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Dinner with Robert Parker

Last Post 02-21-2005 03:13 PM bydavidandrose. 11 Replies.

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Eric LeVine

Grape Sorter

Posts: 384

02-13-2005 10:27 PM
DINNER WITH ROBERT PARKER - Baltimore, MD (2/12/2005) PARKER AUCTION DINNER: A Taste of Four Great Rhône Varietals (Dinner for Ten with Robert Parker At the Charleston Restaurant “the finest Restaurant In Baltimore, MD.” Verticals to be matched with the cuisine of Chef Cindy Wolf) Last spring I had the insanely good fortune to get mixed up with Scott Manlin who organized the winning HdR auction bid for a dinner for 10 with Robert Parker. So after many months of trying to pin down a date, we finally assembled in Baltimore for a truly memorable evening with Bob. In attendance were Ben Andrew, Sheila & Jim Clary, Craig Collins, Stephen Fry, John Kapon, Rudy Kurniawan, Scott Manlin, Jay Miller, Wilfred van Gorp and myself. AMUSE This was served with a pair of AWESOME cornmeal crusted and fried oysters and then a nice dish of salmon atop some sort of potato salad. If I wasn't holding back knowing all the wine to come, I could have sat and sipped this beauty very happily... 1990 Veuve Clicquot Champagne La Grande Dame - France, Champagne This is glorious with hints of fresh cream and lemon peel on the nose. On the palate this was beautiful, precise and elegant with minerality and slate coming out on the creamy finish. (94 pts.) CHAPOUTIER BLANC We started with a flight of these 100% Marsanne wines. To me these were a new experience, and frankly these were exciting and rich wines that sipped wonderfully on their own and were perhaps even a little better with the food. It was interesting to compare the styles between Chapoutier and Chave with the Chapoutiers clearly showing more exotic, fruit-driven personality as compared to the remarkable minerality on the Chaves. These were served with a rich and delicious seafood bisque. Mmm, I could use another bowl of that... 1999 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc L'Orée - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc Wow, this is like liquid gold, so rich and pure. However, compared to other vintages I seemed to notice a bit of heat on this vintage with a tiny note of kerosene. (88 pts.) 1998 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Le Meal - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc Wow, the Le Meal stood out as being more exotic and concentrated with notes of banana on the tropical nose. However, for me the 1995 l'Oree is at a better point right now. (97 pts.) 1997 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc L'Orée - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc Apart from the 1998 Le Meal this had the most interesting nose, but the palate was perhaps the thinnest of the flight. (89 pts.) 1995 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc L'Orée - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc Oh wow, this is just surreal from start to finish, perhaps the richest white wine I have ever tasted. I can still feel and taste this one 18 hours later. (99 pts.) 1992 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc L'Orée - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc I'm not giving this one a score, as it was pretty shut down or off with a nutty, oxidized element to it. CHAVE BLANC At this point in the evening it was clear that the best I was going to do was sit back and enjoy and try to get a general sense of the wines. There was simply too much fun conversation to have my head in my tasting book all night. Unlike the Chapoutier, these are a blend of 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussane. At first I liked the Chaves less than the Chapoutiers, as they were a bit more intellectual and emphasized minerality and spice over pure intensity of fruit. Bob had folks vote on which they preferred, and at the time I voted Chapoutier. In hindsight, I might change that, as top to bottom the Chaves were a bit more consistent. Mmm, tough choices in life... These were served with a dish of grilled sea scallops. 1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc (90 pts.) 1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc (92 pts.) 1995 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc (93 pts.) 1990 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc This was apparently a bad bottle, although it rebounded with time in the glass. Even so, it still rated 92 points for me. 1989 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc Ok, here we go. The nose had a sharp, almost flinty note. The palate shows unreal concentration, minerality and spice. (98 pts.) LA CHAPELLE OK, now the real fun started with a gorgeous flight of La Chapelle. These wines were all so impressive, and each would be a wine to treasure over the course of a long evening. To have six at once was a treat. For current drinking, my favorite was the 82, followed by the 90 and then the 78. These were served with a delicious dish of roasted rabbit loin. 1990 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Mmm, this is dense and lavish with hints of melted caramel and smoldering intensity and depth. Tasted alongside a range of vintages, this was clearly the most concentrated and the youngest with lots of time ahead. Compared to a bottle I tasted last spring, this bottle from Bob's cellar was much more primary. (97 pts.) 1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage This wine was VERY closed at first with entirely mute aromatics upon first pouring. However, with swirling and time this relented and gave a hint of the depth here. The structure and acidity in this wine are very impressive and lend a more angular character than the more generous 1990. (94 pts.) 1985 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Mmm, the nose is bloody and ripe smelling. On the palate this is very tannic, grippy and powerful. (93 pts.) 1982 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Oh baby, this was absolutely singing with plum, beef blood, roasted meat, and peat moss. From an unheralded vintage, this was clearly the wine at peak in this flight and probably fully mature and expressing its potential to the max. (98 pts.) 1979 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage I caught some interesting notes of gunpowder on this, but sandwiched between the 82 and 78 this came out on the bottom. (92 pts.) 1978 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Oh baby, the tar and roasted meat on this were singing right as the wine was poured. The unreal thing about this wine is how much structure and tannin is STILL on display on the palate, as this still has a ways to go to maturity. (96 pts.) CHAVE ROUGE As the Chave was poured, Bob switched seats with Jay end ended up next to me. I recall him proclaiming "Burgundy of the Northern Rhone" as he eagerly started sniffing these gorgeous wines. I don't know what it was, but each time a Chave flight went by I simply wanted to smell the wines and forget about my notes. Or perhaps it was because I was chatting with Bob as this flight was poured. Anyway, my notes are nearly nonexistent on this spectacular flight, so here are some general comments. As a rule, the wines showed brighter acids than the La Chapelle's with more complex and subtle mineral elements. I probably preferred the La Chapelle's since I could wrap my head around them a bit more easily. My favorites in order are the 90 Cathelin, 81, 89, 90 and 85. 1991 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage This was my 2nd favorite of the flight. 1990 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage 1989 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage 1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage This was the brettiest wine of the flight, and I loved it. Structured and a bit angular, it was still delicious. 1985 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage 1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage 1978 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage 1990 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Cuvée Cathelin - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Rudy graciously added this eight bottle to the flight after seeing it on the restaurant list, and it stole the show in my opinion. Complex, round and delicious, it was an absolute revelation for me and one of three perfect wines in the evening in my opinion. (100 pts.) 1998 CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE Now we switched gears and headed south, and the table was clearly excited to taste these sweet and powerful youngsters. For me, my first taste of the Pégaü Cuvée da Capo was absolutely haunting and overshadowed everything else in the flight. I personally don't see the controversy, but rather just a haunting and powerful young wine! This was served with a bowl of pan-seared foie gras. 1998 Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Others didn't like this as much as I did. It showed some initial heat which seemed to integrate with air. Pure, intense and kirsch-like. (92 pts.) 1998 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Gorgeous showing. This seemed much more traditional than the other wines with garrigue in spades followed by barnyard. The palate was forbiddingly structured, a delicious and chewy wine. (96 pts.) 1998 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Prestige - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape This was my least favorite wine of the flight with a strong hit of volatile acidity that bothered me. The palate was pure and lush with delicious notes of raspberry. (91 pts.) 1998 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Very distinct. Peppery and powerful on the nose, reductive. The palate was awash with white pepper and kirsch and showed amazing power. This wine needs a lot of time to open up. (97 pts.) 1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape OMFG!!! The intensity and structure of this wine set a new benchmark for me in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Sweet, pure, extracted, intense, this is like Châteauneuf-jam, and I loved every last sip of it! I have read in the past that some people complain of heat on this wine, but I found none. Oh my, this was spectacular and a wonderfully gracious upgraded from the planned 1998 Cuvee Reservee, wowza! (100 pts.) 1998 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Briary and powerful on the nose. The palate explodes with raspberry and a sweet core, but next to the surreal da Capo this was overwhelmed. (94 pts.) MORE CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE After the wonderful flight of 98's, it was a little hard to believe that things could get better - but they did! I wondered how it would work mixing up the young and old wines, but it was spectacular. For me, the 1989 Beaucastel Hommage, my third and last perfect wine of the evening, was the pinnacle to an extraordinary flight. Bravo! This was served with lamb tenderloin which I don't recall eating, as I fell asleep at this point. I look forward to seeing the pictures! 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape This was as great a taste as I have had of this wine. Served from a wonderful magnum, this was as expressive and complex as I have seen. (98 pts.) 1999 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape This was a last minute addition to replace a corked 1990 Beaucastel. A little hot, this was young and enjoyable, packed with extracted raspberry. (95 pts.) 1998 Château de la Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Cadettes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Wow, this was delicious, round, leathery, chewy, clearly showing some of the wood in the personality. I loved it. (97 pts.) 2000 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve le Clos du Caillou - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hooboy, another blockbuster. Powerful and muscular with a bretty edge. (98 pts.) 2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape The nose is bloody and powerful with a decidely Northern Rhône personality. The palate is a hammer, young and powerful. (97 pts.) 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape OMFG, this was my wine of the night and took me to new territories. This was so far off the charts it is hard to put into words how terrific this was. Old world, leathery, chewy, layered, explosive. I'm going to leave it at that, WOTN! (100 pts.) CLOSING DOWN At this point the evening was getting more than hazy (actually mostly sleepy). Bob poured the two Alban wines in honor of John Alban who founded the Hospice du Rhone. Rudy ordered another bottle from the list. And then the Vin de Paille appeared along with some delicious cheese. 2000 Alban Vineyards Pandora - USA, California 1999 Alban Vineyards Syrah Seymour Alban Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley 2002 Claude Dugat Griotte-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin My notes simply say WOW! to this bottle which Rudy bought in the waning moments of the evening. 2000 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Vin de Paille - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage Blanc All in all, this was the most over the top hedonism I have ever been party to and a wonderful evening. Bob was warm, gracious, and a fountain of knowledge. I tried not to talk his ear off about CellarTracker, but I probably did. Posted from CellarTracker!

Seaquam

Barrel Filler

Posts: 1141

02-13-2005 10:40 PM
Wow! There's an awful lot of wines there that would be Wine of the Night in any other context. Count me among those who must be extremely envious!

Winetex

Austin, Texas
Avatar

Master of Wine

Posts: 11429

02-13-2005 11:07 PM
Eric - thanks for sharing your notes. That was a whole lot of WOW wine. I have visions of the restaurant frantically trying to wash all of the stemware.

ChangeMe

Grape Sorter

Posts: 307

02-14-2005 12:55 AM
eric, thanks for cross posting this. i am sure it is a night that will remain with you forever.

Rothko

Palm Beach
Wine Connoisseur

Posts: 5724

02-14-2005 01:13 AM
Wow, what an incredible dinner. Kind of difficult to top that...

ChangeMe

Barrel Filler

Posts: 1475

02-14-2005 02:31 AM
Sounds great. Charleston is our favorite restaurant. Dr. Jay Miller also owns a great wine shop right up the street.

Eric LeVine

Grape Sorter

Posts: 384

02-14-2005 07:20 AM
Quote: Eric - thanks for sharing your notes. That was a whole lot of WOW wine. I have visions of the restaurant frantically trying to wash all of the stemware. Actually, we only had two sets of stemware and dumped between the flights, so they handled it pretty well. In contrast, the night before at Citronelle they had 90% of the glassware already on the table for 25 wines, one glass per wine. Amazingly impressive!

Dave McI

Hudson, OH
Barrel Filler

Posts: 1388

02-14-2005 11:08 AM
1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape OMFG, this was my wine of the night and took me to new territories. This was so far off the charts it is hard to put into words how terrific this was. Old world, leathery, chewy, layered, explosive. I'm going to leave it at that, WOTN! (100 pts.) Enoselsa is probably smacking his lips over this one, eh, Board-O. He won a magnum of this at the 6/15/02 WS offline.

Pool Boy

Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine

Posts: 13802

02-14-2005 01:17 PM
Eric-- I don't care if you are the genius behind Cellartracker. I now officially hate you. Justkidding. Whoa that is some lineup. Lucky dog. BTW, I'd seriously be interested in your view of Citronelle. I haven't been there for almost three years and, while I had an outstanding dinner there, more recent reports from some are that the place may have slipped a bit. Comments? Did you get to talk to Mark, the Sommelier, there? He's a really nice guy.

www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com

Eric LeVine

Grape Sorter

Posts: 384

02-14-2005 04:13 PM
TJ, the food at Citronelle was very creative without overwhelming the wine, at least in my opinion. A few folks thought it was a bit too showy. For me, I thought they took beautifuly ingredients, treated them well (nicely sauced, nice flavors, accompaniments and presentations). The unique thing was what they were able to do with textures. I didn't get to talk 1-on-1 with Mark, but he did a remarkable job taking care of us and was the the consummate professional and showman.

texaswino

Barrel Sampler

Posts: 2184

02-16-2005 07:44 PM
VERY impressive tasting Eric. I am very jealous. Thanks for posting all those notes for the rest of us to drool over and envy....

davidandrose

Aurora, CO
Barrel Racker

Posts: 1696

02-21-2005 03:13 PM
Holy Merde, Batman!!

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