I’ve had some nice vinous gatherings throughout the year but just based on the company (four like-minded, not too serious wine and food lovers) and how well it was all put together I think this one takes the cake. All wines were truly singing and paired really well with whatever was eaten with them.
We started off with the Déthune Blanc de Noirs which to my best understanding comes from the same vineyard as Egly-Ouriet’s famous Les Crayères. Having just had that wine not so long ago I can attest that this one does not reach the same heights (very few Champagnes do, I think) but at only third of the price it delivers a ton of value and is a superb wine in its own right. One could drink it perfectly well on its own but it worked nicely with slices of Ibérico de Bellota. Some might find the dosage a bit high by today’s standards but I thought it was still at the very least perfectly acceptable.
The Chenin was the first white from Blot for me but safe to say it is not going to be the last. This acid bomb could be too intense for some but its saltiness paired wonderfully with the Toast Skagen, a Nordic classic.
The two Pauillacs shared a strong resemblance when it came to the aromatics but on the palate the Pichon Comtesse was seriously young and somewhat a bruiser still. Looking at the many notes on CT I feel like where you see this wine being currently at tells a lot about your palate. Both wines were obviously great with some nicely marbled Black Angus steaks with Bearnaise sauce and Heston Blumenthal’s roast potatoes.
For dessert we had crème brûlée with 2007 Château Filhot Sauternes for which I did not take any notes. That said it was on the bright and fresh side and evaporated alarmingly quickly. To help the digestion we sipped on some Chartreuse Élixir Végétal which really did the trick and soon we were all reaching again for the cheeses we had used to finish up the Pauillacs.
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NV Paul Déthune Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (25.11.2018)
Mis en cave Avril 2014, date de dégorgement Octobre 2016. Very creamy on the nose with notes of red apple, apricot, bread dough and buttered toast. Ripe and mouth-caressingly rich on the palate - really luscious texture. Combines intense red fruit and oak in a beautiful way. Considering its origins and raw materials it is unsurprisingly quite vinous yet with great structure, acidity and a tangy edge. Big, complex, balanced and exciting, a very hedonistic wine. -
2013 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Remus - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (25.11.2018)
Surprisingly dark golden/yellow color for a dry wine with only 12 % ABV. Restrained on the nose with notes of oak, honey, apricot, wool and herbs. On the palate dry, tangy and mouth-filling with extremely high acidity. Incredibly intense with tons of salty minerality, to me very much reminiscent of some Bérêche Champagnes. A powerful wine with majestically firm mouthfeel. You can definitely sense the oak there but I do not think it distracts from all the classic Chenin-goodness at all. -
1983 Château Duhart-Milon - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (25.11.2018)
From a pristine 75cl bottle: very high fill, cork in perfect shape. Incredibly dark, youthful color still. Truly Pauillac on the nose with cassis, pencil shavings and some green pepper - very bright and vivid. On the palate full bodied, ripe fruited and quite powerful yet with excellent drinkability. Drinks a lot younger than one would expect, there are absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Must have been kept in a really cold cellar. -
1998 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (25.11.2018)
A classic nose of ripe, savory cassis fruit, cigar box and oak with some herbal and minerally hints. On the palate quite rich and perhaps unusually primary. On the heady side with some warmth. Very lively and has everything seemingly in place for a bright future but seriously speaking I think this is at least 10 years from reaching any kind of maturity. Plenty of ripe fruit at this point but not really much in terms of tertiary development.
Posted from CellarTracker