Dinner at Browntrout

Browntrout, Chicago IL
Tasted Thursday, September 18, 2014 by KeithAkers with 470 views

Introduction

Matt had sent out an email that Seth Rosenberg would be in town. I'm always up for meeting new people and drinking a bunch of wine. So, I made it up to Browntrout as fast as possible after work for such an event.

Flight 1 (12 Notes)

NV Ulysse Collin Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Pierrières 92 Points

France, Champagne

Nose: The nose has a real precision to it with a racy underlying minerality. It's very aromatic with apples, fresh citrus, apples, white fruits, and crushed rocks all on top of the mineral base.

Taste: Medium bodied with very noticeable high acidity. The structure is extremely youthful with apples, crushed rocks, loads of minerals, fresh picked citrus, some leesy notes, and a hint of hot wax on the back end.

Overall: This is from Lot 9 and was disgorged 7/2013. This was a fantastic champagne that showed off a real sense of place. It has a real precision to it along with a racy side to the minerality.

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2000 Henri Boillot Chevalier-Montrachet 95 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

Nose: The theme here is balance. There is a larger quality to the nose while being crystalline and balanced with citrus notes, baked apples, oils, minerals, white flowers, and Meyer lemons. To add to the nose, there is incredible depth and layering that draws you in with each passing moment.

Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity. The structure is certainly there, but it's in a supporting role to let the wine flow. The feel is regal and balanced with baked apples, meyer lemons, oranges, minerals, and some bits of citrus and white flowers.

Overall: This was a real treat. It may have been a little too cold at first as you could tell it had more to give. Once it warmed up, it was a thing to behold and certainly showed off the class that one would expect from an in form Chevalier-Montrachet.

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1989 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses 92 Points

France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

Nose: There is a seamless quality to the nose with red cherries, earth tones, leather, some herbal notes, and lots of roses. There is excellent depth with a savoriness to it as well.

Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is more towards the feminine side with red cherries, earth tones, red berries, leather, herbs, and a touch of roses.

Overall: This is a very pretty and mature Olga Raffault. While it's mature, it is far from being in decline and can go a good while longer.

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2011 Domaine de la Pépière Vin de Pays de Loire-Atlantique Cuvée Granit 90 Points

France, Loire Valley, Vin de Pays de Loire-Atlantique

Nose: The nose is very perfumed and pretty with violets, red fruits, red cherries, some herbal tones, dark red berries, and some mineral tones. The tones favor the higher register and there is nice medium depth to it.

Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky (but, youthful) tannins. The feel is pretty and elegant with violets, red fruits, cherries, dark red berries, and some earth tones. While the feel is pretty, it is also lacking somewhat on the mid-palate and the finish.

Overall: This is a very pretty wine right now. Even with that, it can certainly grow into something better, especially if the palate fleshes out more.

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2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Irancy 72 Points

France, Burgundy, Côtes d'Auxerre, Irancy

This wine was a massive green bomb. It was terribly under-ripe and stemmy. This wasn't enjoyable at all.

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2010 Vietti Barolo Castiglione 92 Points

Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

Nose: The nose is on the tighter side, but there is still real beauty with roasted herbs, strawberries, star anise, red cherries, violets, roses, and tar. There is real class and depth to the nose that starts to come through as it opens up.

Taste: Medium/full bodied with high acidity and big tannins. The structure is extremely youthful and powerful. Beneath the structure lies roasted herbs, violets, strawberries, red cherries, and tar.

Overall: Like a few months ago, this is all about the raw materials right now. There is a ton to like right now, but it needs a lot of sleep time before it really kicks into gear.

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1991 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 93 Points

Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

Nose: It was incredible how youthful the nose was with dark red cherries, licorice, dark red berries, leather, herbs, black tea, spices, and a touch of VA. The depth and layering show off the age, but there is a real immediacy to the tones.

Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is polished and silky with dark red cherries, licorice, black tea, earth tones, leather, and dark red berries.

Overall: This was a beautiful bottle of LdH Tondonia. This still had a very primary nature to it and it feels like a marathon runner.

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2001 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Les Embruns 92 Points

France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

Nose: This took a bit to unwind, but when it did, it showed off dark red fruits, black pepper, black cherries, spices, roses, violets, and a touch of funk. There is excellent depth to this along with excellent balance.

Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. There is definite youth to the palate and feel as the tannins are still quite there. Even though the palate is youthful, there is a savory quality with black cherries, spices, violets, dark red fruits, black pepper, and some funk on the back end.

Overall: This is still very much on the young side, but it's showing really well at this time too.

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1990 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Auslese 94 Points

Germany, Pfalz

Nose: The nose is so succulent and flowing with peaches, lychees, caramel, pears, green apples, floral notes, and some petrol. There is gorgeous depth and layering to the nose. This shows off maturity, but it is far from falling off as there is a balanced freshness too.

Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity. There is a delicious fatness to the feel with peaches, lychees, some petrol, caramel, pears, and some green apples. There is still a real zip to the acidity to where it provides a nice spine and base.

Overall: This was fantastic. This is the kind of Riesling I would love to spend a lot of time with and let it fully reveal itself.

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2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese 93 Points

Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

Nose: There is a slight sulfur note at first, but it blows off with some swirling along with nectarines, green apples, pears, peach, and a nice mineral base. There is excellent depth, but it does feel like it's still holding back somewhat.

Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity. There is some real youth to the acidity right now along with nectarines, green apples, pears, peaches, and mineral tones.

Overall: This is still fairly light colored and the tones are still very primary. This has a long ways to go and should reward more cellaring.

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2011 Gramercy Cellars Syrah Lagniappe 90 Points

USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

Nose: This was very different from the other wines, but certainly showed itself well with lack cherries, spice tones, black fruits, liqueur tones, blueberries, and a touch of black olives. The nose is a bit tight, but there is excellent depth that will emerge with age.

Taste: Full bodied with chewy tannins and medium acidity. The structure is very youthful, but with a real plushness and black cherries, spice tones, black fruits, liqueur, and some blueberries.

Overall: While this was different from everything else that was tasted, it is still an excellent syrah. It does need some time to come together and have the structure pull back a bit.

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1995 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate

USA, California, Napa Valley

Unfortunately by the time I got to this, it had faded. I wonder if this bottle was kept poorly?

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