The DC crowd came to Westchester, and we went to Talia in Port Chester, a restaurant I had heard from friends was incredible. And so it proved; I dreamt that night of the smoke trout roe and crème fraiche that accompanied the grilled prawns.
And the wines? Well apart an exhausted Mouton 1959 and a charmless Drouhin Charmes 1969, the wines showed brilliantly.
Beginning with the legendary Palmer. I have had it a couple of times in verticals, but this was the best showing. An absolutely fantastic wine, that stopped time in its tracks. It was perfect from its initial screamingly precise nose of red fruit, spice, licorice and leather all the way through to its massive finish. One of the people there said it was the finest Bordeaux she had ever had, and it’s hard to argue with that.
Magdelaine 1952 was shockingly good. I have had ancient Magdelaines before, and they were excellent, but 1952 is not a storied vintage, so I was not sure what to expect. It could have come from the eighties, still showing fruit and some, but not overwhelming, tertiary components. Had Palmer not been in the same flight, I would have spent more time with it, but it was delicious .
Moving on to the start of the lunch.
From one of my favorite vintages.
Krug Mesnil and Taittinger Comtes 1988
Mesnil showed beautifully, Taittinger took longer to open, and even then, paled a little bit against the Mesnil. But honestly, anything would. I am always surprised how different Mesnil is to other Krugs. It does not have that yeasty heavy brioche flavors, so the purity of the fruit comes through.
Chablis flight. Raveneau Vaillons 2008 and Billaud Samuel Monnterre 2021
The Billaud was lusty, mineral driven and lovely. The Raveneau had more weight and complexity from age. Quality wise I did not see much difference.
Keller Morstein 2009
Another brilliant effort from Keller. I have to say that I switched my allegiance to the more affordable Schafer Frohlich, but I still am blown away by Keller wines, and this was particularly good.
Lignier Clos de la Roche 1991
My favorite of the Burgundies. Young still, quite powerful but seamless at the same time. Really enjoyed the wine, but a little overshadowed by some of the other bottles on the table.
Jadot Corton 1978.
Took a little time to come round. At opening, it was all bunched up, but with time stretched a bit. Nice older Burgundy, finish medium long.
