Kitchen Tasting Group Does Beaver Creek – Day Two
Tasted Saturday, September 22, 2007 by Dave Dalluge with 1,531 views
Introduction
I woke up around 9:00 and figured I would be the last one up, but was actually more in the middle (a couple participants were closer to noon). Rico and Paul had gone fishing and Brad and Chris Palm were eating. The completion of the cellar project was handled while waiting for everyone to get up so we could go on our hike. Once everyone was up Jeff Samuelson, Chris Larson and others whipped up a great breakfast. Once we’d eaten we were ready for our hike. The hike was straight up the mountain. Wow – painful and pleasant at the same time. Jeff and Chris Palm went the furthest – almost eight miles and 1800 feet of climb if you trust Jeff’s operation of his GPS. The rest of us turned back at various points shorter than this. The hike really helped get us ready for the evening ahead.
Flight 1 - Cooking (2 Notes)
After the hike I showered and came down to begin preparing food for the night. I didn’t want to end up cooking after drinking again. I made two desserts – a coffee cardamom custard and a jasmine team infused custard. The elevation threw me for awhile, but eventually the custard set properly. I was a little worried about both, but we consumed enough wine that these were both deemed pretty tasty later in the evening. While cooking I sampled from the following two CdPs.
Flight 2 - Scallops and White Burgs (3 Notes)
The group sipped champagne while Chris Larson and I prepared the scallops. Despite the fact that this dish comes together fairly quickly, Brad was growing impatient. If he had his way we would dispense with champagne and whites completely and move right into “the good stuff.” The scallop dish features seared scallops on a bed of braised endive and a lemon-butter sauce. I can’t say it was an inspired pairing, but it is a dish I make often and just crave.
Flight 3 - Risotto and Older DRC (3 Notes)
Rico was in charge of the risotto. I don’t remember exactly how this all went down, but I believe that the DRC flight was served without food. Rico was a one-man show on the risotto, so Paul and I got the main dish organized and then relaxed and enjoyed the wines. This flight started with the 1980 GE and the 1985 RSV. However, mid-flight Brad made the executive decision to add the 1972 La Tache to this flight. Brad disappeared to the cellar and then re-appeared and poured the wine. This turned out to be an excellent pairing, although we generally agreed that the 1972 La Tache would have shown well regardless of what it was paired with.
Flight 4 - Other Older Burgundy (2 Notes)
Risotto takes a long time at 9000 feet. I think Rico worked it for a good 45 minutes. However, the results were worth it. To kill time after the DRC flight we added a couple of interesting older Burgundy. As noted below, not much was going to show well after the killer flight of DRC. These were both interesting but a step down from what came before and what came after.
Flight 5 - 1991 Leroy Flight (2 Notes)
Rico’s risotto featured porcini and shitake mushrooms and was excellent. We poured the 1991 Domaine Leroy flight to pair with the risotto. This was an awesome flight – both wines were excellent and youthful.
Flight 6 - Volcano of Decadence and La Tache (2 Notes)
Paul enlisted me (potatoes), Chris Palm (spinach), and Rico (plating) to help assemble this amazing dish. The dish had mashed potatoes mixed with duck fat and butter shaped as a volcano on the plate and then smeared with truffle butter. Around the base of the volcano he placed the sauted spinach. On the side of the volcano was placed slices of duck. In the top of the volcano was placed a piece of seared foie gras. The plate was covered with dried cherries and then a killer demi glace. Finally the dish was seasoned (belatedly) with truffle salt. The truffle salt really finished the dish (too bad Chris Palm was already 2/3 done when this was added). This proved to be a worthy pairing for the noble flight of young La Tache.
Flight 7 - Fire Pit and More (10 Notes)
With dinner done we moved outside to the fire pit. Luckily the wind and rain from the late afternoon had blown through and we were left with a second glorious night. I started outside with a second pour of the 1991 Leroy Beaux Mont paired with the 1996 Leroy Beaux Mont. I absolutely loved the 1996. It was a bit funky but really good. I believe after this I tasted the two bottles of Esmonin. Mitch disappeared for awhile only to reappear with an open bottle of the 1990 Laurent Corton. I also found a partial bottle of the Dujac Clos St. Denis to sip on and this had filled in wonderfully. I believe there was also a madiera, but I didn’t taste it. Dessert was grabbed and wines were consumed fast and furious.
Eventually we were back to no wine, and Brad conducted a poll on preferences. Five of seven votes were for port (Brad and Chris Palm abstained). I had a strong preference for more wine, and may even have let it slip how much I like Cheval Blanc. Anyway, Brad made sure people had made their final decision and then whispered instructions to Chris Palm. In short order Chris re-appeared with a 1963 Grahams for the port guys, a 1975 Conseillant for the wine guys, and a half bottle of 1990 Cheval Blanc for me. They tried to force me to drink it straight from the bottle, but even in my semi-inebriated state I would have none of this. I shared with those that were interested, but ended up with plenty of Cheval Blanc. After the CB was gone I helped with the Conseillant. I avoided the port and eventually there was a call for more wine. Brad had gone to bed, but Chris Palm delivered a spectacular bottle of 1983 Mouton for our drinking pleasure. Chris made us promise to finish it if he opened it, and we didn’t disappoint him. In fact, after the Mouton we went back inside looking for more wine and stumbled across a bottle of 1989 Zind-Humbrecht brought by Paul. This proved to be a delicious finale to the evening.
Closing
I came into the kitchen the next morning to find many of the crew hard at work cleaning up. Chris Palm handed me a glass of the 99 La Tache that was left in the bottle – apparently no one else was in the mood to drink it. With my breakfast of left-over risotto I finished the 1963 Grahams and then helped the others finish the rest of the Zind-Humbrecht.
We had been joking about doing this on a quarterly basis the night before, and Brad quipped that the “quarterly” group was up early. Since he made it clear I wasn’t in that group, I offered “annual” as a compromise but got no response. Oh well, I can at least take satisfaction from being included this once. I’ll carry these memories with me for the rest of my life. Thanks again to Brad for hosting such a singular and extravagant weekend event.
2000 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Opened and decanted about six hours before being served. Really never opened up to my taste. This is a nice clean CdP that can be described as Burgundian for its palate presence, and really wasn't showing a lot of CdP character yet. I'd call it good in an understated way at the moment, but have every expectation that it will be far better with additional bottle age.
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2000 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Opened and decanted about six hours before being served. This was an odd bottle. The nose has a funk that is not consistent with previous bottles I've consumed and didn't really give that divine dark garrigue aroma that is so captivating in good bottles of Vieux Donjon. The color and taste tipped this off as a more advanced bottle than it should have been. That or some other flaw was present.
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