While visiting London last week, my very lovely friend Laurent cooked up a full on French storm and served some very nice wines. The meal was full on French, starting with a risotto that I watched him put a full stick and a half of butter in, followed by a delectable pork-shoulder from a pig named Edwin with some delicious root vegetables that were cooked in Edwin’s juices for hours, and a cauliflower head smeared in yet more butter (with some mysterious Taiwanese spice blend), a board of perfectly ripened cheese, and a frangipane tart. Afterwards, I had to roll myself out of his house, could barely fit in the uber, and pretty much ate celery for a week!
The wines:
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NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Cuvée Rosé Brut - France, Champagne (10/19/2018)
Delicate strawberry fruit, but a bit overshadowed by the yeasty richness. A little lacking in cut, but still a very nice way to start the night. (89 pts.) -
2010 Louis Latour Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Chaillots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru (10/19/2018)
Red cherry and raspberry nose. Lighter bodied and with a more feminine than I was expecting. Quite fruit-forward on the palate, with good acidity and just a touch of sous bois. Not the most complex 1er cru, but a persistent minty note that I found intriguing. Drinking in a nice place now. Just a nice bottle of wine. (91 pts.) -
2013 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos de La Bussière - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru (10/19/2018)
Seductive cherry & red plum on the nose on first pour. Very expressive and youthful, with a more masculine, earthy and less fruit-driven profile than the Louis Latour Chaillots before it. Pleasantly grippy, not drying, and a transparent finish… Lots of development over the course of the night, although it did seem to shut down aromatically after a couple hours. (93 pts.) -
2013 E. Guigal St. Joseph Lieu-Dit St. Joseph Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/19/2018)
Very nice aromatics, nutty, went well with Comte and Pecorino. Lovely, resinous texture and loads of minerals to complement the nutty, slightly oxidative bruised apple fruit. It had just a bit of flabbiness, which perhaps was not helped by comparing it to a 2009 Huet Clos du Bourg. Perhaps in a dumb phase, although I’m not sure it has enough acidity to make it for the long haul… (89 pts.) -
2009 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (10/19/2018)
Really delicious, and super well balanced. On the less-sweet side. Juicy acid and just a bit of wooliness provide character & depth to the apricot, white peach, honeysuckle and red apple. A good contrast to the 2010 le Mont, which was a bigger, more serious wine, whereas this was nimble and more of a sheer pleasure. Kept reaching for more. (93 pts.)
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