'04 Ramonet Batard, '01 Rousseau Chambertin

Dinner with Alan Weinberg and wives last night at Knife Pleat in the South Coast Plaza in Orange County, Ca. Tony Esnault is the chef is the space that used to be Marche Moderne, but is unrecognizable from that restaurant. Contemporary but a nice feeling. The food was outstanding - I had lobster risotto and a rabbit pasta (having enough carbs for all of us), and Alan had the butter lettuce salad and duck and some incredible confit. The wines were opened at the restaurant, with the Chambertin being decanted, and both were in good shape. The Ramonet had its usual power and weight with less than usual amounts of the mint character and a long lasting finish. Young looking for a 14 year old wine, bottles as well stored as this have years to go. The Chambertin was still mostly in its primary stages with no browning at the edge of the dark hued wine and not as forthcoming as I would have hoped for. But the cool, dark fruits of this wine still draw you into the glass wanting more. As expensive as this wine is now, I’d wait a few more years before opening one to get full advantage of all the nuances this one will have to offer. As I have often said, and surprisingly it applies to these wines also, at the end of the night a great white burgundy will finish first.

The 01 Chambertin needs at least another 7-10 years to really begin to hit its full stride.Just drank it and its still too young but has all the stuffing it needs to become great.

Young looking for a 14 year old wine that was 15! Bottles like this will last 20 more years. Powerful refined citrus fruit but not much Ramonet mint, as Jerry mentioned. The Chambertin was a bit reticent and hinted at future greatness. Cool fruit is a great descriptor.

Cool of Jerry to open it also. Since I’ve been low carb on this recent regime, this was my first wine in 32 days and I had to watch my three dinner compatriots devour a delicious-looking dessert. I’ll make up for it in the future.

Knife Pleat has an excellent but limited menu and allows only two bottles corkage. But there are plenty of good options on that menu. We’ll be back.

The food sounds as great as the wine, and that’s a fine pair of bottles. My most recent 01 Rousseau Chambertin (2 years ago) was drinking beautifully.

Diet? I knew something was up when the Doc didn’t have 4 orders of that lobster risotto! You guys do it right! [cheers.gif]

Well done chaps.

I bought quite a bit of that '01 Chambertin for under $200. Those were the days.

those were the days—1990s were $100/

haha. In my dreams. But down 15 lbs in anticipation of a trip to Belgium and Netherlands where I’ll have seconds on foie. I always drop 20 before vacay so no guilt on the trip.

Nice job guys. Two great wines. I had several Clos de Beze from 01 Rousseau. That particular wine was more forward and giving than the Chambertin. I think 01 was a very good year for Rousseau. Cheers.