A weekend of Burgundy and Champagne

WINE TALK
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We just finished a wonderful weekend with our good friends Jon and Kelly Favre of Tucson. Since we are temporarily in Portland for the summer, we invited them to visit to take a break from the Tucson heat. We provided some nice NW weather for them and tasted some very nice pinots during the day at several of my favorite wineries (not posting notes on those wines at this time). At night, we concentrated on Champagne and Burgundy. [cheers.gif] Everyone contributed some gems from their cellars, so I thought my notes might be of some interest.



Evening 1– A beautiful dinner at our good friends John and Crystal Lewis. John is just starting to collect burgundy, so this was a great opportunity for him to experience a few mature wines. John prepared the entire dinner and the setting was gorgeous. I must say, the hit of the evening was his foie gras dessert with the Eszencia.


Andre Clouet Cuvee 1911 –Nice brioche and citrus aromas. Good acidity. A great started and prelude to the DP.

1998 Dom Perignon- Something off about the wine from the beginning. Some brioche and apple aromas. As it sat in the glass, it seemed become more apparent that it had some cork taint. Bummer!

1992 Joseph Drouhin Meursault Perriers - Deep yellow. Nice caramel, ripe fruit and toasty oak notes on the nose. Perhaps, just a hint of oxidation, but not objectionable. Full, rich and long on the palate with a nice amount of acid on the back end. Very enjoyable. 92 points

1999 Robert Groffier Les Sentiers - Dark. Bouquet of cherries, spice, minerals and earth. Extremely well balanced with nice fruit and silky tannins. A very nice finish.well at this time. A very nice premier cru. 93 points

1964 Maison Leroy Grands Echezeaux - Amber-orange with clear rim. Beautiful game, cherries, nutty secondary and tertiary aromas that jump out of the glass and develops over several hours. Medium weight with a texture smooth as silk. Sweet, complex with a finish that lasts and lasts. What a beautiful mature burgundy. This is why we collect burgundy! My wine of the weekend. 98 points

1994 Beaux Freres Vineyard – John is a major collector of older BF. I’ve had the pleasure and opportunity to taste every vintage produced from his cellar. This wine was dark in color. Dark fruits and spice aromas. Big, dense, rich, plums on the palate, dusty tannins. This wine is no way near it’s peak. 92 points.

1993 Pajzos Megyer Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Aszu Eszencia – Deep amber. Huge aromas of apricot and peach. Very viscous. Creamy and rich. A finish that doesn’t end. Although extremely high sugar content but not cloying. A real treat. 95 points

Evening 2 – A beautiful dinner at Ten-01 in Portland over 4-5 hours. We had excellent service from well known somm Jeff Groh. We were joined by John and Crystal, Jim Anderson of Patricia Green winery and his girlfriend Kate of Wines on Broadway. Also, a cameo appearance by Mo Ayoub of Ayoub winery.

Andre Clouet Silver Brut - Nice hints of toast and citrus on the nose. Dry, bright and clean. 89 points.

1995 Salon- Nice mousse, pale yellow color, toasty citrus nose. Lean and pure in the mouth, sharp with high acidity. Wound up and tight. Not showing to its potential for me at this time. Needs time to crawl out of it’s shell. 94 points.

1994 J M Boillot Puligy-Montrachet Les Combettes - Dark yellow with lots of tropical fruit notes. Very ripe, lush, plump lacking some acidity for me. Very California-like. I think I could be fooled in a blind tasting. Many loved the wine, but not my style. 91 points

2000 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne - Did not show quite as well as previous bottles. Lovely nose of peach, spice, flowers and minerality. Rich, complex and elegant with great balance. A wonderful long finish. Not a powerhouse of a wine but quite nice. 93 points.

1989 DRC Romanee St Vivant - Very nice typical DRC aromas. Somewhat closed and angular initially, but opened up and smoothed out with time in the glass. Good acidity. Tannins starting to round out and dark fruits present. I think this wine would benefit from some additional aging. 94 points

2000 Jadot Le Musigny - Beautiful aromas of dark fruits, earth and smoke. Rich and well balanced with great texture on the palate. Velvet in the mouth. Long finish. I liked this wine as well, if not better than the 89 DRC RSV. 95 points

1988 Joseph Drouhin Charmes Chambertin - A very nice '88. A good bottle and not over the hill. Somewhat rustic, earthy nose. Good structure with some fruit still present and nice acidity. 92 points

1990 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges Clos des Porrets St. Georges - Decanted for an hour. Very dark. Big nose with dark fruits and anise. Chewy, lots of grip. Tannins sill quite evident, however, there is plenty of fruit. This wine needs lots of time, but was quite enjoyable and should do nothing but get better. 93 points.

1985 Vieux Telegraphe – Controversial wine. Some thought it slightly corked, however I was not convinced. Very nice animale, leather and garrigue aromas. Nice fruit still present. Quite smooth and tannins resolved. 91 points.

2005 Château Guiraud – Honey and peach on the nose. Nice mouth feel. Elegant style. Nice botrytis. Sweet but not cloying. 93 points.

A great time was had by all. The only thing that caused me a bit of stress, was my leaving Jon’s 1982 Haut Brion Blanc in the refrigerator at home and not recognizing it was absent in my wine carrier until the time we had planned to drink it. A major screw up…but such is life. [swearing.gif] We certainly did not lack for wines. I think Jon left Oregon just a few pounds heavier, but certainly a happy camper. Can’t wait to do more tasting with them when we return to Tucson.

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You are livin’ large, Roger. Thanks for the notes.

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Well done, and yipes. This year’s IPNC, for you Roger, could be a relative drying out period.

RT

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definitely interesting. That 64 Leroy GE is always rock solid.
alan

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You’ve got that right, Richard. It’s Sprite only for a few days. I’ll be ready by the time IPNC comes around. See you soon…

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Yeah - for my palate that’s probably one of the few Leroy re-releases that the juice inside the bottle matches the label.


Roger,

The '00 Jadot Musigny was approachable I assume ?

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Ray…yes, very much so, although I don’t think there is any hurry.

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Is that a big issue with Maison L. from certain eras, Ray.? I really have no idea…

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Great notes thank you.

Threads like these are good motivation to let my wines age.

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Cut/Paste: What a weekend, Huh Roger [thankyou.gif] [cheers.gif] [worship.gif] – Thanks again to you and Diane for hosting us!!! Excellent notes and thanks for pulling all that into a post. From memory - I think the Pajzos was the Tokaji Esszencia and not the Aszu (which is of a bit lesser quality I believe) and the Guiraud was from '05 - I think… Anyway, the notes are spot on! The '64 Leroy GE was quite charming (loved it and have several more older Leroy wines to share!), the '00 Jadot Musigny was absolutely beautiful, and the '90 Gouges Porrets was young and stacked for the future (Thanks Jim!!). Man, that ’93 Pajzos is stacked with power… If any of you were able to purchase some of this from the recent release here in the US and the UK (several months ago I believe) - these bottles are well worth the $$. My second time tasting it since this past Fall - Lovely!!



We also can’t forget about dinner at Le Pigeon – with the foie gras fest – the foie gras bacon starter and the foie gras profiterole dessert was to die for! This is a must for any foodie traveling to Portland anytime soon. The '07 Cameron Chardonnay Abbey Ridge was a revelation for me (quite nice - I’m going to try and purchase more) - the '93 1er (Bouchard Cazetiers?) and '05 Comte Armand Volnay from 1/2 bottle were also nice (Roger, can you fill in the blanks here?)…



We also had lunch at the Allison (great pinot burger there!) - with some nice bottles of chardonnay and pinot - great setting!!!



While I was in the Portland area we had a chance to visit a few wineries - generally loved the much maligned '07 vintage - '08 was generally very good - and '09 is thought to be a ripe year… A visit to Soter included lunch and some nice time spent with Tony Soter - we talked a lot about his long history in the wine business and his philosophy! Loved the party barn - if you’ve ever been to the winery you know what I’m talking about - I want one in my backyard ;o)! Spent time with Tyson Crowley of Crowley wines - tasting through his barrels. Loved his Chardonnay - and - would love to taste his '08 Chardonnay (you have some Roger, right?)… I’ll be buying some of his '08s for sure. Spent time with Tom and Deb Mortimer at Le Cadeau - loved the wines and purchased several from '08 which were quite nice and well balanced. Loved the vineyard tour here and Tom’s take on clones which really gave me a deep peak into how Tom likes to craft his wines - I’ll follow Le Cadeau for a while now!



Also, we got to meet up with Jim Anderson at Patricia Green (he’s a fellow BB member) and for dinner - what a nice gent! Jim and Patty make a special wine for themselves called Singularity from all vintages since '01 (excluding '03). Jim tasted us through several barrels and all of the Singularity wines - WOW! Loved the '02, '05, and the very young '08 - really showed off the winery - lovely stuff! Roger posted a note on the '09 Patricia Green Sauvignon Blanc several weeks ago - and - after tasting it I totally agree (purchased a case for myself!)… A well made wine and well worth $17 or so per bottle! Jim, if you’re reading this - THANK YOU and please try to fit in a trip to Tucson with Kate this coming Winter! Roger and I will be sure to make it a fun and entertaining stop for you. CHEERS

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Thanks Jon for chiming in. I think my note taking abilities seem to deteriorate a bit, once we make it to the dessert wines. You are correct on the Guiraud…it was an 05. As for the Pajzos, I’m not sure, since I didn’t copy down everything on the label. One thing for sure, however, it was quite spectacular.

I agree, the dinner at Le Pigeon was special, as usual. Our favorite restaurant in Portland…providing you like foie gras. The 93 burgundy was a Hubert Lignier Gevrey Chambertin Aux Combottes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my notebook that evening, so no detailed notes. I remember that it was showing quite nicely, with nice developing secondary aromas, plenty of fruit remaining and a good amount of acid on the back end. The 05 Comte Armand Volnay was not showing much. It was pretty closed up and tight.

Thanks for posting the notes on the Oregon wines. I too, really enjoyed the Singularity tasting Jim Anderson did for us at Patty Green. I think Jim indicated it was something he had wanted to do for some time, and we were the lucky ones to enjoy. I agree, the 02 and 05 were my favorites at this time, although, the 08 in time should be dynamite. Thanks Jim!

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Well said- glad to know I am not alone on this wine. Been a few years since I had it, but in a DRC tasting flight among 88s, 90s and 91s I thought this needed a LOT more time and would eventually surpass most wines on the table. It was one of my red DRCs of the night along with 59 Grands Echezeaux and 80 La Tache.

No doubt 89 is a variable vintage even within the portfolio of a given producer (witness the fading Roumier Amoureuses versus a stunning Bonnes Mares with decades of life ahead), but at its best this is a choice year with time in hand.

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Appreciate the notes Tom. Unfortunately, that is my last bottle. I’ll have to settle for 90 and 93. I do have one 89 La Tache left…have you had that wine of late and if so, your thoughts?

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Roger, we need to get you down to McMinnville - besides IPNC!

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Love to Rick…let’s set it up. I’ll be in Oregon until mid-September.