DINNER CHEZ ROB & LAURYL - (5/30/2009)
We were invited to eat and drink at our friends Rob and Lauryl’s place last night. Food was amazing, and so was the company. Lovely wines, too.
Champagnes
With Hummus dip and tuna tartare in cucumber slices.
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1999 Eric Rodez Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne, Ambonnay, Champagne
Fantastic Champagne. Clearly from a cool site with nice layered fruit and some brioche. To me, the Chardonnay dominated in this wine, despite the fact that the blend is 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Lovely wine that is drinking great right now. -
N.V. Krug Champagne Grande Cuvée Brut - France, Champagne
Second bottle of Champagne last night. Mighty big wine that has just a ton of flavor. Maybe a little nutty and has some nice fruit. No need to hurry drinking this, but I don’t know what the disgorgement date was. I loved it.
Reds
With lamb chops, sweet potatoes, and spinach.
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2005 René Bouvier Marsannay Ouzeloy - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay
Maybe a little too warm at first, but it showed very well overall. Extremely sappy and mouthwatering, this is drinking great. Some crushed berry, tobacco and earth, and the fruit is still pretty primary. Lovely Pinot that can be cellared for some time, I’m sure, but I liked the way it was drinking. -
1978 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Great bottle as well. Took a few minutes to clean up after it came out of the bottle. Started really funky, but after it shook off the funk, the fruit was round and soft, and the tannins were barely there. Great freshness, and leather, cigar box, and a lot of minerality were all there. My runner-up WOTN last night. -
1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Best Pegau Laurence I’ve ever had. This wsa just loaded with garrigue and like the Cuvee Reservee, this also has loads of cherry juice / kirsch liqueur. Another taster said black pepper, and I can definitely see that in this wine, too. Spice and a touch of licorice. Phenomenal wine that is in no danger of decline anytime soon. It is drinking at peak though in my opinion, so no need to hold off further. My WOTN. -
1999 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Just like the day before this was a very Burgundy-like CdP with berry fruit, spice, good minerality and solid structure. What I am missing here is a little more depth of flavors. Very good but not outstanding. Like the 1998 Pegau Laurence, I think this is drinking at peak. -
2001 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Started out rough for me. Very primary still, and was in a weird place initially. After it had some air for an hour or two, this began to shine though. Classic pencil shavings, tobacco, earth, and some floral notes. Despite being medium bodied, this has very nice flavor intensity, and it ends in a good finish. Although it was delicious with the food last night, this will get much better with time. A definite winner. -
2002 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
This wine is still so tannic and acidic that it was a shock to drink after the wines before it. Just massive structure despite low extraction. Has the funk that Olga Raffault is famous for. As with most of her Chinons, this is a finesse wine that has some serious green bell pepper and vegetable notes, so those who can’t tolerate that will hate this wine. I predict this will be an amazing bottle of wine in 10 more years. Really not a wine to consume right now. The rest of my bottles go to the long term underground storage.
There were two stickies for dessert, but I barely tried one. I was done with wine and had moved on to coffee. Thanks to Rob and Lauryl for outdoing themselves last night, and thanks to all others for bringing some great wine.
Posted from CellarTracker