TN- Sir Winston Churchill comes alive Saturday night

WINE TALK
1

This past Saturday Peter Czyryca descended from on high (aka Boston) to share some wine with us. After a long, lazy and liquid Saturday afternoon (including a long lunch at Momofuku Ssam followed by a 2007 Foillard Morgon Clos de Py and a VERY bretty 2006 Raphet Bourgogne Rouge and a 1981 Riesling whose name is lost in the mists of my hangover), we invaded Peking Duck House. As usual, we made fools of ourselves, thoroughly disgusted and frightened a visiting family from the Midwest (I was tempted to lean over and ask “How much for the little girl?” from the looks we were getting), and shocked and dismayed passing pedestrians, sitting as we were in the glass room out front.

In other words, a typical evening at PDH. [diablo.gif]

We started with the 2000 Pol Roger Rose, which was very tight at first, but slowly uncoiled to show lovely flowery notes backed up by soft red berries, and a gorgeous mouthfeel that was both mouthfilling and elegant at the same time. I kept going back to this over the course of the evening and kept getting happier and happier with it. What a great way to start the night.

We had decided to do old to young, and so the first pour was also one of the best, the 1986 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill. It was poured alongside the 1988 Sir Winston Churchill in an attempt to revisit the Eighties. Almost from the start, the 1986 was showing better, with gorgeous notes of dark yeast, apple pie, caramel/toffee, cafe au lait, brioche, and hints of red berries. It also had that lovely musk that older Champagne sometimes gets, but which blows off quickly as the wine breathes. Gorgeous, and it developped nicely over the course of the evening. The 1988, on the other hand, had something weird going on. I thought it might be slightly corked, as I got whiffs of TCA every now and then, but then again I am SUPER sensitive to that (lucky me). Others disagreed about the cork but did agree that there was something off with it. Too bad, as I had been looking forward to trying it next to the 1986.

Next up came the Nineties, with the 1990, the 1995, the 1996 and the 1998 Sir Winston Churchill. Of the four, my favorite was the 1998 and 1995 to drink right away, the 1990 to hold and watch evolve in the glass, and the 1996 to hold for another ten years. Profile-wise, as expected, they were all relatively similar, with vintage variations coming through in terms of their openness and power. The 1990 was extremely full-bodied, as was the 1996, but the 1995 and 1998 were more (relatively) lean and easy to drink. These last two were also not as complex or promising, IMHO, as the 1990 and 1996, both of which seemed to be teasing us with greatness to come.

Since that wasn’t enough wine for 7 people, we began popping some more corks. First out of the gate was a 1996 Vogue Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru, which was big and ripe on the nose but not so much on the palate. Still, a very nice wine, especially with the flocks of duck we were eating. Izzy whipped out a 1985 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine which reminded me why I love older CA Cabs and dislike the newer stuff so much. Big and minty but also elegant at the same time, this isn’t a super-ripe fruit and alcohol bomb as so many these days are. Somehow, a 2006 Puffeney Arbois Trousseau Cuvee les Berangeres got into the mix, beautifully redolent of light red berries and super stinging acidity that stripped the enamel off my teeth.

I am pretty sure we were kicked out of PDH at this point, so we herded ourselves off to Izzy’s new place in the Flatiron district. Since we were still thirsty, and since Kevin had brought it, showed it to us and bragged about it, we let him open his 1937 La Tour Blanche with the color of Cognac. Wow, this was a wine I had to sit with for a while, if only for the history that it represented. It was gorgeous, with lovely aromas of honeyed caramel brule, figs, almonds, with whiffs of herbs, and a thick, slightly oily mouthfeel that covered the palate and then faded slowly away into the mists of time. Fantastic, and extremely generous on Kevin’s part.

Finally, Izzy reached into his cellar and pulled out a 1989 La Chappelle. At this point, it was more for pleasure than tasting as my palate was pretty much dulled between the bubbles and the sticky, but I do recall enjoying the Rhone somewhat. Maybe someone else can post better TNs?

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday, especially after having had a liquid lunch at Momofuku Ssam (notes to follow). It was good to see Peter again, even though he visits NYC so much taht he is becoming an honorary citizen. Soon we’ll have to start taxing him appropriately too. Thanks to all who generously donated such lovely Champagnes and other wines, and a special shout to Kevin for that La Tour Blanche. I can still taste it.
Cheers! [cheers.gif]

2

I actually live on the Upper West Side, but it’s more fun saying I drive down every other weekend. neener

Thanks to everyone for making it out to play, what a day! Beautiful weather too.

Wine impressions:

  • Enjoyed the heck out of the 86, 90 and 98 Winstons, 90 took some time but did come around.

  • Something was awry with the 88, though I don’t think it was TCA. Rick played the role of “Blackjacker,” handing Michel glasses of 88 late-night, saying they were the 90 or 95, and Michel would say it was beautiful [tease.gif] lol!!

  • 85 Heitz Martha’s = wow. Even the color was ridiculous, so deep and dark, hardly any bricking. Really expressive bouquet to go with layered fruit.

  • 37 La Tour Blanche, Kevin is now the Audouze of our merry band of Ducklovers. I could smell/drink this all day long, loved the exotic coconut component. This was seamless and was just so beautiful, words cant possibly do it justice. From grapes made before WWII, amazing.

  • 89 Jaboulet Chapelle, great capper to the evening, loads of olivey goodness, smoked meats, yum. If we hadnt been drinking all day, I suspect everyone would have been raving about it even more than we were at 1am.

  • The Puffeney would be great with a chicken dish or pork - suffered sans food, especially against the bottles it was alongside.

  • Loved the 07 Foillard Morgon at Michel’s, cant get enough Cru bojo.

  • 95 Clos St Hune may have changed my mind on Riesling, the one Izzy generously bought from the list didnt suck either. Perfect with that spicy rice cake dish, per Sazama.

  • 96 Lassalle Special Club, something was WAY off here. Definitely no TCA, but it was damaged somewhere along the line, showing very sweet and almost cheesey on the nose.

When’s the next one?

3

Very well done gentleman. That’s my kind of weekend.

4

Actually, I said it was nice.

When’s the next one?

When can you get your Pollack ass back down here? But this time bring your stripper wife. neener

5

I saw the thread and assumed Manlin was traveling East.

6

The best way to do it IMNHO.

Glad the '86 showed well. Too bad about the '88, it’s pretty good.

You need to do another SWC vertical, but this time do the good years '75 thru '85 [tease.gif]

7

Ray,

Next time, I promise.

8

Nice job with Sir Winston Churchill. Can you do the same with Generalissimo Franco?

9

That '37 was something special. For the Sir Winston Churchill’s, my opinions are quite similar to Michel’s. Although the '88 was quite off, I still don’t think it was corked.

I know that there was a semi-random, but incredibly delicious 1983 spatlese at lunch, and Izzy generously bought a 1983 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. The riesling had at Michel’s was the 1981 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling “Sang” Spatlese.

The 1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle was really firing on all cylinders, even after the lineup that we’d worked throughout the day. Yum.

Thanks guy!

10

Nice work gents. I would even sit at the same table as Rick to enjoy all those beauts. [berserker.gif]

11

What a fabulous event! I adore Sir Winston Churchill. Sounds like you’re spoiling Peter though. :wink:

12

The 88 should have been quite nice…much better than you described it…sorry to hear that it didn’t perform up to what it should have.

13

Michel,

Any clue as to when the 88 Churchill was purchased. Both the 88 and 90 vintages didn’t sell incredibly well on release (I believe the number of bottles brought into the US increased with these vintages) and many sat in stores or warehouses for a number of years. This has led to a number of off or overly mature bottles of these vintages. It isn’t a systemic problem, just one of sometimes poor or substandard storage. When good, both the 88 and 90 are stellar Champagnes that are still on the young side.

The 98 is definitely expressing a lot right here and now. I don’t really think it is a big step up from the basic 98 Pol Brut or worth the money, but it is a nice wine. I love the 95 and find it a bit closed right now compared to release, but this will be a very good vintage as it ages.


What happened to the 93 vintage? [wink.gif]

14

Brad,

Rick brought the 1988, you’d have to ask him where it was sourced. To me the flaw was more like TCA. Though others disagreed about that, they did say something was off with it. And sadly no one volunteered the 1993. Next time?
Cheers! [cheers.gif]

15

Michel,

You guys didn’t miss much by not having the '93.

16

Really? I’ve heard good things about it.

17

Good for a '93 but not good for SWC .

18

If the 86 was on, they also might have gotten a magical showing of the 93! [wink.gif]

Michel,

As far as SWC goes, 86 and 93 lack when compared to other vintages and were better a few years ago than today though never great. The 98 is a little better wine than both of them IMO.

19

I found the 1996 to be disappointing, perhaps more so than the 1988.

20

Someone else has mentioned this before… [wink.gif]