Bodacious Bubbles & Blind Burgs, ATL style

[Steve_McL]

It started innocently enough…

@Matthew_King said he’d be in town for Phish shows, who wants to raise a glass?

As soon as we heard that a celebrity from the left coast was going to grace us with his fabulousness, the ATL pirate krewe stumbled into action.

@dcornutt @Steve_McL planning menus and flights

@Dennis_Atick @rob_klafter @bradkaplan planning the music

What we thought Matt would look like

What he thought we looked like

Much thanks to @Mike_Evans who showed up early for some recreational heavy lifting, glassware deployment and cheffy legerdemain.

Thanks also to Brad and Chad (who are not a boy band but should be), for selflessly volunteering to manage the Burg blinds.

Don set the tone early with a Mic drop: Caviar and Krug. BOOM

Matt and I foolishly decided we should each commit two bottles of our respective whites, to prime the pump in case there wasn’t enough wine to go around… (22 Boillot Mouchere, 20 Ramonet Ruchotte)
Clearly somebody didn’t read the room.

Cheese patrol, canine division, and a Keller palate cleanser

The wine was sound but the cork that came out of the 96 Gouge LSG (I think it was) was dubious

25 and 1/2 bottles later

I’ll leave it to others to weigh in on the wines. It was a delicious night full of laughter and bonhomie.

[Mike_Evans]

Thanks so much for organizing and hosting a wonderful night. I’ve spent most of the day trying to recover, but it was worth the pain. I don’t have the energy to comment much on the wines, but my wine of the night was the spectacular 1992 Ramonet C-M Les Vergers, which offered everything one could ask for in a properly aged white Burgundy. I hope to have more to add tomorrow.

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

I need the name of your deck railing decorator!!

Well done gents

[dcornutt]

Steve. Thanks so much for such a fabulous event. It was great to meet Matt King. Some incredibly interesting and delicious wines. I too loved the 1992 Ramonet Vergers which is in such an incredible place right now. I should have a few more observations soon. Recovery is a multi day affair now at 67 from wonderful nights like this. The cheese patrol, canine devision was such great company too! Cheers to all. Hope Matt and Rob enjoyed the Phish concert in Birmingham.

[rob_klafter]

Thanks @Matthew_King for coming to town. What a lovely celebration of Monday!!!

Wine all good. Some more than others. The rieslings were two fun ones. Someone needs to be contrarian at a burgundy/champagne dinner

The 2004 Keller trocken was sublime. The character of keller with tropical fruit was so present but so subtle. Nothing overt but dried coconut and guava were surrounded by a cloak of white flowers. Perfect balance and great feinherb character. Nothing punitive and shrill as old trockens can show when heft and mouthfeel are lacking

The AJ Adam Beerenauslese was from @JRezabek a while back so a delight to open for him. To quote a wise man…it pancaked. Its become a parlor trick for me to bust these out at burgundy dinners, but they always end up what i think about the next day. This 2019 was approachable and had a sultry overtone of carbon. More of a graphite/shungite velveteen overlay than petrol per se. The acidity is why i show up for these and this was on point. The acidity dancing with the sugar…11

[rob_klafter]

This one went to 11.

Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul. You’ve got to run like an antelope out of control.

In gratitude…

[bradkaplan]

A damn good Monday night with a great crew of fine folks. Oh, the wine? It was an avalanche of excellence hitting in waves. The blind flights were chosen mostly blind, with a mere question of youth vs. maturity to suggest a path. But they worked. When you know it’s all burgundy coming from enthusiasts (with that Keller thrown in as a Trou non-Bourguignon to cleanse the palate), it’s gonna work out.

The ones that managed to rise slightly above the beautiful din for me were the 92 Ramonet that Mike and Don mentioned above, and (I think, if my memory holds) the 06 Drouhin Grands Echezeaux among the reds, which was just so harmonious. And the AJ Adam to finish things off (as Rob noted, it’s a damn good parlor trick, happily received by the crowd).

But the most memorably quirky wines for me were probably the 2000 Domaine de la Bongran (Thevenet) Mâcon-Villages (so beautifully antiqued) and the 2021 Benoit Moreau Chassagne La Cardeuse Rouge! The nose on that was just stunning and I’m betting this will be soooo nice a few years down the road. Oh, and the Keller. Dang. I found it to be a shape-shifter, veering from hints of muscat funk to clean gruner notes but then all coming together in a deep acid gulp.

Gulp.

[Dennis_Atick]

Echoing what my compadres said above, it was a fantastic evening. Glad to be among such great company. It was great to meet @Matthew_King after corresponding here on Berserkers over the years. Always good to meet another of Jerry’s kids. Thanks for being the impetus.
@Steve_McL did the yeoman’s work in cooking and allowing us to descend on his place on a Monday night.

I usually try to play scribe at our events, but 25 wines in three hours on a Monday proved to be too much to keep up with. .
Agree with @Mike_Evans Mike- the 1992 Ramonet was sublime and WOTN.

Also agree with @bradkaplan - the '06 Drouhin was prob my favorite red. Impressive for an '06-weren’t we guessing this as Amoureuses?
Co-sign that Dr. Klafter @rob_klafter always slays with the perfect Riesling refresher after a night of Burgundy.
My highlight was calling the Boillot blind on first sniff- but that maybe because I know @Steve_McL cellar well.

Other thoughts- the whites starred for me. Across the board. Ramonet, young and old. Yes please. Bernard Bonin was a treat- very young and dense. And back-vintage Defaix chablis continue to stand up in lineup at fraction of the cost.
'99 Jadot Beze- old school and powerful- still feels like it needs 10 years
'97 Engel Ech- another standout drinking well.
'09 Lamdrays was pretty kick ass, too, if memory serves.

Finally- here’s evidence that Steve’s pictures mythologizing us is not far from reality

[Fred_Bower]

How was that '97 Rouget Echezeaux? I’ve got a lone bottle and it will probably be the only wine Henri made that I’ll ever get to savor.

Enquiring minds…
fred

[rob_klafter]

Funny you ask. It was the red that raised an eyebrow for me. I was struck by the weight. Velvet glove iron fist sort of thing. And not bretty or barnyard at all. But feral. Like a mink

[Matthew_King]

@Dennis_Atick

Finally- here’s evidence that Steve’s pictures mythologizing us is not far from reality

Well, at least it wasn’t this:

Well, everything they say about Southern hospitality is true. These Georgia boys get their party on for a Monday school night.

Anytime I get to drink aged Ramonet and Rouget/Jayer and talk intelligently about Flannery O’Connor, the Allman Brothers and “Cockfight” with the locals, I am a happy man.

Fine wine truly is like surfing or the Dead … when you find kindred spirits you become instant friends. Thanks to @Steve_McL for generously opening his home, @bradkaplan for astute somm skills, @dcornutt for being such a courtly Southern gentleman and dinner partner, @Mike_Evans for prep, @Dennis_Atick for being a faithful scribe and all around mensch and @rob_klafter for the Heavy, Deep and Real.

I will follow up with impressions of wine when I fully arise from last night’s Phish bliss.

[Mike_Evans]

I’m not normally a homer when it comes to wines I bring, but I may be influenced a little on the Rouget. I thought it was exceptional and it was my red wine of the night, just incredible depth and nuance, particularly aromatically. I could have just huffed that perfumed nose all night. I’ve had several 1997s that were very successful but this was probably the best. This was my last bottle and the first I’ve had in more than 20 years and I was more than satisfied with how it performed. Perhaps my greatest enjoyment, though, was from sharing a wine made by Henri Jayer with a group of great friends

[Matthew_King]

Mike… good pull, dude. Super fun wine to try … I’m a Rouget freak so I appreciate your generosity.

It’s impossible to give nuanced notes about two dozen wines in a single evening, especially when you are focusing on conversation and camaraderie.

But a few impressions:

It comes as no surprise that my favorite reds came from Don’s cellar. Over the years on this board, I’ve seen how our palates generally align. He is a man of taste, after all.

Veronique Drouhin makes such understated and balanced wines, with that elegant mouthfeel. 06 has been a landmine of disappointments generally for me, but this GE had great presence and composure. It stood out in crowded field. Nothing screechy or lean about it.

I enjoyed getting to taste the Benoit Moreau Chassagne Rouge 1er as well. From the short 21 vintage, so this is much lighter, fresher and classic than more recent solar vintages. Right in my wheelhouse. Don and I both love Ramonet reds … and this is as airy, stony, red fruited and succulent as those wines — with a touch more precision and depth.

The older white Ramonet was a pleasing head scratcher in our blind tasting. It had a distinctive nose of spent fireworks coupled with a palate of round aged orchard fruit and campfire marshmallow (in a good way!). So nice to drink an aged white Burg in a sound state.

I don’t drink a lot of Defaix, but I can see why it’s a thinking person’s value play in Chablis. I got a pleasing top note of honeysuckle — something I don’t normally associate with Chablis.

The Bonin Meursault VV 09 also tripped me out a bit. I was thisclose to suitcasing those exact bottles from LA to ATL. Blind, it initially came off as deep and rich but muted. I wasn’t getting much in the glass. But with time and air, the reduction dissipated and the power and minerality shook free. Still I would give this a good 2 hour decant in future. Too funny when the reveal came.

And finally, thanks to Steve for indulging me and opening the 06 Comtes champagne as a not really needed but thoroughly enjoyed nightcap. I always think of this vintage as @Blake_Brown’s house wine. It’s so darn tasty and reliable, with those yeasty/toasty and ginger notes. I find this house still a tad under appreciated relative to the Big Boys. A 1999 drunk in LA over the weekend was a model of quiet power and resolved grace.

[Mark_Golodetz]

Nice tasting Steve. Pity there were no decent clarets there to relieve the boredom of having to drink wines made from a single grape.

[Nick_Christie]

@Mike_Evans

I’m not normally a homer when it comes to wines I bring, but I may be influenced a little on the Rouget. I thought it was exceptional and it was my red wine of the night, just incredible depth and nuance, particularly aromatically. I could have just huffed that perfumed nose all night. I’ve had several 1997s that were very successful but this was probably the best. This was my last bottle and the first I’ve had in more than 20 years and I was more than satisfied with how it performed. Perhaps my greatest enjoyment, though, was from sharing a wine made by Henri Jayer with a group of great friends

Of the many reasons to miss not being there with everyone, seeing the patented Mike Evans trademark grin & ‘pleased & comforted that this jewel of a wine that I have shepherded through these two decades is showing its pure magic’ face: Right at the top

Such a joy to see this thread in all its beauty & relaxed wonder. Miss you all

[dcornutt]

The wine was beautiful. Texturally silky. Still red fruited. Pyrotechnic aromatics. I thought it was gorgeous.

[dcornutt]

Matt King. Thanks for being the reason we got together.

I loved all the wines. I unfortunately had to work the next day so I left a little early but got to taste the best of the whites.
I do love white burgundy! Having 22 Boillot Clos de Moucheres and 20 Ramonet Ruchottes side by side is my kind of blind tasting.

WOTN to me was the 92 Ramonet Chassagne Vergers but the margin here is SO small.
So glad you guys ate the caviar. Olma does an incredible job with osetra. The wavy Lays was the best vehicle for enjoying it to me. Champagne magnifies the pleasure.

Loved the Keller and that amazing Adam BA. Wow.

The reds were so nice. The sexiness of the Rouget and the Drouhin slayed me.

I love Benoit Moreau and think he is the best in Chassagne with red now.

Such fun guys.

Thanks!

[Mike_Evans]

I’ll try to give some brief impressions of some of the wines. I liked all three Champagnes, and while I’m always thrilled to drink Krug and this was no exception, I slightly preferred the Chartogne-Taillet. It worked particularly well with Don’s lovely osetra, but the Lightly Salted Pringles were my preferred vehicle. I kept gluttonously returning to the caviar as I know Don didn’t want any leftovers.

I agree with Don about white Burgundy. I’m finding that I often prefer the whites to the reds and the white Burgs on Monday were each outstanding in their own ways. I knew that Steve’s opening wine was the 2022 Moucheres, so I was quite impressed when Moucheres was Don’s very first guess and amused by his insistence that it couldn’t be the 2022. In my book he gets far more marks than he loses in that exchange.

Matt’s Ramonets were lovely. I found one bottle slightly more open and persistent through the middle, but I’m not sure how accurate that impression was.

I was a little proud for correctly identifying the producer on the PYCM as the precision was unmistakeable, though I thought it was a Puligny and not a Meursault. The Bernard-Bonin was good but I found the reduction a little overwhelming.

I didn’t have much experience with Defaix until the past couple of years but they continue to impress, as I guessed that this one was a Dauvissat. I struggled with both place and vintage on the Boillot P-M Garennes, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment. I had fun with the Bongran, as the orange color, tropical fruit character, and I’m pretty sure a bit of RS scream out “botrytis,” which is common with the old school great producers in Macon like Thevenet.

My discernment fell off sharply as we moved to the reds, so I only have notes on a few wines, but there were no disappointments other than a 1996 Gouges Les St. Georges that wasn’t bad but still isn’t ready. I’ve already addressed the Rouget above, so I’ll skip it. The Moreau Chassagne struck a chord with me with a lovely red fruited tartness that reminded me of the outstanding 2021 Roumier Bonnes Mares.

The second flight went from strength to strength. I was happy to at least identify that the Lambrays was from Morey. When the Jadot was uncloaked I wasn’t unhappy to have a few in the cellar and I’m in no hurry to drink them. Rob always seems to bring a great German sticky and the finishing Adam BA was no exception. At least I thought it was the finishing wine until a 2006 Comtes was opened, which I’ve had at least 8 times and which I consistently enjoy. It was a great way to cap off a wonderful night.

[bradkaplan]

For those wondering - it was Lightly Salted Wavy Lays vs. Lightly Salted Pringles vs. Sea Salt Cape Cod Kettle chips as vehicles for the osetra and Vermont Creamery creme fraiche. I think I ended up in Team Wavy Lays, but it was not an easy decision (and I really had to go back to the caviar time and time again just to help confirm where I stood ; ).

We didn’t even mention the cheeses?!? Maybe Rob can weigh in - Atlanta is fortunate to finally have a great cheese shop again with Capella (the last time IMO being when Tim ran the counter at Star Provisions) - and there was some sort of 10 year (am I remembering that right?!) cheddar that was really shockingly good, still dense and creamy, clearly well aged, only slightly dry, not even crumbly. (Ok, I went to the Capella website - it is indeed a 10yo cheddar made by Master Cheese Maker Joe Widmer in Theresa Wisconsin. Fantastic stuff. $44/lb online)

[bradkaplan]

Sorry, we didn’t have a bag of Dicks.