.]
[Good Barça. Not a hotel.]
OK, as the first part of a series, possibly, on quotes of the guy that went from Publius to Publilius Syrus in a century, after having been forgotten [Oh! How unduly! How unfortunate! Hence this series] for a century or fifteen. As they’re handily numbered already and in fitting English (not too modern i.e. simplified, dumbed down), but quite a few may be enhanced by some frills of mine, I’ll take mine from an 1856 translation:
4. To dispute with a drunkard is to debate with an empty house.
I guess this one’s all about current-day 1%’ers, being drunk with their luck [yes, pure luck]
7. To do two things is to do neither.
In these apps-days of multitasking (quod non), who needs to explain the validity of this?
8. A hasty judgement is a first step to a recantation.
We’ll see many like these in the following series. Where even Syrus will sometimes seemingly (sic) contradict himself. But; True, remember the IBM motto.
14. Bitter for a free man is the bondage of debt.
Whereas originally, this regarded the bondage (serfdom, not slavery) that debtors might have fallen into, we all recognise the bondage of mortgages in particular on the free of mind (that jump jobs too often). Is there much difference? [No of course since I make the connection here…]
17. Every one excels in something in which another fails.
… But we’d want to see this more clearly in these times of jobless growth. Truly, all should find their own corner of Ricardon comparative advantage ..?
38. The loss which is unknown is no loss at all.
Just there, for the accountancy jokes – the known loss is perfectly OK for an auditor as it only needs to be journalised correctly and hey presto no problemo. And the loss unknown isn’t, at all, similar to a double secret.
46. We all seek to (know whether we shall) be rich; but no one asks whether he shall be good.
An interesting switch of we to he, and parenthesis mine! ;-|
60. Art avails nothing, when chance determines the issue.
Ah, there’s one for careful analysis and thinking through. What is art for, what can it achieve? And when art is meant to read as proficiency (diminishing much of the philosophical interest here), the answer is only slightly moderating; being: Skewing chance in your favour. Clearly.
64. If you can not become a harper, become a piper.
Which I interpret as: If you’re not called to the highest of abstract stations (still apt to provide diversion of even higher-minded higher-ups), then hone your craft at simpler, but much more satisfying trades for hugely larger (but simpler) crowds. No use in pursuing the impossible. [Therefore, this blog is for you …!]
65. When Gold argues the case, eloquence is impotent.
Don’t get me started on impotence and you. But do read that eloquence, of which having the right arguments is only a tiny but fundamental element, should be the decisive factor. Ah, as Cicero said “One should weigh the arguments, not count them.” but gold being so heavy, it tilts all balances.
67. Concert of action renders slight aid efficient.
I don’t read this as an invite for Free Riders as you might but as a support for swarm-like organisation(s) – this really should become available in English.
71. No amount of gain satifies Avarice.
Close to canonical, biblical, and as valid. In what way would society have a right to enforce the Ten Commandments ..?
76. A well-planned project often turns out ill.
Obvious to all 6B inhabitants of this planet, less the public/private civil servants that are enthousiastic about planning that takes the wrong ends of hope and analysis paralysis.
83. No one but a knave or a fool thinks a good deed thrown away.
“Do well and don’t look back.” Dutch proverb, after Luke 9:26. Should be part of any culture… Seriously; only those moneyed without culture, would look back i.e., want to derive wordly status from their good deeds if any and/or want direct return (as in: donating to culture in stead of to the really needy). What knaves they show themselves to be. And they are undeserving according to:
88. He who can not give, should not receive.
As there’s no valor in that man. Also demonstrated through the following:
91. He who boast of a favor bestowed, would like it back again.
But deserves, be worthy of, none of it.
104. A good reputation, even in darkness, keeps on shining.
The bling of the poser, is dulled even in sunlight. [own addition]
106. Money is worth something when good sense disburses it.
Ah, corrolary to 83, 88, and 91 above. So, be wise and intelligent, and give prudently.
111. A slothful enjoyment of it, is the worst part of prosperity.
This is a conclusion that needs no reasoning …
126. There is no sight in the eye, when the mind does not gaze.
How far-sighted (no pun intended) to see from 50BC the errors of current-day “big data analysis”.
135. The danger despised is the first to reach us.
An omen for ‘risk managers’ that tend to underweight ‘risks’ that haven’t materialised yet.
146. Consult your conscience, rather than public opinion.
Where political representatives and populism should diverge but too seldomly do.
To close it all off, for now!
[Afternoon tea at the Palm Court, Park Plaza NY of course; slightly crowded for Mother’s Day, simple phone pic]
Considering the progress made in the accountancy sector with ‘continuous’ assurance, it struck me that until now, process (read: mere procedures) was driven by technology, at least up till now. Because the idea of ‘transactions’ in that, now quickly antiquating, ERP system we all know, was based like it was and is in all the other comparable systems or less, on the ideas before that. And procedures just had to adapt to the software. No, not the other way around; that’s pure marketing babble!
So, now we (hopefully soon) have XML and XBRL to take some work off our hands (?). But also … qua big d analysis (tired of writing / pronouncing that at full length..!) we’re moving ahead. To be able, would be able, to just dump all ‘transactions’ or primitives into a big db and then run ad hoc queries on them, possibly with some AI in the mix. Who needs separate bookkeepers’ accounts when all source data is available in blobs or whatever ..?
Which may require a leapfrog of assurance. But hey, the world wasn’t invented to service that, but the other way around.
Any thoughts ..?
Thought so. hence:
[Oh, the Great Outdoors! … Central Park, NY, NY]
About the difference between boring and Inspirational! in business.
| Old | New |
| Process, procedures, work steps | Request for direction |
| Compliance | Demonstrating failure; to learn |
| Punishment for (anyone’s! esp. higher-ups’) failures | Coaching towards more errors |
| Stepping out of line (even by casual remarks hinting at less than 100% drone motivation) is failure | Pivoting (even for your contribution) is near-mandatory |
| Succes is obedience to the gallows | Success is coming up with / doing the hitherto infeasible, unthinkable |
| The ones exploiting drones (licking up / kicking down) and (only) best versed at sticking to their chair, are promoted | Promotion? We don’t do rank and file here; we like your creative more or less |
| You’re fired – just because you’re a number that turned up in the lottery – that’s held every couple of months because bosses are bored and utterly incapable of coming up with anything revenue-increasing i.s.o. cutting costs and shrinking is growing, right? Even when the shrinking cuts out exactly the very growth-enhancing competences you need ever more desparate. | You’re allowed to pursue a career elsewhere, too but we don’t want to lose you. What can we do to make you like it even more here? |
| “(The ‘innovator’s dilemma’ is that ‘doing the right thing is the wrong thing.’) As Christensen saw it, the problem was the velocity of history, and it wasn’t so much a problem as a missed opportunity, like a plane that takes off without you, except that you didn’t even know there was a plane, and had wandered onto the airfield, which you thought was a meadow, and the plane ran you over during takeoff.” (as here; very instructive) | The same. |
| Fade to grey | “I’m Cool” |
You may have noticed I tended towards the dystopian side regarding Singularity things and by-definition jobless growth (or slowdown, or anything), as in this and the posts linked therein.
Possibly, you’re in the category aiming for:
[Wingspread house; good living by FLlW at Racine, WI]
I didn’t discuss time frames.
Though I’m not optimistic about those, either.
But at least, there’s some info that may lull the frightened back into sleep, and help the agile, willing, wanting, forward:
[Plucked from … some socmed post]
Study … and keep in mind: This is for the very (happy) few that have a big head start; are at a quite stellar developmental level already.
… just about everywhere. Of course I refer to the n-body problem set with n > 3 as here.
Because it is so dismally known, and applied. Most starkly (#loveofwords) in ‘business’ ‘strategy’, where the lack of wisdom is clearly demonstrated in the lack of inclusion of all (sic) potential (sic; including chance function estimations) competitors’ moves. Name any market where the latter s doesn’t apply, and report it to (anti-?)cartel authorities.
I.e., the Problem applied to strategy means: Strategising is futile, all your course belong to us. On a side note:
[Alignment; Vienna]
Ah, there’s another authoritative source with a description how leadership and (‘actual’) management should be.
I.e., not the robotic, stupid (when one would be offended, consider this a. reflecting your own insecurity out of gut feeling that it describes you, b. intended, c. still being the most lapidary labelling) totalitarian-bureaucratic ‘governance’ type of ‘control’ (quod non, and this) but actual effective, results-achieving teaming. Like what firms originally were invented for.
OK, just resting my case again. Plus:
[Some parading, but in operation, stealthy over pomp; Baltimore]
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...