Pre-Parker warmup dinner at Citronelle

Washington DC
Tasted Friday, February 11, 2005 by Eric with 2,705 views

Introduction

On the eve of our Rhone dinner with Robert Parker, we assembled at Citronelle to warm up with some Bordeaux. Among many other folks, Mark Squires and Christine Huang blessed us with their presence.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

While chewing on a few appetizers, we sipped a lovely yet somehat unremarkable bottle of 1985 Cristal.

Flight 2 (1 Note)

Next we enjoyed a gorgeous soubise (roasted onion) soup with a delicious cheese souffle.

Flight 3 (1 Note)

Next up was a tuna tartare with avocado, split peas, black truffle, faux egg and a half-dozen other fun flavors and sights.

  • 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet 95 Points

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

    Wow, this is a whole different ballgame with explosive aromatics, flinty and powerful, almost indescribable. The palate is absolutely spectacular, ethereal and light on the initial impression and then finishing out with an oily, persistent and powerful personality. Wowza, this is the highest I have ever rated a Chardonnay!

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

The next course was one of the highlights: a coffee cup layered with foir gras terrine, fluffy egg white, chanterelle mushrooms, a rich layer of mushroom redutcion, rice crispies and parmesan crunchies on top and a perfectly cooked egg yolk suspended in the middle, yumm!!!

  • 2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 95 Points

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

    Wow, this wine officially popped my DRC cherry! The nose was powerful and soaring with nearly supersonic notes of cherry, smoke and funky mineral. With a few hours this settled down considerably to show a deeply charged and focused personality. With the cheese course (served four hours after the initial pour) this was absolutely singing.

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

Finally, we dug into our first course of Bordeaux with a gentle warmup to some 1989 wines as we enjoyed a delicious squab course.

  • 1989 Château Margaux 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    This was very pretty with cedar and coffee on the nose and a solid mid-palate. Unlike prior tastes this showed no astringency on the finish, a very solid and enjoyable wine.

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  • 1989 Château Léoville Las Cases 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    This was a controversial wine with very clear chemical and green notes that had everyone thinking this was corked. However, I let a glass sit for 90 minutes, and there was NO sign of TCA. The palate showed classic Leoville Cassis, muscular and a bit dry with sweet, black fruit on the mid-palate.

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  • 1989 Château Lynch-Bages 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    This was not at the level of prior tastes. Roasted black fruit draws you in, yet this wine is reticent and tight, very primary and medicinal with a note of spicy cinnamon peeking out on the nose and an equally spicy interior to the palate. With time some amazing minerality emerges. A hint of tobacco peeks forth, but frankly this magnum is showing very, VERY young!

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Flight 6 (4 Notes)

Next we dove into an insane course which matched Cheval Blanc and Haut Brion in great vintages. This was served alongside a lovely piece of seared duck.

  • 1982 Château Cheval Blanc 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    The nose shows espresso and leather with a hint of oxidation. The palate is spicy, wild and exotic. There was some debate as to whether this was corked, but I found it to be extremely enjoyable.

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  • 1990 Château Cheval Blanc 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    The nose shows crazy vanilla, caramel and a spicy/leafy edge from the copious Cab Franc. The palate is gorgeous and right on the money though, well done!

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  • 1982 Château Haut-Brion 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    This was one of my favorite wines of the tasting, amazingly horsey with that classic roasted earth one expects from a great Graves. The palate shows leather and blood with a distinctly chewy and huge finish. Yummy!

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  • 1989 Château Haut-Brion 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    This wine was clearly one of the greatest wines of the tasting yet in an academic way. This is amazingly seamless and concentrated, insanely young, primary, focused and structured. Mmm, this will be great in 10 years!

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Flight 7 (4 Notes)

Ahhh, now we are into the BIG TIME with a flight of crazy 82's served alongside mushroom breaded lamb served in a Bordealaise reduction. Heaven!

  • 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Violet and red currant pops from the nose, yet I had trouble with this compared to a number of other folks who expounded on how expressive it was. The palate is elegant, soft and spicy, but in this crazy flight it is utterly overmatched.

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  • 1982 Château Mouton Rothschild 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    This was clearly not a great bottle with loads of sediment visible in the glass despite decanting. The wacky nose shows coffee and loads of raisin. This was clearly an unusually advanced bottle, yet it was also so pleasurable and unique!

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  • 1982 Château Latour Grand Vin 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    The shows huge notes of lead pencil on the nose with a black, muscular and terrific palate.

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  • 1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 99 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    This wine always speaks to me! The nose is screaming with black fruit and tobacco, spicy and cedary, dark and brooding. The palate is sweet, almost insanely ripe. Compared to other bottles I have opened this is very, VERY young!

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Flight 8 (4 Notes)

From here we moved to an ethereal flight of 1990's with a stunningly rich course of Cote du Boeuf.

  • 1990 Château Margaux 100 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Hands down, this was EASILY the wine of the night. OMFG, this is absolutely perfect with off the charts complexity. The palate is exotic and spicy yet so perfecly balanced. Stunning and almost speechless with nice, fresh acid on the finish and a hint of cranberry.

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  • 1990 Château Montrose 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Hello Mr. Ed, this was INSANELY bretty on the nose and palate and showed HUGE notes of horse. That said, OMFG, the extract, intensity and depth of this wine are off the charts. Well done!

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  • 1990 Château Lafleur 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Thia just didn't inspire me the way that other wines did. The nose shows tangy pickle. The palate bright and acidic with lavish noted of red fruit, opening up nicely with time.

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  • 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    People were VERY excited about this wine, but to me it seemed nice yet pedestrian. The nose is exotic, insane with textbook notes of cedar and amazing structure.

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Flight 9 (1 Note)

An Aussie appeared, and as impressive as it wasv -- it was sorely out of place...

  • 2003 Mitolo Shiraz G.A.M.

    Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

    The restaurant opened this on our behalf, but I can't rate this. It is simply too ripe and Syrah-driven.

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Flight 10 (1 Note)

From here we were wandering in uncharted territory with a delicious cheese plate and a raspberry dessert. Meanwhile one more great wine emerged and wandered around...

  • 1990 Château Léoville Las Cases

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    My goodness, where did this materialize from? We never really figured that out. This is always one of my absolute favorite bottles of Bordeaux, and a pour from this bottle, late in the evening, long after I was blotto, still delivered the goods. All I can say is "oh baby!"

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Flight 11 (1 Note)

Finally, somehow, as if we needed more, five of us ended up at the bar and ordered this beast. All I can say is that Manlin is a bad influence...

  • 2000 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Ermitage Cuvée Cathelin

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    We ordered this long past the point of needing more wine. Despite that, this was gorgeous and tight with raspberry and minerals, a young beast of a wine! This is hard to evaluate both based on where it is in its evolution and where we are in the evening.

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Closing

Ahh, what a crazy warmup! It was a pleasure meeting Wilfred van Gorp, Craig Collins, Mark Squires, Christine Huang, Scott Manlin, John Kapon, Rudy Kurniawan, Stephen Frye, Ben Andrew and Jim & Sheila Clary!

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