For the past few years, our dinner group has featured a dinner around the arrival of winter white truffles AKA Alba White Truffle {Tuber magnatum} from Piedmont that is sourced from a local Italian restaurant owner of Via Maestro 42. We’ve been blessed to have one of our members purchase it and share with the group, but on this night in mid November, nine of us went in together and bought a 2.9 ounce, $795 white mushroom.
The perfect wine pairing is Barolo and so it was for us to bring the usual request for champagne and white Burgundy plus Barolo on this night. We got a bonus with an Ornellaia.
We were royally served and treated by the staff and new owners, Nicole and Georges Bita, who took over the restaurant in early August this year after Nicole had been the general manager since inception 22 years ago.
Our truffle was magnificent. It sat up righteously on the oak board/ shaver set and we each shaved off our own portions throughout the entire evening and even had a little remaining at the end.
The menu was a 5 course prefix and each course was a meal unto itself. Three were super rich and filling, one a risotto, one a creamy polenta and the other, the dessert course, panna cotta. One thing they all had in common was generous shavings of the white truffle on top.
The wines:
NV VILMART & CIE CUVEE RUBIS BRUT ROSE- 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay; disgorged 12/17; no ML; this was strawberry short cake in liquid form; it was delightfully rich and super tasty and yet had nice balance and the frothy feel good mousse made for an extra special treat.
NV TAITTNGER FOLIES de la MARQUETTERIE BRUT- 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; natural cork; 12.5% abv; just as with the first bottle I had of this a few weeks ago, the first time through offered different notes in the aromatics than it gave in the taste; following its light yellow color came aromas of toasty brioche laden citrus, but that all changed once tasted and now it’s giving up tropical fruit notes of pineapple, guava and kiwi devoid of the toasty character; all in all, it was very light and easy on the palate providing elegance and charm; after a few minutes in the glass, everything seemed to come together and now we have the whole package homogeneously expressed; it was impressive and I can see where it can reach a much higher plateau with a few years of age.
Somehow, I`ve missed this release from this house in the past and never saw it when visiting them, so here’s a little background info:
Château de la Marquetterie, set in the heart of the Champagne wine-growing region, was, prior to the French Revolution, the one-time residence of writer Jacques Cazotte, author of French classic Le Diable Amoureux, and a site for village fairs where philosophers and intellectuals of the Enlightenment would gather. General Castelnau also used the stately home as his headquarters during the Battle of Champagne in 1915, while much earlier, in the 17th century, Brother Oudart, a Benedictine Monk, discovered some of the secrets of champagne fermentation.
The House’s very first “Champagne de Domaine”, Les Folies de la Marquetterie is a blend of Chardonnays (45%) and Pinot Noirs (55%), made exclusively from grapes grown at the Folies vineyard that overlooks Château de la Marquetterie, the birthplace of the Taittinger family champagne. A “green” harvest is carried out on the selected plots of vines to ensure the fruit offers optimum sweetness and aromatic maturity. After harvesting, only the juice from the first pressing is reserved. Each plot is vinified in small volumes and certain batches in oak casks.The bottles are aged for 5 years to bring this wine to complete harmony.
2013 PIERRRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY LES BAUDINES CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- wow! the 13s from PYCM are just rocking now and this one checks off all of the boxes from the nose through the tail; its got the requisite streak of minerals and the concentrated citrus fruit and the oily, feel good texture, and the long, sustained mineral laced finish, all of which harmoniously complete the deal.
2002 LOUIS JADOT CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU- our bottle was flawed
2016 CAROLINE MOREY LES CHAMP-GAINS CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- there’s been some conjecture about Caroline’s wines being made by her husband Pierre-Yves, but he refuted such when I met them both in LA at a trade tasting two years ago; yes, since 2014, she has been styling her own wines and yet they are similar and good; hallmarks of Caroline’s wines have lots of charm and finesse and subtly and yet have enough stuff to please even the most discerning of palates; this bottle had most of those traits, but was medium bodied at best and the taste profile was somewhat subdued; it had a hint of minerals, mild notes of lemons, green apple and pear, a soft, oily texture and bowed out pleasantly at the end.
2012 DOMAINE CRISTIAN MOREAU LES CLOS GRAND CRU CHABLIS- minerals and flint laced citrus prevail in the nose and continue on to the back end with pear, apple and lemon fruit making up the majority of the fruit profile; it was beautifully balanced, had lovely feel and just pleased throughout.
We moved into a stellar lineup of reds:
1974 GAJA BARBARESCO- omg, the nose suggested something wonderful coming and it may have been understated as this was superb; leather accented black currant was prevalent all the way through while being delivered in a super soft and smooth textured medium; I kept sampling small sips throughout the entire evening and it steadily held its course; magnificent wine and eventually voted the WOTN over some top notch competition.
1998 ORNELLAIA BOLGHERI SUPERIORE TUSCANY- 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc; note the absence of Petit Verdot typically used later on; our bottle was in dire need of some air, like a long decant and we did not have time to allow for it to really open up; even then, it was obvious this was a huge wine with lots of power, depth and complexity; it also had some grace and finesse and a super soft texture which brought to mind the iron fist in a velvet glove analogy; it had chocolate, cedar and leather laced black raspberry and blackberry in spades; being a victim of too many wines and not enough time, nor stemware, I moved on in favor of keeping the 74` Gaja for later.
1999 GIUSEPPE CORTESE “RABAJA” BARBARESCO RISERVA- I had just had the 96` of this 2 nights before and it was stupendous, but this bottle was corked and now I’m wishing I had not tossed the last dribbles of the Ornellaia.
2006 ELIO ALTARE VIGNA BRICCO CERRETTA BAROLO- this was really young, big and intense and needs a lot of time to evolve and it’s got all of the structure and underpinnings to be great; it’s fully loaded with spice, smoke and leather accented black cherry/ blackberry with a touch of sweetness and has layers of depth plus a loooong finish that ended with some non integrated tannins which left me puckering; it just needs time to lower the pucker factor.
2008 ALDO CONTERNO ROMIRASCO BAROLO- as unready as the Altare was, this was the antithesis; the nose offered inviting aromas of cedar laced red and dark fruit which on the palate translated into blackberry, red plum, cranberry and red cherry; even a streak of minerals showed up and it finished with a touch of mint; it was super rich and full bodied, yet had a lovely, easy mouthfeel that softened the intensity of the taste profile; it competed with the 74` Gaja for WOTN placing 2nd.
2010 FONTANAFREDDA SERRALUNGA ALBA BAROLO- 1L bottle; the size and weight of the bottle seemed to emulate what was inside as this wine had lots of weight and a huge upside; it was full bodied with lots of complexity, yet had enough finesse to ease up on the intensity; the nose and taste included nutmeg, spice, cedar, tar laden blackberry; there was also an earthy character that showed up past mid palate; it had a wondrous soft texture and a long, sustained and welcomed finish.
2013 GAJA BARBARESCO- compared to the 74`, this was a pup; it had all of the wondrous traits of its parent in spades, but just needs time to grow out of its infant stage; the fruit profile in this wine was all over the place with strawberry, red cherry, black cherry and black raspberry most evident; all were enhanced by tar, mint, anise and leather; there’s some very bracing tannins that need to soften, but they will serve to ensure longevity; it’s good enough to drink now, but it really needs another 20 years or more to reach its apogee.
2016 GAJA SITA MORESCO LANGHE- speaking of pups, here’s another one from the same litter; this spry youngster, named after the family that farmed this vineyard for 25 years prior to being purchased by Gaja, was very fruit forward with sweet strawberry, cherry and plum fruit with a huge earthy, smoke and spice accent; it had a soft feel and long finish and just needs lots of time before it will deliver the goods the way it was intended and structured.
A dessert wine came around, but I was stuffed and well truffled and one bite of the pana cotta was enough to last for the rest of the evening.
It was a fun night and the white truffle was the star of the show with a good supporting cast from many wonderful wines and some perfectly paired Italian dishes.
Cheers,
Blake
