Connecting with someone like the good Dr. Brown is a reminder of what’s lovely about WB (and ERP in its heyday). This is the second time that he and I and Dennis Schaefer have met to enjoy wine, food and good company in KC, and all I can say is that I hope we have a tradition moving forward.
Tonight’s dinner was at Bluestem, one of KC’s best restaurants (see the travel thread) - Chef Andrew Longres made a series of exquisite, well-composed and above all, wine-friendly dishes for us to enjoy. Our meal was paced brilliantly, the service was professional, and sommelier Jeff Cambiano handled our bottles like a champ.
Charles Ellner 00 Prestige - DQ’d for oxidation after checking to see if some time open would rescue it. Sadly, too much sherry and not enough fruit. Not a representative bottle, but Blake seemed to want to blame himself anyway. One of my favorite things about wine dinners is the responsibility we take to make each wine experience something special we share - even if its not our fault when the wine isn’t perfect!
Didier Dagueneau 02 Pur Sang Blanc Fume de Pouilly - Blind, would have thought mature Pessac-Leognan. There was a little bit of veggie/minerality on the finish that hinted Loire. Good richness and layering. On its own, being super-critical myself (I brought this one), maybe a touch drying on the mid-palate, but food fleshed it out nicely. Opened with air. Intriguing balance of richness and SB dryness.
J.L. Chave 89 Hermitage Blanc - Special. Had that complex floral, honey, fruit nose, but instead of ferocious flesh and flab this was taut and mineral. Very fresh in its way, but with all the structural components knit together and harmonized the way only a wine with time in bottle can be. Great with our fish courses.
Williams-Selyem 97 RRV ‘Rochioli Vineyard’ Pinot Noir - When Blake and I were making plans, he asked me what I would like him to bring. We share an affinity for Champagne of all sorts, but knowing his notes I have learned that we are pretty simpatico in our broad tastes, and that he was there for the early days of Williams-Selyem. I have had, for many years, a mental checklist of wines that I wanted/“needed” to try, and while I have been blessed to whittle it down through the generosity of other wine lovers over the years, a Burt Williams-era W-S Pinot was unchecked.
I almost hesitated to ask, but at the end of the day, I know its best to rely on the kindness of wine lovers, so I worked up the nerve to ask, Blake checked this bottle into his luggage, and wine magic was the result.
I told Blake after smelling and tasting that my note might consists of “fedjifhdsaifodoig” because words would fail me and I would be reduced to pounding haplessly on my keyboard, but this was a genuinely special wine from the moment I stuck my nose in the glass just after it was freshly poured, until the moment at the end of dinner where I stuck my nose in the glass again trying to catch the last haunting esters from the film of wine on its bottom. In aromatics, texture, flavor and evolution, this was Grand Cru Burgundy in quality and California in every other way. It was lovely with our meat course, and thrilled for the better part of an hour (we ran out of wine before the wine ran out of being wine!).
Clos des Papes 1989 Fuller and meatier than recent versions? Still stays on the Burgundian end of the CdP spectrum, but seems a little more wild and rustic than current versions. Really good, though, and an excellent foil for the Pinot. No need to wait (same for the W-S - we got lucky catching a bunch of bottles at peak after a few early worries).
Chateau Rieussec 05From a 375ml. Showed brilliantly. For it’s class and breed, I have found other vintages of Rieussec a little too botrytis-boombastic - the noble rot flavors overwhelm the fruit and acid. Throw it into a comparison tasting from 01 back, and I’ll probably pick Yquem, Climens/Suduiraut and then maybe Rieussec. This one had it all - tropical and citrus notes, layering, raunchy, enticing noble rot and enough acidity to tent the flesh.
