La La's with Leve in La La Land
Los Angeles, CA
Tasted Monday, February 14, 2005 by Eric with 2,433 views
Introduction
Jeff Leve graciously organized and hosted one of the most remarkable and educational tastings I have ever attended. The agenda was audacious: to enjoy every 100 point La La at his house in LA, wow! In attendance were Jeff Leve, Eric Cotsen, Scott Manlin, Charles Morgan, Mike Novick, Mike Opdahl, Christopher Sliney, Steve Tucker, Michael Twelftree, April Wheeler, Nigel Williams and myself. Meanwhile, Chef David Slatkin regaled us with 12 fantastic course of food to match up with these glorious wines, SERIOUS hedonism!
A few general observations:
- These single vineyard wines from Guigal are remarkable offerings that are built for age. They each see 42 months in new oak, and in the older wines this is undetectable. Some of the remarkable younger wines (1999) also easily swallowed this.
- That said, for me the wines from 1991 and younger were a struggle, lots of wood showing, shut down, primary, not integrated. I suspect in their early youth they drank well, but many are in awkward stages right now.
- On the flip side, what emerges after 20 years is beyond remarkable, one of the most exotic, complex and powerful expressions of Syrah the world has ever seen.
- The personalities of the wines were fascinating and distinct. With age, the La Mouline is clearly the most exotic and intoxicating with its perfume and more feminine personality. The La Turque meanwhile comes at you with masses of primary black fruit. Meanwhile, the La Landonne was the wine that I preferred in the younger vintages as it had more focus and integration earlier. On the flip side, it felt like the older vintages were holding back a bit.
Still, all in all, these were amazing. Onto the notes!
Flight 1 - CONDRIEU (2 Notes)
While we waited for everyone to arrive, we started out with an appetizer of bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with roasted almonds, a winner! (Perhaps a little sweet, along with some blue cheese and some port these would be a home run.) There was also a foie gras terrine with shallot chutney and brioche crisp. Jeff served us these two wines single blind. The La Doriane is pretty easy to pick out due to its heavy oak treatment.
Flight 2 - 1982 (2 Notes)
Our first course was charcuterie: Prosciutto di Parma, shaved red cow parmesan, Buratta with arugula and cherry tomatoes, some salami and a few others. This was maybe a little heavy for the wines, but they actualyl thrived with all of the meat but the spicy salami.
Flight 3 - 1983 (3 Notes)
The second course was a wild mushroom ragout with Trecc Dell Orto pasta, lardons, and poached egg. With this we did a flight of 83's with the Brune et Blonde substituting for the La Turque (which was first produced in 1985). That La Mouline, what a knockout!
Flight 4 - 1985 (3 Notes)
The third course was an English pea risotto with caramelized pearl onions and natural veal jus, awesome! The 85's probably would have been the strongest of our older flights had it not been for a corked bottle. (Which appeared 10 minutes after Alex Anthopolous called to deliver the CURSE OF THE CORK...) As it was, the debut vintage of the La Turque was a knockout.
Flight 5 - 1989 (3 Notes)
The fourth course was quail stuffed with mushrooms and foie gras, a rich and pleasing dish. The La Mouline was up to its tricks again with the crazy nose.
Flight 6 - 1988 (3 Notes)
The fifth course was elephant garlic gnocchi with duck confit, roashed shallots and red wine jus. This flight was marred by a badly corked bottle. This was also the point of the tasting where the wines started to taste very young, almost too young, with oak more apparent and less integrated. These wines clearly need serious time!
Flight 7 - 1991 (3 Notes)
The sixth course was pan seared crispy lamb sweetbreads served atop a purple potato puree with a red wine reduction. A lot of people flipped over the 91's, but for me the oak was too much. I know that in 10 years these will all be in the upper 90's, but for tonight this is where they fell.
Flight 8 - 1998 (3 Notes)
The seventh course was roasted venison loin (nice and gamey) with flageolets in thyme jus.
Flight 9 - 1999 (3 Notes)
The eighth course was a delicious and tender piece of grilled prime fillet with baby spinach spaetzle and awesome Maui onion rings. And OK, now we are back on track in a big way, as this flight was utter perfection in the glass. As much as some of the other young wines has trouble holding their oak, that was never the case with these gorgeous monsters. I just checked, and in fact apart from the 1998 Pégaü Cuvée da Capo and the 1994 Harlan, I have never given a perfect score to anything younger than 1990. These three wines were just off the charts, and for me, unlike anything else in the 1990's, these are actually enjoyable now. That said, I can't even begin to think what these will taste like in 15 years.
Flight 10 - 1995 (3 Notes)
The ninth course was braised short ribs with fingerling potatoes and pancetta, yummy! Unfortunately, the 95's are not at a good point in their evolution. I actually asked Robert Parker at dinner on Saturday how these would show, and he predicted they would be shut down and awkward. He was absolutely correct except for the stunning La Landonne.
Flight 11 - 1997 (3 Notes)
The tenth course was a rocking plate of cheese with some excellent stinkers. The 97's were really a bit of a waste at this point, but it was worth a try.
Closing
I had a fantastic time at a very lively tasting. Let's just say that the LA crowd is a little less inhibited than us quiet folks up in Seattle. Actually make that a LOT less, this is a scary crew!
Thanks to Jeff for organizing a once in a lifetime tasting and opening his home. It was remarkable!
2003 E. Guigal Condrieu 86 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Viognier is not a varietal with a lot of acid, but for me I fear the 2003's are a bit too much. While exotic befitting the producer and varietal, I found this to be a bit limpid. Not an unimpressive or bad wine, just not very exciting.
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2003 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
I liked this more than the basic Condrieu (and correctly guessed it blind). As with past vintages, there is clear and spicy wood, but this example is more lush (and a bit hot) than any past example I have tasted. It is very, very ripe, and personally I tend to like these with an extra year on them to absorb the wood and settle down. I suspect this will be much better wine in a year, but for current consumption...
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