Spatlesen, Huets, red Burgundies and ZH at Yujean Kang

WINE TALK
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Over the years the question about which wines go best with the cuisine at Yujean Kang has given rise to a fair amount of discussion and several theme dinners. While Yujean feels that red Burgundy is the best accompaniment, I vote for Gewurztraminer and several people prefer Rieslings. I have done dinners around all three, and decided it would be fun, and hopefully educational, to serve flights of each at the same dinner.

Since three courses didn’t seem enough for the ten of us, I asked Yujean for his suggestions on another option. He thought slightly sweet Chenin Blanc or certain Italian wines might be good. While the thought of his cuisine with Italian wines is intriguing, I decided to save it for another day and we opted for a flight of Huet demi-secs.

In most of my recent visits to the restaurants, there have been half a dozen tables at most. Tonight, the place was packed, and the restaurant was not staffed for it. As a result the service of the first two courses was excruciatingly slow (the second course came an hour and 15 minutes after we started), and that put a damper on the entire evening. Fortunately, they made up some time on the last two courses and we ended the meal only about 20 minutes later than I had thought we would. I think the quality of all the dishes was very high, but the slowness of the service damaged the occasion.

We normally drink a German wine while we are assembling. Since that was the first flight I opted for a 2000 Clos de Haute-Combe Julienas, Cuvee Prestige. Pretty lackluster.

We moved on to four Riesling Spatlesen – the 2001 and 2007 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr, the 2001 Christoffel Erdener Treppchen, and 2005 Willi Schaefer “Graacher Domprobst” Spatlese #7 These were served with chicken in snow peas and parma ham, and eggplant with soy sauce and minced pork. I thought both the Haags were excellent, my co-favorites of the flight, with no clear preference between them. The Schaefer was also very good, but a notch below the Haags. The Christoffel was either shut down or an off-bottle, as I found it somewhat flabby and diffuse, not in the same league as the 2001 Haag. I thought the chicken did not work well with the wines, and the eggplant, while phenomenal on its own, probably would not accompany most wines.

The next flight, all Huet demi-secs, included two half bottles of the 1996 Clos du Bourg and the 2002 and 2007 Le-Haut Lieu. I think most of the group would have found this the least of the four flights. I found it the most interesting. A shrimp and walnut dish accompanied them. I did not have this dish, but was told it went well with the 96. All of these wines, whose longevity is normally measured in decades, were popped and poured and developed over the 45 minutes or so we had them. The 1996 was dry and slightly sweet at the same time, started out with a hard edge but mellowed a bit. The 2007 was light as a feather, almost weightless in the mouth, took on some flintiness as it developed, and was my favorite of the flight. The 2002 was almost equidistant between the other two wines in terms of its body and depth, and slightly behind the 2002 in my view. It was interesting to see how the 2007 develops into the 2002 which
then becomes the 1996.

The Burgundies were 1990 Robert Chevillon Nuit St. Georges “Perrieres”, 1997 Frederic Esmonin Mazy-Chambertin, 2003 Jadot Clos des Ursules, and Walter’s mystery wine, the 2001 Dehlinger. For me the 97 stood out, light but fragrant, well balanced, and classy. Hopefully others will offer comments about the other wines. With this dish, Yujean prepared a tofu sausage and duck dish, which was a fabulous accompaniment to the wines. The smokiness of the duck was the perfect foil for the Burgundies, and Yujean may have proved his point tonight.

Saving the best for last, the final flight, all Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminers, included the 2005 Heimbourg (.425 g/l residual sugar, indice 3) and Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive (.74) and 2007 Wintzenheim (.61, indice 4). Yujean prepared veal with orange peel and also a spinach. The dish went very well with the first two wines, but not the VT. The Heimbourg, my favorite ZH non-VT or SGN Gewurz since the 94’s, was its gorgeous, floral, balanced self. The 07 Wintzenheim lacked the depth of the two 05’s, but the acid showed more, and really picked up when paired with the veal. This was my first time tasting the 05 Clos Windsbuhl VT, a wine I searched long and hard to find. It was worth the wait. It’s the essence of Gewurztraminer, with great depth and incredible balance. It should, however, probably be drunk on its own, or with cheese.

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Thanks for the write up David. I think you know my vote is for Gewurz with Yujean’s food. [wink.gif]

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Great minds think alike.

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As much as I loved the Gewurtz’s at Yujean’s in June, I fall into the Riesling category. Not much to add other than Yujean’s didn’t perform to its usual high standards this time around–service was painfully slow and there was little food (both quantities and variety) compared to recent visits, but when we saw the check (very small) we realized that there was a communication breakdown between what we wanted and what the restaurant thought we wanted. So for me, Yujean’s gets a pass on their subpar performance last night.

Now onto the wines. As I remarked to Marshall last night, the thing that I loved about Germans is their consistency. OK, so I don’t generally seek out producers of German plonk, but then I don’t seek out plonk from any country. While I have rarely had a homerun experience (i.e. a “helicopter wine”), I almost never encounter one that is not at least good and pleasurable to drink. And when you are talking about wines that cost generally between $15 and $40, a bunch of singles and doubles hitters are more than good enough for me. Plus, as I get older, I find that I enjoy Germans more and more. I agree with David that the Haags were the class of the flight and I might be tempted to say that the 2007, with its intense richness of fruit but still solid structure, was a triple. The Christoffel was my least favorite, although I did not find it flabby as David did. It had a fair amount of spritz (I seem to find that more in Christoffel than almost any other prodcuer) and it was a little dull. Even still, I would rate it in the mid80s.

Cannot say that I was a fan of the vouvrays, although the 1996 with the food course performed well (I didn’t cotton to it without food).

The “Burgundies” were out of step with the food. David’s favorite, the 1997, was my least favorite–I found it clipped and tart. The 1990 was delicious, as was the Dehlinger, which fooled a number of people (no one thought it was a Dehlinger though). The 2003 was not particularly memorable.

The gewurtz’s were uniformly very good, although the VT did not pair well with the food; nonetheless, I could have drunk any of them all night long.

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David,
Really interesting notes, thanks for posting your impressions. Is Yujean still sticking to his Burg story?

Cheers,
-Robert

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I didn’t discuss it with him, having done so too many times. The duck dish, however, really did go with the Burgs.

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David; Thank you for inviting me. As far as the Burgundies…they were a very diverse group. I hate to be too big of a “homer” [stirthepothal.gif] but the Chevillon was clearly the best wine of the group. I have recently tried other vineyards from this vintage and they all seem to be drinking beautifully at this time. I have to disagree about the 1997 Frederic Esmonin Mazy-Chambertin…Yes, it was light, but it did not seem well balanced to me. It was a bit disjointed and I don’t believe it will improve much, if at all. The wood seemed to overwhelm the fruit. The '03 Jadot Clos des Ursules was to me, typical of other '03s. A bit overripe and alcoholic. The Dehlinger, although not a Burgundy, was a beautiful wine and another example from a highly underrated producer. Dehlinger has been turning out some outstanding wines for over thirty years.
Thanks again… [thankyou.gif]


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

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David - I have to add my thanks too for including me. Unfortunately, as you and Walter mention, Yujean didn’t meet our expectations. That said, the food that was dropped was splendid and the courses were well thought out. But…Please sir, may I have some more?

The Spatlesen were lovely wines. I really enjoyed the '01 Haag and the contrast with the '07 was enormous. Having had the profound '07 Haag Kabinett at Leslie’s set a benchmark that neither of the two Spats equalled. I thought the Christoffel was fine. It has not really budged since I last had it in '06. The Demi-Secs need another 20 years but the '96 (from the soiled label) was enjoyable. I have to agree with Marshall about the Chevillon. Just a brilliant wine entering it’s a prime time stage. The Esmonin was woody, herbal and disjointed. Not a favorite. I had a hard time enjoying the Jadot at this stage. Wondering what will become of these '03s. The blind Dehlinger was clearly Californian. I guessed the wrong producer. The wine was quite enjoyable but stood out in the flight. The '05 Heimbourg was stunning and my favorite in a flight that had no losers.

Nice to meet some new people and see old friends. Looking forward to our next adventure.