Got together last night with a few of the Country Squires and a couple of other newer but familar faces. It was one of those nights where almost all the wines showed extremely well.
Marea - it’s my favorite restaurant in NYC and last night it separated itself further from the pack. Crudo, seared sea scallops and swordfish with cranberry beans, watercress pesto and fennel (a new menu addition) were three fantastic courses. However, the simply but perfectly prepared tagliatelle with butter and white truffles was even better. And better yet was the poached egg with polenta and parmigiano fondutta covered in white truffles. An amazing dish. The truffles were incredibly aromatic. Best ones I’ve had so far this season. The food and wine service were both perfect as usual.
We drank some wines too.
’61 Veuve Clicquot Rose Mag - lively effervescence and very youthful looking in the glass. More maturity showing on the nose and the palate. Rich caramel with some deep fruits. Initially I thought it could have used a bit more fruit, but the wine either grew on me, grew in the glass or I became swayed by others who loved it so much. Had a meaty roast beef-like profile to it, but take that with a grain of salt since I haven’t had roast beef in 20 years. This mag was in great shape. Staggering minus
’82 Dom Perignon Rose Mag - more youthfully colored with much brighter red tones than the Veuve. More strawberry fruit compared to the darker notes of the VC. Both wines performed well out of the gates as well as four hours later. Staggering minus
’73 Bollinger Mag Unfortunately DOA
’76 Dom Perignon - back on track. Starting to show that DP coffee signature. Great fruit to go with the emerging mature notes. Creamy texture. Hard not to love this wine. Staggering
’82 Billecart Salmon BdB - Very youthful in the glass and on the palate. A bit straightforward compared to the other wines, but I still liked it. I’ve had some variability with this wine even from the same source. More mineral driven than the other wines with crisp acidity. Excellent
’37 Ausone - didn’t fit the theme, but it was part of a recent four bottle purchase by one of the attendees and he wanted to check in on it for condition as well as authenticity. This was definitely the real deal. More red colored than typical bottles of this age, but the aromas definitely are older Bordeaux. Leather and old library. Still good fruit on the palate. I can only hope today’s Bordeaux taste like this at 70+ years of age. Staggering
Back on theme
’76 Drouhin Chambertin Clos de Beze Mag - wasn’t sure if this was going to lack fruit and charm, but instead it performed way above expectations. Beautiful ruby color and extremely pure and clean fruit. Possibly the red of the night and definitely the surprise of the night. Staggering plus.
’76 Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze - I believe this was a correct bottle, but next to the perfectly pure fruit of the Drouhin this seemed to have a touch too much horsiness to it. Certainly enjoyable to drink but it isn’t at the level of the previous wine. Excellent
’88 Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze - the first wine of the next flight and it was the star of a very good flight. Good sweet fruit with a lot of secondary flavors of herbs and autumn woods. Staggering minus
’88 Rousseau Chambertin always interesting to drink Rousseau’s Chambertin next to the Beze from the same vintage. Overall, I’d give the slight edge to the straight Chambertin, but not this vintage. Not as much fruit and not as complex - at least not right now - as the Beze. Very enjoyable though. Excellent
’91 Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze theoretically it should have been on of the stars of the evening, but this night was all about the over performing underdogs rising above correct examples of the favorites. When a wine like this is in the middle of the pack, you had a good night. Excellent
’89 Leroy Latricieres Chambertin - I’m generally not a big fan of Leroy’s '89’s but this was a great wine. Had the signature Leroy intensity and dense concentrated fruit. The aromatics soared out of the glass. Good spice to it as well. Staggering
’91 Leroy Latricieres Chambertin - Not nearly the expressiveness of the previous wine but you could see the similarities of the two. Excellent plus
’93 Bachelet Charmes Chambertin - Dark colored with the darkest fruit of the night. Black cherry in the forefront. Great balance and there was not a flaw to be found. Was up there with my favorites of the evening. I need more Bachelet in my cellar. Staggering minus
’93 Roty Charmes Chambertin TVV - Probably the most masculine wine of the night and alongside of the other wines probably in need of a few more years of bottle age. There some oak in there but it’s not overbearing at all and there’s plenty of fruit to shine through. Excellent
I will sum up the evening of friends, food and wine by simply saying it was all great.
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