Catching Up: Couple of Dinners Out

A simple night, as we had been to two different parties in the afternoon with an excess of rich food. With sautéed foie gras, a peached lobster, and fricasee of shrimp/stuffed chicken wings/scallops.

• 2002 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  (4/9/2006)

  Pretty yellow gold with great depth of color. Nose is closed on initial pouring, with a blend of lightly sweet oak and a floral honey element coming out after a few minutes. The fruit is a little slower to make an appearance, but eventually shows up as freshly appealing apple and stone fruit. The palate is more like a lithe and athletic lass hiding her graces. There is an element of chiseled definition and muscular detail from the very beginning, but for at least half an hour that perfect bone structure is all we get to see. With more time, the flesh is rendered visible in ripely sweet fruit and great mineral presence. The flesh and sap builds over time in the glass and it builds through the palate. The finish is significantly more intense and rich than the entry. She’s only playing JV field hockey now. Behave yourself until she joins the uni team and you’ve got a beauty in store.

  Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

With fried zucchini blossoms, mixed cold anipasti, insalata caprese and a kinmedai (a rich kind of sea bream) cooked in cartoccio with lemon, olives, and potatoes.

• 2003 Pieropan Soave Classico Calvarino

  Italy, Veneto, Soave Classico

  (4/15/2006)

  Clear and bright light straw color. Nose of that distinctive Soave pear, highlighted by citrus and a light herbal infusion element. Palate shows fresh minerality – the cold water racing over rocks sort – combined with light clear white tree fruit. Thoroughly enjoyable and even a perfect foil with fried zucchini blossoms, but it is somewhat caught in the middle between style and vintage. As always, this shows a bit more of everything than the basic Pieropan Soave – more concentration, more finely chiseled detail, more ripeness and depth. But make no mistake, the Calvarino is always a wine that must win hearts through detail and freshness. In 2003, its detail and freshness fall a little short of (admittedly high) expectations. Cf. the Rocca below.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2003 Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca

  Italy, Veneto, Soave Classico

  (4/15/2006)

  A bit darker gold than the Calvarino. Rich and round on the nose with a deep floral element, a hint of tropical fruit, and just a kiss of oak sweetness. When it hits the palate, there is a much more forceful minerality and a roundness and fullness that goes beautifully with the kinmedai preparation. It still shows that typical pear and citrus fruit and has a certain freshness to it, but it wears its oak as an evidently suave cloak. In most years, I prefer the Calvarino, but in 2003 the La Rocca finds a vintage that plays up its strong points. It’s still garganega from Pieropan so even with the ripeness and the bit of oak, it is lengths ahead of most of its peers. But I wouldn’t drink it when I’m looking for traditional Soave freshness and cut.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue