Friday the 13th was another charity wine dinner we hosted to benefit our local hospice house. Saturday was my birthday dinner. We invited some close friends who appreciate wine but do not collect or study it. Sunday night was for wine geeks only.
Welcome to guests, winners of the Hospice Auction
I sabered a magnum to start the night. A nice rosé champagne with cheese, charcuterie, fruit and vegetable platters
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NV José Michel & Fils Champagne Brut Rosé - France, Champagne (10/13/2023)
Sabered to start the hospice charity dinner. It's always a crowd pleaser. Uncomplicated but lively and delicious. Red fruit, good cut.
Classic pairings 1
Champagne and caviar, with toast points, shallot and crème fraîche, but surprisingly good with ruffled potato chips.
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2006 Dom Pérignon Champagne - France, Champagne (10/13/2023)
Served with Astrea Grand Selection Oscietra caviar. Five years ago, this wine was dull and utterly shut down. Bottle time has been kind. It is a gorgeous bottle, dense and long, with more brioche and less reduction than typical. We loved it. It’s a great DP for current consumption. -
2008 Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (10/13/2023)
I noticed empty glasses before the oysters were ready, so I opened this on the fly after the DP. Racy, clean and precise. It needs time in the glass, and warming to show the classic Chardonnay fruit profile, which is somewhat eclipsed by the mineral and acid. Lean Chablis with bubbles. It's my last bottle, but had I more, I'd hold a few years.
Classic pairing #2
Muscadet and oysters. In this case, Sumo-Kumo oysters straight from Taylor Shellfish Farm. Lemon wedges and fresh shredded horse radish, my preferred accoutrements.
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2017 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie (10/13/2023)
Served with Sumo-Kumo (larger, older kumomoto) oysters. Of course I liked it; it's Clos des Briords. That said, it's not my favorite vintage of this. More dense and round, heavier on the fruit and lighter on the mineral and limestone than typcially.
Classic pairing #3
Sauterne and foie gras
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2001 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/13/2023)
Perfectly paired with a mousse of foie gras. Sweet honeyed botrytis, orange marmalade and cardamom with crisp lemony acidity. So lively, focused, and light on its feet. I'm a huge fan of Suduiraut in 2001.
Classic pairing #4
Nebbiolo and fresh truffles on tagliolini
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1959 Franco Fiorina Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (10/13/2023)
Decanted for hours then served with pasta and fresh burgundy truffles. Tuber uncinatum are not my favorite truffles, and 1959 nebbiolo is not close to the quality of the 1958 vintage in Piedmonte. That said, the wine and the truffles were still gratifying. Assertive nose suggested volatile acidity. While a little can add flavors and interest, with this fading flower, it was a tad too much. Still, some dark fruit and tar remained, plus lots of forest floor and mushrooms, and the bottle had redeeming qualities that were enjoyable. -
2010 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (10/13/2023)
Restrained red fruit, still youthful and tannic. We opened this to compare and contrast with the 64 year old Barolo. It was best on day three. However, I was expecting a worthier showing of a vintage where all of the reserve crus went into the normale.
Classic pairing #5
Steak with Left Bank Bordeaux
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1996 Château Calon-Ségur - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (10/13/2023)
This is our "anniversary wine", and we've opened one each year in August to celebrate. Two months ago on our anniversary, the bottle was delicious but seemed advanced, so I used this opportunity to open another to see if the last had been a one-off.
The 1959 Barolo and the 2010 Produttori were not worthy of the Japanese Grade 5 Waygu steaks I'd seared, so I quickly splash decanted this. It was fantastic, much better than the bottle in August. Powerful on the nose; it was like walking into a cigar and pipe tobacco humidor. Smoky dark red fruit and licorice on the nose and palate. Intense attack persists into a long finish. This showed very well; a triumph in St. Estèphe in 1996.
Classic pairing #6
Port with stilton cheese
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2011 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (10/13/2023)
A vintage port with Stilton cheese, to complete the "classic pairing" theme. I typically wait decades to open a VP, and this demonstrated the error in my ways, and the beauty of opening a young bottle. Dense, dark fruit, licorice. Glycerin mouthfeel, ample tannins; utterly enjoyable.
Day two; introductory champagne magnum
A crowd pleaser as guests arrived.
We also finished leftovers from the night before, including the 2001 Suduiraut with foie gras, '59 Fiorina Barolo with charcuterie
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2014 Jose Dhondt Champagne Grand Cru Mes Vieilles Vignes Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (10/14/2023)
A very worthy 2014 in magnum format. Old vine BdB from Oger. Apple, pear tart, brioche, vanilla, but not sweet. Crisp, fresh, mineraled and delicious.
Day two; meat lovers
Outstanding Flannery rib eye and Australian rack of lamb
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1959 Bodegas Palacio Rioja Glorioso Reserva Especial - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (10/14/2023)
Fun, but agreeable at best. I've had much better 1959 riojas, including the Glorioso GR. Fully tertiary, you had to really search to find any remaining fruit, which showed mostly as sweetness under the dense mushroom and forest floor flavors and aromas. Again, slight VA. -
2013 Greer Cabernet Sauvignon Greer Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford (10/14/2023)
Those who know my palate will be as surprised as me how much I liked this wine. I wanted something bold to pair with two seared dry aged Flannery "Jorge" bone-in rib steaks. I was expecting a fairly "big" wine, though it felt more medium bodied. The balance was really incredible; perfect! Nothing dominated, just luxurious dark red fruit, fine generous tannins, and ideal acidity. I think what struck me was the balance and almost ethereal quality in the face of fairly generous Rutherford fruit. This was no fruit bomb.
Day three; start the birthday with a tired, old birth year riesling
Good cork, easily handled with a Durand
This was the night with all wine geeks in attendance. Pot luck; guests brought fresh spot prawns, fresh wild mushroom (including chantrelles) risotto, fresh bread, rack of lamb, and more.
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1959 Deinhard Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Pfalz (10/15/2023)
Andouzed; it was the third bottle of this auction wine I've opened over the past few years. Aggressive nose; it was marred by a recurring flaw. Three of the four 1959 wines I opened over the three days of birthday celebration showed excessive volatile acidity. Previous bottles were much better. Still drinkable, with petrol, apricot, walnut, pineapple. It's telling that we failed to finish the bottle.
Day three; obligatory Champagne flight
Some oysters remained, but not for long
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1996 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne (10/15/2023)
I wanted a bold wine to blow away the tasting group. While I would never turn down a glass of this, I found it a bit dull. Definitely not corked, and not oxidized, just not terribly exciting. Dense, with great cut; some apricot, apple, mushroom. July 2006 disgorgement. -
2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (10/15/2023)
Just over a year ago, these seemed shut down. Two months ago, a bottle was the opposite; showy and full throttle on the nose and palate. This bottle was in between those two; striking, but very nuanced.
Pear, lime, chamomile, honey, caramel apple, toast.
This blew away the 1996 Clos des Goisses. I loved it, as did the group.
Day three; Kelley Fox
Some from the tasting group had yet to try her wines
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2018 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Red Barn Blocks - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (10/15/2023)
Young and delicate. Raspberries and other red berries, finely tannic. Nice structure, but needs time to my palate. A beauty, and another wine that I had to hide the decanter to save sips for the late-comers. I love Kelley Fox pinots.
Day three; exceptional syrah
Jenise cooked the rack of lamb. I cooked up the awesome pairing
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2007 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (10/15/2023)
My last bottle. I splash decanted and served it at cellar temperature, blind to everyone but me. It took all the experienced tasters several guesses to arrive at the correct grape and region. The wine was less dense and much fresher than expected of the warm 2007 vintage. With air, it broadened, with spicy blackberries, violets, bacon and pipe tobacco. Great cut with prominent yet fine tannins. Well loved even before the reveal -
2021 Kobayashi Winery Syrah Sans Soufre WeatherEye Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain (10/15/2023)
No one from my tasting group had tried a Kobayashi. I've become very enthusiastic about this winery, so I had to open a bottle tonight and see if they'd agree.
Like my first bottle, it was energetic, pure and fresh. And like the last bottle, it was paired with rack of lamb. The color is deep, dark purple with a radiant fuchsia rim. Black cherry, blackberry, anise, just a hint of iron. After hours of air, subtle olive appears. There are dense fine tannins, and I think these will age well. The bottle didn't last. In fact, I had to hide the decanter so the late comers would be able to try a sip.
The finale; 1954 Terrantez Madeira
Some Z-biotics would have been wise
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1954 Leacock Madeira Terrantez - Portugal, Madeira (10/15/2023)
I told my guests not to bring any wine "unless it's ridiculous". Jenise was up to the challenge and brought this to close out the night. I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed a Madeira more. Preserved lemon, walnuts, dried fruit, creme caramel. Perfect level of density for my palate. WOTN?
A fun three day birthday celebration with great food, new and old friends, and an abundance of compelling wines.
