2010 Duck Dinner

Peter Pratt's Inn
Tasted Thursday, November 11, 2010 by Vinomarcus with 654 views

Introduction

The 16th annual Duck Dinner was held last night at Peter Pratt's Inn in Yorktown, NY. This event features inventive dishes made from 5 different breeds of duck. Chef Nick did an amazing job as the food was spectacular. Our theme for wine for this evening was simple: 1990 and prior, any vintage, any region, any varietals. We had 6 people at our table and 13 bottles including 2 magnums. Not one of these old timers was corked, cooked or DOA. Some of them lost their vitality rather quickly after being opened, but no clunkers at all. None of the wines were decanted. Several of the corks were challenging to say the least, I spent the better part of 15 minutes wrangling with the '61 Bosconia cork in an epic duel worthy of Moby Dick, but I prevailed.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • 1983 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru Teurons 86 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

    The nose was so engaging, delicate and floral and pretty. Too bad the palate fell way short with nothing much to offer initially. Some strawberry fruit was revealed after some aeration, but this quickly evaporated. The wine was tried again halfway through the dinner and declared dead. I really loved the nose though.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 1979 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

    This was an education in how to correctly make California wine. I mean a real education, Ridge just does it right! The color was still nearly black and the wine had grip in the stem. My first tastes were a little worrisome as there wasn't much going on for me. The nose promised a lot though, so we all agreed to go back during the course of the evening. Over a period of 4hrs, this wine put on weight, added dimensions, added flavors and nuances and didn't drop anything at all. Unreal. I was mystified by how this wine grew with air time. 31yrs old and not merely holding on, but growing! Very impressive and a real treat.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 1961 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Bosconia 86 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    This was the bottle I had the epic battle with the cork, it did not want to come out and fell apart as it did. This wine had wonderful color to it still and was in amazingly good condition. Nice body but not much fruit to speak of, mostly earthy notes, such as mushrooms, game and old leather. Still a nice wine though.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 1986 Château Simone Palette 87 Points

    France, Provence, Palette

    Interesting wine from an area I am wholly unfamiliar with. The wine poured with loads of sediment and was a bit cloudy. Not much of a nose to speak of, practically devoid of any aroma. The palate was nice though, some soft fruit, loads of minerality, hints of leather and mushrooms. A good wine, would love to try a younger version.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

  • 1983 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Sooo much better than the version we had at last years duck dinner. This was immediately firing on all cylinders and full bodied. Loaded with grilled meat, black fruits, new leather, tar and cracked black pepper. This was a deep and cerebral wine that vied for WOTN for me and just barely lost the honor to the 85 Beaucastel.

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 1985 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    From magnum. This wine is absolute rock star, a female rock star at that as it's a sexy beast of wine. Voluptuous and tempting, sexy and soft, yet big and brash. This was deep and complex and a complete wine from start to finish, nothing was lacking here at all. Great fruit, coffee, meat,earth, this ran the gamut of descriptors. Wonderful juice.

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Flight 8 (1 Note)

Flight 9 (1 Note)

  • 1986 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill 86 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain

    Dark color, decent nose of black and red fruits. Has the structure of a young wine, but doesn't deliver the depth or balance. Some decent fruit left, lots of minerals on the finish to the point it almost tasted metallic which was a bit off putting for me. One of the few bottles not completely drained.

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Flight 10 (1 Note)

  • 1989 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Another wine that vied for my WOTN, this was flat out impressive. Still a baby too, very young tasting, a bit tight at first. As it opened it burst-ed with black fruit, tobacco leaf, fresh roasted coffee beans. A very dark, deep and complex wine that stirred the senses. Delicious.

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Flight 11 (1 Note)

  • 1979 Patrick Jasmin Côte-Rôtie 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    From magnum. The color was so light I was worried this wine would be doa, but this was a real treat. For shits and giggles I put this in a glass next to the 79 Ridge Petite Sirah, the color difference was amazing. Anyway, this was a great wine, the fruit was actually still a bit sweet and feminine. This was one of the best matches for the duck of the evening, just transcendental. So happy to have the opportunity to try this.

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Flight 12 (1 Note)

  • 1990 Beringer Vineyards Nightingale 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    From half bottle. Dark amber color, slightly thick texture. Nose of spiced apples and rum, on the palate hints of Cinnamon stick, spiced apples and raisins. Really good dessert wine, very nice.

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Flight 13 (1 Note)

  • 1983 Maculan Torcolato 87 Points

    Italy, Veneto, Breganze

    Light in color, light on the palate, not much weight or presence, slightly sweet, some notes of butterscotch and slightly sweet lemon rind.

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Closing

I love it when everything works out as planned and this was one of those evenings. The food was sublime, the wines were thought provoking, the company was stellar. A wonderful night was had by all and I'm already drooling in anticipation of next years event!

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