TN: "Champagne, Chablis and a Touch of Red" Dinner

“CHAMPAGNE, CHABLIS AND A TOUCH OF RED” DINNER - HIX Oyster and Chophouse, London (6/23/2009)

As summer approaches five of us gathered for some tipples and some whites with a little dinner. we thought it would be nice to work our way through some champagne and some chablis and of course some reds managed their way in as well
we choose to do this at a new place in London that serves great oysters and seafood and even thought the concept of BYO seemed to be foreign to them by the end i think they enjoyed it almost as much as we did.
Assorted Oysters, which were very fresh and delicous- I thought the Mouldons were the best, but the Colchesters really had a good ocean taste to them. the others were good as well. Langoustines, steamed with fennel and Dill

  • 1996 A. R. Lenoble Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru - France, Champagne
    light yellow color, vibrant bubbles. a touch metallic in the mouth at first but that seems to go away. mostly a tart citrus lemon flavor with a touch of apple. seems fairly young with a medium long finish. first time i have had this champagne. seems like pretty good value for money (91 pts.)
  • 1996 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne
    golden yellow color, vibrant small bubbles. nutty nose. it the mouth though this seemed to show a touch of sherry along with the nuttiness that took away from the sharp straight line of acid , the backbone. the bottle seemed a bit advanced to me and one or two others at the table who have had this before said this was not a good bottle. it was a shame as this tipple seemed to have a lot of good citrus and acidity, and was very well balance, just seemed a bit off. oh well , just have to wait for the next one (90 pts.)
  • 1979 Henriot Champagne P. de Rothschild Reserve - France, Champagne
    I ad never seen this bottling of Henriot before. the cork came out a little flat and were a bit worried but no reason to be, a nice gold color with lots of bubbles. a sweet hazelnut nose. the mouth had honeycomb, a touch of dough, and a nice sweetness. it was medium length and still very lively. really enjoyed this champagne (93 pts.)

Home cured (smoked) Salmon, Fried Sand Eels and Fried Sprats

  • 1999 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
    yellow green color, a touch of sulfur minerals on the nose with some citrus. this wine in the mouth was pretty interesting, it had a fresh but fine acidity and lightness to it but it seemed to keep getting longer and longer. the balance was just amazing, it showed some hazelnuts, some spice, some tartness. i kept coming back to it and it kept showing different things. a really lovely wine (92 pts.)
  • 2001 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
    shame but at least there was only one bad one NR (flawed)
  • 1996 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
    Wine shows that green lemon yellow color (not bad for 13 year old chables!!!wow!!!) this again still had a bit of mineral ocean nose (i guess some would call it beachy sulfur) really fresh clean and bright in the mouth. citrus and lemon but in a lovely fresh way. this wine had length and stayed fresh through dinner. very much enjoyed this and imagine this wine has 5+ years left on it easily (92 pts.)
  • 1996 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
    Light yellow color. fresh nose of lemons, sulfur and seaside. fresh in the mouth, a nice slight creaminess to it, this went really well with the langoustines. a nice floral lemon flavor. crisp clean and long, i think this wine has years aead of it (93 pts.)

Whole Roast Chicken carved at the table and served with Bread Sauce and a Chicken Liver Stuffing, Porterhouse Steak for two, Veal Chop (this was very tasty veal). Chips, Green Salad

  • 1985 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    slight fading and brickiness to the color but a clean looking bottle and wine. a nose of earthy dark red fruits and just a bit of leather. in the mouth this wine showed more sweet fruits than i was expecting from the nose, it was really lovely and lively , perhaps not the best bottle of this wine but still in very good shape. theh mouth was medium weight and the wine kept showing different parts of its character., a bit of fruit a bit of earth, i guess a bit of youth and a bit of age, complex wine. long finish. very good wine that is in a really good spot right now. love the 85’s (93 pts.)
  • 1993 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
    Deep dark color on this wine still. if not for seeing the label i would have thought 5 or more years younger. sweet cherries and a bit of barn on the nose, a bit of spice as well. in the mouth it is bold and a bit spicy still, not showing too much acidity. some red fruits, ainise and earth. this wine had a lot to say during the main course and went well with the food but at the end started to come apart a bit. in a good place to drink now i think (92 pts.)
  • 2004 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
    Threw in a younger bottle out of curiousity as so much noise about the “greenies” . this wine has a dark color, a strong nose of red fruits. on the mouth it is spicy dark cherry juice dipped in chocolate , well balanced long finish. there is a touch of heat and black pepper but i don’t get the green pepper or veg that gets thrown onto the '04s. perhaps i am not that sensitive. nice wine, leave it alone for a while to let the tannins smooth out (90 pts.)
  • 2002 Pascal Lachaux Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
    deep dark color, leatherey cherry nose to this baby. big bold wine in the mouth , dark fruits, spice, grippy tannins. this wine is a bit of a baby but going to be a big kid. the fruit is nice and a bit ripe/forward but the balance is pretty good, a bit warm. this needs time, revisit in a few years or perhaps a good food wine at the moment (90 pts.)

at the end of the night looking back at the wines a few thoughts
-what a shame it is about all the premox issues. when white burg/chablis is good it is so good but so many of us (including all of us at the table, are so afraid to age it or buy much of it now) but in the hands of guys like Raveneau and Dauvissat it is amazing stuff
-need to find more good '85 Burgundies
-I LOVE CHAMPAGNE !!!
Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for the notes Ken. The Ravenau and Dauvissat sound especially delicious. It’s perfect Chablis season!

Agreed on the Raveneau sounding delicious - wonderful notes, Ken, and completely got me in the mood for some Chablis, which I don’t have!

Ken,

Cool dinner. Lenoble is one of those somewhat under the radar producers. Wines are good, it isn’t that hard to find, prices are rather low compared to the competition, and marketing is almost non-existant. Their 2002 Rose is a very good QPR with very good aging potential. Shame about the 96 CdG (which disgorgement was it?) and I am jealous of the 79 Henriot Rothschild.

brad
i didnt get to see which disgorgement it was and agreed it was a shame as i was really looking forward to it as i have had little or none of this. oh well

the Henriot was one of those great experiences, hadn’t had it before and i turns out great!!! wish there was more but that was the last bottle of the case.