TN: Kevin Sidders @ Tilia (Dauvissat, Beaucastel, Comte Armand, Jacques Prieur)

KEVIN SIDDERS @ TILIA - (12/20/2011)

Kevin Sidders was in town for Christmas, so Siggy and I arranged to meet him at Tilia’s for some good food and wine. The three of us spent two weeks in France together in 2006 and spent much of the night fondly recalling our many adventures in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. Food and service were both exceptional again, as usual.

  • 2005 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
    Popped and poured. Started out a bit closed, but really seemed to open up beautifully over the first few courses. Light gold color. Soaring, ethereal nose featuring clean aromas of citrus and honey. Large-scaled on the palate for Chablis, but with plenty of structure to keep things in balance. Beautiful expression of fresh fruit. Finishes with a nice burst of acidity and long, lingering flavors. I’d say this is still holding back and could use additional time in the cellar (if you dare). (93 pts.)
  • 1988 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Popped and poured. Came straight from the car and was far too cold to start, but opened up very nicely as it warmed over the course of about 30-60 minutes. Deep red color. Haunting nose of dark red cherry fruit with spice, earth and plenty of complexity. Flavors are amazing with red fruit, mushroom and iron dominating; turns towards cranberries/tartness by mid-palate. The weight is excellent and it is perfectly balanced with fully resolved tannin. A beautiful wine that I would have loved to sip and savor all night if there hadn’t been two more wines. (93 pts.)
  • 1993 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
    Popped and poured. This was poured after the Beaucastel that had opened up nicely, and this seemed totally closed down by comparison. In time it opened up, and seemed to get better and better the longer it was open. The nose gives reserved aromas of sour red cherries, spice and cocoa. Flavors of red fruit and earth start out fairly compact but become more expansive with each sip. This is a mid-weight beauty and the texture is surprisingly silky and elegant. There is no risk of decline here, and I suspect this will continue to develop and open up for many years to come. (93 pts.)
  • 2002 Jacques Prieur Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
    Popped and poured. Dense blackish-red color. The nose gives a big whiff of primary red fruit along with some spice, oak and smoke. On the palate this is a bruiser. Flavors are still fairly primary, dominated by red fruit and oak. Approaching full-bodied in weight and positively packed with fruit, but with just enough structure to keep it from appearing soft/fat. Still extremely tannic. Great length on the finish. This wine needs a few more years in the cellar and could continue to improve for quite awhile. (91 pts.)

It was great to catch up with Kevin again and hear about his efforts in the wine business. With luck the next time we catch up with him will be in Italy or France tasting wines.
Posted from CellarTracker

Wish I could have made this but it was one too many nights out for the boss.

Thanks for the notes, Dave. What a great evening, with good friends and fantastic food. On the wines, Dave’s notes are pretty spot-on in terms of flavor profiles, though I scored the 88 Beaucastel significantly higher – I thought it was an absolutely fantastic example of classic Chateauneuf drinking in its prime, which for me was more in the 96-97 range. But all the wines showed quite well, with the exception of the Prieur, which was less impressive than the last bottle I had several weeks ago.

In addition to catching up on life, family and wine, folks will want to know that I lobbied Steve and Dave hard to join the WB Ski weekend in Telluride. As super guys with great palates and fun personalities they’d be a great addition to the festivities, and while there were no commitments made it sounds like it may yet be under consideration. Perhaps with further encouragement we can get them over the line…

very typical of vintage, producer and most importantly site. preuses is exactly that, large scaled palate, more fruit and weight, yet still kept in focus with that gorgeous mineral/acid structure. in general and across dif producers, i like preuses in 04 and 07 while valmur in 02, 05 and 08. le clos in both. in other words in cooler more classic years stick to peruses while in warmer years buy valmur.