Justin's 31st Birthday
Olympia, WA
Tasted November 22, 2008 by Eric with 1,395 views
Introduction
Justin Wells has been begging me for a while to make the trip down to Olympia for an evening of great food and wine, and the occasion finally presented itself on his 31st birthday. Also joining us was Justin's wife Zoe and Harlan Bernstein who made the trip up from Portland.
Flight 1 (1 note)
As we milled in the kitchen, Justin put together a couple of appetizers to pair with this beautiful Raveneau: a crab and goat cheese dip wit some citrus served atop cucumber; and a little peel and eat shrimp boil. Yummy!
White
1997 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
Some textbook notes of seashell give way to a tightly wound palate that is loaded with lemony goodness. While this was quite rich when first poured, it positively exploded about 30 minutes later gaining a great deal of palate presence and much more expansiveness. I have not tasted a lot of Raveneau, but this baby made it clear that these take at least a decade to even begin to want to play.
Flight 2 (1 note)
Our first sit down course was a killer seafood pot pie what was highlighted by a fantastically subtle shrimp stock. The Coche was a haunting accompaniment to the dish.
White
2001 Coche-Dury Meursault
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Oh baby, a Leflaive like nose explodes from the glass, a stinky, flinty, matchstick note that makes my knees quiver. What a palate, huge, broad, endless, fantastic acidity. What a knockout wine!
Flight 3 (2 notes)
As good as the prior courses were, now we moved into overdrive on the food and wine pairings. A beautiful duck confit served atop braised cabbage with a cherry reduction sauce of some sort just kicked butt with a pair of DRC's. The GE was tired but lovely and matched incredibly with the food. The Richebourg was a lovely beast that really got me going.
Red
1982 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
A little reticent at first, this became more and more expressive the longer it sat in the glass. A spicy cinnamon note on the nose moves to a palate that is hauntingly powerful and supple at once. Lots of stem and stalk on the nose as well, really intriguing. This is both broad shouldered and silky smooth with tons of gas left in the tank. I wish I had taken notes, but this was textbook iron fist in a velvet glove. Fantastic texture.
Red
1982 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
Not much life left in this one, time to drink. It cracked up a bit in the glass, but I loved the soft, peat-driven personality. A charming, mature Burg.
Flight 4 (2 notes)
Next up was a deconstruncted cassoulet, a nearly jello soft hunk of sous vide pork belly served atop a wonderfully savory cassoulet. And what better to pair with the pork than two of the greatest expressions of Syrah ever invented? Oh man, shoot me now!
Red
1990 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Wow, wow, wow, always such a beautiful wine. This is so pure and focused, such a laser of red fruit on the palate. With time some of the blood and meat come out to play, but bottle was still quite primary and fruit driven, less advanced than most of the other times I have tasted this wine. (This bottle was purchased on release by the owner who brought it, and the perfect provenance showed.)
Red
1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
OMFG, this was off the charts good. Bacon in a bottle, as exotic, sultry and kinky as La Mouline gets. Blood, gunpowder and meat all wrapped up in a silk robe. Usually I notice the oak in these when they are less than 20 years old, but this bottle was positively screaming. My WOTN.
Flight 5 (2 notes)
Next up were simply prepared Brian Flannery aged strips served simply with just a little red wine and veal reduction on the side. Oh yeah, killer Bordeaux and killer prime beef, no going wrong here. The Beau is a better wine, but the Margaux delivers the goods right now.
Red
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
What a freaking BEAST of a wine! A crazy nose of roasted plum, gunpowder and chocolate. This shut down over time in the glass, but it is mindblowingly concentrated. This is more educational than pleasurable at this stage, but it is certainly crazily impressive stuff.
Red
1990 Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Wow, wow, wow, what a killer bottle of Margaux. Definitely a little more bretty than I would expect, this wine was so regal, round and pleasurable it is hard to believe. Long and poignant, this is Margaux on steroids. Yummy!
Flight 6 (1 note)
We retired to watch some Lord of the Rings (I was inspired by the incredible Uruk Hai noises that Franklin the bulldog makes.) With a cheese tray Justin opened one more Bordeaux.
Flight 7 (1 note)
I was pretty much done at this point, but Justin came along with one more treat.
Closing
Many thanks to Justin, Zoe and Harlan for a fantastic evening of food and wine (and to Zoe and Justin in particular for putting up with Harlan and I diving incessantly into politics all night long).
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