New Yorkers welcome Morgan Clendenen to town with wine and ducks.

Morgan Clendenen, the lovely and talented proprietress and and winemaker of Cold Heaven Cellars, was back in town for the David Bowler portfolio tasting. With an evening free, duck and wine was in order so Suzanne Camhi, Kenny Shusterman, Michel Abood, Veronica Moreno, Brent Clayton, Paul Jaouen and I gathered at Peking Duck House this past Wednesday to welcome her and an evening of great fun, tasty wine and crispy ducks ensued.

• NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Premier Cru Les Vignes de Vrigny

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Made entirely from Pinot Meunier and having spent 36 months on its lees, I unfortunately find nothing particularly compelling about it. It's tart with appley fruit, dark honey notes and is nicely earthy, but the wine lacks freshness and mid-palate presence. The mousse faded after a few minutes in the glass and it's a tad drying on the finish. Low B

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• 2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Another one where the mousse dissipated after a little while in the glass, but while drinking more like a still wine, this bottle offered a lot to like. Terrific fruit levels here, with yellow citrus, apples and stone fruit flavors and aromas leading the way and nice mineral notes with a touch of smoke bringing up the rear. Nice acid levels, but there's a nice creaminess to the wine that, along with the ripeness levels of the fruit, provides a rich mouthfeel. Finishes with a hit of toasted brioche. A-/B+.

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• NV Ulysse Collin Champagne Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut (2008) Les Maillons

  France, Champagne

  Shows quite a bit of toast, green apple and red fruit with a mousse that's a bit too frothy for my tastes. Quite austere with an acidic kick and intense minerality, but the red fruit keeps calling me back. I just wish the mousse was more subdued and there was a bit more generosity on the palate. B/B+

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• 2010 Cold Heaven Viognier Le Bon Climat

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Morgan smiled and knew she was in a little bit of trouble when she whipped this out for a group with European palates having just had three acidic Champagne in a row and, indeed, it did suffer a little bit. Normally I would say the wine shows pretty good acidity, but coming off those Champagne and followed by a Cour-Cheverny, it did come off a bit soft in the acid department. It's quite floral and shows beautiful peach and nectarine flavors and aromas with a bit of orange citrus. Nice length to the wine and while the fruit shows ripeness, the wine is dry. The alcohol did stick out a touch on the finish and Morgan even commented on that. Overall quite nice, though I'd drink up. B

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• 1996 François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord) Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles Cuvée Renaissance

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Cour-Cheverny

  Still full of awesome and consistently one of my favorite white wines. This bottle initially showed a bit truncated on the back end from the get go, but it filled in and grew with air, thus providing another terrific showing. Everybody's there, the quince, the raspberry, the citrus, the minerals and florals, the vivid acidity balancing out the light sweetness. I seriously need an unending tap of this wine. A.

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• 2009 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Shows a knockout nose that's overflowing with fresh crushed cherry and strawberry aromas with a bit of spice and herb playing second fiddle. Nice fruit levels on the palate with quite juicy acidity. Red fruit dominates, though the wine picks of a green nettles note on the finish that grew with time, but was not unpleasant. Nice purity and persistence across the palate. Shows a bit young and tight, but is still enjoyable. A-/B+.

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• 2004 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Rather tightfisted at present and loathe to give up too many secrets, but one sees hints of a beautiful future as there's depth and balance to the wine, excellent concentration to the blueberry and black currant fruit and game, spice and garrigue adding complexity. Powerfully built, but not at all overdone, this is going to be fun to watch evolve over the years and I think it will be better than it is today, but it's a bit unyielding now. Solid A-.

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• 2001 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  A beautiful showing and Paul and I were surprised by the amount of youth this bottle exhibited. The wine showed terrific balance and freshness and was still rather primary with not a lot of secondary development. Nicely ripe, but not overripe black and red briary fruit, a bit of game, spice, garrigue with nice lavender tones. Beautiful sweetness to the fruit. Everything's clicking and I'm not convinced the wine has quite hit peak yet. A.

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• 1982 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosché Flawed

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Corked.

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