Belated Peking Duck House notes. Mostly Rhone, some Burgs, Champagne & California.

Figured I'd get some notes up from a dinner at Peking Duck House in July before Paul Jaouen gets his buddy Tommy "no nose" out of Bayonne on me.

In mid-July, Paul, Bill Lawrence, Richard Mavricos, Drew Skroback, Christine Huang, Ray Tuppatchsch, Keith Levenberg and I ate some duck together. Here's what we drank.

• 1979 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare

  France, Champagne

  Yellow-colored and a bit oxidaized, but not too much so. A little dirty/musty on the nose, though not in a corked way, with yeast and apple aromas. While I'm not a big fan of Champagne, this is pretty impressive. It has a light bead, but what really stands out is the mouthfeel which is rich, creamy and velvety. I wish more Champagne would have as harmonious and lavish a presence in my mouth. Nice flavors of apple, mineral and biscuit with a stone fruit chaser. Just lovely. A-.

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• 1992 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly

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

  Hmm. There's a lot of oak showing on the nose and palate that I was only able to get that after all the sulfur blew off. Wait a minute. Below the oak there's a bit of mineral and pear compote showing. It's a little light in the acid department and just too oaky for me. Others liked the wine more than I did. B.

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• 1995 Hubert Lignier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  While there's some cherry fruit, bark, earth and light spice notes, don't be fooled by the siren's song. There is a big wall of tannins and a gaping hole in the mid-palate that clearly suggests this wine is closed down pretty hard at the moment. B/B+ with some potential if there's actually enough fruit left to stand up to the tannins once it softens up. I think it'll always be a hard wine, though.

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• 1989 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph Les Oliviers

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

  I brought this as I wanted a few folks at dinner to try it as a local wine shop had just gotten in a little more of it into stock. As I've stated before, some bottle variation with this wine. Some wines have shown stellar, others a bit more muted. This one, unfortunately, was a subdued bottle. Quite a bit of Brett present with cherry, cement dust, horse manure and leather, but the flavors weren't melded. Good bottles show an abundance of fruit with the other components playing nice together and backing up the fruit wonderfully. Not so here. B+.

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• 1989 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  This is a classic, masculine, lean and austere CDP. I personally prefer their style post 1993, which while remaining classic in style, is more fruit forward and less tannic and herbal, though this bottle is showing nicely. It's compact and muscular in the mouth with firm tannins and good acid levels for a CDP. Black fruit with plenty of garrigue, iodine and mineral. Best with some food and I'm not sure the fruit will outlast the structure here. A-/B+.

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• 1964 Domaine Chante-Perdrix Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Ray tasted us double blind on this little surprise and made us guess what it was. It's light and feminine on the nose and palate with desiccated raspberry, cherry and spice cake and light earthy notes. Resolved, but with an enjoyable silky texture and enough fruit to make me smile. The fruit here reminds me of the sweetness one often gets from an old Bordeaux, though the mouthfeel reminded me a little of an old school Rioja and not having a lot of experience with pre-'78 CDP's, after hemming and hawing a bit, I guess '60's Bordeaux. A lovely treat and great showing from a half bottle. A-/B+.

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• 1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Whaddya know? I completely forgot I had this when I wrote my note about a bottle Chris Kravitz brought to my place a week ago. Funny enough, the notes are almost identical. The wine is really in a beautiful place right now. Shows a ton of class and elegance and has great length and persistence across the palate. This bottle shows a little more peppery spiciness than the one over Labor Day and a little bit more of a mélange between black and red fruit, but the meat, herb, lavender and iron are still there. Gorgeous wine. A.

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• 1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  I don't recall this wine ever shutting down since release and it doesn't seem like it has evolved much, either. There's still a bunch of upfront, sweet black fruit, plenty of black pepper and garrigue, but while well-made and tasty, there's something missing from this wine. I always want a little more personality to show. Maybe a little funk, or something in its structure to come out and nip my heels. I don't know. I like drinking it, but find it a little staid. Low A-.

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• 2001 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  I know it's a bit-overused and cliché to say that Rayas is Burgundian, but, yeah, this smells and tastes a bit Burgundian. It's harmonious and elegant with a satiny feel to it. There's wonderful sweetness and purity to the raspberry, cherry and strawberry fruit that doesn't have the over ripeness that Grenache can sometimes show. Lovely spiciness that's more cinnamon than black pepper and a touch of licorice and earthiness. Delicious. A-.

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• 1998 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Croix de Bois

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Smells a bit over-the-top. Indeed, it is. This is just ultra-ripe blackberry jam. I'm not one to shy away from fruit, especially in a CDP, but this is just too roasted, pruney and overdone for me to enjoy. It's also a bit disjointed and coarse on the palate, to boot. B-.

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• 1992 Edmunds St. John Syrah Grand Heritage

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  I was really looking forward to trying this treat as I've had some killer bottles in the past, but this bottle was not cooperating. It smells a little dirty and while there's pleasant enough cherry, spice and licorice on the palate, it's very tough and unyielding with an abrupt finish. B, though this wine usually is in the Solid A- range for me.

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