The next evening, as Sylvie was around, Andy gathered a bunch of us for dinner at Golden Palace. I didn't join the gang for dinner, but dropped by for drinks, so to speak. As I understand it, they had been out the whole afternoon as well, imbibing, I am sure, a fair amount of vinous delights while poor me slogged out my mundane professional existence in my lonely office all day long. Duh...
A white burg was featured first. Pineappley, dense but with a somewhat aged colour, this wine turned out to be a Meursault villages "les Pellans" 2001. Good for what it is, and I enjoyed the nice clean finish of it although overall this was a rather odd package -- not saying in any way that it was flawed. It was advanced in sight and aromas but finished with some youthful bites. Nonetheless it was quite delicious so I'm not complaining!
Jamet's Cote-Rotie's 1988 was next. Meaty leathery nose with some barnyard-tinged high-toned blueberry fruits. The wine was struggling to stay awake, IMHO. It's not dead, but it was certainly drying up and was now very tired.
The next wine was clearly a burgundy. The nose hits with a confectionery element and suggestions of rather strong wood handling and extract. The palate was spicy with a warmish finish I would identify with wines from Cote-de-Beaune. What perplexed me was that for all the dressings it had, it lacked the middle core. I tended to think it was Volnay but couldn't be sure... A disappointing show of Lafon's Volnay Santenots du Milieu 2002 (I thought it was a 2000). This should have done better. His other vintages, despite the modern approach to winemaking, had better fruits density. Did he replant his old vines recently? or was his vineyard troubled by hail too? I was asking all these questions to myself...
A wine poured out of a decanter was next and it was obvious it was not a burg. Quite huge, with liqueur like raspberry sweetness and a chewy palate I would associate with southern rhone wines. Turned out to be a L'Oustal Blanc 2002 Minervois -- presumably made from predominantly grenache. For what it was selling for, I must say this was an excellent wine, although personally I found it rather outsized.
Ogier's Cote-Rotie "les Embruns" was most impressive. At once the nose screamed something special -- soy, earth, cranberry-pitched currants, very explosive and peppery. On the palate it was seamless, dense, yet light-footed. This wine vindicated all my sentiments regarding the northern rhone producing wines of more captivating interests than most regions in France (save for Burgundy of course).
This was followed by a massive Chateauneuf du Pape from Clos des Papes vintage 2003. Apparently this had been decanted for 10 hours beforehand. Right now the liqueur element and raisins are beginning to come out. Still clenched and quite fresh (beyond what I expected out of this vintage -- but then again I'm such a novice for Rhones). There were red fruits and no roastedness on the palate. Well built, but not my cup of tea.
The next wine was weird. It was guessed as having come from all over the place (all Cote de Nuits fortunately) but none got the place right -- it was a Clos Vougeot 1999 from Anne Gros. This was another example of extracted school of burgundy with a healthy dose of toast. Fortunately there was enough density at the midpalate. Nonetheless the sense of origin and details are lost still. Spicy, voluminous and meaty as it was, it was rather Vosne-like to me and there's just too much make up on this wine. Good but rather boring.
We ended the red flight with a blind bottle which Andy quickly identified as a Pegau CdP 1999 -- spot on. This too had a slightly funky mustiness to it, with lots of spirits and oldish fruits. I can understand why people liked it -- it was delicious and had a good breed -- but not exciting at all to me. I suppose it is just me...
A sip of Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes 2001 capped off the vinous gathering. I'm not into stickies but this one was delicious, bright and clean. Very nice, I liked it.
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2 comments:
Hi Henry, excellent notes!
Agreed that the Jamet '88 was disappointing, thought it was mainly just tarry and nothing much else, fortunately bought only 1 bottle, I absolutely loved the '99 version though!
In total agreement on the Ogier, my WOTN! I've always wanted to get some Ogier, guess I'll seriously source for some now!
As for the Clos des Papes '03, it was not decanted but rather just uncorked at 11am. Initially straight out of the bottle, it was like a wild horse, at around 7pm dinnertime it got a lot more civilised but it became quite big and raisiny towards the end of the evening at around 10-11pm.
I'm still a relative beginner when it comes to Burgs but I kind of liked the Anne Gros Clos Vougeot!
The Lafaurie '01 was indeed good, on its own. We had this previously side-by-side with the d'Yquem '01 which absolutely decimated the Lafaurie, so much so that some diners that evening forgot that we even had the Lafaurie subsequently!
Cheers!
Alex Chong
Glad you enjoyed it, Alex. There were no bad wines that night. And I appreciate their diversity and differences. I suppose you could tell my preferences right away after reading my blogs... Beware of the burgundy downslope journey though ;-) Let's drink some more together soon!
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