Eighth Annual White Truffle Dinner

Chez Weber - Chicago IL
Tasted Saturday, December 8, 2012 by Burgundy Al with 896 views

Introduction

That time of year. 11 people, a few good bottles, 18 ounces of white truffles, 9 courses of fine food. Very good aromas, flavors of moderate intensity

Flight 1 - 1996 Champagne to Start (4 Notes)

Flight 2 - More 1996 Champagne with farm fresh egg poached in Burgundy (4 Notes)

  • 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Still incredibly fresh and vibrant, lots of energy and concentration. Ripe apple with lemon and lemon oil. Comes across as lean and coiled with great long-term cellar worthiness. Served alongside the DP 96 Oenothèque, I once again preferred this "regular" bottlong to the Oenothèque.

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  • 1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Served alongside the DP 1996, this was very similar with plenty of ripe apple, just a bit more bready and yeasty. Perhaps a bit larger and fatter, but it came across as a bit more backward. I preferred the "regular" bottling to the Oenothèque, while the rest of the table was about evenly divided.

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  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 91 Points

    France, Champagne

    Lots of ripe apple and pear aromas, coming across very mature. Also advanced on palate, but not quite as much as the nose implied. Very lovely and charming, but this really emphasizes the bready character of the Krug house style. Probably not a Krug vintage to hold long-term. Served alongside the sensational 1996 Mesnil.

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  • 1996 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Floral start with lemon, lemon zest and lime. Lots of citrus flavors to match with great energy and power. Long and very powerful, while also persistent. Great now, with great cellar worthiness. I greatly preferred this to the 1996 Krug in the next glass.

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Flight 3 - Martray Corton-Charlemagne with pappardelle (5 Notes)

Flight 4 - Chave Blanc with scallops over pea puree (4 Notes)

Flight 5 - Bâtard-Montrachet 2002 with risotto (6 Notes)

  • 1982 Domaine Michel Niellon Bâtard-Montrachet 85 Points

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

    Friendly aromatics start with both fruit and some earthy background notes. Good fruit start on palate as well, fresher than expected. Easy and simple in the middle, then slightly bitter, slightly harsh on the finish.

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  • 2002 Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

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

    Ripe and lush fruit aromas to start, plenty of oak spice. Similar fruit on palate, good balance, good acidity. Slightly short finish. Better, fresher than another bottle from a few weeks ago. Perhaps slightly lost in the overall quality of the other 2002 Batards in the flight.

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  • 2002 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet 92 Points

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

    Lush stone fruit aromas to start with plenty of spice. Big fruit on palate with well integrated oak, lots of great density and power. Very well textured and elegant on finish. Much better than another bottle earlier this year. At its peak today.

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  • 2002 Jean Noel Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

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

    Fat, spicy aromatic start, coming across as more elegant than ripe. Great apple flavors, fresh and powerful, beautifully supported by minerality and acidity. Long, spicy, classic finish. My wine of the flight, although the Leflaive might be better longer-term.

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  • 2002 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

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

    Rich and ripe aromas of stone fruit, some lemon zest with lots of spice. Some toasted walnut support as well. Ripe and rich again on palate. Long and powerful Very persistent. Most likely still getting better going forward.

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  • 2002 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

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

    I haven't had this wine in a few years and while this was very good, it was still a little disappointed. Minty start with ripe apple aromas. More mature on palate, which then got increasingly advanced through 45 minutes in glass.

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Flight 6 - Red Burgundy with duck confit (6 Notes)

Flight 7 - Younger Barolo with steak and potatoes (3 Notes)

There was also a 1990 Ornellaia I don't distinctly remember and an other Gaja, I think from 1989.

  • 1990 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis 94 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Slightly floral with espresso, leather and black cherry. Big and bold ripe fruit character on the palate, very powerful and charming, just a hair less exciting than Sandrone's La Vigne from the same vintage in the next glass.

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  • 1990 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 95 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Great floral start with lots of fresh black fruit with charming hints of well cooked mushroom. Powerful, dense and ripe fruit on palate, showing great concentration and nuance. for me this was ever-so-slightly better than Sandrone's 1990 Cannubi Boschis in the next glass.

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  • 1990 Gaja Barolo Sperss 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Perfumed start with lots of ripe fruit. Similar ripe cherry flavors, plenty of licorice, allspice and black pepper. forward and easy to enjoy. Less nuanced than the Sandrone 1990 Barolos in the same flight. Very similar to another bottle tried earlier this year.

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Flight 8 - Older Barolo with quail (2 Notes)

There were also a couple of vintages (1947, 1958?) of Borgogno Barolo that I vaguely recall.

Flight 9 - Odds and Ends (5 Notes)

There were quite a few other odds and ends that ended up open.

  • 1997 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

    Perfumed start with plenty of ripe red fruit. Ripe red cherry and good spice on palate, moderate concentration and finesse. Aromas better than flavors.

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  • 1961 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Incredibly fresh and energetic for a wine its age, showing almost as much red fruit as great earthy/ forest character. I never would have thought it this old if tasted blind.

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  • 1961 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Flawed

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Perhaps not well stored, this was tired and well past its prime. While I don't think I've had 61 Unico before, it was inconsistent with other great, older vintages of Unico I've had before.

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  • 1976 Château d'Yquem

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Dark brown color. Sweet, short and very simple. Was ok with the white truffle milkshake, but not at the same level as another bottle from a year or so back.

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  • 2000 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares 90 Points

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

    Bottle was open some time after dinner, but very little was consumed. Cork was reinserted, and my note is based on tasting it the next afternoon. Ripe and forward red fruit aromas, modest spice, emerging earthy hints. Elegant structure, everything forward and integrated now, this is in its peak drinking window today but should hold well for close to another decade..

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