People are full of excuses. So is the burgfest gang. So with our friend Royce in town for a couple of days, we turned our gathering into a small exercise in 1998 Gevrey grand cru tasting -- plus more! We met at Sage the Restaurant at Robertson Walk, a nice discovery for French food. The ambience is simple and quiet, the service personable and most importantly, the food quite impressive.
We started out with a non-Burg, a Bordeaux, but a blanc nonetheless from Chateau Margaux -- Pavillon Blanc 2001. This is supposed to be pure Sauvignon blanc, but this tasted and smelled like no Sauvignon I've ever had in my life. Tough, massively structured, with an almost imperceptible and reticent nose. I got a sweaty damp oak aromas mixing some slates and limeskins. Hard and closed in the mouth, like chewing on steel nails, but the volume and energy were all there. Finished with minerally notes and intriguing mildly nuance of fino sherry.
The next few reds were poured full blind. The first bottle had a stalky, gentle, sweetish currant essence nose. Quite matured character, with a lemon-tea suggestion on the nose, giving way to dark cherries, spices and meatstock on the palate. Silky and ready to drink. Delicious. Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot 1997.
We moved on to the next and this immediately came across as more minerally and powerful in the nose. It was darker and the aromas were brooding. Structured in the palate yet rounded. Black fruits predominate, good pitch and oily suggestions afterwards. I thought Gevrey premier, but perhaps mid-90s? Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques 1988. Very well preserved, but somewhat did not show its breed other than the sleek finish.
The next bottle's nose screamed of just one area... Candied raspberries, cream and berries introduction followed by similar palate which mixed intriguing minerality. Despite its ripeness and generosity, it maintained a certain edge with its persistent minerality and cleansing finish. Put on oily texture afterwards. A mini-Musigny by definition, kind of... Comte de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru.
The last blind had a decidedly stemmy nose -- it screamed Domaine Dujac to me. Dense in the mouth, but somewhat flat and low-pitched. Quite mono-dimensional, unfortunately, and again flat in texture and presence. A gentle but frontal wine seriously lacking in midpalate. I guessed Morey (I didn't get minerals and it's quite soft). But it's a Dujac Charmes-Chambertin 1995. Another disappointing showing from this domaine especially in the context of the vintage and cru...
The next 6 bottles of Gevrey grand crus were served semi-blind randomly.
The first Gevrey was dense and had a powerful nose of black cherries. It was high-pitched, grippy and intense. This pulled ahead of the previous set of blinds like a pedigreed racehorse running against a bunch of donkeys in terms of presence and volume. In the mouth it was velvety, plush with some wood infused character plus soy, currants, some spices and a suggestion of licorice. Turned deliciously saline at the back. Bruno Clair Chambertin Clos de Beze 1998. Quite impressive.
The next bottle was just plain awkward and tired. Meaty dark fruit aromas interspersed with slightly oily and oaky notes. Huge in the mouth, quite voluminous but just lacked the cut, precision and energy of the previous wine. Tannins dominated the back and it was quite a rustic tannin too.... J.L. Trapet le Chambertin 1998.
Savoury and meaty notes introduced grand cru #3. Suggestion of lower-toned licorice (as opposed to Clair's de Beze's which is a more pristine and high-pitched rendition), smoke and bright black cherries fruits. Not lacking at all in volume and palate presence, but this showed more size and intensity rather than harmony and character. Technically impressive, but not moving. Joseph Roty's Charmes-Chambertin Tres Vieilles Vignes 1998.
Grand cru #4 greeted my nose with a rare and precise attack of pristine earth and red-crushed fruits. I would have liked to think this was a Chambertin (of course later I learned I was wrong). A rare display of cheesiness and gaminess at the tail-end of its aromatics, it was hugely dense in the mouth, but unlike the previous wine, deeply penetrating -- a completely 'vertical' wine, it attacked the midpalate and dug deep into it. Ended with a ripe-tartness (I know this is an oxymoron but this was precisely how it felt) mouthfeel that gripped and embalmed the fruits long after it's swallowed. Superb and my favourite wine of the night. Joseph Roty Mazy-Chambertin 1998.
After #4, I knew it was going to be hard to top it. Wine #5 again had a berry-scented, stemmy nose with very polished dark fruits. The palate suggested some soapiness after a while but interesting the fruits became brighter and more minerally later on. A very polished wine, manufactured to a fault, in a fruit-forward friendly style. Pierre Damoy Chapelle-Chambertin 1998.
The last bottle sported almost a reductive nose, with lots of meats and initially it was rather spritzy. The gas dissipated in a few minutes revealing an easygoing, lighter style wine. There really wasn't much to describe here, other than this was a rather simple and lower-pitched Gevrey. IMHO, not necessarily deserving of its cru either. My second disappointing bottle of Ruchottes from the same producer. Georges Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 1998.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
henry dude, reading your notes makes me thirsty. bummed that i couldn't make the tasting, but my nose was all bunged up.
you obviously like b clair's style. don't quite get it at this point, but think reading your notes will help in my education. keep up the super posts!
Post a Comment