Ian, this was a tasting we had at Palena on Monday night. I opened these all up at around noon and since someone had to stay and watch over the shop, Warren tasted early as I was going to the dinner. It must be said that the meal put together by Frank Ruta was outstanding. Lobster and Turbot Boudin Blanc with the Chablis sang, especially with the addition of a tiny, delicate, briny oyster warmed perfectly. Taste o’ the sea! The squab over chestnut ravioli was also quite spectacular with the Clos. The pork belly and Strip loin (I think?) was merely great with the Poyeuxs and Bourg. I cooked for a long time before I started in the wine business, but I never came close to cooking like that. Man, that guy’s good!
I had a bottle at Ten Bells in NYC–right off the menu! It was young ('06 I think) and never really ever came around, but it did bring show glimmers of what the very long future had to offer.
Agreed Tim.
The food was equally superlative to the wines. For fine dining, what better restaurant from a price/quality perspective is there than Palena in DC? Hard to come up with a viable competitor…
Tasted a '02 Brézé less than a year ago (for the second time) with some other interesting whites including Dom. Faury Condrieu '06 and Gouges NSG Perrières '04. All showed signs of oxidation but regardless were tremendous. Personally I invite that flavor profile in both Chenin and Viognier but with the Gouges it just made it marvelous, not flawed at all but clearly not for all. All three stylistically gelled with the nuttiness of the ox. The Brézé and Gouges took hours to come around but they evolved throughout the evening.
Will totally agree with Tim and Faryan, the food was fantastic. The squab dish was fantastic and everything else was excellent. Personally I thought 04 Clos was singing right now and was one of my highlights, the 05 was nice as well, but much more dark fruit and herb on it than the more “typical” red, meat, green pepper of the 04. I also liked the 07 clos as it seemed more ready to go than the 06. The Poyeux didn’t really show until well IMO until later in the tasting when the 06 finally opened up some and the Bourg is in another class all its own. The Krug and the Tokaji were excellent as well and the Fevre MDT showed the best for me. Can’t wait to do this again at this place as it never disappoints.
Agree with everyone on the food being awesome. Agree largely with Brett’s impressions, with the exception of the '07, which I didn’t care for as much - I thought it showed aspects of the cold, wet summer they had and the fruit was perhaps not as fully developed. The '04s were singing, indeed. I didn’t take formal notes on any of the Rougeards, but for what it’s worth, here’s my note on the '85 Krug, which I couldn’t stop thinking about:
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1985 Krug Champagne Brut - France, Champagne (1/9/2012)
Followed in glass for 2+ hours. Still light gold in color with nice, subtle effervescence. Captivating nose of salted caramel and hazelnuts. Decent acidity and a gorgeous, round mouthfeel. Flavors of buttered toast on the mid-palate into wonderful roasted pear in the very long finish. Simply delightful. (93 pts.)
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Thanks. I’ll check in on one of the bottles that my wife brought back for me 3 months ago from Paris.
Hats off to Frank Ruta and Palena’s staff who always come through with superlative food and thoughtful pairings. Best service/food/price combo in dc for wine dinners imo. Hats off also to Tim O’Rourke @ Weygandt wines for doing a lot of the legwork in setting this thing up.
To start, we nibbled on some fritto misto and Tim popped a pair of Maillarts: the 04 BdB and 05 BdN if I’m not mistaken. The 04 was far more approachable, while the 05 was reticent, steely and a bit unsettled. As I was sipping on those and wipping the cold slush off my jacket, Justin hands me a stem and puts me to a blind guess. It’s another bubbly. Smooth supple texture with telltale brioche, creamy baked notes. I couldn’t conjur it from the nose (champagne is not my forte) but was not surprised to see it revealed as the 1985 Krug (thanks to Justin for generously providing it!). The supple and round elements on the nose were complemented by wonderful and vivacious fruit with good acidity and lift. The vintage is clearly not the best of the best in Champagne but I found it an enchanting wine with life ahead of it.
We settled into our first course which was a delectable boudin of turbot and lobster, served over a bed of lentils with a steamed oyster to pair with a flight of 2008 Fevre Chablis, all of which were opened approx… 2-3 hours prior. The Montee de Tornee was the most youthful and brazen, with great acidic zing and lovely Fevre notes of pears, seashell and lychees. Many noted that it perhaps was the best pairing with the food course, given its backbone and one wouldn’t have to be coerced into agreeing. The Preuses up next was perhaps the most awkward at the time, with a reticent nose of more body and rounded mouthfeel but it didn’t seem quite ready to open up. The Clos on the other hand was my favorite and was a regal expression of Chablis. More ripe and treated, it to me displayed impeccable balance between the lovely minerality one expects from William Fevre with the pomp and polish one looks from the Clos vineyard. One of my favorite whites of the year.
We began our first flight of Rougeard with the Clos lineup (04,05,06,07) alongside roasted squab with chestnut ravioli (homerun dish!!). I thought the clear class of the flight were the 04 and the 05. Nonetheless, they showed such stylistic dissonance. The 04 was filled with sauvage, animalistic notes, olives, tobacco and rustic red fruit. The 05 was polished, suave, showing a perfumed nose and a more discernible oak treatment. The same wine but so stylistically different! The 05 was something of a Bordeaux ringer while the 04 was classic Loire cab with inspiration from the Northern Rhone. The 06 to me was in an awkward phase, opening up hot on the palate and a bit disjointed. With some more air it came together but either the vintage wasn’t kind or the snapshot is in a bad spot. The 07 was also a bit hollow, perhaps needing more age to flesh out.
The reserve flights were the 04 Bourg/Poyeux combo and the 06 Poyeux alongside strip steak with a cut of pork belly. The clear class was the 04 Bourg which was superb. Mixes some of the animal qualities of the 04 Clos alongside wonderful notes of orange rind, perfume, red berry tobacco and smokiness. A kaleidoscopic nose. Definitely a treat. The 04 Poyeux was like a ratchet down and I don’t know if it’s because I tasted it alongside the 04 Bourg, but I think I may have preferred the 04 Clos. The 06 Poyeux opened up also a bit disjointed that seemed to pickup steam with more air, but by the end, it showed more overt oak treatment with some harsh wood and heat. Not a great sign.
Capping the night with 83 Sauternes and 06 Aszu 5 Puttanyos alongside wood grilled provelone, bread and an assortment of deserts. Love the zinginess and apricot qualities of the Tokaji. The Sautenes was really good as well.
Cheers all,
Good notes. Thank you to Warren and Faryan. As has been said before, the meal was also extraordinary. This was probably the best one I have had at Palena, and to think that it was in a group makes it even more special. Like Faryan, I was partial to the 05 Clos, for its incredible smoothness. The 04 was not far behind, though, but for a different reason. It was like a wild caged animal had been bottled up, and was poured into my glass before leaping u,p and ripping out my nose buds. I love them both.