Peter “Three Fingers” Czyryca graced our little town the other day (graced? Is that the right word? Hmmm…). To celebrate his arrival, we once again poured into Peking Duck House, which has become his home away from home. Judging from the reception we received from the staff, we are becoming known (for good or bad reasons, I am not sure). Nonetheless, there we were, toting bottles of Burgundy and Champagne. As it happened, the bubblies this night were fantastic and almost outshown the Burgs. Almost.
Arriving there early after visiting Crush’s cellar with Peter, we discovered that David Rosewater had not only arrived early, but placed himself in one of the best seats of the house. This round to you, David. As the others trickled in, we began popping corks, starting with an interesting little bottle (500 ml) of the 1996 Duval Leroy Femme de Champagne. Gorgeous from the get-go, it was full of floral notes backed up by lemon, honey, nuts, minerals, brioche, and baking spices, with a velvety mouthfeel that was buttressed by piercing acidity that really cleaned the palate yet left you wanting more. BTW, I looked it up, this is an assemblage of 79% Chardonnay and 21% Pinot Noir. We compared this to a NV Chartogne Taillet Cuvee Sainte Anne, a wine I’ve always liked, but which seemed so much sweeter and softer compared to the Femme. It was almost pillowy after having the laser-like acidity of the Duval Leroy. Still, it was a nice way to start the evening.
Izzy arrived and offered another Champgne, and how could we refuse this: 1986 Pol Roger Brut. While it had that lovely old Champagne funk on the nose, with hints of oxydation and tons of nuttiness, it quickly fell apart and went flat on the palate, turning almost syrupy as it sat in the glass. Bummer.
Now we began opening whites: congrats to Max, the 1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne that David grabbed from his store was just lovely, super concentrated with a steel backbone and lively fruit that was just starting to show secondary aspects. WAY too young, this was just delicious to go back to over the course of the dinner. No premox here. A 1987 Guyon Meursault Charmes au Dessus de Charmes was tired and over the hill to my palate but others liked it more than me. Leo’s 2003 Jadot Chevalier Montrachet Les Demoiselles smelled more CA than Burgundy, but not in an awful “whacked with oak and super sweet” way. No, this still had the freshness of France but with the power of CA. Interesting, though it did show more coconut and tropical fruits as the night wore on, and the palate was oily without the necessary acidity to back it up. Again, others liked this more than me, but I’m an acid freak. David Sugarman reached into his bag of tricks and out popped a 1993 Roulot Meursault les Tillets. Ooooh, now we’re talking, with bacon fat, lemons, petrol and minerals just oozing off out of the glass. It coated the palate, oily but in a good way, with a lovely freshness that belied its age. The finish was lip-smackingly good.
As the ducks arrived (4), we moved on to the reds. Going oldest to youngest, we began with Izzy’s 1997 Dujac Echezeaux. Gorgeously funky on the nose, with dried cherries, nuts and sous-bois, this ended up teasing us as the palate had seen some obvious heat damage. What a shame! Izzy, stop putting your wine on top of your oven. ![[tease.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/c/c5b32b76bebaa359b0452ae247b61189ffe5fa7e.gif "tease"){kind=small}
Next came the Rousseaux, and wow, were they outstanding. We started by comparing the 2000 and 2001 Clos de la Roche, a fascinating experiment. The 2000 was fleshier and more opulent, almost slutty, compared to the lean elegance of the 2001. To me the 2001 was just so much more precise and crystalline that I couldn’t help but keep going back to it. But both showed similarities that showed their terroir. Fantastic flight.
We grabbed the next round, the 2003 Rousseau Clos des Ruchottes and the 2001 Mazy Chambertin. The Mazy smelled great but was tight tight tight. It refused to open except to offer peeks of greatness. Damnit. On the other hand, the Ruchottes was alive and singing, reminding me of a bright New World Pinot (no cola notes, thank God). Almost thick on the palate, it had some nice acidity that belied its vintage (I am not a fan of 2003 in general) and kept it fresh despite the darker-than-usual fruits and berries. The finish was a tad clipped but this was still delicious.
Another table sent over a few things to try, like a still-alive 1985 Dominus that would have been better with steaks than duck, an oxydized 1996 Champagne Billiot, and some super sweet palate-killing 1976 Riesling whose name I didn’t catch.
Another fun night at PDH, but one is left to wonder when Peter will move to Gotham considering he’s spending more time here than up in Beantown?
Cheers! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
