Our dinner group is just a few days away from our Millennium dinner which is the highlight event of the year, but we had one just before it and it was very interesting to say the least and the word brutal comes to mind.
10 of us dined at Petit Valentien, one of our favs on the local dinner circuit scene. The wine request was champagne and white Burgundy for starters with brown bagged red Burgundy and domestic Pinot Noir as the central theme.
Its always a learning experience for me to taste blind and with some real pros at the table, it was interesting to find we struggled often to ID new vs. old world Pinots. Also true, and sadly so, we had an inordinate amount of flawed wines and since we had 22 wines in all and a limited amount of stemware, little time was allocated to taste and re-taste and to allow for more time in the glass so we missed some additional evolution which Im discovering more so than ever before makes a huge difference.
The starters:
2006 MOET & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE ROSE- I’ve brought a couple of this fine rose previously and chose to take another bottle for this occasion since its fruit profile serves as a perfect prelude to drinking Pinot Noir; its graced with fresh red cherry flavors with a bit of spice and underlying red raspberry notes.
NV ROEDERER BRUT PREMIER- this had about 15+ years of age and it was amazing; I’ve long considered this bubbly to be a good QPR when dining out and not taking my own champagne and this bottle made a statement for aging as it was in full maturity giving generous amounts of lush citrus fruit served up in a smooth texture and containing bright acidity. Had this been served blind, it would have competed quite well with some Grand Marques.
2012 LOUIS ROEDERER BRUT- 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay; I bought some of the 2012 rose, but had not seen the brut yet, so it was great to have this, as it turned out, wondrous champagne; it`s very generous giving nice citrus and mineral notes, was round and seamless and in perfect balance; this exudes class and elegance and is a must buy for my cellar.
2013 PAUL PERNOT BATARD-MONTRACHET GRAND CRU- I`d had this wine last year and loved it; our bottle on this night was severely reduced leaving strong sulfur containing compounds that dominated; the nose seemed more like a Riesling with lots of minerals and flint, but the burnt matchstick aroma and taste overwhelmed and ruined the deal; it did improve in a short time in the glass.
We poured the blind portion in flights of 2 with table conversation and opinions flowing before revealing the contents of each pair.
2009 WILLIAMS SELYEM PEAY VINEYARDS SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- pretty much all got this as being youthful and domestic; the nose had a sour component that detracted from the cherry fruit profile.
2011 FREDERIC ESMONIN RUCHOTTES-CHAMBERTIN GRAND CRU- here`s another wine I had earlier this year and liked as well here if not more so; in fact, it was one of my favs on the night; lots of spicy red and black fruit were delivered in a velvety textured medium to the back end; this has to be one of the best wines of a not so good vintage.
2013 FREDERIC ESMONIN CLOS PRIEUR GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN- different and strange, barely acceptable with radical unexpected herbal; notes, clove and cardamon accents to the mild spicy, I think it is meant to be raspberry flavors; it was light in weight and medium bodied at best.
2007 CALERA JENSEN VINEYARD MT. HARLAN PINOT NOIR- we had just been entertained with a conversation about how distasteful wines from this producer had been for one of our members when one shows up; actually, I liked the Pinots from the 80s and 90s, but its been 15 or more years since Ive had any; this had a sort of strange profile that almost substantiated the diss; it was definitely fruit forward and had a weird character that I am struggling to find a descriptor for.
1968 MONDAVI NAPA VALLEY PINOT NOIR- mentioning a struggle for descriptors, this one challenge the vocabulary to state what tasted like stewed fruit with TCA and some other compounds not normally perceptible in wines. Some simply say, DOA.
2014 MONTHELIE-DUHAIRET PORCHERET CLOS du MEIX GARNIER MONOPOLE COTE de BEAUNE- fresh, young and vibrant upfront fruitiness was dominant throughout this wine; it was full bodied and pleasingly long and thankfully drinkable.
2016 PAUL LATO ’SUERTE” SOLOMON HILLS VINEYARD SANTA MARIA VALLEY PINOT NOIR- well, we got one good bottle in a row and this one reverted back to the norm, i.e. weird, liquid brown sugar.
2010 ANTICA TERRA BOTANICA WILLAMETTE VALLEY PINOT NOIR- fresh and spicy red cherry prevailed in this wine which was medium bodied and easy on the palate.
Antica Terra, ”old earth" in Latin, was started by a pair of New Yorkers in 1989 who made small amounts of Pinot Noir for several years. The vineyard and label was purchased in June 2005 by 3 friends and partners along with talented winemaker Maggie Harrison, a long-time former assistant winemaker to Manfred Krankl at Sine Qua Non in Ventura, CA.
2000 LOUIS JADOT CHARMES-CHAMBERTIN GRAND CRU- I liked this but called it new world as it gave mild but ripe fruit notes after exhibiting a somewhat youthful red unadulterated color.
2000 ROCHIOLI ESTATE RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- lots of Brett in the nose which overwhelmed any decent qualities; most got this as another Bretty Burgundy.
2010 SEA SMOKE TEN SANTA RITA HILLS PINOT NOIR- young dark purple color; lots of intense super ripe dark fruit dominated from the nose through the tail.
2016 TANTARA TRIPLE 7 PINOT NOIR- another weird one with a wild and sour fruit profile with some identifiable cranberry cherry notes; very grapey wine. I apologise for not having more details re the name and source. I failed to get a photo of it as well as a couple others.
2014 ROBERT GROFFIER les SENTIERS CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY 1er Cru- definitely a Burg here and a good one with vibrant youthfulness and an inviting nose and red raspberry most prevalent on the palate; medium bodied and finished on a high.
2002 BOUCHARD VOSNE-ROMANEE aux REIGNOTS 1er Cru- it promised more in the aromatics than it delivered on the palate, but managed to still provide some pleasure and it seemed we had a rarity on this night with 2 decent wines in a row; it also showed more mature flavors of chocolate accented dark fruit.
1999 DOMAINE MICHEL GAUNOUX POMMARD les GRANDS EPENOTS 1er Cru- back to the funk as this was more than weird with lots of funky stuff in the nose convincingly dissuading further investigation and left us with our hands held up high in the manner of surrendering to the Bad Wine God from Hell.
1990 JEAN BOILLOT les CHEVRETS VOLNAY 1er Cru- I pulled this bottle hoping to bring something that would show well and it did, obviously, IMHO; it still had close to initial release color and loads of red and dark fruit in the nose which actually expended on the palate and with more time in the glass which I had since this was the last of the blind wines.
Dessert wines:
2009 HEINZ EIFFEL LATE HARVEST BA REINHESSEN- 375 ml; Silvaner; this is good Beerenauslese which I’ve had a few times before with consistent notes; honeyed pear, apple and citrus fruit is aided by butterscotch and spice accents; it had a chewy mouthfeel and a long, lingering finish.
2010 CHATEAU DE MALLE SAUTERNES- 759 ml; sweet and intense, this had honeyed peach, apricot and pear fruit with an almost honey like texture.
This was a very unusual evening for all of us. It was brutal but fun. Lots of good sports in the audience and when I left, I saw no signs of bleeding.
Cheers,
Blake
