We visited the Bayview restaurant in Geneva with a couple of friends last night. We wanted to introduce the sommelier to a limited cuvée from Philippe Lancelot (100 pour Sang, 2012, rosé de saignée, grand cru from Ambonnay) and decided to make it a night out with our better halves.
We had the 10 course tasting menu. The cuisine is very creative and showcases a lot of molecular gastronomy techniques. Some courses were big winners (the artichoke and asparagus courses come to mind) and some were slightly below expectations (the beef course). But overall, it was an enjoyable experience and most of the courses were surprising as well as being delicious.
Disclaimer: we sell this wine.
Philippe Lancelot 100 pour Sang Grand Cru Rosé 2012
We started the evening with the 100 pour Sang because we wanted the sommelier’s thoughts on this wine. He was surprised by the label first and then by the color (see picture). His first comment was “raspberry liqueur” followed by “freshness” and “delicate”. He pointed out that this was a well made wine with a hint of sweetness (fyi dosage is 4.4 g/l) and recommended pairing with desserts or fatty fish with heavier sauces but without much acidity. He did note that the price point was aggressive on this wine which is a comment we have often received
. I didn’t take any pictures of the bottle as we were busy discussing with the somm but I’ve added pictures from our Instagram post of a few weeks ago.
Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos de l’Échelier 2014
This was my pick from the list as I wanted to change from white Burg we normally share with our friends. I like this wine but I’ve had issues with early oxidation on various bottles. That makes it an appropriate restaurant pick especially when the vintage is of interest. This was a beautiful bottle of Chenin. The somm pointed out that 2014 brought some botrytis and that it showed in the body of the wine. I didn’t get much of that but this is in a really good place right now. Initially this was citrus, some light hay/herbal aromatics and wild flowers peeking through. The palate was initially very crisp with good acidity and lots of minerality on the finish. With time in the glass, it developed more body with ripe pear and even quince taking the stage but still that great and long crushed stones finish.
Tsampéhro Rouge X (10th edition or 2020)
My first time with this wine from the Valais. It’s a blend of 46% Cornalin, 26% Cabernet Sauvigon and Franc, 28% Merlot. I haven’t had many Cornalin wines and the ones I’ve had did not make a mark on me but this blend was really good. I think this sees 2 years in French oak but I don’t know if it’s new or used. The oak didn’t stick out and brought out some torrefaction notes that work well with the ensemble. Super ripe berries on the nose (red and dark), violets, other florals, sweet spices, leather and dark cacao. I was expecting some flabbiness on the palate following that “slutty” nose but there isn’t. Nice structure, good underpinning acidity bringing some griottes into the fray, dusty tannins with a little bite and a long finish on ripe fruit. Very good now.
Nicolas Zufferey Cave des Bernunes Cornalin Édition Spéciale 2015
The somm was very high on that wine. My friend also loved that wine. It didn’t resonate with me. Well made wine with plenty of red berries, spices and some florals on the nose. It was more restrained on the nose than the blend we had before and that isn’t a bad thing! The palate showed more structure though with somewhat coarse tannins and good chewiness. But I got a somewhat flat mid-palate that just affected the whole experience. I might be the one at fault here since I was down with the flu, on medication, on course 7 of the tasting menu, on bottle number 4 and pretty tired at that point but, I enjoyed the previous wines much more.
We asked to skip the cheese course as we were all pretty full already and wanted to enjoy the desserts. I even found the courage to ask for a glass of Chartreuse VEP to end the meal.
Great evenings with great friends and I got to try two wines I had never even heard of. Sounds like a win.