Relaxing Saturday Lunch @ Capital Restaurant

We have done a couple of nice Saturday lunches with KG and gang - this was the third time, and we enjoyed the food and wines so much that we have decided to inaugurate a monthly "Relaxing Saturday Lunches". The sifu at Capital Restaurant really outdid himself this time round - a slightly disappointing steamed fish aside, this was the best meal I have had there yet. The wines were the real highlight though, some quirky, all interesting, with one or two really great ones. All served blind as usual of course.

• NV Domaine de L'Octavin Crémant du Jura Cuvée Papageno 90 Points

  France, Jura, Crémant du Jura

  A nice, characterful wine. The nose was very Champagne-like, with subtle notes of white melon and more citrusy grapefruit scents alongside some seashell mineral notes, all with just a slight oxidative hint around the corners. The palate had a light, very fine, almost delicate mousse and well-integrated acidity laced through its white fruit and lemon peel flavours on the attack and midpalate. I do not know whether it was my imagination, but I thought that there was something rather Jura-ish past that point, with a slight savoury note to the wine’s finish, with more seashell and slightly metallic mineral notes, with a little gentle spice a the finish. This was a nice Cremant. A good drink, with plenty of character to boot.

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• 2008 Nyetimber Rosé 91 Points

  United Kingdom, England, Sussex, West Sussex

  Rather better than the last time I round I had it. It still had the unusually deep, almost coppery orange-pink. On the nose, it showed rather masculine tones of earth and white meat and mineral, with a waft of cherry and orange peel and some florals at the side. It was on the palate that this impressed me this time round. It had a good depth and heft to it, with slightly more pronounced fruit than the nose – strawberries and apple - I thought – not exactly ripe, but with a good flesh to it. It had a nicely structured feel too, with lemony acidity and fine, prickly mousse running through the fruit, and a good spine of mineral and earth running into a strong finish. Pretty good. Still a bit austere, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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• 2008 Patrick Piuze Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Bougros Chablis Piuze 2008. Still very, very young, but this was very good. Opened some half an hour before sevice, this had a lovely mineral character on the nose, with lots of flinty, salty, seashell notes racing around neutral white fruit tones punctuated here and there with lime and lemon peel. In time, some little honeyed aromas and a whiff of salted nuts started emerging as well. Still a bit tight, but it was already quite an attractive nose – very Chablis. The palate was very good indeed. It was full and weighty, with a real Grand Cru presence – indeed, most people guessed Chassagne from a good vintage. However, its fleshy flavours of white fruit and lemons were also graced with a serious spine of acidity and a lovely minerality that started from the attack and curled its way through the midpalate and into a long, engaging finish. This was lovely - elegant, focused, precise, yet not austere in anyway. It needs quite a few years yet, 5-7 years would be just about right I think, but it is very enjoyable even now.

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• 2004 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 95 Points

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

  A gorgeous wine – this was Meursault Perrieres par excellence. It had a beautiful nose of sweet cream and butter, touches of oak, with white fruit flecked with floral hints and a lovely, chalky minerality drifting around its edges. Wonderful stuff. The palate had a classic Perrieres profile. There were creamy, buttery hints, with ripe lemons and apples, all wrapped in a creamy texture that you normally only find in Puligny or Chassagne Grand Crus. There was great depth here, and a real musucular strength, but it was also effortlessly elegant, almost graceful, with a bright acid balance that that was built into the very fabric of the wine. This actually came across a bit round and fleshy, even rather ripe when drank next to the spare, minerally Chablis Bougros at first. However, once that was out of the way, I really started to notice the beautiful mineral grip that the wine had at its finish, with chalk and flint and stone unfolding almost endlessly across a beautiful back-palate of lemon and cream. And it kept opening up more and more as well over the half hour that I had it in the glass. This was an amazing wine – a Grand Cru in every sense apart from its name. Great stuff now, it will be even better in 4-5 years.

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• 1994 Château de Fargues 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Very charming. The sweetness had dropped off quite a bit on this, so (HM apart) we were all a bit hard-pressed to guess it as a Sauternes from the 1990s. The nose certainly suggested something sweet, with honey and dried apricots and orange marmalade, all seasoned with some exotic spice notes and a little ring of metallic mineral. The palate was a change in tone though. This seemed almost off-dry rather than full-on sweet. What struck me most at first was the beautiful balance here, with fresh acidity lapping against gentle botrytis flavours of honey and treacle, with hints of dried apricots and orange marmalade, all coated with some melted brown sugar before it tailed off into a graceful finish that showed a lovely lick of spice and a final ring of metallic mineral. I notice that the flavor descriptors (mineral and spice aside) all sound really sweet, but it really was not – this was more about acidity and freshness than anything else. If anything, it may actually be accused of lacking some morerishness. I really liked it though. It was at a pretty good place for drinking and went very nicely with two heavily flavoured dishes (first being a steamed fish in soy sauce, the other a stewed pig’s trotter). Very nice.

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• 1996 Domaine Rion Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Pretty good, but unusually masculine for a Chambolle. This was especially so on the nose, which showed lots of funky aromas, with dried earth and meaty and toasty spices swirling around dark fruited accents of dark cherries and cassis. I thought it was a Vosne, and one from rather tough terroir with that nose. Others actually said NSG. The palate did nothing to dispel the myth at first blush either. It had a firm, muscular structure. The tannins were quite finely shape, but gave quite a grip nonetheless. Thankfully, this seemed to soften and open up significantly with time and air, and what stood out more was a lovely freshness, with characteristically bright 1996 acidity running through sweet cherries and wild berry notes with a little floral hint floating around somewhere. The masculine nature kicked in again on the midpalate, with meat and dried earth and toasty spices taking the fore, clear. It was only at the finish were the wine seemed to open up and soften somewhat, having a clean, open feel to it as it drifted off with a touch of orange peel spice and some mineral notes, just before a last bloom of flowers. Decently good. It could do with a few more years in the bottle though.

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• 2000 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Not a bad wine, but very advanced – this drank like something at least 10 years older. The nose certainly smelt old, with iodine and balsamic notes drizzled over otherwise attractive aromas of dried plums and cherries, almost cherry liquer-like actually, and then earthy notes of herb, spice and some musky, wilted flower scents. The palate, while quite juicy and fresh for a 2000, was advanced too, with tannins absolutely softened on the attack, so that it seemed a little mushy under its flavours of stewed cherries and blackberries laced with beefy, Bovril notes. It was only at the finish where a semblance of sinewy structure asserts itself a little more and the wine trails away with some funky notes of meat and sous bois. A decently good wine, but not great. I thought the Rion Les Cras that we had next to it was perhaps a little better.

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• 2000 Domaine Perrot-Minot Mazoyères-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 90 Points

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

  A bit of a coincidental overlap here - the trio of Burgundies that we had (a pair of Chambolle 1er Crus and this Gevrey) contained two wines from the 2000 vintage. Unlike the very advanced 2000 Barthod 1er Cru Charmes though, this seemed really backwards. I thought it needed some 7-8 years more in the bottle at least. The nose was a bit tight, showing drifts of mineral and ferrous metal and earth over black cherries and wild berries, with brighter shades of red fruit under underneath. There was just the slightest hint of dried flowers around the sides. The palate was still very structured, very masculine, with metallic mineral notes running through rather monochromatic tones of black cherries and blackberries laced with a touch of spice. Not bad, but I found this a bit too heavily extracted. There was a lot of depth and power wrapped up in its rather thick texture, Grand Cru scale I would say, and it was nicely balanced too, with a nice clear acidity running all the way into the finish. However, unlike the pair of wines that preceded it though, this seemed to lack a sense of terroir. Even if the former wines were on the masculine side for Chambolles, you could still tell that they were Burgundies. This was so thick and extracted in the mouth that a lot of us actually thought this was a Rhone. Maybe time will soften it and open up its rather surly depth somewhat. At the moment, it is a decent wine, but not quite up my alley.

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