So we left you hanging, on hooks and nails, devoted readers, after yesterday's posting. However, we've been warned it is important to provide you with bite-sized postings rather than the lengthy missives we so easily fall into. So, to continue the description of our great tasting dinner and without further ado...
We paired the cheese course with a 1988 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru from Maison Joseph Drouhin. A far cry, age wise, from the previous wines, but '88 in Burgundy was particular. Described as year with a decent harvest of clean grapes with thick skins that rendered little juice, 1988 produced, because of these thick skins (that is where the tannins are), red wines with a significant expression of acid and high levels of tannin. While difficult when the wines are young, the acid and tannins also offered great support for a long maturity.
Clos de la Roche is a Grand Cru from the Côtes de Nuits, produced cheek-to-jowl with its better known neighbors - the various Chambertin Grand Crus, Mazis and Charmes, as well as Clos de Vougeot. All of these wines have dark red color and traditionally, regardless of the year, are very tannic when young. The Roche is closer characteristically to the Chambertin and is a somber wine, not very expressive at first with heavy notes of herbaceous matter and truffle that with age begin to mellow and allow notes of very ripe red fruits.
Maison Joseph Drouhin is one of the oldest in Burgundy, founded in 1880, and is promoted as having their cellars where once were the Kings’ of France and the Dukes’ of Burgundy. With an enormous production from numerous appellations in Burgundy, their wines are readily available in the United States over various price points. It is with the higher level of wines they produce – the Premier and Grand Crus – that one can find the finest examples of their production.
Our Clos de la Roche was a superb example of the convergence of a Grand Cru appellation in a year with great potential for maturity and a dependable producer. It was a ‘reflective’ wine, not screaming from the glass. The color was deep red, with age the usual ruby and purple tones had faded. The nose was subtle, more musky than fruity. In the mouth the subtly continued, traditional Pinot Noir expressions of fruit or purple flowers were absent. It took a moment to identify the musky flavor of truffles and ‘forest floor,’ over the subtle taste of very ripe fruit. And the end was the most surprising – a long and lingering expression of the wine’s flavors buoyed by its acid. The latter was something we had never experienced in wine of this age.
Drink deeply and with thought!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Degustation Dinner
No rest for the weary; Saturday night proved out that statement. Dinner at home chez nous with friends who are as obsessive about wines, and particularly Burgundies, as we are. Even better, they own a restaurant and on Saturday night arrived with the main course and dessert as well as several wines.
Our appertif was a 1999 Meursault from François Mikulski, who despite his un-Burgundian name descends from a long line of vintners in the region. While '99 is a year we appreciate in white Burgundies, Mikulski's Meursaults are not high on our list. One of the strongest characteristics of Meursaults, and one we most appreciate, is its, well, strong character, and we find that Mikulski seems to vinify that character away. Imagine loving a certain type of smoked fish particularly for the flavor of its smokiness and suddenly being served the same fish but without its distinctive flavor. It is okay, even fine, but it is not what you appreciate most from that dish. It is the same for us with Mikulski's Meursaults; they are lovely, floral, expressing some minerality, but we rather have another domain's wine from that wonderful appellation.
The first course was served with a Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Domaine Pierre Marey et Fils from 1999. With the potential to be enormous and powerful, such a white wine could have been overkill with a starter. Devoted readers will remember that we like our Grand Crus aged more than ten years and that includes the whites. On this night, our starter was a melon soup with a mousse of smoked ham, and the acidity and minerality that the relative youth of this wine expressed was a nice counterpoint to the salty sweetness of the soup. At the same time, the Charlemagne expressed it usual floral qualities, sharper and greener than with a bit of age, and in the mouth there was more minerality than the buttered toast we revere in this extraordinary Chardonnay.
Dinner continued with chicken breasts in a very spicy marinade and a risotto served with a Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, Les Lavrottes 2005, Domaine Felettig. Now, since you all read yesterday's column, you know how much we adore the Felettigs - such excellent wine makers and in good years, explosive. Although this Premier Cru was young, its youth balanced extremely well with the spice of the chicken. The color was a deep purple, and the nose was filled with ripe fruits. In the mouth, however, the wine showed its true potential. In tandem with the fresh fruit and acidity of young Pinot Noir and a minerality typical of this parcelle (Les Lavrottes, the 1er Cru vineyard), there was a long and lingering expression of what the French call matière, or matter. A vague term, nicer than "something to chew on" but descriptive of a wine's potential for improvement with age and development of increased complexity with time.
We would have to say that the Chambolle was superb with extraordinary potential, even up to seven years in a proper cellar; however, while 2005 was an excellent year in Burgundy, the reds are significantly more drinkable young than the whites. We believe that the white wines from 2005 will ultimately prove to be finer and more capable of reaching significant maturity. One reason for our belief is that these whites have entered into that odd period in Burgundies when bottled, they have 'gone to sleep' making them unexpressive and oddly uninteresting. With time, they will 'awaken' and be some of the most exciting white wines of our lives!
In our next post, we'll regale you with the closing bottle from dinner.
Drink deeply!
Our appertif was a 1999 Meursault from François Mikulski, who despite his un-Burgundian name descends from a long line of vintners in the region. While '99 is a year we appreciate in white Burgundies, Mikulski's Meursaults are not high on our list. One of the strongest characteristics of Meursaults, and one we most appreciate, is its, well, strong character, and we find that Mikulski seems to vinify that character away. Imagine loving a certain type of smoked fish particularly for the flavor of its smokiness and suddenly being served the same fish but without its distinctive flavor. It is okay, even fine, but it is not what you appreciate most from that dish. It is the same for us with Mikulski's Meursaults; they are lovely, floral, expressing some minerality, but we rather have another domain's wine from that wonderful appellation.
The first course was served with a Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Domaine Pierre Marey et Fils from 1999. With the potential to be enormous and powerful, such a white wine could have been overkill with a starter. Devoted readers will remember that we like our Grand Crus aged more than ten years and that includes the whites. On this night, our starter was a melon soup with a mousse of smoked ham, and the acidity and minerality that the relative youth of this wine expressed was a nice counterpoint to the salty sweetness of the soup. At the same time, the Charlemagne expressed it usual floral qualities, sharper and greener than with a bit of age, and in the mouth there was more minerality than the buttered toast we revere in this extraordinary Chardonnay.
Dinner continued with chicken breasts in a very spicy marinade and a risotto served with a Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, Les Lavrottes 2005, Domaine Felettig. Now, since you all read yesterday's column, you know how much we adore the Felettigs - such excellent wine makers and in good years, explosive. Although this Premier Cru was young, its youth balanced extremely well with the spice of the chicken. The color was a deep purple, and the nose was filled with ripe fruits. In the mouth, however, the wine showed its true potential. In tandem with the fresh fruit and acidity of young Pinot Noir and a minerality typical of this parcelle (Les Lavrottes, the 1er Cru vineyard), there was a long and lingering expression of what the French call matière, or matter. A vague term, nicer than "something to chew on" but descriptive of a wine's potential for improvement with age and development of increased complexity with time.
We would have to say that the Chambolle was superb with extraordinary potential, even up to seven years in a proper cellar; however, while 2005 was an excellent year in Burgundy, the reds are significantly more drinkable young than the whites. We believe that the white wines from 2005 will ultimately prove to be finer and more capable of reaching significant maturity. One reason for our belief is that these whites have entered into that odd period in Burgundies when bottled, they have 'gone to sleep' making them unexpressive and oddly uninteresting. With time, they will 'awaken' and be some of the most exciting white wines of our lives!
In our next post, we'll regale you with the closing bottle from dinner.
Drink deeply!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Burgundy at Dinner
Friday night we were off to a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Paris, La Cordonnerie (no website, but read this review on Trip Advisor ). It was a celebration of sorts, and we were a small group; therefore, the menu was predetermined, but we had a hand in choosing the wines.
With an amuse-bouche of an airy cauliflower mousse with a truffled balsamic sauce, a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley was served. It was methode champenoise, from chenin blanc and pinot blanc grapes, 2004, made only in certain years and actually not again since that year. A lovely alternative to Champagne.
A first course of sauted scallops in a light citrus sauce was served with an Hautes-Cotes-des-Beaune 2007 by Maison Felettig. What a miracle of wine making! A simple wine by birth but in the hands of Felettig, this white is raised to a complex balance of acidity and fruit with a slight minerality that lingers in the mouth.
Our main plate was a slow-cooked filet of beef in a fragrant red wine sauce served with a 2003 Chateau Muret, Haut-Medoc which was expressing all of the typical ripeness and roundness of the vintage with a lovely lingering finish.
Cheese was presented with a bottle from our cave - a magnum of 1990 Corton-Les-Bressandes Grand Cru from Domaine E. Cornu. What a revelation! The double size bottle had allowed this wine to age slowly into the Burgundy fever dream of all pinot noir collectors. The nose expressed a mix of musk, herbacous matter and violets. The color was a dull red with bronze reflections and in the mouth it exploded with the flavors of red fruits, particularly blackberries, followed by a light minerality supporting flavors of licorice, leather and musk. As a fellow diner said, "it triggered taste receptors on my tongue that I did not know existed."
Drink them old and enjoy!
With an amuse-bouche of an airy cauliflower mousse with a truffled balsamic sauce, a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley was served. It was methode champenoise, from chenin blanc and pinot blanc grapes, 2004, made only in certain years and actually not again since that year. A lovely alternative to Champagne.
A first course of sauted scallops in a light citrus sauce was served with an Hautes-Cotes-des-Beaune 2007 by Maison Felettig. What a miracle of wine making! A simple wine by birth but in the hands of Felettig, this white is raised to a complex balance of acidity and fruit with a slight minerality that lingers in the mouth.
Our main plate was a slow-cooked filet of beef in a fragrant red wine sauce served with a 2003 Chateau Muret, Haut-Medoc which was expressing all of the typical ripeness and roundness of the vintage with a lovely lingering finish.
Cheese was presented with a bottle from our cave - a magnum of 1990 Corton-Les-Bressandes Grand Cru from Domaine E. Cornu. What a revelation! The double size bottle had allowed this wine to age slowly into the Burgundy fever dream of all pinot noir collectors. The nose expressed a mix of musk, herbacous matter and violets. The color was a dull red with bronze reflections and in the mouth it exploded with the flavors of red fruits, particularly blackberries, followed by a light minerality supporting flavors of licorice, leather and musk. As a fellow diner said, "it triggered taste receptors on my tongue that I did not know existed."
Drink them old and enjoy!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Auction Fever
Wine auctions seem seem to be everywhere in Paris this late spring. Are collectors selling their caves to pay for summer vacation? Unlikely, but savy sellers know wine has a shelf life and with the cash crunch coming in France, prices will only go lower this year.
Luckily, with few exceptions, we've avoided the fever although how we did today is unknown. At a sale titled 2000 Petrus, Les 2000 de Monsieur J.S. (delicious title, no?), we watched the collected bottles of Grand Cru Bordeaux 2000, and a few others, sell for equally 'delicious' prices. The closing lots were mixed cases of 12 bottles described as "Prestige Bordeaux Primeurs" from 2000 in their original wood cases - 3 Chateau Latour 1er Grand Cru Classe Pauillac, 3 Chateau Margaux 1er Grand Cru Classe Margaux, 3 Chateau Haut-Brion 1er Grand Cru Classe Graves and 3 Petrus Pomerol which sold for over 11,000 euros; at todays exchange $13,750 plus the auction premium!
Yummy!
Altough we left this evening empty-handed, we did succumb to a few oldies but goodies last week. We picked up 12 bottles of Chateau La Croix Ferrandat, St-Emilion 1998; 4 bottles of Chateau du Maine, Graves 1988; and 8 bottles of Chateau Grand Baril, Montagne St-Emilion 1988. Admittedly, these sound old to the many American drinkers but Bordeaux with its mix of 3 cepages has the ability to age into a lovely wine if well stored. They should be experienced. We would enjoy to share these with friends. Contact us if you've interest!
Bottoms up!
Luckily, with few exceptions, we've avoided the fever although how we did today is unknown. At a sale titled 2000 Petrus, Les 2000 de Monsieur J.S. (delicious title, no?), we watched the collected bottles of Grand Cru Bordeaux 2000, and a few others, sell for equally 'delicious' prices. The closing lots were mixed cases of 12 bottles described as "Prestige Bordeaux Primeurs" from 2000 in their original wood cases - 3 Chateau Latour 1er Grand Cru Classe Pauillac, 3 Chateau Margaux 1er Grand Cru Classe Margaux, 3 Chateau Haut-Brion 1er Grand Cru Classe Graves and 3 Petrus Pomerol which sold for over 11,000 euros; at todays exchange $13,750 plus the auction premium!
Yummy!
Altough we left this evening empty-handed, we did succumb to a few oldies but goodies last week. We picked up 12 bottles of Chateau La Croix Ferrandat, St-Emilion 1998; 4 bottles of Chateau du Maine, Graves 1988; and 8 bottles of Chateau Grand Baril, Montagne St-Emilion 1988. Admittedly, these sound old to the many American drinkers but Bordeaux with its mix of 3 cepages has the ability to age into a lovely wine if well stored. They should be experienced. We would enjoy to share these with friends. Contact us if you've interest!
Bottoms up!
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