Four of us dined out at a long time local fav, bouchon, where outside. fresh air, semi- distanced seating is available and enjoyed some fine food and 3 wines while relishing in close companionship.
But first, champagne on the rooftop:
2012 DELAMOTTE BLANC de BLANC MILLESIME BRUT- served in Sophienwald Grand Cru champagne glasses as seen in the background; 60% of the fruit sources for this comes from les Mesnil-sur-Oger, Ovize and Oger with 20% equal parts from each and the remainder of the fruit comes from Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry; this is the 2nd bottle I’ve had recently and it is spectacular having such an inviting nose of fragrant yellow roses and stone fruit which on the palate more specifically included peach, apricot, pear, Golden Delicious apple and lemon; it had a wondrous creamy, honey like mouthfeel which served to enhanced the long, satisfying finish; this is marvelous bubbly now and has all of the structure to be great in the years to come. Since no 2012 Salon is to be made, I’m assuming most if not all of the fruit went into that part of the BdB that was not held back in reserve.
And then off we go 3 blocks away to the restaurant where we drank:
1993 DOMAINE MICHEL GAUNOUX BEAUNE- high neck fill; medium purple color; we had the best bottle of the 2 I have already opened; it gave very nice tertiary fruit notes along with a streak of spice and an underlying earthy character; it had some pizzaz and got better in the glass and held a steady course throughout the evening; on the palate, mature cherry and dried cranberry flavors were most prominent; it was medium bodied and had much softer tannins and therefore much better mouthfeel than the previous bottles especially past mid palate.
2005 DOMAINE MICHEL GROS LES CHALIOTS NUIT-SAINT-GEORGES- this was super fruit forward with loads of ripe and fresh red fruit which on the palate was more easily identified as red cherry/ berry enhanced with accents of mild clove and spices; it was medium bodied, had a nice, soft feel and finished with more red fruit, now with a touch of red raspberry coming in late.
2006 GHOST BLOCK CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA- new to me, this was a very nice Cab that showed well on the night; it had really nice cedar and mocha laden black currant and blackberry fruit delivered in a smooth textured medium containing some weight and allowing for unfolding layers to showcase its fine depth; it’s drinking very good now and has a lot more to give with more time; decanting is highly recommended.
We had a good evening contributing to more goodness in life.
Cheers,
Blake