Mischa's Round Robin Dinner
Lavanda Restaurant, Palo Alto, California
Tasted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,297 views
Introduction
The immediate impetus for this dinner was that Mischa happened to notice the previous weekend when going through his cellar that the cork had fallen in to the top of a bottle of '70 Romanée-Conti. He emailed us about this grievous occurrence, reporting that the foil capsule appeared secure and that there were no signs of leakage, and asked if we wanted to get together to see whether there was anything left of what, but for the cork giving out, should have been an amazing bottle of wine. Most of our gang said sure, which led Mischa to make the dinner quickly scheduled for the following weekend his turn for the round robin series we started earlier in the year, where each of us takes a turn providing all the wines and the rest of us pay for their dinner. Mischa also took the precaution of sealing the '70 R-C capsule over with wax.
Expectations ran high for Mischa's dinner, as he has excellent taste, is a thoughtful collector (and seems to have good luck with a lot of older bottles), and we've recently converted him into a Burgophile (he was already a knowledgeable Bordeaux and Sauternes collector). As usual, Mischa provided memorable older wines, and some surprises. All the flights were poured double blind initially, with the exception of the starter '88 Krug and the '70 R-C with the droopy cork that sparked everything. The latter was, unfortunately, toast.
From l to r: George, Craig, Jonathan, Mark, Mischa et moi (with a week's worth of beard) - photo by Kristi with Mark's camera
Flight 1 - Champagne (1 Note)
A gorgeous start--I love this Champagne. And it was a treat for us that Mischa's wife Kristi was able to join us for a change.
Mischa and Kristi:
Flight 2 - Guess the Grand Cru (4 Notes)
This was our first blind flight. Mischa wasn't giving any clues. They all tasted like great Chardonnay, not Californian, and probably Burgundy Grand Cru. A few guessed Chevalier-Montrachet. I guessed Batard. I don't remember any spot on guesses about producers.
This was the only flight where we ranked our favorites, and the '01 Bernard Morey was easily the WOTF, with 4 votes for 1st place and 4 votes for 3rd. The '98 Pierre Morey was also great, but needs a few more years to open up. The '85 Ramonet had a most unusual nose and drank well for the first half hour or so, before taking a nose dive. We started with oysters to accompany this flight.
Flight 3 - DRC RIP (1 Note)
Here's what the Romanée-Conti looked like before we opened, with the cork floating tauntingly at the top. As we all predicted and feared, the damage was done, and this was unpleasant to smell but truly nasty to drink. I think Craig (or was it George?) pretty much nailed the smell as "the Devil's urine after an all-asparagus dinner."
Flight 4 - '88 Burgs (3 Notes)
Another blind flight. They all tasted like Grand Cru Burgundies, but what was the vintage? Most of us guessed '00 or '01. No one guessed they were as old as '88. These wines were in terrific shape for 20 years. I particularly loved the Bouchard. The Leroy tasted particularly young. Our dish for this flight was a very tasty appetizer of lamb riblets in brodo.
Flight 5 - Mystery Bordeaux (4 Notes)
Mischa told us there was a theme, but didn't otherwise give clues. They turned out to be great vintages of Gruaud Larose and Leoville Las Cases. The '59 LLC was particularly wonderful, and still has a long life ahead of it. The '49 Gruaud was clearly mature, but I would never have guessed almost 60 years old. The '45 LLC was, however, quite maderized. Mischa later informed us that he'd opened the '45 LLC and the '49 Gruaud with the sommelier/Audouze method around 3:30 pm. At the time, he said, the LLC smelled musty but there was no hint of maderization. The Gruaud reportedly smelled fantastic at that time, and Mischa reported that it had faded a bit by the time we drank it. So count Mischa as pretty dubious about the Audoze method for now. My course that went well with this flight was the ravioli of wild greens and ricotta with walnut sauce and parmesan.
Flight 6 - More Blind Reds (4 Notes)
So these seemed like mature Bordeaux, and turned out to be three Right Banks and one stray La La from the late '70s. All were very good, but the '78 Lafleur was particularly outstanding. Mischa took what was left of that, and a few other bottles, home, and reported that the Lafleur was even better the next day.
My course for this flight was grilled natural pork chop with pumpkin puree and mustard fruits.
Flight 7 - Massandra Flight (2 Notes)
Mischa has now shared several Massandras with us over the course of a number of dinners, and they are always a much appreciated treat. When these were poured blind, I guessed that both were Massandras. These made for a very tasty end to another amazing wine gathering.The '31 was especially stunning.
Craig, Jonathan and Mischa:
Closing
This group's one super power is--after consuming enough great wine--to be able to move our heads to different bodies. At least that is what David Niederauer's clever photoshopping might lead one to believe:
Personally I think Monsieur Dinh looks intimidating as a big guy, but that the svelter Craig looks pretty good. ;-)
1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 96 Points
France, Champagne
Medium golden yellow color; gorgeous, tasty, smoky, peach and creme caramel nose; delicious, smoky, toasty, tart peach, apricot, and mineral palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish 96+ pts.
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