Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon
Tasted Thursday, June 9, 2016 by Paul S with 434 views
This was a theme I was really looking forward too.
Coming as it did as part of a string of very good to great red vintages from 2005 to 2010, 2007 started out with a pretty bad reputation, with one of the most consistently damp summers in recent memories making a joke of a lovely warm spring. A finer August and strong drying gusts of the North wind helped to save the season, but most winemakers we visited still declared this as a white wine vintage, with reds relegated to the "early drinking" bracket. Indeed, from barrel, the whites were astounding, while the reds seemed fresh and pure but not entirely memorable. Indeed, many of them were subject to quiet bits of chaptalisation.
Nine years down the road though, the tables have turned somewhat. The whites, great as they were, started falling asleep pretty quickly behind their wonderful cloaks of mineral and laser-like acidity. On the other hand, the reds in the bottle from 1er Cru and up have turned out to be quite lovely indeed. Neither powerful blockbusters nor muscular wines made to last, these were instead wonderful charming, even hedonistic wines in their youth, with a lovely purity to their fresh fruited flavours, and softer tannins and beautiful acidities lending energy and definition to the wines. Above all though, it has been a sense of transparency through almost all of the wines I have tried that has really struck me - this is a vintage, like 2000 and 2001 for example, where terroir really shines through.
We had a good and varied line-up on the night, representing both Cote de Nuits and Core de Beaune. My feel is that the traditionally "bigger", more muscular terrors and winemaking styles have done especially well in the vintage, with leaner wines and extra purity and cut lending these wines a little something special. Saying that though, the wines showed beautifully across the board; all enjoyable, all open, and all very giving. This was indeed one of the most immediately enjoyable line-ups we have had for sometime.
NB: In the 6 months since we had this dinner, some of the 2007 reds have fallen asleep somewhat, including a great bottle of Rousseau Ruchottes Chambertin, and a smattering of other nice Grand Cru and her Crus
2007 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé 92 Points
France, Champagne
I do not recall ever having had a vintage Roederer Rose before - I found this very enjoyable; a nice start to dinner. It had a rather sweet nose, with red fruited scents of strawberries and raspberries, then cream and flowers, a touch of yeast and a waft of almond aromas - quite pretty. The palate still had plenty of juicy lemony acidity and a nicely fine mousse giving shape to an otherwise voluptuous mouthful of sweet, fruity flavours of red berries and strawberries touch by a bit of fruit zest on its mid-length finish. Early drinking fun, but I think this should have no problem ageing for quite a bit either.
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