Tasting Group Dinner - Paella, White Burgundy, Steaks, and Bordeaux

Our regular Wednesday evening tasting group met at Chris Palm's house in Minneapolis for a "surf and turf" feast of homemade paella and steaks, paired with a bunch of white Burgundy and red Bordeaux. In attendance were me, Dave Dalluge, Chris Larson, Chris Palm, Craig Vanderah, Brad Weiss and Tom Keim from Winestreet, Chris's wife Hannah, and two of their friends. This was one of our more memorable get-togethers in recent memory. Thanks to Chris and Hannah for a great evening.

We sipped on a terrific flight of white Burgs while Dave and Chris Larson helped Chris Palm cook up paella. The Burgs were a great match with a cheese plate (from Premier Cheese Market in Edina). For the paella, Chris picked up fresh halibut, scallops, mussels, shrimp, and calamari from Coastal Seafoods, along with homemade chorizo sausage from Clancey's, to match with saffron that he hand-carried back from a recent trip to Spain. This was by far and away the best paella I've ever had -- incredibly flavorful and fresh. We ended up cooking about twice as much food as we could eat, which meant everyone had leftovers to bring home.

• 2002 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Medium gold color. The nose shows a trace of oxidation that mostly blew off. Classic Chablis -- lime/citrus, minerals, chalk. Nice weighty mouthfeel and supporting acidity. Lightly sweet.

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• 2005 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 91 Points

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

  Medium gold color. The nose and palate show ripe tropical fruit (pineapple), lemon/citrus, and white honey. Concentrated, flamboyant, and lightly sweet. Good acidity underneath the tropical fruit. Well-integrated oak. This is a bit fleshy and fruity as opposed to classically-styled, and overall quite tasty.

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• 2004 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Intense white gold color. Powerful, racy, zesty citrus nose. On the palate this has great balance and transparency. Loaded with minerals and complex layers of citrus. Wonderful acid balance. Classic Chablis -- very clean, precise, and concentrated. Long finish. Gorgeous stuff. WOTF for me.

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• 2004 Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Medium gold color. The palate shows an intense buttery, minerally character along with concentrated citrus fruit. The flavors are channeled by nice supporting acidity and build up to a very expressive finish. This really opened up with air, and steadily grew on me. Delicious stuff.

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• 1996 Joseph Drouhin Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Medium/dark gold color. No trace of premature oxidation, unlike previous 96 Drouhins I've had. Rich, palate-coating, supple flavors of citrus and minerals. Picked up some grassy and hazelnut flavors with additional swirling. Nice weight and persistence. Long, harmonious finish.

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• 2004 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Light gold color. The palate is an intense, racy blend of citrus, minerals, honey, and a hint of grassiness. Very young and tightly wound. Packed with minerals. Nice steely cut here -- classic Puligny. Really long finish. Delicious.

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• 1972 Jean-Pierre Bardot Montrachet 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  A really interesting bottle that Dave bought from Winebid. This had a new-looking cork and appears to have been a recent library release. Deep honey gold color. The nose has a Pinot Noir-like, earthy aroma. Gorgeous texture, showing butter, orange zest/marmalade, nutty flavors, and minerals. This is nice and fresh despite its age, but doesn't have the depth and intensity of fruit that you would expect from a Montrachet. Very tasty and really opened up with air.

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• 2004 Domaine Darviot-Perrin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Second time I've tasted this. This bottle was much more open than the one I tasted last year. Ripe, buttery/oaky nose. Plumper than the other 04s tasted, with less noticeable acidity. The palate shows a nice blend of lemon, buttered popcorn, and honey. This was tasty, but didn't have quite the same level of definition and precision as the other wines in our flight.

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Brad and Tom brought several recently-arrived 2005 Bordeaux to pair with steaks, which were from Nortog Meats in Dave's part of town, which is to say eastern South Dakota. While I generally have a hard time evaluating young Bordeaux from bottle, these wines were terrific. Yes, they are unbelievably tannic and tight, and are shutting down hard as we speak, but this is clearly a fantastic vintage, particularly in St. Emilion and Margaux. It was too cold (about 5 to 10 below!) to grill, so we couldn't go with our traditional "a la Manlin" preparation. Instead Chris Larson coated the steaks with salt and pepper, pan seared them in a cast-iron skillet and finished them in the oven. They were divine.

• 2005 Château Teyssier St. Émilion Grand Cru 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Deep, dark crimson color. An infant, but surprisingly open and expressive. Great aromatic nose of flowers and dark fruit. The palate shows inky, concentrated, gorgeously ripe crushed black fruit, coffee/espresso, and licorice. Well-structured. Showing a lot of new oak. Huge, ripe tannins. Very promising, and a great QPR at <$30.

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• 2005 Château Grand Destieu 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Much more closed and brooding than the Teyssier. Concentrated grape jelly, black fruit, licorice, mocha, and tobacco. Primal. Searingly tannic. There is a herbal streak running through this wine that results in a slightly green, drying finish. Hard to tell if this will integrate over time.

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• 2005 Château Laforge 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Dominated by ripe blackberry fruit, this was even more primal than the Teyssier and Grand-Destieu. A hint of caramel and coffee to go along with the jammy crushed blackberries. Showing lots of oak. Rich, almost creamy mouthfeel. This seems have a ton of raw material and extract, and will probably shut down soon, but for now it is wide open and expressive.

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• 2005 Domaine de l'A 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

  Darker, more reserved nose than the Laforge. Blackberry fruit, licorice and an interesting hint of Graves-like scorched earth. Intense. The finish turns a bit hot and fat (low in acid). This was pretty closed down and hard to evaluate.

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• 2005 Château Kirwan 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Great nose of intense, smoky black fruit. The palate shows concentrated crushed blackberries and mocha. Still very primary, with a huge wall of ripe tannins. Well-structured. Long finish. Very promising.

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• 2005 Château Lascombes 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wonderful nose of dark berries. The palate shows stunningly pure, complex layers of dark fruit, smoky campfire, earth, espresso, and leather. Huge tannin, fruit concentration, and structure. Initially singing, this closed down after a brief time in the glass and turned dark and brooding. When this opens back up many years from now, we are all in for a treat. My WOTF.

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We finished our steaks with a flight of miscellaneous Bordeaux. This week's mystery wine, brought by Chris Larson, was a 2004 Quilceda Creek, which several of us were able to identify blind. Unfortunately my bottle of 1990 Leoville Barton was shot. The two older wines were good but not memorable. Someone opened a half-bottle of 2000 Fonseca at the end of this flight, but I didn't taste it.

• 2004 Château Pavie 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Soaring nose. Dark scorched earth, tobacco, tar, licorice, and blackberries. Intense, slightly sweet dark fruit. Waves of minerals and flowers. Despite the power and scale of this wine, it is impeccably balanced and really well structured. Delicious and my co-WOTF.

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• 2004 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Tasted blind. I correctly guessed 04 Quilceda. This was a bit controversial at the table, but I loved the flavor profile: sweet ripe dark fruit, blueberries, and spice. Also lots of vanilla/new oak, and a hint of brown sugar. While this was flashy and ripe, it was also prodigiously structured and tannic, and was shutting down hard in the glass after about half an hour. Another wine to look forward to when it opens back up again in 10+ years.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Poyferré 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Second time I've had this. Great nose - ripe red fruit, tobacco, and cedar. The palate is medium-weight yet wonderfully concentrated and expressive, showing ripe red and black fruit, chocolate, licorice, and tobacco. Wonderfully ripe and complex. Super-long finish. Absolutely delicious and my co-WOTF.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Barton Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Stinky, nasty, maderized, VA-riddled nose. Off bottle.

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• 1979 Château du Tertre 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Light strawberry color. Very nice nose of high-toned red fruit, some VA, earth and minerals. The palate falls off quite a bit, mainly showing slightly drying strawberry fruit. Interesting and tasty. Fully mature; perhaps a few years past its peak.

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• 1964 Château Léoville Barton 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Murky brick-red color. The palate shows high-toned, slightly stewed red fruit, sour cherry, fresh mushrooms, and a hint of funk. Nice smooth texture. Light- to medium-bodied. Medium finish. Fully mature.

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