We went to dinner at Meadowood. I found the food the be very disappointing. We did an extended menu that happened to be the most expensive meal I’ve ever had. I didn’t see the value in the food. The ingredients were good, but not expensive ones. I’d put food cost at about 10%. Lots of heavily worked veggies. Basically 2 out of 20 courses were really good. I won’t be going back. Thankfully the wines were great.
1966 Dom Perignon: Great bottle. Still a nice lively mousse. Darker gold color in the glass. Completely mature flavors of apple, cream, toffee, and cocoa. Has great tension in the mouth. The elegant old wine still has a lot to give. This is the best DP I’ve had. My friend was supposed to bring a pristine bottle of 82 to compare, but forgot. Thankfully he brought a couple decent Rhones to make up for it.
1983 Coche Dury Meursault: This was a bottle that I recently acquired. Fill was great. Color was a full gold. Just a beautiful mature meursault. Nose of orange oil, marinated pears and mulling spices. Palate still has a nice amount of fruit with an orange/pear thing going on. Very full on mid palate, still has a touch of mineral and a suggestion of rs on the finish. Really fun wine.
2011 Sauzet Montrachet: This was purchased off the list. I chided my dinner companions for not ordering the 93 Dujac CSD which was available at about the same price. As you can imagine, this was very full bodied with a nice mix of orchard and tropical fruit. Plenty of oak. I didn’t like it at first, but buy the end of the night it had balanced out nicely. It will be a very nice wine, but wait for a couple years and pray for no premox.
1978 Chave Hermitage: My first go at this. Gorgeous raw untamed Syrah. Leaned more on the red fruit spectrum. Lots of blood notes and a hint of funk. Dry aged meat notes with a touch of fur. Doesn’t sound of that great, but it was truly and awesome bottle. So much energy and life left. Best Chave I’ve ever had.
1978 Jaboulet La Chapelle Hermitage: Consistent with other bottles. This is as perfect as Hermitage can be, but we preferred the Chave for its vibrancy and vitality. The La Chapelle is darker fruited, has a smokier profile with some like bacon notes. Very pure, clean, and complete. I still think that this needs more time, but it is so good right now. We joked that the La Chapelle is the girl quietly sipping a martini at the bar while the Chave is bourbon drinker dancing on tables. They are both perfect in my mind, but the Chave is more fun right now.
We should have ended the night there, but we ended up doing an old armagnac tasting while sitting in front of the fireplace. I felt that bad decision the following day.
