Four guys, five hours, six courses, seven bottles. A tip of the cap to John Ammons for preparing an astonishingly delicious dinner to accompany the wines.
2005 and 2007 Rhys “Alpine Vineyard” Chardonnay. The 2005 was extremely impressive at first, showing great balance, limestone minerality and granny smith apple-like fruit. With air, however, a wood toast aspect took over and never went away. The 2007 on the other hand was less impressive at first – nice fruit but pretty one-dimensional. After it had been open for a while though it started to soar. The fruit remained but the acidity and minerality emerged and it became the better of the two wines.
2009 Thomas Morey Puligny-Montrachet “La Truffiere” and 2001 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. These were both utterly delicious and really served to showcase the food. The Puligny had a solid acid backbone and wasn’t quite as ripe as I expected. The Corton had an extra dimension and could easily pass for a much younger wine – served blind I would have never guessed this was 12+ years old.
2002 Littorai “One Acre” Pinot Noir and 2009 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er. The Littorai took forever to open but when it finally did it displayed great balance and a lovely tart cherry flavor profile. The Beaune seemed “correct” but didn’t have much charm and didn’t bring much pleasure. Time will probably help.
1990 Chateau d’Yquem. It’s always a thrill to drink d’Yquem but this one definitely needs more age. At this moment in time (or at least with this particular bottle) the sweetness is masking all the other elements and layers that make d’Yquem special. Delicious yes but ethereal no.
