TN: More great eats and wine at Christine's; Burgs, Savennières and old Rioja.

WINE TALK
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Christine Huang, bless her talented and generous heart, despite having a big dinner party at her place on Friday, was still in the mood to cook. So, last night she corralled Paul and Sandy Jaouen, recently returned from Burgundy and full of stories, Bill Lawrence, Michel Abood and myself for yet another fantastic dinner at her place. The food was so good, we were hearing happy noises coming from Bill that will torment us the rest of our lives! The wines were terrific, too.

Cheers,

Brad

1996 Closel- Savennières, Cuvée Spéciale “Clos du Papillon”
Made only in ’89 and ’96 due to exceptional vintage conditions, this is showing quite well. It’s effusive with air, showing plenty of quince, bees wax, toasted nuts and mineral on the nose and palate. It’s expansive and rich, though quite dry. While still quite fresh, there’s a bit more nutty oxidation than I now prefer and I’m thinking that, to my tastes, I should’ve drank these younger, though this definitely has the structure and fruit to age awhile longer. On release, this and the ’89 version were my favorite Savennières of all time and I think the ’89 is still showing fresher and less oxidative. Solid A-.

2005 Etienne Sauzet- Batard-Montrachet
Quite nice for Chardonnay, actually. Plenty of pear, mineral and oak flavors and aromas, but the oak really isn’t too overdone, though there is a little more than I prefer. There’s a real gravitas to this wine. Terrific depth and richness, but nicely balanced with a creamy mouthfeel and endless finish. I liked this, but it should be noted that everyone else liked this more than I did. Solid A-.

2007 Domaine Ramonet- Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeot”
I found too much sulfur on the nose, though swirling did help. Lots of citrus here with the oak not as integrated as it was in the Sauzet. Big structure. Not doing much for me, though, again, I was with folks that like Chardonnay. B+.

1973 Muga- Rioja Gran Reserva “Conde de Haro”
Started off like silk. Resolved on the palate with just a luscious, silky texture. There’s still nice ripeness and intensity to the cherry fruit, with tobacco and spicy old wood in the background. With air, orange citrusy acidity came up with a little leather and took some of the harmony away, but this was just lovely and a nice pairing with the duck legs with braised carrots and leeks. A-.

2002 Faiveley- Latricières-Chambertin
Paul said he double decanted this in the a.m., but by dinner time it was still pretty tight. It’s more giving on the nose, where it showed beautiful strawberries and cherries with a spicy note. A little lean and tight, but there’s some nice fruit here. A touch of wood sticks out, but some more age should see it integrated. I’d lay off these a little while longer. Low A-.

2005 Ponsot- Morey Saint Denis, “Cuvée des Alouettes”
Now this is a little more my style. Quite rich with riper and blacker fruit than the Faiveley. Just lip-smacking goodness on the palate with a nice stoniness at the back. There’s good structure here, though the fruit is still upfront and masks it to some degree. Solid A-.

2001 Castelnau de Suduiraut- Sauternes
Pleasant, if not particularly complex. Some nice butterscotch with tropical fruit and apricot flavors, but the wine is a little light, shows a bit of alcohol and drops off on the finish. B+/B.

Some pics from the evening.

The group.

The wines.

Caramelized onion, olive and red pepper tart.

Baby lima bean and pea purée.

Roasted asparagus with miso butter and slow poached egg.

Farro risotto with spring vegetables.

Duck legs braised with carrots and leeks.

Mango and apricot Charlotte.

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Jesus Brad- these are getting to be like Noel’s lunches. It really makes the bagel I ate seem unworthy. Keep these coming. What a wonderful selection of wines and great notes! I’m thinking I’ll come to Berserkerfest in NYC to meet some of you. We enjoy many o the same things.

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All the food looks fantastic as well as the wines but that dessert looks absolutely incredible.

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The roasted asparagus with miso butter and slow poached egg was one of the best dishes I’ve had! The name is a bit of a minomer as rather than poached, Christine slow cooked the egg in shell for 45 minutes at some ridiculously low temp of 145 or 165 or something like that. Ridiculously good!

As for the wines I really loved the two white burgs and the Rioja showed really well.

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Your name came up quite a bit in conversation last night. [cheers.gif]

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Thanks guys! Hi Don!! The guys were telling me about their last Atlanta trip and staying in the “Christine Huang” wing of your house. [dance-clap.gif]

I love the idea of seeing what’s good in the market and then sending out the menu to the crew with the descriptions and prominent flavors of each course. It’s interesting to see what they come up with pairing-wise and contrast & compare the differences. For the Asparagus dish, I asked for a rich white with good minerality. For the duck dish, I asked for a light-bodied red with good acidity. The dessert was going to just be a Sauternes Olive-Oil cake, but because of the high humidity lately, the cake really didn’t rise that much and I decided to turn it into a Charlotte and use the mangoes that are coming into the market now and to use an apricot cream, as it reminds me of Spring (and I can use all the reminders I can get when it’s soggy out!)

I have to say everyone did a great job and those were some of the best pairings we’ve had. [highfive.gif]

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the egg and asparagus with miso butter looks perfect.
Nice dinner again Christine.

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Great wines & great food! I want to move to NYC just so I can hang w/ you guys!!

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Christine,

I am glad we could open it back up. We enjoyed having Paul and Bill. They were perfect guests. Best way to reopen the wing.
Joe Howe also stayed with us but my wife missed that one when we discussed the weekend. (I probably forgot to tell her. ) When he showed up with his clothes, her face was priceless. She has since forgiven me.

You guys know how to eat and drink up in NYC. These little dinners are so creative. Great job on what looks like a lot of hard culinary work.
Yummy.

Paul,

Still jealous of your trip to Burgundy.

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Gee, ya think?

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Christine - Any chance you can share the recipe for your Olive Oil Cake? I make several versions of this cake but haven’t utilized Sauternes.

Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

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Christine,
Are you in the food business?
Dang!

btw I wonder if the 02 Faiveley had too much air.
I have had two of these brought to restaurants, and they showed really well as pop and pour and consumed over 2 hours.
I absolutely love this producer.

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Here’s the kicker. She comes out with it saying “this is the weakest dish of the night” and giving all kinds of reasons why the dish was a fail. We all thought she was nuts!

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Maybe as Faiveley was double decanted in the morning.

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[rofl.gif] [welldone.gif]

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Actually coming fromn Brad that is quite high praise for a W. Burg.

Looks like you all had quite a great meal!

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I think we all need to chip in and get Christine a sous vide machine. She literally spent 45 minutes watching the eggs and adjusting the stove top temp so the water stayed a constant 145 degrees!

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Okay Christine - now I’d love the asparagus recipe. After all, I have a sous vide machine :slight_smile:

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Fantastic again—I think Christine is starting to give Ledbury in London a run for its money!

Those Savennieres—so hard to know when is the perfect time to drink 'em. I really value your observations on these Brad, since I know they’re one of your sweet spots for wine. I still have an 02 Closel Clos de P that I’m trying to wait on for another 2 years or so. Fortunately, I’ve had the chance to assess it a couple times over the last 2 years and I think I’m on the mark.

I’ve had the 01 Castelnau once (had the regular a number of times). In this instance, I do find a significant dropoff in interest/quality, whatever you want to call it.

I think I’ve also stayed in the Huang Wing of the Cornutt residence. I am honoured to be in such company.

Paul, will email or PM you about your burgundy trip—I’m headed over there in about 6 weeks.

haere ra,

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OK Jay, here it is: Recipe: Roasted Asparagus with Miso Butter and Slow-Poached Egg - Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes - WineBerserkers

Kim - I’ve made a couple different versions of the Sauterns Olive Oil Cake. One is from Chez Panisse and it’s called Linda’s Olive Oil and Sauterns Cake (which is easily found in a Google search) and this one was from Regan Daley from In the Sweet Kitchen. The Chez Panisse one didn’t have much flavor but the texture was good. The Daley one had better flavor, but came out super dense - that’s why I turned it into a Charlotte. I need to play with the recipes some more before I post one I really like.

Cooking is what I do to de-stress from a career that ranks just above used car salesman on the respect meter. [snort.gif]