On Saturday, Susan, Rich, and Connor joined us for a sunny day outside. Susan and Rich brought over some vegetables from their CSA, some peach cobbler from Charity, a few awesome cigars, and the following white Burgundy.
2004 Domaine des Lambrays Puligny Montrachet Clos de Cailleret Premier Cru White Burgundy – I could not have asked for a better bottle to start off our afternoon festivities. This wine provided everything you would want from a white Burgundy…lovely lemon citrusy fruit, a bit of spice, minerality, good acid, a maybe a touch of oak. Some white burgundies have been getting a bad reputation lately for prematurely oxidizing, but there were no issues here. Additionally, 2004 was seen as a bit of an unripe vintage, but the wine did not show any “green-ness”. I don’t know how much Susan & Rich paid for this bottle, but would have expected it to be around $115 Retail or more. Thanks for sharing!
After the white Burgundy, we took a bit of a side track from wine to pitchers of a Jenever/Genievre based drink we called “Flying Dutchman”, amongst other names. This was a mixture of tangerine juice, lime juice, orange juice, Jenever/Gerievre (the precursor to Gin), and bitters. Very refreshing and a nice change of pace for in/by the pool. Once finished and as we moved on to our regular games of Corn-hole, the Champagne came out.
NV Paul Dethune Brut Rose Champagne – This was the first bottle of Paul Dethune I’ve had, and it was quite nice. Bought from Hi-Time for $44, it provides a decent value in Rose Champagnes. Clearly fruit driven, but with enough acid to balance things out. The finish may have been a bit short, but overall I liked the wine.
NV H. Goutorbe Brut Rose Champagne – Slightly more expensive than the Dethune, this wine was also bought from Hi-Time for $50. Overall, I thought this provided just enough more of everything to support the higher pricing. This was a bit more rounded and balanced, with excellent red fruit flavors and a nice minerality to the finish. Also had enough acid to cleanse your palate and get you ready for the next sip. If this were the same price as the Dethune, I would look to purchase more of this. However, given the price difference, I would suggest trying both and seeing which one you prefer relative to the value. Personally, I’ll look to buy both again.
NV Andre Clouet Silver Brut Nature – Andre Clouet is one of my new favorite producers and I have been trying to taste through their entire lineup. I’ve previously mentioned their excellent Grand Reserve, which provides an awesome value at under $40, as well as their high end Cuvee 1911 offering, also fantastic and well worth the $75 price point. This bottle is a bit out of the ordinary for me as it is a Brut Nature, meaning it has no dosage added. My thought was that a non-dosaged wine would be a good pool accompaniment as any sweetness in a wine when outside in the hot tends to be exaggerated. Thus, a completely dry wine might work well. Honestly, not my best choice of matches. However, saving half the bottle later to go with the Peach Cobbler worked brilliantly. The bouquet of the wine was wonderful, and provided no hint at the tartness on the finish. However, that tart and clean ending was exactly what the cobbler needed. I was able to find this wine at Premier Cru for $40. I can’t say that I would rush out to buy a lot of this particular bottling, but it is a well made wine that has its place.
2005 Williams-Selyem 25th Anniversary Russian River Valley Pinot Noir – While preparing for dinner, I pulled out this wine for the group. This Russian River Valley winery has a relatively long history (for California Pinot) of producing high quality wines. Some say it has lost a step or two in the recent 10 years, but this bottle was very enjoyable. Not a cheap wine, this appellation bottling was $60 direct from the winery; it does however deliver full flavored Pinot that is excellent with or without food. My only issue is the fact that you can get cheaper wines from other quality producers instead. However, if they are being served, make sure and get yourself a glass.
For dinner we were planning on having grilled Pork chops, with some grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes. I could not think of a better match than Chateauneuf du Pape. Also, given that Susan and Rich don’t have a lot of CdP, but wanted to try more of them, and Paul, Sarah, and Jenn love it, made it an easy choice. Thus, I went with two!
2001 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape – Le Vieux Donjon is one of my favorite CdP producers. Primarily a Grenache, with some syrah, mourvedre, and cinsault thrown in, it tends to need a couple of years of bottle aging to “strut its stuff”. This bottle was bought from a wine forum member for $45, and I thought it was delicious. In comparison to the Charvin, I thought it showed a bit more of everything…grip/tannins, dark fruits, herbs, roasted meats, etc. I highly recommend buying a bottle of Donjon in just about any vintage, but give it some bottle age prior to opening. Point in case, my first bottle of Le Vieux Donjon was a gift from my brother Scott, via a walk around within a retail store with none other than Robert Parker. It was a 1995 vintage that I opened in March 1999. My notes…”a light wine with heavy barnyard bouquet and taste, not really my style.” Oh, how wrong I was!
2001 Gerard Charvin Chateauneuf du Pape – This wine is a highly rated wine (Parker 95 points) that is in the middle of its drinking window. I expected a good showing, and got one. Knowing Charvin primarily by reputation instead of by tasting, I didn’t expect such an elegant wine. That may have been what surprised me, and somewhat disappointed me, a bit. Looking over my notes, I did have this vintage once before, with an overall good impression, I just don’t remember it being this subtle. In any case, this was a $60 bottle, probably bought from a wine forum member instead of at retail. It’s definitely a good to great wine, I just found it to be overshadowed by the Donjon.
2004 Foley Petite Syrah – The last wine of the night, served while having cigars out on the patio, was this Foley Petite Syrah. I’ve had this wine three times now, all bought direct from the winery for $55 each, and all three times I’ve been impressed. I like, but do not love, Petite Syrah. However, I love this wine and really should find a way to stock more of it. Not only is it approachable young, some Petite Syrahs need 10 years or more in my opinion, but I’m sure it also had a long life ahead (if I could have kept my hands off of them). Foley makes a deep brooding style of wine that is full of fruit…big is the word to think of here. However, always with balance. The wine matched the cigars well, but was also a good drink on its own (at the end of the night). If you haven’t tried many Petite Syrahs, treat yourself and find this one. You won’t be disappointed.
Lastly, I’d like to share a quick non-wine related note. The last two times Rich has come to my house he has brought over one of the most impressive cigars I’ve ever had…the Liga Privada #9 by Drew Estates. Easily one of the easiest, full flavored cigars to smoke, and not a touch of bitterness at any point (even smoked down to the nub). The cigars provided a nice rich smoke, excellent array of flavors including chocolate, coffee, and spice, and were a treat to have both times. Thanks Rich!
All of these wines were great. I was especially pleased with the Charvin, and in fact liked it better than the Donjon. To be fair, after tasting both the Charvin and the Donjon, we agreed that the Charvin is, right now, where we expect the Donjon to be in 3-5 years. So, I guess if you're rating them, the Donjon has a bit more "life" in it than the Charvin. But, for me, in the moment, the Charvin was drinking (slightly) better today than the Donjon. Both were excellent.
ReplyDeleteThe non-dosaged Clouet was excellent as well, especially with the peach cobbler. The natural sweet/tart combo from the peaches filled in the "missing link" of at-the-end sweetness from the Clouet.
The Foley was a vision for me. I LOVE Petite Syrah, and so does Sarah. I had never heard of Foley before that night, but I will never forget him moving forward. I just might have to convince Sarah to let us join his mailing list (an expensive proposition, I admit, but still)!
All in all, a great night of wine. And, as Alan mentioned, the cigars were fantastic. Full smoke, wonderful flavors, and easy on the super heavy aftertaste. No pun intended. Thanks, Rich!