TASTING GROUP DINNER - BORDEAUX - Dave’s House (6/19/2009)
Dave Dalluge, Chris Larson, Craig Vanderah, and I gathered at Dave’s house for a Friday steak-and-Bordeaux fest (with some other interesting bottles thrown in). We were joined by Dave’s daughter Julia and Chris’s girlfriend Simone. Dave and his kitchen crew pulled together several appetizer courses from the French Laundry cookbook, along with fettuccine (made from scratch), grilled rib eyes, and carrot cake (made from scratch by Craig’s wife Nita). The food was incredible – some of our group’s best dining ever. After dinner we retired to Dave’s outdoor fireplace area and sipped Sauternes and Champagne until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks Dave for hosting another terrific evening.
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1995 Gérard Tremblay Chablis Grand Cru Valmur Domaine Des Iles - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Oxidized. NR (flawed) -
2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Lemon, mineral, and sea shells. Saline texture. Long and racy in the mouth. Delicious and very young. Less intensity and cut than Fevre’s '02 Les Clos, but that’s mostly nitpicking. (91 pts.) -
2006 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
Thanks to bottles like this, Fourrier is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Burg producers. Complex floral, meaty, earthy nose. The palate is approachable, nicely ripe, impeccably balanced, expansive, and long. Gorgeous purity of fruit. Open for business initially and then began to close down after about half an hour. An extremely impressive village wine that drinks like an upper-tier 1er. A steal at under $50. (92 pts.) -
1966 Château Angélus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Soft and evolved, showing flavors of root beer/sassafras, plums, cigar, slight VA, earth, and brown sugar. Fully resolved tannins. Interesting; a bit past its prime. (88 pts.) -
2004 Fattoria Galardi Terra di Lavoro Roccamonfina IGT - Italy, Campania, Roccamonfina IGT
Tasted blind. Craig told us this was a 2004, and I guessed Pauillac. Intense, dark ruby color. The nose serves up an intense perfume of cedar, pencil lead, and dark fruit. Large-scaled on the palate, with concentrated smoky dark fruit flavors, oak, and a ton of ripe tannin. This is made in a big, powerful style, but is quite well balanced and already hinting at secondary flavor complexity. Should be even better with a few years of bottle age. (91 pts.) -
1983 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Second time I’ve tasted this. From the same source as the bottle tasted in January 2009. Another terrific bottle. Intense, complex layers of flavor, including perfumed cherries, earth, leather and tobacco. Gloriously ripe and balanced. Silky, supple, and long. Intellectual as well as sensual. Elegance personified. My WOTN. (96 pts.) -
1998 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Double decanted approximately 9 hours. Some puffy baby fat initially. Classic, beautiful core of red fruit. Elegant and balanced, minerally, and long. Fantastic texture. Seamless. Amazing stuff. (95 pts.) -
2001 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Very young, showing primal smoky dark fruit and coffee/espresso flavors. Some bread dough/buttered popcorn on the nose which was a little odd at first. With air, this pulled itself together and turned delicious. Mid-weight, classy stuff. Wait. (92 pts.) -
1988 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Youthful, sweet peachy fruit. Nicely proportioned, with good balancing acidity and moderate complexity on the palate. Long finish. (90 pts.) -
1990 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut - France, Champagne
Brief notes: consistent with prior TNs. Copper color. Yeasty, nutty and complex.