Burgs, Selosse, and Lodovico

Dinner at Castellana.

Jacques Selosse Rosé, dégorgée le 15 octobre 2009 - very savory and mineral, like Chinese salted plum, with apricot, marmalade notes. Fragrant and a little floral, the nose was very beautiful - especially after more than an hour in glass. Finish was a little short though.

2002 Coche-Dury Meursault - opened for 1 hour prior to serving. It slowly started to open up to show the classic toasty and popcorn nose, along with some lemon. Acidity was still pretty high and a little surprising, even though the palate was now more mature. Still got plenty of life left.

2004 Robert Arnoux Romanée-Saint-Vivant - opened in bottles 5 hours prior to serving without decanting. Really fragrant with lots of toast, leather, bacon, a hint of coffee, black fruits like cherries, and floral notes. Some 6 hours after opening the coffee notes became even more prominent. Pretty nice.

1986 Mommessin Clos de Tart - served 2 hours after decanting. Minty and eucalyptus, with black fruits, grilled meats, and leather. Tannins still here. Half an hour later became much more elegant, more lush and open on the nose, with floral notes. But still grippy on the palate.

2007 Biserno Lodovico - served 2½ hours after decanting. Nose was very ripe, minty, potpourri, dried herbs, a hint of Asian and exotic spices. Unfortunately this also showed some brett, and was generally lean on the palate. I had expected this to be more lush.

Full post on dinner is here.

4 French regions

Dinner at Bâtard.

1996 Egly-Ouriet, dégorgée en juillet 2005 - color was pretty deep, nose was very caramelized, with sugar cane notes. Maybe a little too ripe and oxidized. But really fragrant and almost floral. Acidity was actually OK at the end.

1953 Huët Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec - tons of toast on the nose, with lots of bee pollen, a bit of acetone. Very lovely. The minerality came out with the monkfish, and was slightly unpleasant but with a little honey. More than 2 hours later there were coffee notes on the nose. So interesting.

2011 Clos de Tart - opened 2½ hours prior to serving. Still pretty young with tons of herbs on the nose. About 45 minutes after decanting the nose of pretty fragrant, with black fruits and potpourri notes.

1976 Jaboulet La Chapelle, rebouché en 2016 - decanted 45 minutes after opening and served 15 minutes later. Minty and forest notes, with lots of black fruits and some smoke. Acidity was relatively high. Not bad at all.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC Dinner - Kaiseki Den by Saotome

MNSC dinner at Kaiseki Den by Saotome, hosted by Juliano.

1989 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - buttery, sweet, seemingly so smooth and viscous just on the nose without actually tasting.  Grassy notes with marmalade.  Beautiful, but slightly too warm.  Second pour showed more coffee and toasty notes.

First pair: opened 1 hour and 45 minutes prior to serving.

1978 Roumier Bonnes Mares - grassy, a bit stinky, with leather and smoke.  Acidity was high on the palate.  Was this corked? 

1978 Guigal La Landonne - more animal notes, and more concentration here, along with higher acidity on the palate.  A little stewed fruit, minty, and still got some tannins here.  96 points.

Second flight: opened 2 hours prior to serving except Clos de Tart, which was opened just prior to serving.

1983 Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze - sweet but not quite open, acidity was apparent.  With second pour 45 minutes after first pour, sweeter on the nose.  95 points.

1983 Mommessin Clos de Tart - surprising coconut notes.  Later also showed high acidity.

1983 Rayas - very nice.  A little burn rubber, but much more open.  96 points.

Second flight: opened 3 hours prior to serving.

1999 Claude Dugat Griotte-Chambertin - still a little tight and not too open. 

1999 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin - smoky, chalky, stinky.  Improved later with meaty notes.

Full post on dinner is here.

MNSC Dinner - Chiu Tang

MNSC dinner at Chiu Tang, hosted by Juliano.

1988 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Perrières - beautiful and toasty, with a little ripe lemon and a little honey.  Acidic on the palate at first, followed by ripeness.  Very nicely balanced.

First pair: opened 1½ hours prior to serving, served from bottle.

1971 Cheval Blanc - sweet grass, a little dusty, ripe fruit, animal, and leather.  A little leaner than the Trotanoy.  95 points.

1971 Trotanoy - riper with more sweet fruit here, with leather and beautiful floral notes, also a little bit of grass, as well as smoke.  Turned a little leaner towards the end.  96 points.

Second pair:

1978 DRC Romanée-Saint-Vivant - very distinctive and strong Chinese medicine notes in the nose, which never dissipated.  There was fruit underneath, and actually rather pure.  No points scored.

1978 Petrus - leather and grassy notes.  A little lean.  93 points.

Third pair:

1978 Roumier Bonnes-Mares - very farmy with bacon fat.  Very fragrant and open nose with a little mint, along with ripe, sweet fruit.  95 points.

1978 Chave Hermitage - very prominent animal and leather notes, a little bit green with herbs, a little stinky with burnt rubber, and peppery.  Acidic on the palate.  95 points.

Fourth pair:

1983 Mommesin Clos de Tart - nice and ripe with sweet fruit, and a little smoky.  93 points.

1983 Ausone - peppery nose with a little leather.  93 points.

Full post on dinner is here.

Magnum evening

Drinks at Ginsberg + Chan.

2007 Jobard-Chabloz Meursault Les Grands Charrons - nice and flint, mineral, kinda lean, with lemon citrus.  Pretty clean.

2005 Gaja Darmagi - very fragrant and lovely nose, with exotic spices, dried herbs, mint, pine needle, potpourri and some ripe fruits.

Dinner at On Lot 10.

2002 Louis Roederer Cristal en magnum - nice and ripe, sweet on the palate, with good acidity on the finish.  Pretty toasty with lemon and almost marmalade on the nose.

1995 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet en magnum - nice nose with notes of straw, butter and a little marmalade.  Nose was oxidized but in a good way.  Color was starting to turn golden.

2004 Mommessin Clos de Tart en magnum - very nice and fruity, with strawberry notes.  More elegant than I expected, but maybe that's a sign of the lighter vintage.

1999 Ceretto Barolo Prapò from magnum - clearly more tannic here.  Nose of ripe fruit, forest, cedar and a little smoky.  Very, very nice actually.

Full post on dinner is here.

Pinots and Burgs

Dinner at the Specialist's home.

Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru - this is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to Champagne. Made from 100% Pinot Noir, which clearly is the favorite varietal for our hostess! Nose was caramelized, a little yeasty, and at the end of dinner it smelled a lot like Comté! Dry mid-palate with a slightly sweet finish. Got even drier with the briny flavors of oysters still in my mouth.

2003 Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc - this was declassified Musigny Blanc, with nose of minerals, toast and a hint of sharpness. Actually a little ripe on the palate.

1996 Mommesin Clos de Tart - Rice called it "the cheapest monopole in Burgundy." This was a bit sweet on the nose with minty notes. Interestingly this appellation is just next to that of the next bottle...

1985 Vogüé Bonnes Mares - my contribution for the evening. I realized Rice was around both times I chose to open this wine, but this particular bottle drank waaay better than the last one. Didn't decant this bottle. Really fragrant and floral, sweet and very elegant. Nose of strawberries, rose, lovely fruit, a bit farmy, caramel and cashews. Still going strong some 3 hours after opening.

1999 Dugat-Py Charmes Chambertin - fruity, sweet and still pretty concentrated. Still kinda tannic. This should continue to drink well for a number of years.

1995 Haut-Brion - smoky, brett, sweet fruit, a bit sharp, potpourri, mint, spruce, tea leaves, a little savory almost like soy sauce.

1977 Graham's - I've never been a fan of vintage port, because the alcohol in the nose is just too sharp and piercing. This had a sharp and potent nose, with blackberries and pine needle.

Full post on dinner is here.

Montrachet and Clos de Tart

Dinner at Jardin de Jade.

1997 Baron Thénard Montrachet - I decanted this in the office 2 hours before dinner, and it showed a distinct nose of orange and minerals.  During dinner there were also notes of toasty corn and a little plastic.  For some reason I thought there was a shadow of German Riesling...  It was just a little sweet on the nose, with good acidity balance on the palate.  Later on it opened up a bit more and revealed tropical fruits like pineapple and floral notes which went along well with the chrysanthemum tea we were drinking.  With more aeration the nose got sweeter, and heavy minerals and toast became dominant.  This was a pretty nice wine, and as expected it took a long time to open up.  However, there was no "wow" factor tonight, as I have experienced with all the previous Montrachets I have tasted - even the ones from "lesser" producers.

1998 Mommessin Clos de Tart - initially the fruit was very subtle and the nose very elegant and soft.  A bit of smoked meats, forest, a little dusty.  When the wine sat in the glass for too long, the palate degenerated into something horrible.  Near the end of dinner the nose showed a little Chinese medicine... like American ginseng (花旗篸).

Full post on dinner is here.