M&PD Tasting: Westward

Mark hosted us at Westward in the little "not quite enclosed space" just off the entrance. Big table, amazing ice bucket, plenty of glassware, insanely delicious food. Total homerun setup.

Dill dip and fresh potato chips

Oysters (wolf beach & olympic wild), verjus mignonette, lemon

Sockeye salmon ceviche tostada, chimichurri crema, red onions, aji peppers

• 1995 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque

  France, Champagne

  What a nice way to start a tasting! Quite mature (as compared to past tastes of the 1996 Oeno), this 1995 is complex, lovely and a bit oxidative.

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• 2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne Brut Chef de Cave Legacy Edition

  France, Champagne

  Special gold label. Explosive energy, density, this reminds me of the 1996 Dom from it's youth, more of a White Burg that has some bubbles. I kept coming back. This is a WOW wine!

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• 2012 Dom Pérignon Champagne

  France, Champagne

  Young, nice, nervy and nervous. Sharp, gaining intensity, frothy and fine bead, that classic Dom piercing lemon/lime citrus precision.

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Chicory panzanella, tomatillo vinaigrette, spiced pepitas, golden raisins

• 1999 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet

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

  A bit of gold color. This opens up with a big nose of hazelnuts, really quite exotic, touch of oak. The palate is waxy and rich at first, just delicious. It didn't seem very Chevalier-Montrachet when first opened. However when I circled back a few hours later it had focused down into a much more minerally, precise, saline and savory wine. Really Chevy at the end of the night.

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• 2015 Renaud Bruyère & Adeline Houillon Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay Vieilles Vignes

  France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin

  This opens up, fairly bracing (some speculation that there was some small percentage of Savagnin in there?), a bit reductive, quite a razor blade of precision. It did develop a little natural wine funk over time as it aired. Quite interesting. Perhaps the one "lost" wine on this night of so many special wines, it deserved more introspection and focus than I was able to give it. More intellectual than purely pleasurable.

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Seared black cod steak, cioppino butter, confit fennel

Crispy yukon potatoes

• 1999 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Mmmm, perfume, deep UMAMI, not a ton of acid, just warm, cherry compote, really savory, faintly grippy, graphite and blood. Stunning wine.

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• 2005 Domaine Truchot-Martin Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  Powdered sugar, hint of stem, soft, silky, cherry, gaining pepper and spice in time. Haunting wine.

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• 2001 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Funk, deep, silky, so vibrant, red fruit, coming back to more notes of the silky, enveloping palate. With more air some mushroomy forest floor and distinct pine forest notes come out.

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Confit duck leg, roasted garlic aioli, hazelnut crust

• 2014 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

  Double-decanted a few hours earlier, this was sharply reductive. A few hours served it quite well, unreal funk, shockingly good, bell pepper, tobacco, spicy, vibrant, really a revelation. So much leaf and stem, a baby Bordeaux with incredible fruit. Utter wow.

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Corn and almond olive oil cake, whipped cream, blackberry compote

• 1998 Schoffit Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St.-Théobald Sélection de Grains Nobles

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  Labeled as TPG, marmalade, botrytis, white pepper, shower curtain. Quite delicious, reasonably energetic.

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These just keep getting better.