TN: Wednesday at Heidi's (Veuve, Chevillon, Guigal, Haut-Bailly, more)

WINE TALK
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WEDNESDAY AT HEIDI’S - (11/4/2009)

Four of us (Steve Sigmond, Craig Vanderah and Dave McMahan) planned to meet at the La Belle Vie lounge for some food and wines last Wednesday. We learned at the last minute that LBV was closed for a private party. After scrambling through a number of other options we decided to go with the old stand-by. Food and service at Heidi’s was up to its usual excellent standards, and the wines proved to be very interesting.

Champagne and Whites
All three of these were excellent. The Meursault was surprisingly good despite being a bit perplexing to me. These were served with a variety of appetizers (I had a really fun soft poached hen egg with fresh pea salad, toasted rye crouton, truffle vinaigrette that paired surprisingly well with the Meursault).

  • N.V. Taittinger Champagne La Française - France, Champagne
    The nose delivers a pleasant but reserved blend of bread dough and citrus aromas. On the palate this delivers a compact, straight-line burst of flavor with good acidity and a nice finish. Overall this is clean and refreshing but borders on generic. (90 pts.)
  • 1996 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut - France, Champagne
    The nose is more rustic than the Taittinger, and is dominated by minerality with subdued notes of fruit and yeast. The taste is quite surprising. The attack is obscured by the bubbles/mousse, but as this recedes flavors build, leading to a big rally at the finish. The finish is worth the wait, as it delivers palate coating flavor with great acidity that lingers for a very long time. Extremely satisfying stuff. (92 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Patrick Javillier Meursault Tête de Murgers Cuvée - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
    The nose offers an enticing concoction of tropical fruit, butter, mineral, new oak and barnyard. In the mouth this comes across as soft/fat with great flavors of citrus fruit, pineapple and mint. There is some structure and acidity holding this together, but the acidity fades completely by the finish. An excellent wine that is a little bit disorienting for me given Meursault on the label and little in the nose or taste that places it there. I’m not sure if this will improve in the bottle or not, but it is tasty now. (92 pts.)

Chevillon
All of these (along with a bunch more Chevillon) were purchased recently at what seemed to be fairly decent prices. The Chaignots have obviously been well stored over the years as they showed plenty youthful. Memories of a glorious morning at Chevillon followed by a great lunch at La Cabotte may color my views, but I thought these were all great.

  • 2000 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
    This was showing really well immediately after opening. Tasted ~1 hour later it had faded a bit. The exuberant nose features a melange of red fruit, spice, mineral and coffee marred ever so slightly by some VA. On the palate this shows a bit tart, but has great flavor that expands nicely on the palate. Balanced. Tannic. A bit short on the finish. An enjoyable wine, but ultimately not worth the going rate locally. (91 pts.)
  • 2001 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
    Opened ~1 hour before serving, and seemed to need every minute. Darker color than the '00. A bit more brooding on the nose, but with awesome aromas of dark fruit, spice and coffee (and no VA). Much more structured on the palate, but with great flavor intensity and nice expansiveness. Has good acidity and is still very tannic. Showing well now, but should continue to improve for many years. (93 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges
    Opened about an hour before serving and poured blind to the rest of the group. Decent nose featuring similar aromas to the two Chaignots (dark fruit, spice and coffee) but more rough and rustic. On the palate this delivers similar flavors that are pleasant but a little flat. Craig called it a touch “green” (blind) and I can see that but not overt enough to detract for me. Nicely balanced. Fairly tannic. Nothing wrong here to my palate, just lacking the depth and wow of the '01 Chaignots. (88 pts.)

Hermitage
These were paired with the Shefzilla Surprise (braised pork with fresh pappardelle) and my favorite side (black truffle pappardelle) followed in due course by our entrees. Both wines showed splendidly, but the '78 delivers more of a wow factor.

  • 1978 E. Guigal Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
    This is a beautiful bottle of wine. Brick red color. Beguiling nose of dark fruit, earth, barnyard, mineral, and iron. Just beautiful. This is well structured but with a concentrated core of fruit that is much more expansive on the palate than the previous bottle. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral that pick up steam by mid-palate and finish very strongly. Really exciting stuff. (93 pts.)
  • 1982 E. Guigal Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
    Similar to the '78 but a notch down in every way. The nose is more stern with the iron component emerging more strongly than the red fruit and earth. The overall impression on the palate is of less structure and less fruit yielding a similar elegance to the '78 but just lacking the punch. This wine seems to be on the far side of peak drinking, but should remain enjoyable for many more years. (90 pts.)

Bordeaux
We finished our entrees with the '98 Haut-Bailly and then popped the Sauterne with dessert.

  • 1998 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    Popped and poured. The odd wine out in this tasting and I really didn’t give it its due – too many other great choices in front of me. The nose seems slightly off, with lovely smokey dark fruit marred by band-aid aromas. The taste delivers more supple dark fruits with some oak. Medium weight and elegant, lacking slightly in acidity. Tannins take over by mid-palate yielding a drying finish. Overall this seems like an admirable wine (and I’m a fan of Haut-Bailly) that we caught in an awkward and very closed state.
  • 2005 Carmes de Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
    Popped and poured. No notes taken, but this was most impressive for a second wine. Mostly fresh citrus on the nose. Sweetness is well balanced with acidity.

Two wines stood out to me – the '01 Chevillon and the '78 Guigal. All-in-all it was another great evening.
Posted from CellarTracker

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Here’s another set of notes from two weeks earlier. The day after this tasting I went to the Premier Cru web-site to order a replacement bottle for the '01 Bonneau CdP. There were seven bottles left at the time. Around noon I was thinking about ordering some more and noticed that Premier Cru had been cleaned out. I immediately knew where they went – Siggy. With luck he’ll share the bounty with the tasting group in the future.


ANOTHER WEDNESDAY AT HEIDI’S - (10/21/2009)

Four of us met for food and wine at our usual Wednesday night haunt.

  • N.V. Jacques Selosse Champagne Brut Initiale - France, Champagne
    Interesting nose of citrus fruit (orange) and mineral with some oxidative notes. In the mouth this shows as light-bodied but with good flavor. A decent start to the meal.
  • 1986 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
    The nose is very expressive featuring dark fruit, iron/mineral, earth and tobacco. On the palate this is very impressive, with fully resolved tannin, good acidity, and great length. Nothing to complain about here. Awesome stuff holding up very well. (92 pts.)
  • 1995 Domaine Font de Michelle Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Etienne Gonnet - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark red color. Awesome nose showing a good dose of tobacco and dried herbs. On the palate this seemed angular and rustic, delivering flavors of dark fruit (bordering on sur maturite) with chocolate. Overall this was pretty good, but probably a bit past peak. (88 pts.)
  • 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    The cleanest bottle of this wine I’ve had. Reserved nose of dark fruit, pepper and garrigue. The taste is dominated by concentrated dark fruit. Great concentration. Nice texture. Balanced. Still pretty tannic. Awesome stuff that still needs more time in the cellar. (93 pts.)
  • 2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    The nose is huge and not particularly enjoyable featuring very ripe red fruit, brown sugar and some notes of nail polish (VA). Way too new world smelling right now for me. In the mouth this delivers sweet red fruit with a nice weight. Bottles of this in my cellar will remain buried for many years if I don’t decide to sell them.
  • 2001 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    The nose delivers knock-out aromas of dark fruit, garrigue, cinnamon/spice and pepper. Very elegant. In the mouth this is awesome with great flavor, perfect balance and a silky texture. The best '01 CdP I’ve had. Beautiful stuff. I need to reload on this one. (94 pts.)
  • 2007 Familia Zuccardi Caladoc Textual - Argentina, Mendoza, Maipú
    A small taste courtesy of the table next to us. The nose is all red fruit and oak. In the mouth this shows red fruit and oak in a fat, generic style. Not a wine I’ll be seeking out.

WOTN was the Bonneau, just barely edging out one of my favorites – Usseglio’s 2000 Mon Aieul.
Posted from CellarTracker

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Dave, thanks for the great read across both posts. That '01 Bonneau seems like a great wine to keep an eye out for. I agree 100% with your assessment on the 78 Guigal Hermitage. That wine is fantastic. Just had it last month…

1978 E. Guigal Hermitage. Man, this is good. It smells wonderfully savory and dark-toned, with aromas of pen ink, dried blood, olives, animal fur, tomato plant, black beans, black currants, dark soil, star anise and black leather jacket all swirling around in a full, rich panoply that defies the age of this earthy beauty. In the mouth, it is still quite lively and giving, with a creamy smooth texture and a fine juicy acidity that doesn’t really give much cut or definition but does lend a wonderful lift to the incredibly persistent and lengthy finish. Soft spices and beautifully aged fruit combine in a way that is entrancing and softly enveloping. Everyone at the table was really impressed with the showing this wine gave us.

I am not surprised that the '82 was not the equal of the '78, but I can say that the '82 Cote Rotie B&B is shockingly good for the vintage–see if you can find any of that.

Thanks again,
Michael