TNs: The best tasting we've done in years (various regions)

WINE TALK
1

Had a fantastic tasting group dinner last night with lots of amazing wines. This was the best tasting I recall organizing ourselves both in terms of the food and wine. A great night with friends relaxing and enjoying each other’s company and amazing cooking ability.

With the champagnes we enjoyed a chilled corn gazpacho and Black Seed bagels toasted with horseradish and plain cream cheese (depending on your preference) topped with Russ & Daughters’ pastrami salmon. Bagels with lox has become the go-to first course for all our dinners; it goes so well with the champagnes.

  • 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne (5/21/2016)
    Many in the group immediately noticed this bottle was a bit flatter than previous bottles they had enjoyed. Not sure if it had to do with the fact that this bottle was not easy to drink…literally. The cork would not come out of the bottle, several of us tried and then eventually we had to saber the bottle open. There was a ton of honey on the nose with hints of vanilla and grapefruit. There was still some bubbles on this, but definitely flatter in the mouth. The honey was very present on the palate as well with orange and lemon. Super tasty, but a tad mature. Perhaps not the best version of this wine, but still showing its weight.
  • NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Blanc de Blancs Les Carelles - France, Champagne (5/21/2016)
    Notes of caramel and orange sherbet with a bit of yeastiness on the end. This was consumed side by side with a '96 Salon as a bit of Mesnil-off and this surprisingly had a bit more acidity and zip on the palate versus the '96. Strawberry cream and honey dominated the flavor profile in the mouth. This was an incredibly delicious wine and very drinkable, but perhaps lacked a bit of profoundness relative to the other wines of the night.

With the white burgundies we enjoyed a delicious sea bass baked in parchment paper with white wine, butter, lemon slices, thyme and veggies. The butter and wine sauce was delicious and the homemade rolls were the perfect vehicle to ensure none went to waste.

  • 2008 Coche-Dury Meursault - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault (5/21/2016)
    This wine had lemon, matchstick and sulfur on the nose with both citrus and ocean on the palate. Very similar to a bottle of this wine I had in August 2015. I’d like to retract my previous statement: “If I personally owned a case of this wine, I’d probably end up drinking half of it in the near term and saving the other half for this wine to mature further. I’m not sure if it’ll be better in time, just different.” Tasting this against an '01 Coche Meursault reminded me how much more room this wine has to develop and I think it will get better as part of that development. With that said, I think this is still a delicious wine that would be a top white in nearly any other line-up; if I owned a case, I’d probably still end up drinking a couple bottles from it in the near-term, but that more speaks to my own self-control or lack thereof.
  • 2008 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault (5/21/2016)
    Even when this was poured side by side with '01 Coche Meursault and '08 Coche Meursault, this was the darkest of the three wines, obviously not from age, but instead from the level of extraction. There was quite a bit of reduction on the nose, which was first thought of as sulfur. The nose had salt, flint and orange custard. There was so much acidity with lots of weight and power in the mouth with a touch of a plastic on the finish. This wine had a lot going on, but was still so primary that it was hard to identify. A fantastic wine, but was not as enjoyable as the '01 Coche Meursault in the line-up.
  • 2001 Coche-Dury Meursault - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault (5/21/2016)
    So much weight on the nose here with caramel, matchstick, lemon, rock and salt. There was lemon, saline and touches of toffee on the finish. This wine had a massive finish and was truly special; it was punching well above its weight class. For many, this wine was WOTN, which is says a lot considering the other wines in the line-up including grand cru red burgundy, '82 bordeaux and '90 piedmont.

We had a duck breast in a honey balsamic glaze next with potatoes fried in the duck fat with our red burgundy flight–the perfect combo!

  • 2001 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru (5/21/2016)
    Bottle #5130. This wine was opened 3.5 hours before we drank it and was left to slow ox in the bottle. This was initially incredibly tight when the bottle was first opened, but by the time we began drinking it, the wine was in a great place. This is one of the nice parts of drinking at home versus a restaurant, the group realized we probably would have finished the bottle before it even really hit its stride. As for the nose, tobacco sweetness with lots of red fruit, black pepper and some anise initially. It also developed a menthol like aroma towards the end of the evening. The palate was dominated by cherry, leather and an almost candy apple taste. This was such a smooth wine, which was seamless from front palate to finish. A really treat that rewarded us for our patience. I have no doubt this wine will continue to age beautifully, but if you lack the patience, open the bottle a few hours before drinking it. A candidate for WOTN by most at the dinner.
  • 2000 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru (5/21/2016)
    This wine was initially much tighter when we first opened it with a bit of astringency, but this all disappeared after we let the wine slow ox in the bottle for 3.5 hours before pouring it. When we did get around to enjoying it, the nose was dominated by smells of blood (that I often find in Gevrey) and strawberries (which is the fruit I most identify when enjoying Beze). The palate had raspberries and other black fruits with hints of cigar box. There was still some nice grip from the tannins on the finish here. A fantastic wine that was slightly beaten out by the DRC Grand Echezeaux '01 that was poured alongside it, but it was truly a photo finish.

The final savory course was rack of lamb cooked with a dijon mustard and thyme glaze (some had it with panko bread crumbs, but some of us don’t mix our milk and meat). This was cooked to perfection and served with a bibb lettuce salad based a delicious version of this salad at Prime Meats in Brooklyn. The salad included pumpkin seeds, radish, lemon and was finished with pumpkin seed oil.

  • 1982 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (5/21/2016)
    This wine was opened 4.5 hours before we enjoyed it and left in the bottle uncorked until then. The nose was dominated by cedar box, leather and some darker fruits. The palate had tastes of leather and Gala apple. There was still great grip here. I’ve now had the pleasure of enjoying this wine on several occasions and this was a fantastic bottle. This is such a fun wine to enjoy and a great example of '82. Although I don’t drink bordeaux regularly, it’s bottles like this that make me regret not owning more bordeaux.
  • 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (5/21/2016)
    This wine had been opened 4.5 hours before we poured it and left uncorked in the bottle for that time. Initially the wine had a strange sweetness to the nose that unfortunately didn’t disappear. When we drank it, the nose was dominated by raisins and licorice. The palate still had great grip and didn’t show the same sweetness as the nose with black fruit and spice as the dominant flavors in the mouth. I suspect this bottle was perhaps not properly stored for the life of the wine, which is unfortunate, but a reality of drinking older wines that weren’t purchased on release.

For dessert, someone made an amazing version of creme brulee topped with fresh blackberries and served with a half bottle of '88 d’Yquem. The d’Yquem was delicious, but I drank my small pour too quickly to take notes on it.

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Thanks for the notes, Yacobov! The wines and food sound amazing!

The Selosse really seems like a Champ to get, though I think they are not easily acquired (never mind the DRC).

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Thanks, Drew. Selosse is becoming a lot easier to acquire, especially the lieux-dits. I was able to get an in-stock bottle of the Carelles from SommPicks @ $300, which is significantly cheaper than a few years ago when Carelles started coming in to the US. Not saying that’s cheap, but definitely cheaper than it was. Although, it can be had for very attractive prices in certain parts of Europe!

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amazing selection of wines, but it’s the r&d pastrami salmon that made my mouth water [cheers.gif]

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No points?! [swearing.gif]

Interesting idea of the pastrami lox with champagne. Sounds great for saturday brunch!

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Yeah, that pastrami salmon has become a permanent fixture in our tastings – I’m hard pressed to think of smoked salmon I enjoy more in NYC.

The wines were all so impressive, it’s just hard to figure out how to score them…I’m certainly not smart enough to figure that out and didn’t want to start using decimal places to make it work.

We actually did a Memorial Day brunch last year as a tasting group and someone decided that we should do bagel and lox with bubbles to start the meal (they brought a few varieties from Russ & Daughters including the pastrami salmon; the pastrami salmon was gone in a matter of minutes). It was such a big hit, that we now do it as part of the first course at every tasting group (including dinners).