TN: Trip’s visit to DC - Ristorante Tosca

WINE TALK
1

TRIP’S VISIT TO DC - RISTORANTE TOSCA - Ristorante Tosca, Washington DC (10/23/2012)

Trip was in town and ten of us got together at Ristorante Tosca for a nice wine dinner. The restaurant was able to source a white truffle and we sample two dishes, a tagliatelle and a risotto that were incredibly good, hard to go wrong with copious amount of butter and a few thin slices of white truffle. Trip originally suggest to cap at eight participants but since it was my birthday he made an exception so we were ten.

All the wines showed very well, except my 82 Ducru which was corked. We usually held our dinners in a private room which enables us to set the room temperature a bit lower. Unfortunately we were seated in a semi-private room and the restaurant being full, some of the reds were served a bit too warm, especially towards to the end.
Chardonny flight 1

  • 2005 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
    A classic big scale CC, sesame, yellow fruits, lemon, a hint of light caramel and tar. There is pure fruit but slightly masked by oak. Steely, exceptional concentration with mouth puckering piercing acidity. A masculine wine with a long life ahead. (93 pts.)
  • 2006 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Tropical fruit, passion fruit, pine needle and beeswax. Excellent concentration and bright acidity. A well made Californian chardonnay. (91 pts.)

Champagne

Chardonny flight 2

  • 2002 Louis Jadot Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
    Le Montrachet to me is not unlike Chevalier Montrachet, airy palate without losing the intensity. Complex nose displaying apple, anise, a hint of light caramel and truffle. Lovely weightless palate. It however seems a bit advanced which makes the overall impression a bit dull. I don’t think this is a representative bottle. (92 pts.)
  • 2008 Kistler Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen - USA, California, Sonoma County
    At least for me, all Kistlers seem to have very close resemblance. Tasted oak, lemon curd, pear, apple and smoke. Excellent concentration, a hint of sweetness, nice mineral expression and strong presence of acidity. Though ripe, very cool impression. A hint of alcohol although served a bit too cold. It is a big scale wine that needs a few years to come together. (93 pts.)

Barolo and La La
All the reds were served single blind.

  • 1967 Cavallotto Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Bit and bruising, tar, earth, big, iron, blood, anise and black fruit. It is showing still young, mouth puckering acidity and still strong presence of tannins. Pretty expressive and rustic. Very enjoyable. (94 pts.)
  • 1987 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
    This wine is showing young. Flower, pepper, tar, fruit cake, perfume and black fruits. Big scale, noticeable structure and tar. Although pepper and perfume were present, it didn’t quite taste like a cote rotie or La La. Still impressive and expressive. (94 pts.)

Bordeaux flight 1

  • 1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    My bottle and I and Greg O thought slightly corked. Trip and Mark thought terribly corked. Oh well, it was corked for sure. Interestingly, the last corked bottle was at Trip’s farewell dinner. Earth, pencil, pauillac nose, baked fruits, classic. A hint of TCA that became obvious with time. NR (flawed)
  • 1989 Château Troplong Mondot - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
    Black fruits, baked fruits, a good amount of chocolate. Noticeable structure, big scale and bright acidity. (93 pts.)
  • 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    Beautifully perfumed, lead pencil, classic left bank. Excellent concentration. (94 pts.)

Bordeaux flight 2
Starting this flight, the wines seem a bit too warm.

  • 1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
    Soft, expressive, big, sexy, a hint of green pepper. Caused me to think a left banker. (95 pts.)
  • 1990 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    Black fruit, sweet, caramel and fully matured. Excellent concentration bright acidity. Drinking beautifully. My WOTN.

This wine continues to impress me. (97 pts.)

Bordeaux flight 3

  • 1996 Château L’Eglise-Clinet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
    Big, silky, blackberries, cassis. Excellent concentration and sweet jammy fruits. Voted as WOTN. (95 pts.)
  • 1996 La Mondotte - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion
    Soft palate, a hint of port, dark jammy fruits. (95 pts.)
  • 1996 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    Big scale, silky, dark fruits. (95 pts.)

Stickies
We also had one of the Chambers rosewood muscat which was very intense and reminded me a 19 century madeira.

it was a blast hanging with Trip once again. I believe Trip kindly arranged a cake/tiramisu for me and nine middle age guys sang "Happy Birthday” which was nice. I seem to get a lesson whenever I partake on a wine dinner. I plan to send the reds back to the cellar and bring out right before the serving. It is sad to drink wines too warm.
Posted from CellarTracker

2

Thanks for the notes Kevin. Sounds like the Jadot was heading down premox hwy.
Best Regards
Jeremy