DINNER WITH FRIENDS: ALSACE, SANTORINI AND BORDEAUX LEFT AND RIGHT - Strasbourg, France (10/4/2025)
It's always fun to serve wines blind to dinner guests.
Just one flight :-
- 2019 Jean-Claude Buecher Crémant d'Alsace Reflets - France, Alsace, Crémant d'Alsace
How much fun it is to serve wines blind over dinner. I began with this superlative bubbly from Alsace. Readers may know that well over 30% of all wine made in Alsace is traditional-method sparkling, but there’s quite a bit of average stuff out there. Not so with this one: after 48-months on the lees, it was disgorged in July last year, adding some bottle evolution for complexity. The autolysis aspect led all guests to nod “fine Champagne”. The smooth texture, bright acidity, and palate pleasing bead was anything but foamy, which can be the case with so many average sparklers, traditional method, too. Everyone loved it. I highly recommend this wine as a top Alsatian bubbly. (94 points) - 2016 Sigalas Assyrtiko Kavalieros - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini
Second wine served blind for early autumn dinner, paired with butternut soup. Guesses ranged from the Loire Valley to Chablis. Perhaps Riesling? All agreed with the finesse, power and depth. “This is like a fine Burgundy,” said one. Peach, ripe citrus, touches of pineapple, wet stone hints of gunflint, smoky. When I opened it, I was initially troubled by the light gold color, fearing rapid evolution. Online, you see tasting notes of “light straw color”. Not so - at all, some nine years later. This single vineyard Santorini Assyrtiko from the fine 2016 vintage is excellent, complex and long. As for the alcohol, guesses were at 13, but it’s 14.5. A top cuvée from Sigalas. (95 points) - 2018 Château Petit Village - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Third wine served blind. I had taken a bit with a Coravin two years ago. Today? Very rich and ripe, one guest thought California Cab. Some vanilla, oak influence overall well integrated. But then a serious underlying, almost Médoc like, graphite, reflecting structure in the smooth tannins. Enrobed. Very pleasing, but not as complex as I would have liked. Give it more time in the cellar. In any case, it was overshadowed by the next wine: for some. It’s funny how the ladies preferred the Merlot-driven Pomerol, while us guys preferred the next wine. (94 points) - 2019 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
What a pleasure to see a dear friend - and wine geek - perfectly describe the final wine served blind over dinner. He did not know what it was, but used words like “aristocratic, racy, finesse, powerful, super ripe but not New World, cool blue fruit yet deep and long.” That’s a nice way to describe the exceptional Leoville Las Cases 2019, and I agreed with every word. I had used a Coravin to take a small glass two years ago, which perhaps helped bring this wine at this stage so early. But these solar vintages tend to be open sooner anyway, even with LLC. A 1996 or 2000, it ain’t. It’s singing now! (98 points)
In the end, you know what a classy wine is, the one that can overshadow the rest. Even if the Alsatian bubbly is remarkable as a less expensive alternative to Champagne. And the Sigalas shows off how nicely Assyrtiko can develop. And I appreciate how Petit Village seduces at this early stage, even if it as my least favorite among the four. As for LLC, well. :-)
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