Sarah Kirschbaum had a few people over for dinner the other night, with Christine Huang sharing chef duties. The food, company and wines combined to one of the year’s best so far.
I arrived after most had moved on from Pernot’s Batard Montrachet 2001. No premox! It wasn’t a knockout white Burg, but it did have great acidity, nice moderate weight and a good smoky minerality. I would have liked more depth here. The first red poured around was the legendary Taurasi Riserva 1968 from Mastroberardino. This is finally (!) at early maturity; however, this was from a cellar I have gotten to know well, where the Italians have unusually strong provenance and generally drink young, so other bottles may well be at apogee. Lots of leather and cherry fruit in this extremely dense wine.
Two Piedmont wines followed, paired with fabulous wild mushroom crostini. Gaja’s Barbaresco 1961 had a dusty, gamy nose; I thought I got a whiff of something resembling ketchup as well. It was very good, although I preferred the previous month’s 1964. Giacosa’s Barolo Bussia Riserva 1979, had tons of leather and tar, and despite a structural backbone did not come across as heavy at all; it was in perfect balance. Really excellent wine. Opinions were split 4-2 on which of the two was masculine and which feminine; I was in the minority of considering the Gaja the masculine wine.
A risotto with asparagus, preserved lemon, lemon zest and perfectly fresh shrimp was paired with two wines that had more or less nothing in common, but both worked brilliantly. Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Spatlese (!) 1971 from the Staatsweinguter had a deep gold color, a nose that showed honey, petrol and hints of tropical fruits in the background, and started out not showing much acidity, although that came out as it was opened. This is clearly nearing the end of its peak window, but isn’t quite yet in decline. The other wine in this flight was a perfect bottle of DP Rose 1982. Christine said that it reminded her of creme brulee; Sarah and Bob both described it as having a nose reminiscent of “old stone” (Bob narrowed it down further, to old stone in Paris); as for me, I could only describe the nose as “wild and gamy.” It reminded me of a top red Burgundy, in Champagne form.
For the next course of roasted pork loin with sauteed spinach and carrot-rutabaga puree (Sarah: “I love what the rutabaga does to the carrots!”) I opened the next Burgundy, d’Angerville’s Clos des Ducs 1976, and with great regret said that I thought we might not need the Bonnes Mares 1978 from Vogue. Which was true from a consumption standpoint, although I do hope it shows up at the next one of these! The d’Angerville was really outstanding, with classic earthy Volnay fruit, and absolutely none of the overripe and roasted character that so many 1976s show. Served blind I think I would have guessed 1978. My bottle of Certan de May 1981, while showing well, was hopelessly outclassed. Silly me, I had thought this would be a less extravagant evening–all I can say is that I’ll make up for it next time! Still, it was another example of how underrated this vintage remains on the Right Bank, dense with a ton of Pomerol earth. Compared with the incredibly elegant Piedmont and Burgundy wines though it came off as somewhat coarse.
Two BAs showed up, without advance planning, and provided a nice contrast. The Mainzer Hofkellerei Bechtheimer Gotteshilfe 1975 had really nice burnt sugar flavors, but had the extreme misfortune to be paired with JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr BA Goldkap 1976, so next to that it came off as a bit diluted. The Prum was unsurprisingly excellent, my top of the night along with the DP Rose, with a very tropical nose and a palate showing orange, tangerine, grapefruit peel and an incredibly persistent finish. I wished for a touch more acidity, but that’s about par for the 1976s generally.