Christmas Eve dinner was seared scallops and a mushroom risotto. Kept it to all whites:
2011 Ganevat Chardonnay “Grusse en Billat”
This reminded me of a Meursault. It had classic Ganevat spine and minerality but was rich and almost oily. Silky palate. Nose of white fruit. Long finish. Great wine.
2009 Ganevat Chardonnay “Les Chalasses Vielle Vignes”
This one was more classic Ganevat. Tightly wound, more firmly acidic, and delicate. A strong crushed rock note to go along with white peach and green apple. Layers of flavor that unfurled slowly. The 2011 won out slightly for texture but this won out for classicism and elegance.
D’Oliveiras 1937 Sercial Madeira - gorgeous
Perseval-Farge Champagne NV Pucelle- only had a sip of this but it was excellent
Christmas dinner was a Flannery Beef 35-day dry aged Club Roast and Yorkshire pudding. Only opened reds.
1992 Louis Martini reserve cab - off bottle, probably heat damaged. Down the sink.
2004 Ch. Malescot St-Exupery
Always a lovely wine in an overlooked vintage. Lots of Margaux perfume and not overly modern nor oaky. On the red-fruited side and with slightly dusty tannins that recede over the course of 3-4 hours. Still primary.
2011 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
Last year for fruit from this vineyard. Gave it about 6h decant. Translucent garnet. Tight as hell on opening, expectedly, this mellowed beautifully with time and became that classic Giacosa sweet red fruit perfume, still a bit of rose. All strawberry and candied red cherry, layered and lengthy for a wine that is light bodied and taut. Haven’t had much young Giacosa. This was much better than the 2013 Rocche I had a few weeks ago, admittedly a PnP, but still all burly and dark fruited
The ‘37 is awesome, and $395 is the going price at RWC and on W-S. It’s got a richness that many Sercial can lack, but never loses that vein of acidity.
However, is it twice the wine of the 77 Sercial or 77 Terrantez? No way. I’ll take those at $140-200 all day. The 71 Terrantez and 68 Boal are also special wines and available for a lot less than that 1937. Same with the 1969 Sercial, all from D”Oliveiras.
Thanks for the advice. My local guy also has the Blandys and d’Oliveras Bual 1968 for under $300, though those are a bit sweet for me. He also has the ‘77s for $200.
Funny coincidence: we had Flannery Club Roast for Christmas Eve (although I sliced it and we made beef stroganoff out of it) and also enjoyed the 37 Sercial!
