Round Table dinner at Jake's

NYC
Tasted Friday, November 30, 2012 by salil with 507 views

Flight 1 - With Bulgarian osetra caviar with blini and crème fraîche (3 Notes)

  • 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 98 Points

    France, Champagne

    Absolute stunner of a Champagne that brought the room to silence for a few minutes. So much complexity and depth here that it's hard to put into words; layers of rich fruit, chalky minerality, doughy and fresh baked brioche, all conveyed with remarkable power, finesse and purity, and amazing length. Wow!!

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  • 1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Tough act to follow the Salon, but this is very impressive in its own right. Richly fruited and framed by layers of autolytic bready, doughy and toasty elements, wonderfully balanced and really enjoyable.

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  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Quite a stylistic contrast to the Dom and Salon; more powerful and savoury with smoky, gingerbread and faintly oxidative nutty elements framing the rich fruit here. It's a little restrained initially but with some air starts to really open out aromatically and it's really compelling to sit down with after about an hour or so.

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Flight 2 - With pan browned coturnix quail with seared foie gras, brussel sprouts and bacon (4 Notes)

  • 2011 Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Steinertal 93 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Comes across more dense and ripe than the bottle I had a few weeks ago. Unusually flamboyant for Alzinger Steinertal with a bright floral topnote over rich fruit and minerality, but showing the purity of flavour and finesse I always expect from this wine. It's incredibly primary and youthful right now, but really enjoyable all the same.

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  • 1993 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Loibner Berg 95 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Insane aromatics. Old Grüner can smell so amazing. Smoky, herbal, floral, vividly minerally and wild savoury umami elements all framing rich Grüner fruit, and so powerful yet graceful on the palate. The balance here is impeccable, and it makes me wonder (yet again) why I don't cellar more of these wines.

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  • 1993 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Loibner Klostersatz 93 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Quite a contrast to the Loibner Berg; higher toned, more herbal and spicy and trading some of the richness and power for a gentler, more elegant presence. It's more elegant, also very fragrant but at the same time doesn't have quite the same knockout aromatics and the sheer depth of the Berg.

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  • 1995 Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek 95 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Hauntingly pure and delicate; incredibly fragrant and perfectly integrated with white flowers, stone, fresh pear and citrus fruit and herbal, leafy and other savoury elements all coming together into a seamless whole. A thrilling wine to sit down with and follow, as it keeps getting more aromatic and developing more layers and nuances the longer it's open.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

Flight 4 (1 Note)

Flight 5 - With braised organic California rabbit ragoût with saffron pappardelle (3 Notes)

  • 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Medium weight and very elegant with pure red and dark fruited flavours framed by cedar, iodine, tobacco and that PLL green/forestal character. This comes across surprisingly youthful; it seems to still be holding a lot in reserve and isn't as forward and aromatic as I remember other bottles being, though this bottle's still excellent.

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  • 2001 Château Haut-Brion 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Incredibly youthful and full of promise, but very enjoyable after a couple of hours in the decanter. Smoke, gravel and tobacco framing a core of fresh dark fruited flavours; it's not particularly complex now, but it's still wonderful to drink with a remarkable finesse and purity to the flavours already.

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  • 1986 Château Gruaud Larose 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    This is one of the best bottles I've ever had of the '86 Gruaud, and it's just firing on all cylinders here. Incredibly fragrant and so layered with savoury tobacco, leathery Cordier funk, developed cedar and earthy elements, and youthful red and dark fruited flavours coming together seamlessly. There's amazing depth and balance here, with the powerful '86 tannins matched by the rich, sappy fruit, and incredible length. For me, a benchmark Bordeaux that still has years ahead of it.

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Flight 6 - With roasted suckling pig with truffled potatoes and pan gravy (2 Notes)

  • 1994 Raymond Trollat St. Joseph 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

    Overnoy-esque in its pale, slightly cloudy appearance and funky aromatics. Delicate, understated and so elegant with incredibly pure olive and red fruited flavours framed by saline and savoury elements, very light on its feet but with such presence on the palate and wonderful balance.

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  • 1990 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal Flawed

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Something's off here. Perhaps a little corked, but it's definitely rather awkward and doesn't seem like a representative bottle.

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Flight 7 - With a selection of cheeses and macaron (1 Note)

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