Lunch at Eleven Madison Park with Jonathan Dinh
Tasted Friday, January 26, 2007 by MartyL with 900 views
Introduction
On Friday afternoon, a group of eight descended on Eleven Madison Park at the instigation of a visiting Jonathan Dinh to drink (mainly) aged Burgundy. It being Restaurant Week, our menu choices were limited and the meal was a notch or two more modest that the blowout meals that EMP's usual standard, but the food was uniformly delicious and well suited to the wines on the table, not to mention a bargain. The following are brief notes on the wines tasted. Thanks to Jonathan for organizing a terrific way to warm up on a frigid Friday afternoon.
1996 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut La Grande Dame
France, Champagne
I understand why some people like it but this Champagne is just not my style. Simply put, it's too sweet, too toasty and has little to no acidity and structure. On the nose it's all chocolate, custard, burnt sugar and toasty oak. On the palate you can tell there is Pinot fruit here but to me it's downright sugary sweet, almost to the point where I would prefer to serve this with dessert. I think I've been ruined for wines like this by the non-dosage or low dosage champagnes that I tend to prefer.
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1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc Flawed
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Tragically corked.
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1969 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
Brown color---not even a hint of red, on the nose it's all tea with light spice. With a little time in the glass the aromas really blossom and amplify. On the palate sweet confiture, soy sauce and brown sugar. Soft and round mouthfeel. Really pretty wine that has aged magnificently well for a village wine.
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1969 Maison Leroy Echezeaux
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Significantly darker in color than the aforementioned Grivot from the same vintage. More soy and, I hate to use the cliche, but "asian spice" on the nose. On the palate, the overall impression is of darker hues as well. There is some sour cherry fruit and some tannin that believe it or not is a little astringent on the finish. The fruit seems just a little stewed but not overly so and the wine is still quite good, but I've had this wine once before and my previous bottle seemed better integrated on the palate and I recall being more complex and long.
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1972 Hubert Audiffred Morey St. Denis Selection des Chevalier du Tastevin
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis
This was shockingly good. I'm not positive this is all Pinot, as the fruit seemed so opulent and young. The aromatics were sweet and spicy, and the palate is all rounded red fruit. Beautiful and opulent velvety mouthfeel. Just a little wee bit short on the finish and not terribly complex, but sensual (as Mark G. says) and drinking completely at peak. Maybe the most delicious wine on the table for current consumption. Who the heck is Hubert Audiffred?
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1974 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
Nice if simple nose of resolved mature fruit and peppery spice. Not complex, but it's got a smooth mouthfeel until the finish, which is a little astringent. Overachieving for the vintage and vineyard but nothing to write home about.
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1979 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Lots of cinnamon on nose, with sour cherry dominating on the palate. This is the first wine we've had today that shows significant acidic and tannic structure, but there is still a core of fruit left and I'm sure this wine still is still improving and has lots of time left.
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1980 Domaine Daniel Rion et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
oxidized or simply past its peak.
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1985 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
This wine had all the ingredients but seemed disjointed to me. I got a strong expression of sweet fruit, acidity and tannin, but the components seemed at war with each other to the point where the wine was less than the sum of its parts. I'm not sure if this just needs more time or if the wine will never come together.
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1988 Joseph Drouhin Musigny
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
It's always nice to revisit an old favorite. On the nose there is baking spice, cherry fruit and a touch of iron. On the palate it's a little soft on first impression but then on the midpalate the depth of fruit emerges, before tightening up with a sturdy tannic grip towards the finish---in this case it's more of a velvet fist in an iron-mail glove. I fear I didn't stand this wine up long enough in advance, or perhaps the 24-hour standing was ruined by the cab ride downtown, as the wine seemed a little cloudy, but it still showed its breed nonetheless, and its clear this wine still has a long life ahead of it.
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1990 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This wine showed so young that had this been served blind I would have called this a 1999 or a 2002. On both the nose and palate what you get here is all open and friendly puppy fat---sweet ripe fruit that is open and friendly without suffering from any of the stewed overripe flabby characteristics that so often afflict the wines from this vintage. The wine is just gorgeously opulent and beautiful, but it really is a youngster today and needs much more time to show the beginnings of complexity or anything more than its obviously grand cru quality fruit. My sense (and I know some others at the table agreed) is that of all the wines tasted today, this one will be the best of them when it reaches its peak---but that will not be for many years.
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1999 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Primary cherry fruit, violets, cinnamon and some light spicy oak on the nose and palate. Firm tannin on the finish. I'd like to see this age and I suspect the oak will integrate nicely as the wine is endowed with a good deal of body and fruit.
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