Four of us members of the Wednesday Wine Group {WWG} met for dinner at the newly renovated and now reopened waterfront classic, The Harbor Restaurant located on Stearn’s Wharf in Santa Barbara.
Our table was situated next to the bay windowed side of the restaurant overlooking the harbor and numerous slips full of various sized boats and yachts and beyond to the Channel Islands about 25 miles out.
We were graced with a pre and post sunset hue with the sun setting behind the nearby Mesa on a blue bird day that could not have been more perfect.
Live music was not far away as a trio played soft jazz and pop music and the large dining room was buzzing with energy.
While feasting on a selection of surf and turf options, we chose to brown bag our wines and as it turned out, we had some spectacular bottles. Here’s some notes:
2002 TAITTINGER COMTES DE CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC BRUT- blind, it had a mellow yellow color, but that was the end of the mellowness as this wine was such a treat with wondrous aromas and tastes of honeyed lemon and lime being delivered in a creamy texture with some weight and exuding power with a thrust and yet enough finesse and charm to ease it through on the palate; this was one of the best champagnes I’ve had in a while and I’ve been blessed to have quite a few top notch winners in the last year or five. My first impression on the first sip had it as 2006 Comtes, but the power and weight that came on suggested 2008 and that is where I landed; I’ve had many great Comtes from 2002, but this bottle took it to another level. I immediately started looking for sources and bought some.
2016 DOMAINE WILLIAM FEVRE BOUGROS CHABLIS GRAND CRU- blind; the light yellow color was followed by an assortment of aromas that included a perfume consisting of tropical fruit, white flowers, star gazer lilies, minerals and wet stone joined by honey dew melon and lemon grass with a hint of mint on the palate; it seemed sweet and at times bitter; it was rich and creamy and at times thin and lean; I was not sure what this was supposed to eventually evolve to, but it took its time and finally landed in a good place.
Fevre owns just over 50% of Bougros, located at the western end of the Chablis Grand Cru. 50% is fermented in six-year old barrels, before 15 months aing (part in barrel}.
Over the last 25 years, I’ve been blessed to have had some of the finest wines ever made due to the extreme generosity of one of our WWG members. Some of those wines include at least 6 bottles of 1985 Sassacaia, each one being the best bottle I’ve ever had, 1985 DRC La Tache, 1990 DRC Echezeaux, numerous older bottles of Chateau D’Yquem including 1945, 1961 Petrus and many others. I had no idea tonight would include another treasure:
1985 DOMAINE ROMANEE de la CONTI RICHEBOURG GRAND CRU- blind; the color was so indicative of an aged wine with browning red purple and bricking and the nose seemed to confirm it with dried and earth laden fruit with some smoke and metallic burnt cherry aromas; the taste profile included dried red currant and wild red cherry with a little heat; it was medium bodied and weighted and finished nicely with more fruit and less offensive notes; amazingly, it got better in the glass as some compounds evidently blew off and about 20 minutes after pouring, it was more about the nice spicy dried red fruit with red raspberry most prominent; I never dreamed it was a DRC and guessed it to be Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Musigny Grand Cru 'Cuvee Vieilles Vignes’ from the 1980s which had similar notes the last time I had it.
2009 DOMAINE des LAMBRAYS CLOS des LAMBRAYS GRAND CRU- blind; my bring, decanted 5 hours with gentle swirling hourly; recognized; I had recently opened up the 2010 with another wine group and wanted to see how this vintage compared as I have an opportunity to purchase more of each and share it with this group; I found an amazing similarity in the 2 vintages, especially the sandalwood, talc, spicy and white peppered strawberry, blueberry and red raspberry fruit with the silky mouthfeel and impeccable balance; for my palate, this is the KIND; it hits all of the right spots and maintained a consistent showing over the hour or more in the glass and I’m getting more.
Blind tastings are so humbling and also tend to bring more wines into a closer realm of reality against each other and on this night, the DRC was probably graded a lot lower than if drank non blind. Regardless, it was righteous bring and I’m super grateful for the opportunity to have tasted it and for sharing the evening with great friends.
Cheers,
Blake
