Wednesday at Heidi's

Tasted Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Dave Dalluge with 571 views

Introduction

Four of us (Steve Sigmond, Craig Vanderah and Dave McMahan) planned to meet at the La Belle Vie lounge for some food and wines last Wednesday. We learned at the last minute that LBV was closed for a private party. After scrambling through a number of other options we decided to go with the old stand-by. Food and service at Heidi's was up to its usual excellent standards, and the wines proved to be very interesting.

Flight 1 - Champagne and Whites (3 Notes)

All three of these were excellent. The Meursault was surprisingly good despite being a bit perplexing to me. These were served with a variety of appetizers (I had a really fun soft poached hen egg with fresh pea salad, toasted rye crouton, truffle vinaigrette that paired surprisingly well with the Meursault).

NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française 90 Points

France, Champagne

The nose delivers a pleasant but reserved blend of bread dough and citrus aromas. On the palate this delivers a compact, straight-line burst of flavor with good acidity and a nice finish. Overall this is clean and refreshing but borders on generic.

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1996 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Vintage 92 Points

France, Champagne

The nose is more rustic than the Taittinger, and is dominated by minerality with subdued notes of fruit and yeast. The taste is quite surprising. The attack is obscured by the bubbles/mousse, but as this recedes flavors build, leading to a big rally at the finish. The finish is worth the wait, as it delivers palate coating flavor with great acidity that lingers for a very long time. Extremely satisfying stuff.

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2004 Domaine Patrick Javillier Meursault Tête de Murgers Cuvée 92 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

The nose offers an enticing concoction of tropical fruit, butter, mineral, new oak and barnyard. In the mouth this comes across as soft/fat with great flavors of citrus fruit, pineapple and mint. There is some structure and acidity holding this together, but the acidity fades completely by the finish. An excellent wine that is a little bit disorienting for me given Meursault on the label and little in the nose or taste that places it there. I'm not sure if this will improve in the bottle or not, but it is tasty now.

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Flight 2 - Chevillon (3 Notes)

All of these (along with a bunch more Chevillon) were purchased recently at what seemed to be fairly decent prices. The Chaignots have obviously been well stored over the years as they showed plenty youthful. Memories of a glorious morning at Chevillon followed by a great lunch at La Cabotte may color my views, but I thought these were all great.

2000 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots 91 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

This was showing really well immediately after opening. Tasted ~1 hour later it had faded a bit. The exuberant nose features a melange of red fruit, spice, mineral and coffee marred ever so slightly by some VA. On the palate this shows a bit tart, but has great flavor that expands nicely on the palate. Balanced. Tannic. A bit short on the finish. An enjoyable wine, but ultimately not worth the going rate locally.

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2001 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots 93 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru

Opened ~1 hour before serving, and seemed to need every minute. Darker color than the '00. A bit more brooding on the nose, but with awesome aromas of dark fruit, spice and coffee (and no VA). Much more structured on the palate, but with great flavor intensity and nice expansiveness. Has good acidity and is still very tannic. Showing well now, but should continue to improve for many years.

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2004 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges Vieilles Vignes 88 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges

Opened about an hour before serving and poured blind to the rest of the group. Decent nose featuring similar aromas to the two Chaignots (dark fruit, spice and coffee) but more rough and rustic. On the palate this delivers similar flavors that are pleasant but a little flat. Craig called it a touch "green" (blind) and I can see that but not overt enough to detract for me. Nicely balanced. Fairly tannic. Nothing wrong here to my palate, just lacking the depth and wow of the '01 Chaignots.

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Flight 3 - Hermitage (2 Notes)

These were paired with the Shefzilla Surprise (braised pork with fresh pappardelle) and my favorite side (black truffle pappardelle) followed in due course by our entrees. Both wines showed splendidly, but the '78 delivers more of a wow factor.

1978 E. Guigal Hermitage 93 Points

France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

This is a beautiful bottle of wine. Brick red color. Beguiling nose of dark fruit, earth, barnyard, mineral, and iron. Just beautiful. This is well structured but with a concentrated core of fruit that is much more expansive on the palate than the previous bottle. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral that pick up steam by mid-palate and finish very strongly. Really exciting stuff.

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1982 E. Guigal Hermitage 90 Points

France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

Similar to the '78 but a notch down in every way. The nose is more stern with the iron component emerging more strongly than the red fruit and earth. The overall impression on the palate is of less structure and less fruit yielding a similar elegance to the '78 but just lacking the punch. This wine seems to be on the far side of peak drinking, but should remain enjoyable for many more years.

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Flight 4 - Bordeaux (2 Notes)

We finished our entrees with the '98 Haut-Bailly and then popped the Sauterne with dessert.

1998 Château Haut-Bailly

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Popped and poured. The odd wine out in this tasting and I really didn't give it its due -- too many other great choices in front of me. The nose seems slightly off, with lovely smokey dark fruit marred by band-aid aromas. The taste delivers more supple dark fruits with some oak. Medium weight and elegant, lacking slightly in acidity. Tannins take over by mid-palate yielding a drying finish. Overall this seems like an admirable wine (and I'm a fan of Haut-Bailly) that we caught in an awkward and very closed state.

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2005 Carmes de Rieussec

France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

Popped and poured. No notes taken, but this was most impressive for a second wine. Mostly fresh citrus on the nose. Sweetness is well balanced with acidity.

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