Charleston, SC (various locations)
Tasted Thursday, September 27, 2018 - Sunday, September 30, 2018 by MC2 Wines with 559 views
After a few years of hiatus the annual Charleston offline has returned in force. We were a small but mighty crowd who made it through the 4 days of mostly evening events. Lots of really wonderful wines - the 1995 Quintarelli, the '89 Pichon Baron and La Conseillante, the '88 D'Yquem, the '96 Salon... I could go on and on. It was an embarrassment of riches with a wonderful set of folks and friends old and new.
The classic kick-off event. I unfortunately had to miss the first few courses (and the white burgundy - which of course for me is less of a bummer than for most). I was lucky enough that they saved a bit of Salon for me and got to go through the rest of the line-up.
For those that had the white burgs there was a lot of positivity around the Raveneau. I think the Corton and Gevrey were also favorites. For me I most preferred the Salon and D'Yquem which I thought were just winning. All were good.
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In Praise of Piggy—Cheshire Heritage Breed Pork Rillettes
A Charleston Receipt
Benne Wafer/Blue Crab/Pickled Palmetto /Chive
Sea Scallop/Shellfish Cream/
62° Quail Egg/Osetra Caviar
Arancini “Cacio e Pepe”/Carolina Gold Rice/Fried Baby Sage
A Sip of Cold Carrot Bisque/Ginger/Coriander Cream
Butter-Poached White Shrimp/Preserved Lemon/
Bayonne Ham Powder/Pea Puree/Shaved Radish
Game Changer
Venison Sausage/Mild Harissa/Cilantro Chips
Tea Smoked Duck/Charleston Grits/
Poultry Glaze/Plum Paste
Fromage
Trou Carolinian
Limonc(j)ello/Wild Brambleberry /Candied Meyer Lemon
Caramelized Peach Soup/Green Cardamom
Finale
Pain d’Épices Bread Pudding/Sourwood Honeyed Apricots
Wouldn't be a CT offline without some bonus bottles or in this case bottle as it was late and we were all a bit tired. Given it's going to be a million degrees here all weekend we saved bubbles/roses for later and opted for one of the reds. This was a recent find for us, but have loved it every time. Great wine that I will continue to seek out.
We're lucky enough to be staying in a hotel that also has a wine culture and so we took the opportunity to pop a few corks at the bar before the festivities began.
Always nice to start the evening with bubbles.
Yay - M's birthday! So of course we had to bring lots of stuff to celebrate. Some great wines in this line-up. We went straight into this from the bubbles so a big night.
After a historical tour of Charleston's Harbour we were all hungry and ready to eat so off we went. Good lunch with a really great homemade ricotta.
(again) It wouldn't be an offline without some afternoon bonus bottles.
FIRST COURSE
Black Garlic Risotto
carolina god rice, wild mushrooms & carmelized onions, crumbled blue cheese
(of course got it without mushrooms)
SECOND COURSE
Seared NY Foie Gras
sangria apple tart, vanilla cheddar anglaise, celery greens, pink peppercorn
THIRD COURSE
Hidden Fjord Salmon
nueske's bacon, fingerling potatoe n'truffle salad, braised spinach, grain mustard hollandaise
FOURTH COURSE
Broken Arrow Ranch Antelope
juniper brine, anson mills grits, mushroom & chesnut duxelle, pomegranate demi glace
FIFTH COURSE
Grana Padano Panna Cotta
honey chestnut butter, white balsalmic poached pear, crispy prosciutto
Went with a different format for this. Six wines. Everyone knew what their own wine was but not the others. A set of tasting notes for all six wines were printed out. First responsibility was to match the wine to the tasting note. After that, the names of the wines were revealed but not which was which and we were allowed to adjust our original answers. Then the wines were unveiled based on their number. We got a bit messed up playing the person rather than the wine, but overall an interesting experience.
Wow - what a wonderful weekend! Huge thanks to Scott & Pam for doing all of the heavy lifting and for many others playing host throughout the week. Good times and great wines were had by all.
1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points
France, Champagne
(9/27/2018)
This was in the super yum category. Interesting the amount of bottle variation in these. I'm not sure that the first one I had wasn't actually the best in terms of cleanness and crispness and that wonderful vanilla flavor that I appreciate. This was more oxidized than in the past. Had a bit of a bite to it (in a good way, added interest). Definitely get some meyer lemon and lemon peel in general. Tasty wine.
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1999 Lucien Le Moine Corton-Clos du Roi 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
(9/27/2018)
First sip it was a bit musty. We were very close to a pnp with all of the burgundies tonight. Smaller pour so I didn't get to see the full evolution I don't think, but it was certainly the wine which improved the most throughout the course of the meal and I'd say was basically singing by the end (so think maybe 1-1.5 hours in glass). Very much in that vein of burgundy that I can appreciate - a certain lightness with very crisp red fruits.
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2006 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
(9/27/2018)
My favorite of the line-up upon first trying through them. This is the wine that came across as most elegant in nature. Lighter. A bit less barnyard, a bit more pristine fruit. Interesting because through the course of the evening as it opened up the barnyard came through and the Corton became a bit crisper. It's an elegant wine and enjoyable.
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2005 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
(9/27/2018)
Similar to the Corton this started a bit mustier in the glass. With time it went to more of the barnyard style. There's an underpinning of metallic notes here as well. I am not a regular burgundy drinker so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought there might be something a touch off with this bottle so I'm refraining on scoring.
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1988 Château d'Yquem 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
(9/27/2018)
Yum yum yum. This is one of the more intense style d'Yquem. It's a quite a mouthful and the acidity kicks in more to the mid or back palate. It feels almost in the slutty wine category. Perfect pairing with a peach soup where it felt like the wine was a better impression of a peach than the peach itself. Also a touch of ginger and maybe some light spice notes and caramel.
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1936 Château Rivesaltes Rivesaltes 91 Points
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes
(9/27/2018)
Final wine of the night. This is an interesting style. Definitely well paired with the spiced gingerbread cake. Get many of the same flavors (cinnamon, clove, ginger) in the wine. Loads of raisin. Not quite as alcoholic as you'd think given fortified (16.5%). Easy end of evening sipper.
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