Burgs and Champagne at Heidi's

Brad England pulled Steve Sigmond, Chris Palm and me together to kick off 2010 in style. We met at Heidi's to test out their new menu and to sample some Champagne and Burgs. We ended up ordering virtually everything off the menu and I've got to say it's some of Stuart Woodman's best food yet. The wines proved to be every bit as good as the food.

Served with a shrimp spring-roll dish that was really spectacular. A great pair of wines to kick off the night with. I seemed to like the '95 more than everyone else.

• 1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Dense golden color. The nose delivers knock-out aromas of lemon/citrus complimented by yeast/dough, mineral and a nutty oxidative note. The taste is equally thrilling, with concentrated fruit vying with carmel and mineral flavors to produce a compelling taste experience that builds from the attack through mid-palate and then plateaus through a long, satisfying finish. A complete wine that is at the very front end of its drinking window and should continue to improve and develop in the cellar.

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• 1995 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Tasted beside the '90 Krug, and surprisingly youthful by contrast. Bright gold color. Subdued nose gives mainly aromas of mineral and dough/yeast. On the palate this feels weightless due to the creamy mousse, but there is nice fruit concentration here -- it's just holding back a little right now. Well balanced with great acidity. Other's had tasted this previously and indicated they felt this was just closed down tight. Compared to the '90 this is just less of everything, but a nice wine nonetheless.

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Served with the best dish of the night -- a lobster bisque soup. I can't say the pairing worked terribly well. Aromas from the soup dwarfed any attempt to smell the wine. However, we followed the soup with a scallop dish that proved much more amenable (not that Brad would know, since he consumed the whole dish in a single bite). Both of these wine's were compelling.

• 2001 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  The color is a perfectly clear light yellow. Beautiful. The nose is thrilling with lemon and mineral dominating. The taste is equally thrilling with an explosion of flavors expanding over the palate. Medium weight and silky smooth. Long, long finish. This is as good as I remember it being when last tasted in France in 2006.

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• 2002 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne 92 Points

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

  Deeper yellow color than the Lafon. The nose is more subdued and far riper featuring mainly tropical fruit aromas. On the palate this is full-bodied and packed with ripe fruit that is tasty but not nearly as expansive as the Lafon. Great balance. Nice finish that falls off fairly quickly. While good now, a few more years in the cellar should allow this to open up and become even more impressive.

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Served with a series of appetizers -- Chefzilla Surprise (a beef tongue dish), truffled papperdelle, a wild-rice/mushroom dish, and a braised pork lasagna dish -- all excellent. This proved to be a rock-star flight.

• 1988 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Double decanted about two hours before serving. The nose gives an effusive melange of red fruit, spice, mineral and (per Siggy) black licorice/anise. Really special. Felt a little thin on the palate at first, but seemed to gain weight as it sat in the glass. Flavors of red fruit and mineral dominate. Palate impression is pleasant but a little even-keeled and compact compared to the Prieur Musigny. Balanced. Resolved tannin. Great finish.

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• 1996 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Double decanted about two hours (?) before serving. Deep ruby red color. The nose delivers a complex blend of aromas -- dark cherry, earth, mushrooms, coffee, floral notes. In the mouth this comes across as very structured with youthful red fruit dominating the taste, a taste that expands nicely across the palate. Still fairly tannic. Great finish. As good as this is now, it is just a baby and should get better and better with additional bottle age.

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Served with more of the braised pork lasagna, an awesome duck dish served with coffee infused pasta and a new anise-scented lamb dish that was really good. It's not often that the DRC turns up last in a tasting of Burgs, but that's how it played out.

• 2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Dark red color. The nose features mainly red fruit and oak. Enjoyable enough, but missing that DRC spice I crave. On the palate this really shows its youth, with fat concentrated fruit dominating over structure. Maybe a touch tart. Reminded me a bit of a disappointing bottle of '02 La Tache. Steve claims to have a few more of these so with luck I will get to taste it again in say 5 years to see if it can develop any DRC character with bottle age.

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• 2001 Camille Giroud Romanée St. Vivant 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  Ruby red color. Smells awesome -- red fruit, earth, mineral. A real beauty. On the palate this has nice weight and good balance. Tasty with a big dose of tannin on the finish. Really nice stuff that should become even better with additional bottle age. I'd never heard of this producer, but based on this bottle I may need to correct this.

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We were still working through the main courses when Brad realized we were running low on wine. He was going to order off the list until I mentioned I had a back-up bottle of Burg in the car. They gave me a load of crap about the producer (who I had never heard of either) but the wine itself proved to be pretty decent stuff.

• 1979 Jaffelin Bonnes Mares 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  My back-up bottle, retrieved from the car at Brad's insistence. Popped and poured. Very, very cold to start. Faded ruby red color. Big nose featuring red fruit, coffee, spice and mineral. Surprisingly similar to the Vogue BM. In the mouth this is mid-weight with red fruit, nice acidity, and a surprisingly good finish. A little "hollow" compared to the previous three Burgs. Tannins are totally resolved and I would opt to drink any remaining bottles in the near future.

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It was a great night with everything playing out exactly as you would want. Hopefully we weren't too rowdy and will be allowed back to Heidi's in the future.