Write up and notes from this dinner:
I'm sorry if you missed it, but we had another fantastic evening with wines from the 1990 vintage from France! We started with a Gravlax reception and some Champagne. It commenced with a bottle of Pommery Cuvee Louise. This was the best bottle of this Champagne that I've tasted. It had a wonderful nose which blended some nice evolution-buiscuits, butterscotch and dough, with excellent intensity of fruit, citrus, some orchard fruits and minerals. The palate was smooth with excellent intensity, voluptuous and inviting, with a nice core of fruit. It seems to have gained some amplitude and complexity since the last time I had it. It will perhaps improve for a few more years and last another 8 to 10 very nicely, but this bottle is so good now! (And I don't think it was so good just because I was so thirsty!) We went on to a bottle of Piper Heidsieck Rare whose nose was a bit dumb. One found the minerally core of citrusy fruit, but not much more. The palate was much more inviting with an intense note of citrus, excellent balance and long finish. The Rare has always been one of those chamagnes that remind me of a laser beam, it seems to rifle down the palate rather than sit and expand upon it, very good acidity and less viscosity. This bottle was no different. I hope it will come out of its "phase" if that is indeed where it is right now. It should surely improve over the next 3-5 years and last another dozen once it wakes from its slumber. Onward we forged with a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvee Palme d'Or (the dimpled bowling ball pin look alike). The nose was more like the Louise rather than the rare with lots of creamy notes of orchard fruit, yeastiness and vanillin. The palate was a touch lighter in acidity than the previous two with a somewhat malolactic feel to it with even more creamy fruitiness on the palate, the mousse of the wines also seemed not as fine. It still had excellent flavor but lacked the concentration of other top cuvees that would allow it to age for a good, long time. I would drink this wine over the next 2-5 years with as much fun as possible!
As we sat for our first course of Crystal Bay Oysters, two "great" champagnes were poured. The primo was the Krug Clos du Mesnil, which is a Blanc de Blanc or aka 100% Chardonnay. WOW, what a killer nose. Talk about intensity, this wine jumps out of the flute! A wonderful aromatic melange of apples, pears, creamy vanillin, chalky mineral notes, sweet yeasty bread and a tiny touch of spicy sandalwood. The palate, being so young is probably not as complex but is surely as grand in size. This wine has amplitude, it stretches your palate to ends other champagnes do not. There are waves of flavor which will only increase and add dimensions with age. With all its intensity and structure it will only get better over the next 5-10 years and elate wine drinkers all over the world for the next 20 or even more. The segundo was the Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill, what a great comparison. This bottling, whose blend is kept secret (although most experts suppose that it is between 70-80% Pinot Noir, the balance to be Chardonnay) was showing exceedingly well. The nose was scented with tons of chalky minerals with a ponderance of Pinot like fruit, the almost berry like composition with lemongrass and ginger snap coming to mind. The palate is full with terrific intensity as well as complexity. It is indeed a charming as well as regal wine. It will still see better days accoding to my palate with 4-6 more years of bottle age. And with the excellent acidity and panoply of flavors should last another 10-15 gracefully. I hope I don't sound to "over the top". It's just that our members bring such great wines-it's hard NOT to get excited.
A delicious dish of crispy fried Australian white prawns over a bed of Carnaroli shite truffle risotto and roasted garlic butter sauce came along with a pair of white burgs. The Bienvenue Batard Montrachet from Ramonet came first. Unfortunately this bottle had evident signs of heat stress. The color was much too golden and the nose completely oxi- and maderized. Fortunately for all of us the bottle of Corton Charlemagne from Leroy was completely healthy. It showed an intensely earthy almost stony quality in the aroma above a bed of very citrusy almost greenlike fruit with a spicy scent of vanilla below, very nice although not as intense or complex as I expected. The palate was congruent with the nose with a streak of mineral and acidity in its core, something many California wine drinkers would abhor. It almost tasted a bit like a blanc de blanc Champagne with lots of that citrusy, slightly underdeveloped melon flavor and a long finish on the acid. Although it will last five years or more, I think I would drink it up now, already I think the fruit is overpowered by the acidity. The dish really helped to make the wine stand out-what a great pairing! Completely planned offcourse (yeah right)! The acidity of the Leroy cut the cheese in the risotto bringing out more fruit in the wine. Super!
With our pan seared medallion of beef or roasted Hamakua mushrooms and pinot noir veal reduction we had a pair of red Burgs and a Chateauneuf du Pape that could fool some as being an aged Pinot. Straight off came the Latour Corton Grancey which over the last few months seems to have really gathered some power and depth. The nose is unmistakable pinot with a hitoned cherry and violet quality, nicely laced with earth and cardamom tea. The palate is fuller then I remember with a completely silky texture, ripe core of curranty/cherry fruit and smooth finish. This bottle would easily keep for 10 years and perhaps improve over the next 3-5 and perhaps become more complex. Beleive me if you like but it stood fast even next to such stiff competition. That competition being the DRC Echezeaux. This wine had the proverbial perfume of Vosne Romanee, tons of spices, teas, sandalwood, jasmine, you get the picture. All wrapped up with a load of fruit, slightly more developed than the Latour, more like stewed berries with a very clay like aroma signifying the terroir that is Echezeaux. The palate is liquid velvet, it washes the palate like the softest brush, along with a core of flavor as elegant as the nose and a typically earthy finish. It is wonderul already and I think need not wait, except for maybe the right company. Now that Rhone wine that seemed like Burgundy, yes, the Chapoutier Chateauneuf du Pape, La Bernardine, a singly vineyard bottling of 100% grenache. The nose is gladly reminiscent of old red Burgs, nice hi-toned decidedly spicy cooked plum and cherry notes with the earthiness showing through equally. The palate is quite mature with the nice ripe elegant fruit in line with the mature tannins. The one give away to being grenache was the bulkiness and texture of the wine on the palate, it did not have the finesse and suavability that is pinot noir, although no less class. Quite elegant in its own right, this wine is "ready" and should be enjoyed with glee. With the medallion of beef, I most liked the Echezeaux, my glass turned up empty in no time.
For our foie gras course which was served on crouton with a vanilla muscat glaze and braised apricots, I decided to serve a quartet of Bordeaux. We poured the La Dame de Montrose first. Having had the Montrose just a few days earlier I could see a resemblance. But that's like saying a Chihuahua and a Great Dane are both dogs, anyway I digress. This bottle had some nice lightly dry curranty and plum fruit with a cedary edge for its aroma. Not terribly complex but still pleasing. The palate was medium with everything in balance but leaving me wanting for more intensity and length. After all, it is the second label to Chateau Montrose. It is drinking well now though and that is when it should be drunk. Secondly we poured the Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The nose was almost pencil lead but more of a slight cardboard scent to it with medium intensity dried black fruit quality and much cedar. The palate is much the same, full, but seemingly wishy washy, not truly defining itself in character, but rather just exhibiting its constituents. I thought it was a bit lean on the palate with the tannin still solid and opposed to releasing any fruit. It will hold on for some time ,but I'm not sure that this bottle would have gotten better in the cellar. After this we had a bottle of Chateau Margaux. This wine was definitely a step up the ladder. The nose is intense with ripe currants, plums, black cherry and dried pomegrenated, an almost meatiness that one gets from Margaux, nice sweet gravelly earth and some dried leather and spice notes-very complex. The palate is full bodied and full of complex flavors, from _mocha to coffe grounds, from blackberry to dried cherry and a persistence of flavor that surely lasts. The tannin is still evident but not overpowering with the acidity structure supporting its balance. This wine is already excellent and I think will still get better over the next 5-8 years and then continue to please beyond 15 years. We also had a bottle from the "Right Bank" in the quartet, the Chateau Clinet from Pomerol. I suspect that it has a high proportion of Merlot. The nose is almost showy in a sense of Bordeaux with a fruit forward style very different from the prevous three wines, maybe "international" as some call it. It certainly jumps from the glass with very sweet notes of cassis, almost blueberry, a hint of cocoa and some very vanillin spice. The palate is quite polished as well, not showing a whole lot of earthiness, instead replaced by a myriad of sweet black fruit flavor, vanillin again and a strong almost powerful viscosity. Well endowed with fruit as well as polished tannin, this bottle will improve over the next 5-8 years and drink every bit as well as the Margaux over the next dozen, just different in style. And style is just a matter of taste. For me, with the foie gras, the Margaux went wonderfully well.
With our cheeses we enjoyed a bottle of Domaine de Baumard Coteaux du Layon, a sweet botrytized wine made with 100% Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley. Wow, what an incredible nose of candied fruits, melons, mangos, pineapples, apricots, honey, caramel, some beez wax. The sweetness although highly intense is balanced by a cleansing acidity that allows the fruit flavors to shine like the sun on the waves on a beach. Wonderfully complex and stunningly beautiful. I would put these wines on par with some of the greatest Sauternes. This bottle will certainly last another 12-20 years!
And just for kicks we tasted the Chateau Lafite Rothschild blind, always a humbling experience! This wine had a very sweet pencil lead note to it with sweet notes of berries, cassis and a load of vanilla laced cedar. It had a big nose, full of intensity and class. The palate was also full but not "over the top", "in your face" big. I distinctly noted that the fruit on the palate was not as intense as the nose with there being more earthiness and a lightly dusty quality to the fruit. This is not to say that it did not have fruit, indeed it did, but the nose seemed just that much more intense. The fruit seems to be just at that stage between primary and secondary, it is starting to come out of its cocoon. It will certainly do that over the next 5-10 years and thrill drinkers for the next 20-excellent!
And thank you to everyone who participated. This club is only as good as the people who come to it. That means YOU!
Our next dinner will be on August 14 and our theme is "Italian First Growths in the '90's". My guideline is if you have to ask about it, it probably won't make the cut, but any region and any vintage in the '90's. |