Seattle Tasting Group 'End of Year Dinner' #2

Sammamish, WA, USA
Tasted Saturday, December 11, 2004 by Eric with 1,821 views

Introduction

Last night Roy Hersh hosted the second annual “Year End” dinner for the Seattle Tasting Group. This was our 24th month of tasting together, and we have been fortunate to maintain a consistent core of folks along with a few new faces from the past year. It really is a delightful group of thoughtful and generous folks, and I always look forward to our gatherings.

As with last year, Rodney Muirhead was up from Portland to delight us with his culinary delights, although we did miss Elizabeth’s chocolates this year. (She is busy opening a new chocolate shop.) It is funny to think that a year ago Rodney and Elizabeth weren’t yet engaged, so it was nice to finally congratulate him face to face.

Joining us from New York & Paris as our ‘special guest’ was Robert Michel Abood (Vinotas), and he certainly kept us on our toes with his finely honed urban wit and charm. Also in attendance were our hosts Roy & Dorene Hersh (and daughter Taylor, the whirling dervish who put on an impressive display of speed and agility as she darted back and forth for the first few hours of the tasting) Jason & Tracy Goldberger, Dave Browning, Susan Garret, Jason Domanico, Michael Gordon and of course your not so humble scribe.

Last year’s tasting was such a delight that we were doubtful we could recreate such a flawless tasting, but we tried our hardest. In case a flawed bottle showed up, we had an alternate lineup of wines on hand to break out at a moment’s notice. (Most people were smarter than me and kept theirs far away from the table, whereas I nearly broke out a 1990 Montrose far past the point where we really needed it. I do maintain that it would have been fun to taste next to the 1994 Harlan…) We didn’t up needing the backups, but it was good insurance.

All wines except for the two desserts were served blind, and generally people only knew of their own bottles. There was very little spitting and lots of cabs prearranged. (Too bad for me that I had to be up at 6:30am the next morning to catch a flight, uggh…)

Anyway, here we go.

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

With a delicious starting course of bruschetta and crab ‘salpicon’ (three heaping mounds of delicious Dungeness crab) we tucked into a pair of whites. Nearly everyone thought the first was Californian and the second was Burgundy. Imagine our surprise…

  • 1995 Hanzell Chardonnay 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    The nose is clean and somewhat restrained with a faint hint of oak that became more prominent as this warmed showing a bit more toast and butter. The palate belied the typical California Chardonnay with clean, penetrating flavors of lemon and green apple and vibrant mouthfeel. I correctly guessed mid-90’s Hanzell, as I haven’t had any other California Chardonnay that shows such a light touch with the oak.

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  • 1997 Hanzell Chardonnay 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    Wow, this leaps out of the glass with ripe, tropical notes of mango. This is lightly toasty on entry yet penetrating, oily and rich with a strong mineral component. The ripeness had me thinking of the Mâconnois.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

Next Rodney delighted us with a beautiful salad of red, yellow and rainbow beets served on arugula dressed lightly in a sherry vinaigrette with ricotta salata shaved atop. This was followed by a course of beautiful and plump pan seared scallops atop softened sugar snap peas and roasted cauliflower in a surprisingly light sauce of bergamot orange beurre blanc. (It was neat to see the raw bergamot which indeed conjures clear notions of Earl Gray tea.) Very nice! With these two courses we enjoyed some fine bubbles. It was interesting how distinct the three different wines were.

  • 1996 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Millésimé Brut Blanc de Blancs 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    I brought this bottle, and although I have only had their NV champagne I was able to surmise its identity (also because the other 2 champagnes were so distinct). The nose shows a striking mineral component, and the palate is clean and lively, very creamy and delicious with great precision. I think it suffered a bit in comparison to the 1996 Dom, but a few tasters actually picked it ahead of that wine.

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  • 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Correctly guessed. I suspected that someone would bring a Dom, as most of us have this in our cellars. The nose is gorgeous with notes of smokey minerality and even a hint of nutmeg. Wow, the palate is so broad and sweeping, stretch your arms out as wide as you can imagine, and it doesn’t even compare to the way this wine moves sideways across your mouth. I didn’t even try to put words on the complexity and richness of this wine, but I have never tasted a champagne with so much “wine” character to it, stunning.

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  • 1990 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé 90 Points

    France, Champagne

    Time to bake some bread, as someone brought the yeast! Textbook nose. The palate is clearly older with some sherry notes and a nuttiness. This was certainly quite charming, although people were a bit surprised when it was unveiled, as it seemed to be quite advanced. JasonD confirmed that lots of bottles from the same case had seemed a lot younger. So be it, a number of tasters were excited by the more mature champagne.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

OK, now it was time for the reds, yeehaw! To accompany a ‘warm-up flight’ of 1983 Bordeaux, Rodney delighted us with a wild mushroom risotto that was brimming with porcini, shiitake, crimini, chanterelle and spiked with a hint of white truffle oil. I clearly recall the pair of risottos that Rodney delighted us with a year earlier, and as with those this had the perfect texture, creamy yet with just enough snap left in the rice kernels, mmmm…

  • 1983 Château Palmer 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    This first wine just screamed of minerals on the nose and palate. Earthy with some truffle notes of its own, the aforementioned minerality, and some iodine, a great nose. The palate was bright with good acidity. The finish was perhaps my favorite part with a hint of barnyard and turns to a leather for about 30 seconds.

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  • 1983 Château Lafite Rothschild 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    This was one of the only wines that wasn’t pre-decanted, and I think it suffered a bit for it. The nose was spicy with cinnamon that slowly grew to take on more of a Cheval Blanc Asian spice character and then an intriguing hint of violets as this sat longer in the glass. Alas, the palate didn’t follow through on the exotic and giving nose showing very tight and even astringent, opening reluctantly with time to show some mint. For me it never really did give as much as I hoped for, although it was clearly an outstanding wine that was holding back. I started at 88 points but moved up to 90.

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  • 1983 Château Cheval Blanc 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    I was very fortunate to have this wine a couple of months ago courtesy of Jason and Tracy Goldberger, but I didn’t make the connection with this bottle until it was unveiled. The nose was almost Northern Rhone like, smoky with roasted meat and earth, this reminded me much more of a similarly meaty and smoky 1982 Trotanoy that I tasted in October. (Aside, is it common for an older Merlot to take on this unique smokiness?) Anyway back to the Cheval. The palate was awesome, smoky and earthy with peat and exotic spices and then growing notes of tobacco (great call Michel). Terrific, my favorite wine of the flight.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

Now it was time for some meat. Rodney brought out plates of pan seared duck breast, sliced then and draped atop a mound of wonderful parsnip puree and sauced with a lingonberry reduction and some toasted and chopped walnuts on top. I thought I heard a complaint or two about a bit much going on with this plate, but it curled my toes and tickled my tongue just fine!

  • 1918 Seguin-Manuel Musigny 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Hmm, ringer time? The color on this was so light, it clearly had to be a Pinot, although I guessed it was from the 1970’s. When first opened, as Roy advised, this did take 15 minutes to blow off a fairly nasty stink of musty, corky scents. From this emerged a seemingly oxidized wine showing a lot of strawberry and balsamic vinegar. However, as it had more air it became more and more lively and showed animalistic notes of leather with smoke and peat coming out to play. This was sweet and elegant with strawberry fruit dancing amidst the smokey and balsamic notes, quite fascinating. The only other Pinot I have ever tasted with leather, smoke and peat was a 1992 Leroy Musigny, and I drew the association (not guessing Musigy but rather just explaining that I had encountered a flavor profile like this once before in a Pinot). Imagine my utter surprise when this was unveiled as a Musigny, albeit one from the era of the first World War, wowza, so cool!

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  • 1989 Château Lynch-Bages 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Ok, these next two wines in the flight were awesome and similar. I was thinking Latour as each was brimming with ripe, black fruit, and graphite. Not an awful guess actually. The first wine showed massive density with black fruit, pencil lead, and growing notes of cedar. This was clearly an utter baby, so lush and thick with a nice note of red currant dancing on the palate amidst the blackness. I am starting to wrap my head around the Lynch flavor profile, and these are pretty darned delicious!

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  • 1990 Château Lynch-Bages 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Most tasters preferred the prior wine, but for me the 1990 curled my toes a bit more. Even more ripe than the 1989 with sheer masses of black fruit, graphite, and some younger notes of caramel and vanilla. Eventually a really cool tarry element appeared. The palate was dense and extracted, absolutely stunning with so much minerality and then, oh that finish, it just keeps going for a minute! For me this was just so hedonistic and rich that I forgave the fact that it was less well defined and less complex than the 1989. What a great showing from this pair!

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

OK, now were feeling pretty good and really excited to move onto the flight of unknown big guns. Ahh, what a flight! Rodney brought a whopper 6th course that consisted of cartoon-sized plates of very rare Washington lamp chops with roasted cippolini, roasted carrot (so cool!), roasted cloves of garlic and French fingerling potatoes. Michael Gordon easily outdid me as clean bone champion, gnashing anything that came within his reach. So now about those wines…

  • 1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 98 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    This was my contribution, a wine I have never tasted before. It screamed of Graves with an unmistakable nose of roasted earth, and then the palate followed with hyperripe notes of roasted plum, ripe raspberry and then coffee. This is simply awesome wine that makes the 1990 La Mission seem thin and unyielding by comparison (which it is not), a very special wine. Correctly guessed as the 82 La Mission.

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  • 1994 Harlan Estate 100 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Thank you, thank you, thank you Susan Garret for yet again bringing what turned into my favorite wine of the night! The color on this was shockingly inky when it was poured. At first I found clear notes of ash on the nose, and then mounds of intense, concentrated, ripe fruit came to the front. The palate was at once so structured and plush, utterly seamless, yet gripping and powerful, with cassis, mineral, somehow avoiding heaviness with a faint tart note of cranberry amidst the mass of fruit. I didn’t guess California, as I was assuming this was a freakingly proportioned and ripe Bordeaux such as the 1990 Montrose. I wasn’t disappointed though. Frankly, for me, this blows the 1997 Harlan off the table, as it is so much more balanced and elegant. (Of course, that doesn’t stop me from constantly bugging Jason Goldberger to open his 1997.) Wow, perfect wine!

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  • 1989 Château Haut-Brion 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Wow, a great nose of blueberry followed by tar, lilac, and cedar with smoky and meaty notes. On the palate I found this a bit tougher to approach, it is just so massively structured and young. Mind you, it was an absolute delight, but it has a loooong time ahead. I correctly guessed 1989 Haut Brion, but there was a little cheating. (I had offered to bring this wine and was told it was already claimed. By process of elimination and with the distinctive aromatics it was clear what it had to be.) This is a special wine, but it barely seems to be giving up its full potential right now. It was the favorite of the evening for a few folks though.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Now it was time to somehow cram some dessert down our ever more filled gullets. Rodney brought out a tray of toasted hazelnuts and perfectly ripe pineapple, and along with these he brought out a deliciously salty blue cheese and a 14 year old Manchego.

  • 1949 Château Doisy-Daëne 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    The wine was a dessert unto itself. An impeccable fill had us quite excited by this one. Darkish in color, the nose was a party of orange marmalade, caramel, and nuts. The palate was nice but seemed to fall apart a bit too quickly with burned sugar notes that became more and more prominent with air. While it lasted it was intense and delicious, but it also suffered in comparison to a 1959 Guiraud I was able to taste 10 days earlier. Still, it was a fantastic wine, thanks Roy!

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

Nearing the end. Rodney’s last delight was port-poached pears served with an awesome walnut shortcake and whipped cream. Delicious! We also passed around some chocolate truffles. And with this…

Closing

Thank you Roy and everyone for another spectacular evening. Sharing wines like this with friends, enjoyed with fantastic food, and lingering over a 6+ hour meal, what a way to enjoy wine!

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