Todd Waldmann comes to town and we eat and drink well at Suzanne's.

Todd and Teri Waldmann were in town a couple of weeks ago and he gave me a heads up that he'd like to get together. Unfortunately, without much notice a full scale Vouvray-a-thon was not possible, but Suzanne and Kenny offered to host a dinner and we were joined by Michel & Veronica Abood, Christine Huang and Marty Ellington. Suzanne did a great job grilling up some tasty morsels and Christine brought along a scrumptious passion fruit angel food layer cake. It was a wonderful evening and it was great to finally meet Todd after years of knowing him through the interwebz.

• 1995 Hugues Godmé Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Crisp apple aromas dominate the nose with a hit of toast and mineral. Shows nice creaminess on the palate with a soft mousse. Drinks nicely with apple and mineral flavors at the forefront. A-/B+.

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• 2005 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Wow. Mr. Ed after consuming a bucketful of Beefy-Ohs, for those that know the Seinfeld reference. Completely obliterated by sulfur. After forty minutes in the glass one finally gets some nice minerality, a bit of pear and a touch of spicy oak, but the sulfur never stopped playing anything other than a leading role. B-.

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• 2011 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé

  France, Provence, Bandol

  Exactly what you'd want from this bottle of wine. Plenty of strawberry, watermelon, cherry, mineral and spice flavors and aromas, nicely integrated and showing depth and balance. There's a wonderful harmony to it that makes me like this just a little more than the '12 that I had last month. A-.

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• 1996 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

  Still showing a lot of toughness with its juicy acidity and muscular tannin structure. There's pleasant black fruit here with earth, wood and spice. The finish is a little hard, though and shows some greenness. Needs some more time to soften. B+.

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• 2002 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds

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

  A much more feminine wine than the Gouges and drinking well. It's nicely aromatic with red fruit tones, stony minerality and spice aromas. Nicely juicy, but not too overt acidity keeps things fresh and lively on the palate. The red fruit is savory and the minerals have nice crunch to them. Drinking well now, but there's no hurry whatsoever here. Low A-.

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• 2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Best nose of the three Burgs. It's extremely fragrant with sweet cherries and red berry fruit, a touch of spice and a faint hint of nettles. Beautifully textured and showing both elegance and depth. A touch high toned, but with nice fruit levels. There's a nice touch of tart red plums and tart raspberries to go along with the ripe cherries. As on the nose, there's a little bit of a nettles character on the finish, but it's not unpleasant. Lovely. A-.

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• 2000 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Flawed

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

  A TCA explosion. One of the most profoundly corked bottles I've had in awhile.

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• 1988 E. Guigal Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Plenty of smoked meat and bacon goodness to be had, with aged black and red brambly fruit, garrigue and olives. While the tannins have softened, there's still nice acidic lift here that keeps the wine from showing just a bit too tired, though it's certainly on the back end of peak. It delivers just what you want out of nicely aged Northern Rhone Syrah. A-/B+.

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• 1985 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Showing similarly to a bottle last year, though maybe even just a tad fresher. Remarkably youthful and vibrant with the color still bright and yellow. The usual wooliness is there as is quince, acacia, bitter almond and mineral. Terrific acidic structure and a few of us commented that this seemed the equivalent sweetness of some of today's demi-secs. Beautiful. Solid A-.

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• 1995 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Normally an intense, youthful and stellar wine, while there was no tca present, this was clearly an off bottle as it was lifeless. Hate when that happens. NR.

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Some pics from the evening.

The group.


Tasty starters.


Grilled shrimp with avocado.


Suzanne's Zuni style chicken.


Ready to serve.


Potatoes, green beans, onion and garlic.


Heirloom tomatoes with goat cheese.


Christine's amazing passion fruit angel food layer cake.


Two Vouvray.