TN: Dinner w/ Doug & Sena & Alex & David...Sadly, Rob Was There Too (Lots of Corton)

DINNER W/ DOUG & SENA & ALEX & DAVID…SADLY, ROB WAS THERE TOO - Doug & Sena’s (9/25/2017)

Dinner with Doug and Sena is always a treat. They graciously hosted (again) and served a beautiful meal that, per usual, started with Champagne en magnum. We started with a delicious corn soup that was sweet, pure and simply rocked my world (Rob didn’t like me licking the bowl, but he’s a jerk so his vote doesn’t count). The main was an assemble your own Niçoise salad with the most beautiful tomatoes that I’ve seen since the last time we were with Doug and Sena. Desert was chocolate cake and an array of phenomenal cheeses – the Harbison, from Jasper Hill Farm, was ripe and wonderfully runny.

  • 2002 Gaston Chiquet Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
    Bready/yeasty with a good dose of minerality and a fine bead that could have used just a bit more persistence. Quite tasty and mature to my tastes. From magnum.
  • 2006 Vie di Romans Friuli Isonzo Flors di Uis - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Isonzo
    Medium yellow colored with flavors of yellow apples/yellow fruits with a nutty finish. Bone dry, medium+ bodied with a subtle oiliness…the wine might have been slightly oxidized, but possibly just past it’s prime. Paired very well with a sweet corn soup, was less enamored in the absence of food. Drink now.
  • 2011 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Corton-Rognet Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Deep garnet colored with a nose of sweet red fruit and freshly laid tar. The palate showed tar, tart red fruit and grippy tannins. Well-balanced with good acidity added nice lift to the wine. Drink 2021-2041(?).
  • 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Le Corton - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Expressive nose of red fruit and spice, primarily cinnamon. The palate is red fruited, savory with some forest floor notes, and slightly austere. The tannins are a bit too stern to allow for much pleasure at this time; hold for 5+ years.
  • 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Le Corton - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Depp red colored. Red fruit and oaky spice on the nose and the palate. Powerful and highly extracted with a mineral streak. Finishes short+. Still quite tannic; needs 5+ years, but should shape up to be quite a lovely wine.
  • 1995 Maison Bertrand Ambroise Corton-Le Rognet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Cooked. NR (flawed)
  • 1996 Edmond Cornu & Fils Corton-Bressandes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Muddy, plum colored with a spicy and red-fruited nose. The palate was noticeably full-bodied, even thick, displaying flavors of red fruits, earth and oak. Finishes quite long. Drinking well with many years of life left.
  • 1993 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    The nose with somewhat closed. The palate was red fruit spice and mushrooms with gently fuzzy tannins. Slightly dilute, finishes short+. Drinking well but lacks complexity.
  • 2013 Philippe Chavy Puligny-Montrachet Les Corvées des Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
    Light yellow color with a lime and mineral nose. The palate shows lime and pineapple with a prominent mineral streak. Crisp and balanced, the acid cut through the fatty cheeses that were served at the end of our meal. Very good.
  • 1994 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Vivid, deep magenta color. Tasty, with concentrated flavors of sweet raspberries and with a subtle umami character. Surprisingly, I barely noticed the alcohol. Seems to be at the beginning of what will be an extended drinking window; should make it to age 50 in a snip.
  • 2004 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Banyuls Rimage La Coume - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Banyuls
    Grapes and raisins with hints of chocolate. Unsurprisingly, paired very well with chocolate cake. Not showing any heat. Tastes fairly primary, but I don’t think it will develop much, if at all. Still, good for what it is, drink now - 2022.
  • 2004 Château de Fargues - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
    Copper colored. Full bodied with flavors of citrus, honey, quince and unsweetened butterscotch. Not overly sweet, lacks some concentration, but I admire the elegance.

After desert we broke out the alcohol…much to my chagrin the following morning. All in all, a great evening that would have been even greater had Rob stayed home.
Posted from CellarTracker

Who is Rob, why no love?

Rob = Robert Pollard Smith. We’re cool*, I just like to give him a hard time.

    • he might beg to differ

No more mushroom tarts for you!

Where’s the note on the 2012 Maison Ilan Chambertin?

I forgot about the tart! It was great!

Didn’t try it…I think you only offered a swig to David, but maybe that’s because you like me better?

Wait, there was an open MI wine? Why no invite, Corey?

Since David brought it, I offered it to him first. He felt that it was not worth serving to the group as a whole and I deferred to his judgment. As an aside, it was consumed the next day. It was not very good for a Chambertin, but a decent drink on night two.

Great notes, Corey. I wish you told us that you liked the corn soup.

I liked it a lot more than I liked Rob, that’s for sure.

Oh, I like it runny.

The hosts graciously gave us leftover corn soup.

I don’t think they gave any to Linda and Corey, amiright?

You’re dead to me.

And I mashed together some pulverized Himalayan pink salt with some curry powder with which to top it, and it was JUST like the prior eve’s dose. Hmmmm hmmmm hmmm. NOM!

You guys have Johnny Depp on the brain. [pwn.gif]