For the past few decades, there have been some one of a kind, world class wine tastings/ dinners held in the Los Angeles area put on by an avid, well respected wine collector, Bipin Desai. Word has gotten around and many of us have heard about them and know some of the people who have attended these special events as well as some of the members.
Additionally, and concurrently, there was a dinner group formed consisting of top wine collectors/ industry people who have met at varying times over the decades and currently a few times a year, rotating with one of the members being responsible for the wines and dinner.
They call themselves the Royal Order of Purple Palate, ROPP.
A good friend is one of those current members and his turn to host just came up again and I was once again blessed to have been his guest.
Since he had “way too many interesting magnums purchased from the source upon release from top properties sitting in his cellar for over 40 years”, he choose to use this as his theme and have each member invite a guest to share in the surplus of fine wines in magnum formats.
There were 17 magnums in all {one wine was poured from 750s}, 2 for the champagne and 15 of the others, the latter of which were served blind and reviewed and questioned by our host before they were revealed. Earlier in the day, he had double decanted all wines except the champagne.
The wines
The venue was Chinois on Main in Santa Monica and the menu was designed in advance and prepared that evening by owner/ chef, Wolfgang Puck, while the dining room was masterfully helmed by General Manager, Bella Lantsman, who has been at this location since inception, 42 years ago. The extensive set up for all of the stemware and wines was coordinated by Sommelier Hector Farfan.
My friend and I arrived early to finish off a few things and while doing so, one of the sous chefs shared that Wolfgang pulled out all of the stops on this dinner unlike any he had ween before and had some foods/ seasonings flown in from around the world.
The menu
20 of us were seated in their spectacular private dinning room that has its own outside entrance next door to the main restaurant. I’ve been in this dining room before, but I never really checked out its magnificent wine cellar that lines the entire side near the dining room table, from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. The racking system was suitable for small and large format bottles and contained some gems.
On the opposite side of the dining room is a world class kitchen that is accessed in the rear from the kitchen from Chinois even though it has a separate entrance.
The wine cellar and dining area
Wolfgang Puck on the L and a few of his crew
Before being seated at our designated places, we were served 4 amazing appetizers and treated to the only wine that was not served blind, 2008 Piper Heidsieck Rare in magnum of which there were 2.
2008 PIPER HEIDSIECK RARE BRUT in magnum {1 of 2}- this is comprised of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir; following its yellow toward gold color came a bounty of aromas including ginger and honeysuckle accented citrus and orchard fruit that translated into tangerine, lemon, lime and yellow apple on the palate along with a hint of red cherry; it was big and rich and sweet, but not cloyingly so; the oily mouthfeel contributed to its allure adding some weight and extending the finish; I’ve been pretty successful in picking out Rare in blind tastings as I’ve usually found a black pepper note that distinguishes it from most others and it wasn’t until after the first few sips, that it appeared, but then it stayed the course thereafter; I tasted from both magnums with similar notes.
The first flight of 3 whites was served blind and paired perfectly with wild Alaskan King salmon topped generously with Osetra caviar.
Flight #!:
2011 JOSEPH DROUHIN MARQUIS de LAGUICHE MONTRACHET GRAND CRU in magnum- blind; this had a clear straw yellow to gold color; the nose offered butter and vanilla accented yellow apple, complimented by a taste profile that also included a streak of minerals and a dash of spice; it was super smooth, round and seamless and finished with everything coming together nicely. I kept trying to make this something other that a glorious white Burgundy, but never could get there and that made it easier to guess at least the origin of the wines once tasting the next 2.
2012 JOSEPH DROUHIN MARQUIS de LAGUICHE MONTRACHET GRAND CRU in magnum- blind; this was more gold than yellow and offered mild aromas minerals and green apple that made up a good portion of the taste profile before finishing with a touch of flint joining in; it was soft and smooth which added to its mellowness; thereby, having more elegance and charm and less complexity and intensity than the others.
2014 JOSEPH DROUHIN MARQUIS de LAGUICHE MONTRACHET GRAND CRU from 750 ml bottles- blind; in contrast to the 2011 and 2012, the color was a much lighter straw yellow, but the nose and taste were much more profound; minerals and flint provided the perfect accents to the citrus, orchards and stone fruit with eventually red cherry and yellow apple notes being most prominent; this was superb and had the best balance of the 3 IMHO.
The 2nd flight consisted of 4 reds all poured blind. It was paired with one of the best risottos I’ve ever had, one with Oregon morel mushrooms and integrated aged parmigiana reggiano.
Flight #2:
1973 HOFMAN MOUNTAIN RANCH {HMR} DOCTORS RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON PASO ROBLES in magnum- blind; this was really blind as most were not familiar with the producer; HMR meant more to me than Hofman Mountain Ranch, but it has to be at least 30 years since I’ve tasted anything from them; this Adelaida District vineyard was planted in the 1960s; in 1973, Andre Tchelistcheff became the consulting winemaker and eventually replanted with Pinot Noir, albeit in this warmer climate region; the nose on our bottle suggested TCA and a table mate voiced the same when I was deliberating about it silently, but neither of us voiced out opinion to the others; moving past the wet cardboard, there was some redeeming qualities with earth and leather laden red cherry/ berry fruit delivered in a soft and smooth textured medium.
1970 SPRING MOUNTAIN CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY in magnum -blind; of the 4 in this flight, this had the darkest red purple color; the nose gave mature mint flavored red cherry that was joined by some burnt black cherry once tasted; it was full bodied, but light in weight and had nice length.
1974 CLOS du VAL CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY in magnum- blind; this had a more youthful red purple color but mature aromas of earthy, mushroom laden black currant with a musty, dusty accent once tasted where I also found the fruit profile being joined by a wild, briary character; it was full bodied and had a soft mouthfeel.
1985 HEITZ CELLAR CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALEY in magnum- blind; this sported a dark red purple color and showed really well with a very viable and still evolving red and dark fruit profile with red cherry most prominent; it seemed to expand and evolve in the glass as if needing more time and air and it was fun and rewarding to track over time with its layered complexity.
The 3rd flight included 4 more reds, all poured blind and was paired magnificently with melt in your mouth grilled lamb chops, homemade lamb dumplings and braised radicchio.
Flight #3
1952 CHATEAU TALBOT SAINT-JULIEN in magnum- blind; as with all wines in this flight and especially after seeing the vintages of each wine, the color was a somewhat deceiving red purple without any bricking; classic Bordeaux notes prevailed here and throughout the fight, in this case, with sage and earth accented dried black currant most evident; there was enough maturity to suggest this had some age and I guessed 1966 Left Bank, but would not have bet on it.
1962 CHATEAU GRUAUD LAROSE SAINT-JULIEN in magnum- blind; the nose suggested this was quite mature with dried plum and earthy, dusty notes that continued on all the way through; there was a faint bell pepper note that came in about mid palate; it was medium to full bodied with a somewhat shortened finish. Now, I’m questioning my Left Bank guess on the first one, thinking this might be Barolo.
1962 CHATEAU COS d’ESTROUNEL SAINT-ESTEPHE in magnum- blind; this was my fav of the flight as it showed beautifully with mature and pleasant aromas and tastes of leather infused plum and black currant; it had a soft and smooth mouthfeel and finished with everything coming together for a grand finale. It was only after tasting this wine, that I concluded the flight was left bank Bordeaux, but I did not get close to the vintages nor to the ID of a specific chateau.
1970 CHATEAU PALMER MARGAUX in magnum- blind; although this turned out to be the youngest in the flight, it was by far the oldest in its aromatics and taste profile with musty, dusty, earthy dread dark fruit that faded out pretty rapidly. Having had a few from this winery, my guess is this bottle was atypical as I’ve usually found the wines to be bigger and bolder with more power, but charming finesse.
The 4th flight also contained only red wines poured blind and it took only a brief pass through each one to know this was the standout flight of all. The dish Wolfgang prepared to pair with these wines was perhaps the best of the evening as well with grilled Australian Waygu beef tongue and braised beef cheek atop a pan fried crispy scallion noodles formed into a shape like a bird’s next.
Flight #4
1953 CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE de LALANDE PAUILLAC in magnum- blind; this had a still youthful red purple color and aromas of spicy and sweet dark fruit which once tasted turned out to be black cherry, black currant and blueberry with an emphasis on the spiciness; it was sublime in every way, having a velvety texture, layered complexity and depth with a never ending finish for which I was grateful and as such, it was clear, this was my WOTN.
1955 CHATEAU LATOUR PAUILLAC in magnum- blind; again, as with the ’53 Pichon Lalande, this was ready and very giving of its treasures which included delicious dark fruit that included mature, dried plum, blackberry and black currant with a hint of milk chocolate in the background; it was silky smooth and finished impressively with everything impressively coming together. Marvelous wine.
1959 CHATEAU LATOUR PAUILLAC in magnum- blind; there was lots going on in this wine starting with its enticing nose of earth and leather laced dark fruit which was joined by a wild, briary accent on the palate; the smooth texture had some weight in it and the finish was was replete with the predominant dried black currant fruit still evident. Also, a marvelous wine.
1961 CHATEAU MARGAUX MARGAUX in magnum- blind; following its youthful dark red purple color came aromas of dried black currant that was joined by red plum and blackberry on the palate; each taste started off magnificently, then it faded somewhat and finished with a weird, sort of wild and wooly note that I would have preferred not to have experienced and it never dissipated after time in the glass and numerous swirls.
Dessert: What is better to drink at this point than a d’Yquem and from magnum at that? Wolfgang served a pineapple strudel with orange-caramel sauce and Marzipan ice cream that was out of this world. I noticed lots of clean plates after devouring mine.
1975 CHATEAU d’YQUEM SAUTERNES in magnum- blind; the blood amber shaded color was very intriguing and encouraging me to go on and discover what the taste of this was and the results merited such; it was repeat with mature dried apricot delivered in a thick viscous medium making this a true nectar from the Gods.
What an amazing evening. The food and wines and classy private dining room ambience were as good as it gets and the blind format added to its educational content and enjoyment. To share this event with so many wonderful, globally, serious collectors and wine aficionados was a special treat.
I remain super grateful to my friend for being invited and shall always treasure these experiences.
Cheers
Blake
. What a epic night