Againn, Washington DC
Tasted Sunday, September 26, 2010 by Faryan with 932 views
On Friday night, 11 of us convened at Againn restaurant to taste the wines of Paul Avril. Fellow board member Dave Ehrlich has a personal repoire with executive chef Wes Morton so we were afforded the red carpet treatment. Wes and his staff delivered in spades, providing a wonderful atmosphere in their private dining room as well as a lovely and inspired 4 course menu. This group of drinkers has done similar verticals with other cdp producers such as Pegau and Beaucastel. While Beaucastel is the old guard of cdp and Pegau has been consistently championed on internet forums (with the likes of Dan K really allowing the marketplace to get a taste of those seminal wines), Clos des Papes had been something of a classic darkhorse until recent vintages saw critical acclaim (and prices) explode. Out of the three dinners, I would rank the wines of Mssr Avril a notch below Pegau and Beaucastel (no slight) as a whole but the highs of Mssr Avril often reach superlative levels that the regular bottlings of Pegau and Beaucastel do not often match. Clos des Papes, in its purest iterations, has the light mouthfeel and impeccable balance one sees from a wine that does not commit too much to a single grape variety, but rather a blend which chooses the best elements of each (brightness of granache, serious delicacy of syrah and the pitch of mourverdre) and tailors it accordingly to the vintage. A master winemaker and a splendid opus of wines.
To begin, Mssr Morton introduced himself and offered us an oyster served on a bed of sea salt as an amuse bouché. Pardon as I forgot the exact garnishments of the dish.
Wes came back and explained the first dish which was a house cured ham of Tamworth Pork served with a beautiful celeriac salad mixed with a dijonnaise, served with traditional rosemary brown butter toast (Againn is an Irish establishment so hints of their culinary tradition seem to poke out as the food can be fine dining with a homey feel).
Butter roasted Maryland striped bass with a braised lacinato kale, roasted turnips and a fish bordelaise (the fish bordelaise was of the mold of a traditional bordelaise, only made from a fish stock. It was a clever and beautiful sauce which worked well with the fish but bridged the gap for our flight of rouges. Bravo Wes!)
Wes returned with whole roasted Grimaud Farm Guinea Fowl served with sage and local chantrelles immersed in a pureé of black pudding, served with traditional english bread sauce. The skin of the fowl was to die for (pardon the double entendre!) and took serious resolve not to devour for the sake of one's health!
We drank our desert wines with a house made raw goat's cheese, served with spiced orange-sauternes marmalade, roasted hazelnuts and a petite cress. All served from halves.
Which brings me to my final point about Clos des Papes (before I speak to the desert wines): at their original price point, the wines deliver wonderful balanced expressions of rhone typicity (not necessarily just chateauneuf) which executed balance and a track record and orientation towards aging wonderfully. The recent explosion of critical points and pricing has likely been a windfall for the Avril family but it leaves the value conscious drinker (such as myself) more interested in backfilling.
Cheers,
Faryan
NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Premier Cru Les Vignes de Vrigny 92 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Opens with bright and crisp lemon-driven acidity but with time really advances to a very doughy and yeasty element with great notes of brioche (which is right in my wheelhouse when we talk champagne). Drank alongside the oyster, the acidity of the wine explodes in the palate and the pairing was heavenly. Was my favorite white of the evening and I believe this bottle was a relatively recent disgorgement. I would imagine the wine could evolve very generously with more cellar time.
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