Its rare that I experience a wine event where there are more than a couple of “off” wines, if any at all, but our most recent monthly lunch groups luncheon definitely took top honors for having the most in one sitting. In fact, I hesitated more than a few times to even write up these notes, but found enough pearls to warrant such and titled it as positive as I could think of.
The broad wine theme featured wines from Bordeaux.
Fifteen of us shared 20 bottles paired with the following menu:
First Course
Chilled vichyssoise
Second Course
Stew roasted quail stuffed with mushroom truffle pate served with scalloped potatoes
Third Course
Rack of lamb with herb roasted vegetables and potato confit
Fourth Course
Wild arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and champagne vinaigrette
Cheese Course
Saint Andres
Dessert
Pear galette with lavender ice cream
For those who might wonder if the arugula salad worked with red Bordeaux, it did not.
For those wondering if we had good, solid unflawed bottles of wine, we had a few.
The first flight of 4 wines contained 3 that were saturated with Brett {85 Clerc Milon, 82, my bring, Chateau Branaire-Ducru, 96 Chateau Branaire}. The other bottle was corked [89 Pichon Lalande]. The first wine of the 2nd flight also was Brett laden {96 Chateau Gloris} as were others later on {95 Gloria, 94 Cos dEstournel, 00 Smith Haut-Lafitte}. Also, we had a 96 Calon-Segur and 98` Figeac that were truly off bottles.
What’s with the wine gods on this day?
And there were some decent wines with one a particular standout. We started off with-
NV CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT RESERVE- disgorged in 2017, this creamy and lush bubbly gave generous amount of fresh citrus notes acceded by toast and spice; on the palate it was expressed as lemon, lime and orange peel; this has some weight and length to make for a sound wine.
2014 CHATEAU CARBONNIEUX BLANC PESSAC-LEOGNAN- 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Semillon; light yellow color; the nose was full of white flowers, grass and hay followed by nice citrus fruit and minerals and grapefruit coming in late. Might have been the best choice for the arugula, but gone by the time we got there.
1988 CHATEAU d`YQUEM LUR-SALUCE “Y” SAUTERNES- 80% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle; pale yellow color; minerality is the first perception on the nose, then came citrus and green minty notes in this creamy, delightful version of a mature “Y”.
The first red wine that was free and clear of flaw and our 6th of 16 was:
1990 CHATEAU LA CONSEILLANTE POMEROL- it wins red WOTD by default for holding on to just be viable {kidding}; suggesting some age with its browning color, this had mature notes of dried dark fruit with liquorice flavored black currant running through it from the nose on.
2000 CHATEAU CORBIN SAINT. EMILION- I don’t recall ever having a wine from this producer altho they are one of the oldest in St-Emilion dating back into the 1500s; the color was a still youthful and vibrant dark purple and the nose impressed with lots of dark fruit fragrances; leather infused black currant, plum and blackberry highlight the taste profile.
2000 CHATEAU-FIGEAC SAINT-EMILION- initially this was very approachable offering inviting pleasant aromas of spicy and chocolate accented dark fruit which continued on in this full bodied, layered wine; past mid palate, the plum and blackcurrant fruit dried out a bit and it finished somewhat astringent.
1998 CHATEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE PESSAC-LEOGNAN- our bottle was passable with dried out tertiary black currant and plum that had an earthy note; hints of past greatness eeked through and I focused more upon that to make it a winner.
2003 CHATEAU PAVIE-DECESSE SAINT-EMILION- drum roll……this wine is the main reason I even wrote up the notes, in fact, it was so good, I would have at least written up this one; it was youthfully fresh and vibrant with intense dark purple color and aromas to match giving jammy blackberry notes that continued on with accents of chocolate and licorice blending in; its beautifully structured, has soft tannins and layered depth and complexity; full and long, it just exudes class with some subtle power and more obvious finesse. My WOTD and what made it worth trudging through so many that underwhelmed.
2015 CHATEAU CANTENAC-BROWN MARGAUX- so young and in need of some growing up; I do not believe it was decanted, but could have benefitted with a few hours of air; its frisky, energetic and a bit discombobulated still trying to balance out and find its settling point; there’s enough backbone to suggest its got the stuffing to evolve and mature into something worth re-visiting in about 15-20 years.
2005 CHATEAU RIEUSSEC SAUTERNES- creamy feel and texture carry honeyed and vanilla flavored pear and peach all the way to the back end and leave a coat of film that hangs our for hours; a little sip will do ya.
Cheers,
Blake
