Heartland

Steve Sigmond and Brad England recently attended a Commanderie de Bordeaux tasting at the new Heartland in downtown St. Paul and were impressed enough to plan a small wine dinner there earlier this week. Siggy lined up the chef's table and invited Jeff Samuelson and myself to join he and Brad for a night of Burgundy (unfortunately Craig Vanderah couldn't join us due to a work trip).

We were greeted by chef Lenny Russo for a comprehensive tour of the facility (everything about this operation exudes class and attention to detail) and then settled in for seven courses of food and seven bottles of wine. The food was uniformly good and emphasized local products throughout.

We started with the '05 Leflaive which we sipped during our walking tour of the restaurant. Once back at the table we poured the other two whites and followed them over the first few courses. The starter was "Lake Superior cicsoe roe." I don't understand the name, but the plate was excellent with cucumber relish, black pepper sour cream, ficelle croustade, and chive sprouts. The second course was foie gras on baguette toast with golden chanterelle mushrooms and smoked apple jam. The third course was pheasant rillettes with cumberland sauce, caraway rye croustades and clover sprouts. The pheasant was excellent and marked a perfect time to transition from whites to reds.

• 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon

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

  Decanted about an hour and then put back into the bottle for the trip to the restaurant. Light yellow color. Big, effusive nose that commands attention; dominated by burnt match/smoke but nicely complimented with lemon, honey and something like herbs/drambuie. Not quite as dramatic on the palate. Bigger scale than I was expecting with tremendous concentration. Clean, lemon-tinted fruit that coats the palate but lacks a bit of intensity. Seems plenty structured with really nice acidity building by mid-palate and delivering a long, ringing finish that is most enjoyable. Probably lacks the intrinsic complexity to achieve lofty heights, but should be an excellent drinker after a few more years of bottle age.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1996 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Popped and poured. The first tentative smell reveals no hint of oxidation -- what a relief! Deep, gold color in the glass. Positively brilliant nose with a kaleidoscope of aromas -- smoke (forest fire in a glass), lemon, orange (creme brulee in a glass), pepper, coffee and more. Truly all you could hope for from a nose. And then it tastes pretty good too. Large scale with concentrated fruit balanced out with excellent structure. Flavors are both intense and expansive -- a great combination. Long, satisfying finish. Count me a fan.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2002 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes

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

  The color is a deep, clear gold. Beautiful nose of grapefruit, mineral and an endearing herb/mint. In time this mint became the focal point of the nose (and the conversation). The taste was also good -- despite being a bit one-dimensional -- with mouth-coating flavors, nice balance and a good finish. Seemed to improve with air and our server Karen declared it her favorite of the whites (while Brad declared it undrinkable "cat piss" -- likely the aroma I identify as "grapefruit"). I enjoyed this immensely although felt it was pretty well outclassed by the two Leflaives. I see no reason to hold these much longer as this seemed to be at a great point in its development.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

The following wines were served with the remaining courses: a great rabbit loin with lacinato kale and heirloom apple cider rabbit glaze, a bonus plate (a result of Brad's prompting) of charcterie made on-site, an excellent cheese course and dessert of juniper scented pumpkin flan. This is the second time I've had the '96 Vogue Musigny alongside the '96 La Tache and the results on this night were identical to the previous tasting two and a half years ago (both are drinkable despite needing much more age and the La Tache is a good bit better than the Musigny). This is also my second time with the '96 Leroy Mazis and this bottle was a massive improvement over the previous bottle.

• 1996 Maison Leroy Mazis-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Popped and poured. Clean, deep ruby red color. Offers a beautiful nose of sweet cherry. Surprisingly clean and seductive. Really complete and thrilling in the mouth, with darker fruit and added elements of spice and brown sugar. The texture is amazingly smooth and elegant. Flavors build towards a great finish with perfectly balanced union of fruit, tannin and acidity. This struck me as a thrillingly complete wine that is in a perfect drinking window. It's in no danger of near-term decline but I struggle to see it improving much from where it is today.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1997 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares

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

  Popped and poured. Dark ruby red color. Funky nose that never seemed to blow off completely. Looking past the funk you could discern dark fruit and spice intermixed with oak/caramel. I suspect the funk was brett; regardless it was hard to ignore. The taste was nice with good red fruit, spice and brown sugar. While this was tasty enough, it was thoroughly outclassed by the three other reds and there were no re-pours -- meaning most of this went unconsumed. Too bad, because I remember really enjoying the '97 Musigny and minus the funk this might have been its equal.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Popped and poured. Dark reddish black color. Reserved nose with red fruit, spice and coffee. On the palate this delivers succulent red fruit with coffee and mineral notes; fresh and pleasing. Good intensity but fairly direct/compact on the palate. The taste is dominated by structure at this point, but you can tell there is plenty of fruit that should emerge in time. As much as I enjoyed this, I couldn't help but feel some regret at popping this far too early. This is my second time tasting this and it hasn't budged at all in 2+ years. If I had any I'd be waiting a long time before opening another one.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

  Decanted extensively (I think Brad said six hours) before being put back into the bottle for the trip to the restaurant. Opaque ruby red color. Stunning nose with hearty red fruit laced with a panoply of spices. Truly a nose to savor for as long as time permits. On the palate this is mid-weight and delivers beautiful red fruit that coats the palate. Seems extremely elegant despite the heft of the considerable structure/tannin. Thrilling complexity and a complete experience throughout. This is my second time with this wine and as good as it is now it really deserves considerable additional cellaring. All the components are there to give confidence that this will develop into an even more mind-blowing experience with additional time in the cellar. Thanks Brad.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

It was a great night of wine, food and conversation further augmented by gaining great insight into Lenny's vision for his operation. Lenny was a kick to talk to and seemed to really enjoy the wines. I've avoided point scores at Jeff's prompting (he's a hater) and would struggle to pick a single wine as WOTN. My favorite three were the '96 Leflaive, the Leroy and the La Tache.