Caitlin & Clare goodbye celebration

So sad to have wonderful neighbors move away. We have a lovely Shabbat dinner with hopefully many more to come in the future.

Starting with some bubbles. The Chartogne-Taillet was impressively corked. Yuck! The Hébrart quickly saved the day and got us back on track!

• 2019 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Le Rosé - France, Champagne
  Badly corked! (FLAWED)
• N.V. Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
  Fantastic. Light, frothy, vibrant, very pale, grapefruit pith, loaded with energy and mineral. A nice, taut style. (91 pts.)

Roast chicken, stuffing, chicken gravy, steamed broccolini, sauteed rapini, and roast broccoli with tahini lemon dressing. We had a pair of ripe vintage Rhone reds moving from the north to the south.

• 2003 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
  Wonderful aromatics, absolutely on point. Palate has nice depth, certainly not like the truly great vintages of La Chapelle, but this is really proper and interesting Hermitage and frankly more typical than many 2003's I have had. If you love Syrah and Hermitage, I can't imagine not enjoying this at some level. (Reading the notes it sounds like there is a lot of variation, but this was fresh, vigorous and plenty energetic. (90 pts.)
• 2003 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Always a controversial and somewhat problematic wine, this was a very nice example. Ganache and white pepper. Deeply concentrated cherry fruit, surprisingly tannic, nothing overripe, just peppery and intense, focused. Much more fresh than I might expect from some past experiences. (93 pts.)

With fresh fruit, we had a lovely German Eiswein.

• 2001 Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Eiswein - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  This is lovely. Deep diesel, honey and lime. Sharp edges with nice contours. This is really proper, classic Riesling Eiswein even if not utterly profound. (91 pts.)