TN: Jura Night

Mon Ami Gabi - Chicago, IL
Tasted Monday, February 3, 2014 by tooch with 546 views

Introduction

So it was my turn to host our monthly get together and decided to have the Jura as my theme. It's really been a region that's excited me over my wine collecting life. Jura fanatics are a relatively close knit group and it's amazing the amount of information I've gleaned from the likes of Ross Massey, Tom Delorme, Warren Leonard, Michael Lewis, Dr. C, Tim O'Rourke, Eric Pottmeyer, Marc Davis, Peter Gibson, Bill Bucklew, Lars Markie, Peter Weygandt, Phil Ashton, Bob Renner, Nathan Odem, Mark Davis,, Salil Benegal, and Keith Levenberg over the years.

We had some duds, but overall it was a very nice tasting. Big thanks to Sue Kim and the team at Mon Ami Gabi for taking care of us. Highly recommended as a wine dinner spot. Sue and I worked ahead of time on the menu (which came out beautifully), and everything went off without a hitch. Food was great and spending time with chef Andrew Shedden was a lot of fun too.

Flight 1 - First Course (3 Notes)

Chicken liver mousse, morbier & comte. A great way to start the dinner...the wines paired nicely with the cheeses and mousse.

  • 2005 Michel Gahier Chardonnay Arbois La Fauquette 91 Points

    France, Jura, Arbois

    Nice waxy lemon notes with some subtle lanolin and marzipan. Really enjoyed the freshness on the palate with bright lemons, minerals, and some tangerine. Lingering almond note on the finish. Yum.

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  • 2007 Michel Gahier Chardonnay Arbois La Fauquette 89 Points

    France, Jura, Arbois

    A bit fleshier than the 2005 drank alongside. Still had the vibrant almond, lemon, mineral and salty notes on the nose. Palate seemed a bit thicker than the 2005 with a bit more marzipan and a hair less floral notes. Still had great acidity...just seemed more plush.

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  • 2007 Jean Bourdy Chardonnay Côtes du Jura 89 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Definitely had more oxidative notes than the Gahier's ('05/'07). Some creaminess on the nose...maybe almond cream? Its palate was really quite nice. While somewhat oxidative, it still has a lot of acid so the freshness was there. Had the "usual" lemon note that I love so much in these wines.

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Flight 2 - Second Course (3 Notes)

Served with sea scallops, braised pork belly and vegetable pot de feu. Loved the wines here (no surprise there) and they went really well with scallops and the meaty pork belly. Marnes Bleues continues to be my favorite site in the Jura.

  • 2008 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Marnes Bleues Les Chalasses 94 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    A stellar bottle of wine. I've loved this in the past and this may have been my favorite bottle. The aromatics had all the lovely lemon, almond, flinty notes I expected with a really beautiful briny note. Reminded me of a great Chablis. Its palate was just lights out. Acidity was dialed up with the bright lemons...but this had a really nice underbelly of mushroom that was seductive. Could drink this all day.

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  • 2009 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Marnes Bleues Les Chalasses 91 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Made a mistake by not decanting this longer. Probably saw about 90 minutes of air before drinking it and, at first, this was a one-dimensional lemony wine. Disappointed I pushed my glass aside and decided to revisit it later. About 90 minutes later the wine had evolved a lot. More precise flavors, the alcohol toned down a bit and the fruit flavors fleshed out a bit more. I liked what this morphed into...

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  • 2010 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Marnes Bleues Les Chalasses 92 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    I'd like to think that the 2010s will reach the levels of the 2008s sometime soon. While I didn't find this had the flinty depth that the 2008 had, there's a lot of great stuff going on here. Plenty of bright citrus notes, some almond, and lovely florals. Tightly wound, I thought the acidity was just a hair too high toned at this point. I think this needs some time to flesh out a bit. Great stuff, but young.

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Flight 3 - Third Course (3 Notes)

Served with a perfectly cooked duck breast, burssels sprout, onion, parsnip hash and a pomegranate demi glaze. While the pinot was a disappointment, the other two wines showed very well.

  • 2008 Les Chais du Vieux Bourg Pinot Noir Côtes du Jura Flawed

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    I've drank so many great bottles of this vintage from Les Chais du Vieux Bourg that this off-bottle really let me down. It had completely refermented and was a spritzy, disjointed mess. Most compared this to a rose, but knowing how it's tasted in the past I was just sad.

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  • 1981 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge 93 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Another great bottle of this. Much like my last bottle this had some serious black tea, damp earth, and cranberry notes on the nose. The palate showed incredibly fresh with lots of bright red fruits (pomegranate & cranberry especially) more damp earth and some floral notes. I dug this a lot.

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  • 2005 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge 92 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    This has been a consistently strong performing bottle over the years. Beautiful combination of earthy notes, ripe red fruit, and a elegant floral lift. Palate was so light and airy, but packed a real big punch of cranberry, acidity, and florals. Wish I had a case or two of this.

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Flight 4 - Fourth Course (2 Notes)

We had lamb mergeuz, couscous, sultanas, chickpeas, arugla, mint and sherry vinaigrette. A very disappointing flight. The food was easily the best part.

Flight 5 - Desert Course (2 Notes)

Finishing things up with a very nice honey pear cake, sauternes, medjool dates, and vanilla ice cream. The desert wines were REALLY good. Nice way to end the night.

  • NV Jean Bourdy Galant des Abbesses 94 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Mr. Carrot Cake, meet Ms. Pumpkin Pie. I hope that everyone gets to try this wine someday. So much craziness going on that it's hard to put everything that's going on into a single note. Has a dazzling combination of pumpkin, carrot, peach, orange, and spice. The spices are outrageous. The hype is real.

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  • 2007 Domaine Labet La Paille Perdue 89 Points

    France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

    Very sweet and viscous with a lot of peach, mango and other tropical fruit notes. I thought the acidity hung in there with the dense fruit...but I know others thought the sweetness took over a bit too much. Either way, I think most thought this was quite nice.

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Closing

Very disappointed by the Overnoy and the Les Chais du Vieux Bourg, but it was an otherwise fantastic night. Thanks again to the team at Mon Ami Gabi. Top rate venue, with top rate service.

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