Dinner at 112 Eatery (Chave, Beaucastel, Pegau, Voge, Donjon, and others)

Ben Andersen was in town for some corporate training, so Steve decided to get a small group together at the 112 Eatery in downtown Minneapolis. The group included Ben, Steve, Brad England and me. The 112 Eatery proved to be a perfect venue for this tasting. They seemed a bit taken aback by all the bottles (we were seated at a small table and immediately brought out all nine bottles), but they found a staging area in the back and handled this very well. They even brought each of us three Riedel Burgundy glasses for the red wine. The food was as good as I've had in Minneapolis, and obviously the company and the conversation was as good as it gets.

The theme for the wine was to drink wines from domaines that we had visited during our recent trip to France. The wine was generally served in pairs as shown below.

We met at Steve's prior to dinner to get organized. Ben and Steve had just returned from Winestreet and were anxious to try these two new purchases.

• 2004 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  The Clos des Papes shows beautiful pure raspberry liquor fruit on the nose and is slightly briery. In the mouth this once again shows pure red fruit, with really no secondary flavors breaking through. Great weight and balance in the mouth -- nothing too much from any element here. The finish is long and fruity, but fairly tannic. I like this much better at this stage than the 2003 (I found the piercing kirsch/alcohol on the nose a bit too much). It will be of great interest to taste these two side-by-side at 10-15 years of age. My bet would be on the 2003 over the long term, but the 2004 is very nice.

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• 2004 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  Tasted side-by-side with the 2004 Clos des Papes. Wow is this bottle showing well. The nose is classic Vieux Donjon, showing dark fruit, smoke, and an earthy garrigue. On the palate this is medium bodied with plenty of dark fruit, and an enjoyable earthiness. This shows good structure, some tannin, and a great finish. This is a great wine to cellar, although we all tended to think it would shut down in the near future. I preferred this to the 2004 Clos des Papes for drinking at this point -- although Steve and Ben disagreed with me.

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We ordered a cauliflower side dish and scallops to accompany these wines. Both dishes were very well done (best scallops I've ever had) and complimented the wine very well.

• 1995 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  This wine was open for business from the moment the cork was popped. The color was a concentrated medium yellow. The nose really burst from the glass with citrus, honeysuckle, and a floral element. The texture was a great combination of thick/concentrated fruit coupled with a lightness on the palate. Slighly buttery (but not in a heavy chardonnay way), with more honeysuckle and (courtesy of Steve) a melange of nut oils. Powerful. Balanced. Elegant finish. A very, very nice white wine. Note that this bottle was purchased from a local retailer within the last six months, so it may be slightly more advanced than well cellared examples.

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• 2001 Domaine Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Charmes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Medium yellow color. On the nose this shows predominately fresh citrus with some minerality. In the mouth this has a nice weight. A little lighter than the hermitage, but still concentrated fruit and a slight butteriness. This is very nice on the palate throughout the taste and finishes with a very pleasant citrus/mineral combination. This was excellent, and my note has hardly done justice to the quality of this wine. Hopefully one of the other tasters will fill in some additional detail.

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We ordered a meat platter to accompany these wines. Brad didn't want to order this since it really doesn't show off the chef, but it turned out to be an excellent dish and a nice pairing with the Beaucastel. I should note that Brad brought two bottles of the 1989. He had opened one before he realized it wasn't from his recently aquired case. He really wanted to check the condition of his new purchase and opened a second bottle. I thought they both showed well. Brad had consumed some of the first bottle before we got there. The rest went to the kitchen (they seemed thankful).

• 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  Wow! Great nose. The nose is big with ripe (and aged) dark fruit, complemented with smoke, pepper, and saddle leather. On the palate this is balanced and shows dark fruit and a strong earthiness. The fruit here is definitely riper (almost to the point of sur maturite) than the 1990. This is also more structured and has all of the components necessary to continue to age spectacularly. A very special wine. Note that this wine was sourced from Europe (with excellent provenence) and was only recently flown to the US.

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• 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  Tasted side-by-side with the 1989. Wow! Great wine. And is this open for business. On the nose this shows big red fruit with only a slight hint of barnyard. Just enough secondary elements to hold my interest. In the mouth this shows big, opulent red fruit. Plenty of stucture but gorgeous fruit and just a bit of earthiness. Very balanced. Tannins are mostly gone, although I am sure this will age spectacularly for years to come. Very special to taste these two side-by-side. This bottle too was recently sourced from an excellent seller in Europe. Thanks Brad.

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Next we ordered the ahi tuna seared rare with some sort of breading around it and a rich brown sauce. The ahi was excellent and paired very well with the next two wines.

• 1998 Alain Voge Cornas Cuvée Vieilles Fontaines

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Another great wine. The nose on this one showed a pronounced (and I mean pronounced) bacon fat. To that you can add some black fruit and smoke. Beautiful. On the palate this is still fairly structured, showing black fruit, earthiness, and some minerality. Not elegant, but excellent in a rustic style. Makes me thankful we were able to meet Alain Voge on our recent trip. A very nice wine.

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• 1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  The nose showed red fruit, cigar ash, smoke, and mineral. This is very elegant and mouth coating, showing red fruit, smoke, and a sight earthiness. Maybe a bit tart on the finish. Much more elegant than the Voge. Balanced and finishing with decent length. A nice compact elegant wine.

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Finally, we ordered some beef to pair with the final two wines. Once again, this was very well executed and a nice complement to two excellent wines.

• 1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence

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

  Good dark red color. The nose is great with black fruit, leather, fresh herbs, and a hint of baking spices. On the palate this shows opulent red fruit with mushroom, leather, and minerality. Great structure to complement with opulent fruit. Well balanced, even showing some lively acidity. Finishes with dark, earthy fruit that lingers and lingers. A great wine that is likely to age well for a long time.

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• 1998 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  Very interesting to taste this side-by-side with the 1998 Pegau Laurence. This is much more closed at this moment than the Pegau. This shows dark, brooding fruit with an undefined earthiness on the nose. One-dimensional at the moment but promising much more for the future. On the palate this shows dark fruit, leather, and mineral. Full bodied with concentrated fruit but lots of structure. The finish here is even longer than the Pegau, but not quite as interesting at the moment. This was a given to Steve for the tasting by Brad at Winestreet while Ben and Steve were there picking up an order. A generous gift and a great wine that just needs a few more years to show what its got.

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This was a great night with many great wines. I can't narrow it down to a WOTN. Pretty much every wine delivered. There wasn't any one wine that was significantly better than any other wine. Hopefully we'll get to do this again in the near future.