Last night, the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ returned to Langdon Hall for a rare Sunday evening journey which turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. A smaller crowd meant that sommelier Brie Dema and her staff gave myself, board member Jay Shampur and our friend Michael Wright near exclusive attention.
Brie continues studying wine in Toronto and coincidentally attends the same WSET classes that our member Jay does with Bruce Wellner, a respected teacher based in TO. With that entry point and our mutual interests in food and wine, this led to some great conversation along with the service.
Naturally such a high-end venue deserves some high-end wines and that’s exactly what we brought with us and got off of the list – plus a special surprise which we’ll talk about later. The wines were so special that they are getting their own thread. I will post the usual food porn report later. Now, let’s talk about the special wines consumed this night: 2006 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Vin de Graves: Anyone ever gone target shooting with an older pistol? You know what the smell of gunpowder is like when the gunflint strikes the flintlock and creates a burning smell? That’s exactly what this wine smells like on the nose. I have literally never smelled a wine that leesy before. It was a great smell but also got me extremely worried about the balance of the wine. How could it not be unbalanced in favor of lees flavor with that overwhelming nose?
It turned out to be perfect. A beautiful golden color in the glass, honeydew and marzipan flavors ride a rich creamy and flinty texture. The lees flavor is detectable but is a balancing spice that only adds to the complexity. You can really pick up the Semillon but oddly there is no distinct Sauvignon Blanc-ness to it. Still, an extremely delicious and impressive wine. Exhibit A that Bordeaux does white much better than red. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Henri Boillot 2010 Meursault 1er Cru – Les Poruzots: This Meursault is extremely high quality and way too young to have been opened, which was even more evident beside the perfectly aged SHL. Light body, light gold color in the glass, aromas and flavors of fresh green apples and unripe pears and a touch of butter and lees. I really think this needed 2 more years in the bottle but it was Michael’s WOTN and he felt it matched every dish perfectly. I compared it to the 08 Chateau Montelena and found it wanting but clearly recognize that it would far surpass that wine with equivalent age. RECOMMENDED but make sure to age it two more years in your collection. At least. Chateau de Beaucastel 2006 Chateauneuf-du-Pape: I’ve always wondered and now I know why aficionados go ga-ga for GSM blends – this was also aged just perfectly. Decanted beforehand, this was a deep ruby in the glass. The texture was striking, creamy and not a single cloying tannin to be detected. This allowed the sweet red Bing cherry flavors and a touch of flintiness to shine through with a bit of coffee and chocolate in the finish typical of grenache. This was an utterly fantastic red wine. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Arnaud de Villeneuve 1982 Rivesaltes Ambre Hors D’Age: This was my contribution and I was very worried about it. When I purchased it in 2011, it was a strong orange color. Now in 2015, it was as dark brown as a 30 year old Tawny. I was actually warned this would happen when I first purchased it and it would be no problem, but I also have a 1974 Rivesaltes Ambre that is still a golden orange in color so I was still worried. So Jay suggested that it be decanted as a precaution which Brie took care of.
Again, it also turned out to be perfect. Tons of floral aromas and sweet honey and candied orange flavors had me believing this was actually Muscat right up until the end when the chocolate and coffee flavors come on strong and linger and linger in the finish, giving it away as Grenache Blanc based. Glad I was wrong to be worried, this was – to quote Brie directly – nectar of the gods. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED P.S. CellarTracker score is far, far too low for this gem Bodegas Toro Albala 1986 Don PX Gran Reserva Sherry: This was a special treat given to us by Brie, and a freshly opened bottle to boot. A fantastic 29 year old vintage PX sherry, Bodegas Albala has become renowned for its release of a 1949 and 1962 PX sherry which is selling around the world like hotcakes. Deep black in color, viscous and rich in body, the nose is surprisingly clean and floral and strikingly similar to that of the slightly older Rivesaltes above. Flavors of raisins, brown sugar, vanilla, coffee and butter with a hint of tobacco. Honest to god this is like drinking raisin butter tart filling.
This was a fantastic Sunday evening filled with great conversation, company, food and wine with outstanding service. Really made it hard to go back to work on Monday. Our sincerest thanks to Brie, as well as our server Maddie, sous chef Andrew Lecky and the rest of the staff for an amazing school night evening. Hope you enjoyed the rest of the Rivesaltes with the TWEC’s compliments!
Thanks for the notes Tran. The Toro Albala PXs are fabulous, the 1983 a real steal. Not sure the 1986 is quite in the same class, but still very moreish. I just picked up the '46, '49 and '65 and I am very keen to bust them soon.
Apropos of nothing, this is the third time we have been there and each time, the staff (different members) there thought we were restaurant industry professionals
[quote=“Sanjay Shampur”]Apropos of nothing, this is the third time we have been there and each time, the staff (different members) there thought we were restaurant industry professionals
/quote]
As Brie mentioned in her email to us afterwards, I think the strong passion we have for food and wine is somewhat misleading to those in the industry because they don’t often come across “civilians” with that level of interest and knowledge. I’ve mentioned this many times before on the board, but we are actually a small proportion of the wine consumers but we hang around each other and share info and knowledge and passion so much that we forget we are the exception and not the norm.
I mean, how many other guests do you think would have immediately recognized the name Bodegas Toro Albala on the bottle and then started talking about the 1946 and 1962 vintages immediately? 99% of guests Brie presents that too likely have no idea what a PX sherry is to begin with, let alone immediately recognize the maker and their importance.
Of course, that is also what brings us closer together as a community. We share all the “secrets” and inside knowledge among us. And by “us” I also mean those with passion and knowledge enough to actually do food and/or wine for a living.
Good work, guys. I’m really happy your 2006 bottle of SHL showed as it should—my last one was pretty muted and not what I’d hoped for. A 2007 is slated for next July. Also good that you got to try Beaucastel—though, Tran, it’s not like the other GSMs as it has a much higher proportion of mourvedre than most CdPs. The 2006 Roussanne Vieilles Vignes is another bottle set aside for next July
The dessert wines sound tremendous and yes, not surprised that a 1er Cru Meursault from Boillot needs some more time. Also not surprised that it was senor Wright’s favourite. I’m beginning to see a religious conversion taking place with him on these…
Thanks for the excellent notes. I will try very, very hard to get out with you guys the next time you go.
Mike
Despite my lightly striking psyche, I sprightly smite the sightly sprite slightly
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