A very pleasing line-up of premier cru Cotes de Beaunes a group of us brought to L’Ecole, the restaurant of the French Culinary Academy here in NYC, last night. The food was first rate, too, and cheap – $42 for a five-course prix fixe. I had these with a very tasty if tepid, very rare rack of lamb. (The kitchen did have some problems getting the meats cooked as requested.) All were decanted an hour or more ahead and served single blind.
Remy Rollin Pernand-Vergelesses - Les Fichets
This was very ripe, rich and approachable-- chewy, even. I assumed it was the Clos des Chenes, judging by my few experiences with Lafarge’s Clos des Chenes. Most people liked this the best of the three. I found it a bit more obvious than the d’Angerville, but so, so drinkable. 90-ish
D’Angerville Volnay – Champans
I pegged this as the d’Angerville immediately. Such archetypal Volnay! Not a lot of tertiary things yet, but this is very drinkable right now. 91++ -ish.
Bouchard Volnay – Clos des Chênes
Much more restrained than the others. Between that and what seemed like a bit of rusticity, I assumed this was the Rollin, so I was surprised when this was unveiled. I think this needs some more time. It was coming up in the glass at the end of the meal, but by then there was none left to refresh my glass. 88-92.
I should add that L’Ecole’s wine list is quite good, and the mark-ups are reasonable, so we did well with the wines we ordered off the list as well.