Just returned from a trip visiting friends in Alsace, the Languedoc and Hautes Alps. Drank lots of wine, but the one bottle (actually two, more on that later) that was the most memorable was the 1959 Rousseau Chambertin from a cellar that my friend inherited from her parents. The cork was pulled some five hours before serving. In the glass, bricking throughout with browning at the rim. Ethereal bouquet of damp earth, game, truffles and minerals (almost iron-like). With vigorous swirling, subtle notes of dark fruits emerge. The perfume did not lose it’s intensity over the 2+ hours we drank it with dinner. Full and concentrated in the mouth, with a velvety texture that was simply alluring. Taste of truffles and earth that linger and linger. Whatever characteristics this wine may have shown in it’s youth, it’s now elegant and refined. Paired with the wine was a risotto with a blizzard of black truffles shaved onto it. My friend had saved a giant truffle from the winter’s bounty, vacuum sealed it and froze it. This technique did not cause the truffle to lose much flavor intensity nor texture. The risotto was it - nothing before, nothing after -all the better because the taste of the wine and truffles lingered on the palate for a long time. The entire experience was enhanced by spectacular views of the Alps from the kitchen and dining room.
In Alsace, I drank a bottle of the 1990 Andre Ackermann Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg Bergheim. This is a producer whose wines are not exported to the US, but if you are in Alsace and see this or Ackermann’s other wines on a restaurant list, give it a try. The sheer intensity of the aromatics and flavors of the 1990 is astounding. A bottle of harmony and finesse. I also drank the 2009 Riesling VV, a delicious wine with focused flavors and concentration. Ackermann has or will be retiring this year, so there are no longer any opportunities to taste at his domain.
