Wednesday to Lyon, wanting to try a classic Bouchon restaurant. Reserved Best Western Crequi Hotel. Convenient, fairly priced, comfortable. I’m used to submicroscopic underground garages in France; this one beat them all. Driving a mid-sized Opel, the ramp gave me less than 3 inches on either side.
I booked it because it was around the corner from Daniel et Denise, a well regarded Bouchon, part of a small chain. Oops! I forgot to reserve and they were full!
The hotel suggested Val d’Isere, a bouchon 2 blocks away. Eileen’s lentil salad was OK. I had high hopes for quenelles, with sauce homardine rather than the usual Nantua. Meh. You can do better in Lyon.
Daniel & Denise have a cool geeky wine shop across the street and I picked up 2022 Domaine du l’Escalette ‘Le Petite Pas’. Yes thank you. A classic, warming Languedoc GSC; balanced, fresh, with abundant fruit and fine tannins that had been taught their manners. Well worth $20 if you run into it, better than 90% of Cotes du Rhones.
Life gets a whole lot better when your Thursday destination is Domaine du Pegau. For one thing, we saw sun instead of rain for the first time since arrival. We left Lyon to stop around Vienne for antique stores. There was allegedly one in the country in a hamlet called Eyzin-Pinet. We drove past farms at the address. Nothing. It was time for lunch, we had no idea where we were, kept driving and lucked upon ‘Le Chaleureux’, where we got a warm welcome in what is really a bar. They made Eileen a beautiful salad (not on the menu). The plat de jour was a long-simmered pork shoulder with mustard, accompanied by great mashed potatos and crunchy green beans. No Michelin star here, but really good grub for a song. I enjoyed a glass of 2023 Puech-Haut ‘Argali’ Rose Pays d’Oc. At the restaurant they explained that the ‘antique store’ was a ‘vide grenier’, an attic sale open only in the summer.
Down to Pegau, where we met with board member Jonathan Loesberg and his wife. I will write up the current releases in a separate note on ‘wine talk’ next week.
Laurence Feraud moonlights as a 4 star Michelin chef (her home cooking is better than 99% of restaurant meals). Mushrooms baked with a wonderful cheese and breadcrumbs, perfectly ripe cherry tomatos topped with tapenade, then fabulous lamb with potatos au gratin and green beans again, followed by a selection of cheeses.
We started with a rare bottle I brought from Champagne:
Jean Laurent NV Brut ‘Cuvee Blanche’. This is 100% Pinot Blanc from 50+ year old vines, a blend of equal parts 2013, 14, 15 and 16. The aromas are floral, with a hint of white pepper. The palate is surprisingly rich, almost somehow meaty, but there is freshness and balance with lovely white fruit notes and a hint of ginger. Disgorged a year ago, dosage is 0.4%. It’s not sold in the U.S. but can be special-ordered with the annual Jean Laurent sale of old vintages.
Laurence started us with 2022 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf Blanc ‘Cuvee A Tempo’. This is an exceptionally rich bottling, an equal blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and very old vine Clairette. The components are blended, then aged 1/3 each in tank, barrel and egg, bottled at 18 months. Even though the grapes are very different, this reminds me of a great vintage of Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc ‘de l’Oree’.
For red, Laurence asked me if I wanted aged Reservee, Laurence or da Capo. She knew the answer before she asked, but she’s polite: Aged, please.
1994 Domaine du Pegau ‘Cuvee Reservee’. When I shared my last bottle of this three years ago with Alaska board member Michael Drew, it was tired. This bottle was singing, a beautiful baritone, with deep mostly red fruit, more than a hint of garrigue, wonderful freshness and balance.
Next Laurence gave us a blind tasting. I guessed 2010 da Capo, she said no. I knew it was da Capo (she said yes), so I said ’15 or ’16. No again. This was rich and fresh, with excellent structure and backbone. I know how the 2007 vintage is cursed by many, but this was a revelation. Heat? No. Overripe? No. Signs of aging? No. This is just entering a secondary phase and when it wasn’t 2010, it didn’t occur to me to go backwards.
Visits to Pegau are always wonderful, I don’t get there as often as I did so it means even more now to be a guest.
