This was some night. Tran Bronstein, Jay Shampur, Michael Wright and I–the founding members of Tran’s TWEC, headed out to a familiar haunt for them and a too-long-away location for me, Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario. Chef Jason was in terrific form with the tasting menu and also spent considerable time with us—he is the Canadian rep for the Relais et Chateaux program. The service was…thrilling—the level of enthusiasm and engagement by all the staff, while at the same time maintaining elegance and letting us enjoy ourselves, was second to none.
I will let Tran provide his usual excellent pictorial and sartorial (sometimes satirical, sometimes stentorian ) commentary. On to the wines.
2008 Pol Roger Brut
A great starter from Tran, this is a beauty. The understated elegance that for me is a hallmark of the house is on full display. I was happy with how accessible this wine is already, with very pretty apple cider threads and sneaky/silky presence. Really good stuff.
2015 Meo Camuzet Corton Charlemagne
One of my two brings, this was my WOTY last year. And it was no less swoonful this time around. The fun part for me this time was assessing its reaction to various of the dishes. I departed from my usual prepping methodology (sort of based on a coravined sip last week) and just had this decanted at the restaurant. Light flowery glints around an apple and lemon nuzzie, this also hinted at light tropical fruit at times, and then with the caviar-and-brioche dish, some salinity was naturally highlighted. The culmination was 4 hours later with the main, a hen dish, where it was simply a dream come true. This is pure in a way that even white burg for me seldom gets. I never give WOTY to a wine twice, but it goes on the list, gets a 97 from me and is incredibly revelicious. I am the most fortunate of humans to have 2 more of these in the cellar.
2007 Jean-Noel Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet Caillerets
Michael ordered this off their list and it was a stunning counterpoint. What a treat to be shown the spread that white burgundy can attain. Laser-racy to start, this finally opened up after 3 hours and had so much to say—lemoncurd, nutmeats, a very small gingerale component, and real steely resolve. Noble austerity? It was a bang-on 2007 and reminded me why I love this vintage so much when the wines are healthy. Dazzling and some gunflint makes itself known in the nostrils later in the evening.
2003 Chateau Beaucastel Blanc
I was super-keen to try this, as my VV version of this last February really did not show well. We did decant this some, and perhaps we shouldn’t have—treatment of these is still a bit of a mystery to me, it seems. Regardless, I think we all agreed that this was the wine that showed the most flexibility and matchworthiness with the various dishes. Initially, the aroma and palate are all you could want, with beeswax, honey aplenty and lovely creamy feel with some length. That length fades as the evening goes on (though not as sharply as my VV) but for me the flavours do remain. A nice peach cobbler note shows up near the end of the evening. Excellent to have this counterpoint to the Champers and the burg.
Argyros 20 year Vinsanto
Indulge me as I post my note on this from the last time I had it, 6 years ago:
“Not Italian, this is 80% Assyrtiko, 10% Aidani and 10% Athiri. It’s left in oak barrels for 17 years and then bottle-aged another 3. Non-vintage. A good start on the nose, baked maple butter and sultana raisins come to the fore, some yellow plum. And truly? OMFG. First, it lasts forever. Then you talk about what it is…fruited treacle toffee, maple covered raisins, nips of spice here and there, and it has entrancing, perfect tannins as it goes down, a just-there grit that is a marvelous counterpoint to all the flavours. There is, amazingly, cherry at the back and possibly some bark as well, but mostly a rhapsody of toffee-infused goodness. Absolutely haunting stuff, I can’t stop thinking about it today. In character? Maybe this sums it up best----it’s a sweet version of a fine old red bordeaux. I haven’t given a 97 to anything that doesn’t have the word “Sauternes” attached to it in a long, long time, but I do so here. This is one of those “affirmation wines”—one that I will be able to call the taste, feel and experience of to the tip of my tongue 3 and 4 years from now. Tran paid just over $100 for this, and I am very lucky to have had the chance to share. My DOTY—Discovery of the Year.”
This has haunted my dreams for 6 years. It will haunt them for at least 6 more. Huge thanks to Tran for once again sharing one of these treasures. The texture hasn’t changed one bit tonight–the smooth-and-grit in perfect balance. What has changed for me is the scent and palate profile, where this time I picked up strawberry spread and chocolate as the main foci, along with some of that treacle. Superbly stunning meditation wine—I’m more niggardly with scoring now than I was back then, so today it only gets a 94 For me, that is still a huge compliment. In terms of ageing, I don’t think it will get any better or change, but it has what it needs to last forever and 7 years.
2004 Tablas Creek Vin de Paille
I was intending to bring this anyway, but for sure once Tran said he was toting the Argyros along. This? Not my favourite dessert wine of all time, but absolutely unique to anything—anything—I’ve ever had. Much more active and–Michael notes–acidity—to be found here, he also astutely catches orange marmalade. I see that too, but also with a ginger-anise zing-zang that certainly gets your attention. I saved some of this off and I am super-curious to see how it will perform over the next day or two, but when you combine the flavour profile with the very buttery and clingy feel of the wine, you have something not like the others.
My sincere thanks to the entire staff at Langdon Hall and, even more, to my good friends Tran, Jay and Michael for their continued friendship. It is a journey I hope we continue to make together for many more years.