La Paulee Legends dinner at the Napa Reserve
With passed Hors d’Oeuvres
2009 Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre- Heavy sulfur on the nose and a bit of smoke. Ripe yellow fruit on the palate. A little too heavy and rich for me at this point.
1997 Salon- A nice drink, but I prefer the cut of the 96.
With Carrots Roasted in the Coals (carrot water, finger lime, razor clam)
2009 Roulot Meursault Tessons- Roasted white peaches. Moderate acidity. Very well balanced, but lacks the penetrating intensity of his best wines.
2008 Roulot Meursault Tessons- Great delineation on the palate. Crunchy acidity, apple blossom. A bit of a burnt bacon note from the sulfur. I really liked this, but it could probably use a little more fat.
With Crayfish, Sweetbread, Scallop (sauce mousseline, winter pea, steamed potato)
2002 Roulot Meursault Perrieres Magnum- Botrytis on the nose. Very advanced. Bad bottle.
2000 Roulot Meursault Perrieres Magnum- Some ramonet-like wintergreen notes on the nose. Spiced poached pair. Spectacular length and balance. Kept getting better. One of the best wines on the week.
With Poached Egg (farina, cockscombs, black truffle)
1991 DRC Romanee st Vivant- Green, herbaceous, and reductive character. Dark fruit. Feels a little too rustic for RSV. Lots of dry extract. Needs time.
1991 DRC Richebourg- Very savory. Beef stock and iron notes. Noticeable stems. More polished than the rsv. Very nice.
1991 DRC La Tache- Good amount of extract. Tremendous length and deeply layered fruit. Needs a lot of time, but is beautiful now.
With Aged Duck (wild spice bush, beets, foie gras)
1980 DRC Richebourg- Surprisingly showed much better than the 78. Red fruit, pink grapefruit, and orange rind. Subtle baking spice. Well balanced and ready to go.
1978 DRC Richebourg- Strong stem notes. Not a lot of fruit left. Some soy notes, but not very interesting.
1980 DRC La Tache- I found this stem notes on this to be overwhelming. I really didn’t enjoy it.
1978 DRC La Tache- Lifted red fruit with notes of hoisin, soy, forest floor, and mushroom. This was firing on all cylinders. Profound wine.
With Bavette of Kobe Beef (brown butter, chantrelles, parsley root)
1971 DRC Richebourg- Really nice lifted floral aromatics. Warm spice. Beautiful length. Great stuff.
1971 DRC La Tache- Like a quiet version on the 78. All the same notes, just a little more understated. Drink this now. It is beautiful and not seems to be in a state of gentle decline.
With Goats Cheese Cake (licorice root, citrus peel, nasturtium)
2002 Lafon Montrachet- Explosive sexy nose. Huge fat yellow fruit. Very round. Just enormous.
2000 Lafon Montrachet- Far more restrained than the 02. Very tight and sleek. I preferred this, but having had the same wine a couple weeks prior, I could tell it was not a representative bottle.