Consume Counselor Seiber's Cellar - Kutch, PYCM, Rhys, Domaine Maume, Domaine des Remizieres, Pontet Canet, Mount Eden

A huge thanks to Chris for sharing wines with us this past Wednesday at Playground. I was humbled with the blind tasting but it was a lot of fun. I have nothing to lose anyways since I’m fairly inexperienced. All the notes below with the disclaimer that this is from my best (fuzzy) memories with no formal notes. Notes regarding the food from the restaurant’s website.

Flight 1:
1) 2015 Kutch Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
2) 2015 PYCM Saint Aubin La Pucelle
I took a sniff of #1 and thought I detected a grassy note and auto-locked into Sauvignon Blanc. The folly/exuberance of the inexperienced! From there my mind was completely down that path and it hard to convince myself otherwise. I was not so sure that #2 was Sauvignon Blanc but when Chris said that they were both from the same varietal/same vintage for all pairs I locked onto young SB for both wines. #1 was more fruit forward, very aromatic/expressive. #2 was more cerebral with mineral flavors and a beautiful texture. Neither had any overt oak, and I was surprised when Chris said neither were stainless steel (which I thought the case for #1). Both had bright acidity, nice finish, low alcohol and were obviously high quality whites. When the reveal came I was humbled, and realized I need to spend more time with the wine before instant calling. I asked Chris how long the PYCM had been open because the few times I’ve had PYCM the wine started with a strong sulfer/egg smell which I didn’t detect this time (he had popped it just prior to the dinner). The acidity in both wines worked wonderfully with creamy sauces in our starters: pan roasted cauliflower (almonds/apple/chives) and Peruvian Bay Scallops a la plancha (aji amarillo beurre monte, pickled onion, lime, cilantro).

Flight 2:
3) 2008 Rhys Horseshoe Pinot Noir
4) 2008 Domaine Maume Gevry-Chambertin
This time I took my time before locking onto anything. Both wines had medium dark red color, some age but not too much (guessed 5-10 years). Both wines had a core of dark red fruit with savory aspects to it. Both with balanced acidity (#4 with bit more) and low alcohol. Both with low tannins (due to age or varietal?) #3 had more body and darker, with mulling spices and herbal elements. Expressive with flavors jumping in and out. #4 lighter in body but still medium density of dark red fruit, some earth, had some spices but less than #3. #4 also had a lighter floral quality vs the herbal elements of #3. I crossed off the high tannin wines, maybe Malbec due to low tannin? Thought of Carignan, maybe Chris is throwing us off with a less obvious varietal? The spices match but the ones I’ve had before have a brighter red fruit quality. Color/flavor didn’t match Italian varietals. Syrah made in a low alcohol style/cool climate matched and was what I locked on (but in hindsight I should have picked up on the fact that I didn’t get much pepper/meaty flavors). Before Chris revealed the wines I remembered the last time I had the 2015 Kutch Sonoma Coast PN blind and thought #3 may be a similar wine with a bit of age so I made the comment that it may be a savory/less fruit forward Pinot Noir. Yesterday night I had 3 ounce left over of #4 and it was still drinking well, showing more clean/pretty red fruit flavors and elegance. This was my favorite blind pair of wines of the night. And my favorite food pairing of the night: #3 with the pork collar (pasilla-tamarind puree, puffed rice, pickled onion). The pair also worked well with the roasted wild mushroom en papillote (fire roasted peppers, fresh oregano, truffle pecorino, toasted bread). Charred Tamaki Gold Rice (macadamia nuts, avocado, pickled carrots, salty-sweet-spicy coconut cream, wraps vegan) and Brussels Sprouts Caesar (cotija cheese, cornbread crumble, jalapeño, radish, scallion, cilantro) was less than ideal pairing due to the heat/spiciness but were delicious.

Flight 3:
5) 2005 Desmeure Domaine des Remizieres Hermitage Cuvee Emilie
6) 2005 Lagier Meredith Mount Veeder Syrah
Okay, so again right out of the gate I make the same mistake again on locking into something early. I thought I smelled tobacco in #5 which points me to cab. In hindsight, it was probably more smoky than tobacco/cigar. I heard tar and creosote mentioned at the table. The meaty and peppery quality should have pointed me towards Syrah. #5 was more brawny and powerful. I think Andrew called Cornas which was a great guess. #6 was more elegant with mineral core and violets and fits my idea of cool climate syrah. Both had great perfumed noses and you can see the underlying varietal theme but just slightly branched in different flavor due to location/wine making. This worked great with the unctuous glazed & braised short rib (potato puree, sunchokes). Was fun to try my first Lagier Meredith wine, and I can see why many people on WB are into their wines.

Flight 4:
7) 2004 Pontet Canet
8) 2004 Mount Eden Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Nose of cab with 10+ years of age, cigar/tobacco, forest floor. #7 more on the earthy/mushroom and #8 more on the cool peppery tobacco notes, LOVED the nose on #8. The wines tasted like they smelled with #8 having brighter red fruit. #7 tasted older than #8, knowing that they were from the same vintage. I felt like #8 was very similar to the Mount Eden cab Chris shared last year and guessed Mount Eden cab in a joking manner. I had trouble placing where #7 was from, and in the end just said Bordeaux. The flight was paired with Imperial Wagyu Flank (daikon ponzu, scallion salad), Tartare Frites (crispy shallots, bearnaise), Radiatori Pasta (San Marzano pork sugo, Pecorino). Had a half glass of the left over Mount Eden yesterday night and my wife said it smells and tastes like hay (while making a frowning face). Nose was still kicking and drinking well. My WOTN Wednesday and Thursday. Really want to get some of this into my cellar soon.

nice lineup. Chris has a great cellar full of interesting jewels.

That sounds like an extremely nice line-up of wines.

Vietnam,
Love your impressions! And I love Chris’ concept, pairing French and California wines, especially as I have representatives from a number of the producers here.

Dang, if I wasn’t in work travel mode this past week, I would have jumped into the table and sat with you guys. One thing people may not know about Counselor Seiber is that he has a gift for the cerebral, of the inspiration through ideas. His pairings above are a great example of that trait, which I appreciate about you, Counselor. (For any Myers-Briggs dorks out there like I am, he’s a classic NP type that is a gas to be around–the goal is always FUN!).

Viet, I dig that you’re continuing to journey with the blind format. It forces learning and appreciation, always leaving the bruise of humility behind with it.

Great notes.

Love the old world vs new side by side blind!

Also, I’ve been meaning to go eat at Playground. Thoughts on the restaurant?

Hey guys, thank you for the positive feedback. I agree, awesome line up and I loved Chris’ thought process. And yup, tons of FUN that night.

Eric, Playground is a pretty solid choice for the area: good food at fair prices in a casual setting. The service was great that night.

Wish you could have been there Frank. I noted to Chris we had the 2008 Horseshoe at your huge Rhys tasting last year. My first offline where I first met many of you guys. Very thankful for the past year of wine gatherings and looking forward to finishing 2018 strong

Agreed on all counts–Viet, I loved reading your report----you dove so comprehensively into the comparative side, and I felt like I was there with you as you let the wines leave their impressions. For no written notes, astounding. Great collection and generosity, Counselor! Appreciate the check-in on the 05 Lagier-Meredith…I have a 2004 that keeps calling to me to open it and I am resisting–for now!

Glad you enjoyed the pinot flight—it took me many tries to understand that Rhys Pinots are best enjoyed with at least 8 years on them for the most part. I am pleasantly surprised at your notes on the Maume, since the estate had produced underwhelming wines for a while until Pascal Marchand took over.

I’ve been to Playground once and like the food and setup there.

Kwa heri

Mike

Thanks for the great writeup, Viet, and to the rest of you for the nice comments.

It turned out to be a fun set of comparisons: I was going for generally same varietal composition, same vintage, roughly similar price, and one from France versus one from California. Though – not really so much by design as just what was available and made sense to open when I dug around – the four California wines were all ones with more of an old world sensibility and climate to them, so the stylistic contrast wasn’t big or easy to spot.

It turned out all the wines showed pretty well, and there was not a big spread between the better and weaker showings. I thought the Kutch, PYCM, Rhys, Remizieres and Mount Eden were the ones that did the best that night, and the Maume, Pontet Canet and Lagier Meredith were not as on point, possibly not quite in the optimal age and/or amount of decanting.

Like many WBers, I’ve done too much stockpiling and not enough opening when it comes to my Rhys pinots over the years, but I thought this was one of the best I’ve had, and it really rewarded the 10 years in the bottle. It was pretty closed upon first opening, but I decanted it for an hour or so earlier in the day, poured it back into the bottle, and let it sit with the top open the rest of the day, and it seemed to hit a good spot that evening. It pulled the nice trick of having good concentration and extract to it, yet not be sweet, overripe or heavy. A bit on the darker and more masculine side for a pinot, but just great overall complexity, balance, and interest.

The chardonnay comparison was the most interesting side by side. The Kutch was lean, cool, minerally and a bit herbal, with a very long, piercing finish. The PYCM had more heft and density, some gunflint, a bit earthy, and also a long, lemony finish. I’d call it a tie in terms of how good they were, but it was fun to see two excellent representations of that (my preferred) style of chardonnay, each highlighting different parts of the spectrum. Great value here, too, as both sell for around $45-50, which is not cheap, but a great price considering the caliber of the wines.

Mount Eden cabernets continue to impress me, and I don’t know why I don’t buy more of them. With prices for Monte Bello soaring (justifiably), these are such a great value in the old world, cool climate, ageworthy style of California cabernet.

Thanks for the notes. I’ve had a decent amount of the 04 Pontet Canet - do you think this may have been a slightly advanced bottle? Or is that just in comparison to the Mt. Eden? I’ve yet to have an 04 PC that has had very strong mushroom notes (and it’s not a vintage I plan to cellar for decades, to be honest).

Hi Greg. I don’t have a lot of experience with Pontet Canet so my impressions are likely skewed to a large degree with the comparison to the Mt. Eden. It did seem like Chris was saying that the PC didn’t show as well as expected. I enjoyed all the wines that night, but preferred the fruit from the Mt. Eden cab in that pairing.

Thanks. I’ve not had Mt. Eden, and my comment wasn’t a suggestion that the Pontet Canet should be the better wine. Rather that the notes were a bit of a surprise to me and suggested a more advanced wine than what I’m familiar with. Makes sense it wasn’t the best showing (although in fairness, the 04 will never be a great wine).

2004 Pontet Canet is actually a really good wine. No, it won’t be an '05 or a '10, but it’s damn fine.

I completely agree - I own half a case and have been drinking the other half for years. It is a very good wine, and I’m generally a fan of the 04 vintage as a good structured one (which suits my palate). But it will never be a great Pontet Canet. It’s also why I was surprised at the note - I haven’t been getting those notes from the 04, and it was perhaps a slightly advanced bottle.

I didn’t think the Pontet Canet was an advanced bottle or that the wine is getting over the hill – maybe it’s just one of those things about how one tasting note sounds. More likely it needed more air and/or age. I thought it was good, but it was a step below the better wines of the evening.

That was also wine #8 of the evening, so don’t put too much stock in my recollection.

I think we’re parsing this with fine legal precision