Legends Dinner at La Paulee de San Francisco

Napa Valley Reserve - St. Helena CA
Tasted Wednesday, February 22, 2012 by Burgundy Al with 831 views

Introduction

Great way to kick off the 2012 La Paulee. Dinner for approximately 40 including Aubert de Villaine and Jean-Marc Roulot. They weren't kidding, this was legendary.

Flight 1 - Hors d'Oeuvres (2 Notes)

Flight 2 - Carrots Roasted in the Coals with Carrot Water, Finger Lime and Razor Clam (2 Notes)

Flight 3 - Crayfish, Sweetbread,Scallop with Sauce Mousseline, Winter Pea and Steamed Potato (3 Notes)

  • 2002 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières Flawed

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

    From magnum, slightly oxidized. See second note when tasted from a different magnum

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  • 2002 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 92 Points

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

    From magnum. My glass showed reasonable oxidation, so I tasted this from another person's glass from a different (better) magnum. Aromas of ripe apple and sweet poached apple followed by similar fat flavors. Powerful on palate with lots of intense minerality. Good finish but without the length I've experienced in other vintages, or even in its 2000 counterpart tasted alongside.

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  • 2000 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 93 Points

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

    Sensational orchard fruit aromas with enticing spice. Lean apple on palate with poached pear hints. Huge minerality from start-to-finish on the palate, with pronounced acidity and energy providing great lift and pop on long finish. This was more exciting for me than its 2002 counterpart tasted alongside.

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Flight 4 - Poached Egg with Farina, Cockscombs and Black Truffle (3 Notes)

  • 1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

    Huge classic spice on nose with red and black cherry just behind charming forest aromas. Lean red cherry on palate with lots of mushroom flavors. Still a bit tannic with assertive acidity, giving a long, lean and energetic finish. Probably at or near its peak.

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  • 1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Modest red cherry, strawberry and modest spice aromas with a slightly earthy note. Fruit a bit more forward and lush on the palate. Good balance, nicely textured. Still very young.

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  • 1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    Sensational Asian spice on nose along with a cross-section of red and black cherry aromas. Same fruit on palate with hints of engaging cooked mushrooms. Incredible balance. Good length with a well textured finish. Slightly shorter and showing more advanced than a few bottles tasted 2-3 years ago.

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Flight 5 - Aged Duck with Wild spice Bush, Beets and Foie Gras (4 Notes)

  • 1980 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Fully mature. Good baking spice on nose - cinnamon and nutmeg - alongside a great earthy start. Palate started with expressive red and black cherry as well as that same spice profile. Long and textured to start but this started shortening and became increasingly simple after 30 minutes in glass.

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  • 1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Ripe black cherry aromas with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice provide an alluring start. Same black cherry on palate, seemingly less lush and ripe than the nose implied to me. Well structured, powerful finish.

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  • 1980 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    Floral with intense baking spice aromas that are classically and uniquely La Tache. Red fruit on palate with great mushroom flavors that are slightly more prominent today. Exceptional balance with the strong remaining structure helping keep this incredibly interesting. Drinking well now, with a t least a good decade+ of life ahead of it.

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  • 1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    A very frustrating wine experience. There were multiple bottles since there were 40 people at dinner, and the 1978 La Tache proved the point that there are no great wines, just great bottles. My glass was incredibly muted, perhaps slightly flawed, certainly only modestly interesting. Three people at my table clearly had wine from a different bottle, with lush but stewy fruit that seemed to possibly show some heat damage. At least two others had a wine that smelled wonderfully with great exotic spice, which alas, I was unable to taste. Sigh.

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Flight 6 - Bavette of Kobe Beef with Brown Butter, Chanterelles and Parsley Root (2 Notes)

  • 1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Nose starts with great red fruit, then Asian spice, followed by fresh mushroom aromas. Similar on palate with a great combination of flavors, supported wonderfully by lots of structure. Long and textured. This is an incredibly elegant wine.

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  • 1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    Okay this wasn't as great as when tasted in 2010 from Jeroboam. It was still a great wine and quite a releif after the troubling 1978 La Tache in the prior flight. Floral, spicy and very alluring. Red cherry and fragrant strawberry on palate with plenty of wild mushroom flavors. Racy finish with plenty of spice as well as both power and finesse.

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Flight 7 - Goats Cheese Cake with Licorice Root, Citrus Peel and Nasturium (2 Notes)

An incredibly successful course with the food perfectly highlighting the unique strengths of each wine as well as the differences. The tart cheese worked perfectly with the powerful and precise 2000, while the candied citrus peel accentuated the 2002's great lushness.

  • 2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Intense floral start with mint, spice with poached pear aromas and oak hints. Palate of intensely ripe orchard fruit, peach hints and big spice. Very exotic throughout with a lush, rip and spicy finish. Great contrast with its 2000 counterpart tasted alongside, with each perfectly showcasing what the vintage enabled.

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  • 2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Slightly floral start with intense apple, pear, sweet poached pear on nose with powerful spice. Same fruit on palate the comes across slightly less ripe than the nose might have suggested. Long, lean and precise on the palate with incredible acidity and minerality. Truly sensational. Great contrast with its 2002 counterpart tasted alongside, with each perfectly showcasing what the vintage enabled.

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