Our dinner group enjoyed a robust and lively outing in the private back dining room of one of our favorite restaurants, Olio e Limone.
Our wine theme was the usual champagne and white Burgundy plus world class Merlot and Cabernet Franc. As it turned out, we had world class champagne and white Burgundy as well as world class Merlot and CF.
Also as usual, our leader orders a gazillion appetizers and for the first couple of hours, we are indulging in plates coming from all directions and using our best geometric skills to fit as much as we can on a small plate and grabbing a bite every so often while navigating the numerous bottles circulating back and forth at the same time. Time in for a pour. Time in for plating an app. Time out for a sip. Time out for a taste and on and on until exhaustion sets in about 3 hours later.
We had 5 champagnes and 4 white Burgs and all were good to excellent:
2012 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- I had just picked up 3 of 6 bottles I’ve ordered and was too curious to see what the potential was for this youngster so, here`s the first trial; I guess I should have waited, but at least it is confirmed, it needs a lot of time; no question, this will be a good one as it has bright acidity, loads of fresh citrus with lemon lime most prominent and subtle accents of spice and toasty brioche; the fruit was a bit tart at first, but that dissipated; overall, it had an element of elegance, but just needs time to evolve, balance and flesh out and come together.
2008 BOLLINGER LA GRANDE ANNEE BRUT- 71% Pinot Noir, 29% Chardonnay from 18 crus, mainly Aÿ and Verzenay for the Pinot Noir, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant for the Chardonnay; dosage 8 gpl; this was the antithesis of the 12` Cristal and absolutely fabulous being full bodied, rich and creamy; it was loaded with wondrous flavors that included toasty brioche, spice and honey laden lemon zest with hints of orange peel, kiwi and golden delicious apple. I want some.
1995 TAITTINGER COMTES DE CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC- the champagne of the vintage IMHO and better than the 96 for many years until more recently when the latter really came around and is shining brightly now; I’ve drunk all of my stash up, but when one of our members brought this and I could have kissed him; it was truly outstanding, so much so it was tied for WOTN with a red; it had a huge, inviting nose of toasted honeysuckle, almond butter, butterscotch and white peach which continued on while being delivered in a creamy, super rich textured medium; it had impeccable balance and a nice, long welcomed finish; again, IMHO, this is as good as any 83, 85 or 88 CdC I’ve had.
NV LAUNOIS LES MESNIL-SUR-OGER BRUT ROSE- this was lovely with rose petal aromas and not too sweet and toasty strawberry and red raspberry fruit all the way through; it had a medium body and weight and had an pleasant mousse that sealed the deal.
NV ANDRE CHENIN BRUT TRADITION BLANC de NOIR- this is a blend of various pinot noir base wines that gets 3 years on lees as evidenced by its subtle toasty element that accompanied nice sweet red cherry/ berry fruit; it was easy on the palate, fun and refreshing.
We moved on to 4 really fine white Burgundy:
2017 MOREY-COFFINET LES HOUIILLERES CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET- flint and minerals dominate the aromatics and are joined by the seamless introduction of citrus notes on the palate; it has an oily texture and is in nice balance; very fine and pleasing.
2015 CHATEAU de PULIGNY-MONTRACHET EN REMILLY SAINT-AUBIN 1er cru- loved this wine for its marvelous elegance and charm as well as for its fresh and ripe pear, apple, mango and citrus fruit; even within its elegance, it had enough body and weight to suggest a bigger wine, but did so with class and finesse.
2015 PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY EN REMILLY NICHOLAS et MATHIS SAINT-AUBIN 1er cru- this consistently fabulous bottling again provided such a treat offering generous amounts of pleasing aromatics, taste and mouthfeel from the nose through the tail; initially, there was a touch of minerality and match stick along with lemon lime notes, but the citrus fruit took over and gave wondrous flavors of lime, orange peel and lemon zest; all of the attributes seemed to expand and grow; the viscous texture seemed to just cap off the complete tantalizing sensory experience.
2011 HENRI BOILLOT LES PUCELLES PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 1er cru- this comes from 57 areas of the Les Pucelles plot, harvested by hand and then stringently selected, followed by a prolonged 16-month élevage in large barrels, without stirring; our bottle was absolutely fabulous; it had spice and peppery ripe citrus fruit along with an incredible mouthfeel carrying all of the goodness to the back end where it hung out and gave up even more of its treasures; this is rich, full on and yet light and easy.
Now it’s time for the stars of the show who have waiting in the background to be appreciated and step on the the stage. I thought I heard them cheering as we prepared our glasses and licked out lips:
1982 JAEGER INGELWOOD VINEYARD MERLOT NAPA- I noticed the color was an amazingly youthful dark, vibrant purple and re-checked the label to make sure I had the right vintage; even the nose and taste profiles seemed somewhat youthful, certainly not indicative of a 38 year old wine; mint and eucalyptus accents enhanced the blueberry and blackberry fruit and a touch of dried black currant which may have been the only clue for some evidence of maturity.
1982 CHATEAU L`EVANGILE POMEROL in magnum- Merlot and Cabernet Franc; nice bring and sadly corked.
1995 CHATEAU LA CROIX de GAY POMEROL- 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc; this has been hyped as coming from a family property owned for over 5 centuries, since 1477, and a vintners property since 1772; unfortunately, it had a lot of Brett and VA that overwhelmed any other attributes for me.
2000 CHATEAU PAVIE SAINT-EMILION GRAND CRU- 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; yay, after the last two, we have a viable wine here; the nose was real grapey at first with dark fruit implications, but after a few minutes, it changed and became more distinct and less intense black cherry; the taste had mint and eucalyptus enhanced black currant, blueberry and blackberry; it was super smooth and velvety and big, rich and full bodied yet is easy on the palate; this is the epitome of the iron fist in a velvet glove analogy; one of the best reds on the night. Decanted 2 hours ahead. I`ve had at least 3 previous bottles of this wine and all have been superb.
2004 TUA RITA REDIGAFFI TOSCANA- affectionally called baby Masseto by many; serious notes spring out of the glass suggesting something really good forthcoming and that was exactly true as this was sensational; chocolate laced blackberry, blueberry and black cherry abounds while being delivered in a full bodied, lush texture; its got layers of depth and complexity and here’s that analogy again, iron fist and velvet glove like. It’s so big now and has all of the stuffing to go for the long haul, say 20+ years to reach some semblance of its apogee.
2009 CLOS ROUGEARD LE BOURG SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY- 100% Cabernet Franc; this Loire wine has received so much praise not to mention carrying a huge price tag {I found only one source in the US for $614}; regardless and without too much bias, I found the wine to be ridiculously concentrated and complex; it was very youthful with loads of energy; the color was a very dark, vibrant purple; the nose boasted serious dark fruit with an earthy component; the taste profile included ripe black cherry and black currant; it was super fruit forward and yet pleasing enough to be not overbearing; this is such a big, heavily extracted wine, it really can use a lot of time before it reaches any semblance of maturity.
2013 LE MACCHIOLE “PALEO” ROSSO TOSCANA- 100% Cabernet Franc; this release was initially a Bordeaux blend starting in 89, but the shifts eventually reached 100% CF by 93; the first thing I noticed was the nose had a large hit of smoke laden black fruit; the taste also included generous amounts of black cherry/ berry and black currant enhanced with oak spices; it was smooth and so easy on the palate and had a nice, long finish; stellar wine.
We had at least 2 dessert wines:
2016 SCHAFER FLOHLICH FELSENBERG GROSSES GEWACHS RIESLING NAHE- this dry Riesling was very nice with expressions of tropical fruit, pineapple, lemon and grapefruit served up in a medium bodied texture.
2006 SINE QUA NON “THE NOBLE MAN” MR K- 375 ml; from 100% botrytised Chardonnay; this sweetie had an amazing depth of flavors which included honeyed and spicy peach, nectarine, apricot and creme brûlée; it was thick and almost chewy, just short of requiring a knife and fork.
Another almost over the top evening with the gang. One of the joys of writing up notes is that I get to re-live the fantastic wines in even more detail as well as recall the high feeling experienced while participating in these incredible dinners with dear friends.
Cheers,
Blake