David Niederauer Monday Wine Dinner - Yquem, Burgundies, SQNs, Massandra

The Plumed Horse Restaurant, Saratoga, California
Tasted Monday, January 26, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,703 views

Introduction

Another very fun evening with David and company at one of our favorite restaurants, with excellent food by Chef Peter, and lots of wonderful wines, mostly poured blind. As usual when David organizes a wine dinner (even on a Monday night like this) there is an abundance of great wine, a lot of blind flights, and exceptionally good food. Since we had a few newbies to the Plumed Horse that night, the menu was basically a "Plumed Horse's greatest hits" lineup, with the addition of a fabulous foie gras with a sauce of jalapeno pepper from which Peter had removed the seeds and therefore the heat, leaving only the tangy smoky flavor. Wonderful.
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Flight 1 - Cremant starter (1 Note)

Flight 2 - '07 Riesling Flight (3 Notes)

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With our oyster and caviar starter, this was a blind flight that turned out to be all from the same great recent vintage. The difference in styles was pretty stunning though. The Fritz Haag was WOTF for me and the group.

Flight 3 - Massandra (1 Note)

What a treat! Another fascinating Massandra. Mischa nailed the essence of the palate on this one with the phrase, "liquified fig newton."image

  • 1946 Massandra Tokay South Coast Crimea 93 Points

    Ukraine, Crimea

    Medium orange color with yellow and red lights; big, tart orange, plum and prune nose with a pine note; tasty, plum preserve, prune, preserved orange, "liquified fig newton," sugary coffee palate with a menthol pine note; long finish 93+ pts.

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Flight 4 - White Rhone-style flight (2 Notes)

Another blind flight. The SQN Hoodoo Man was so big and concentrated that it made the Copain Roussanne, which I've enjoyed before, seem almost watery by comparison. The delicious dish--always a favorite at Plumed Horse--was the black pepper and parmesan souffle with dungeness crab and uni fondue.
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  • 2006 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard 90 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    Bright, light canary yellow color; suave lemon, oat and vanilla nose; tart lemon, mineral palate with high acidity; medium finish

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  • 2006 Sine Qua Non The Hoodoo Man 92 Points

    USA, California

    Light butter yellow color; tart lemon, lemon rind, mineral nose with a floral quality and touch of VA; slightly oily textured, tart, narrow, concentrated lemon rind, vanilla and mineral palate; medium-plus finish (WOTF; the concentration made the Copain Roussanne seem watery by comparison)

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Flight 5 - Yquem (1 Note)

The stunning '01 Yquem--a tropical party in a glass--was the delicious accompaniment to our seared foie gras with onion chutney, duck, Riesling and jalapeno jus. Yum!
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  • 2001 Château d'Yquem 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    From 375 - bright canary yellow color; big, tropical fruit, orange cream, coconut, lemon and creamy lime nose; rich, delicious, ripe lemon, lime and orange cream palate; long finish 96+ pts. (drinking remarkably well now, but with so much potential for additional complexity)

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Flight 6 - Older Burg (and Pinot) flight (5 Notes)

Another blind flight, served with petrale sole with oxtail marmalade, lotus chip and pickled ramp foam. The Leroy Les Boudots was the group's, and my, WOTF. The '01 Kosta Browne Cohn, which was never commercially released because it had too much brett, came in 2nd for the group.
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  • 1990 Domaine François Lamarche Echezeaux 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Dark raspberry red color, opaque and a little cloudy; tart herbal red fruit and iron nose, a little savory; solid tart dried cherry palate, very tart, with depth; medium-plus finish

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  • 1972 Domaine Louis Remy Clos de la Roche 90 Points

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

    Medium bricking red color with cloudy sediment and clear meniscus; dried orange, iron, dried berry and barnyard nose; mature, earthy, smoky tart red fruit, horehound, mineral and gravy palate, tart and tannic; medium finish

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  • 2001 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Cohn 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    Medium bricking cherry red color with pale meniscus; brett, cinnamon, big red fruit nose; tart red fruit, cinnamon, rosehips and iron palate with high acidity; medium finish 90+ pts. (runner up for WOTF)

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  • 1988 Domaine Machard de Gramont Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Hauts Pruliers 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges

    Bricking, medium orange red color; earthy, chlorine and meat jus nose; tart mature red fruit, mushroom and rosehips palate, a little dried out; medium finish 87+ pts.

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  • 1998 Domaine Leroy Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

    Slightly cloudy, bricking, medium raspberry red color; tart dried berry, dried cherry nose with a touch of orange; tasty tart minerally red fruit, cinnamon, orange and dried cherry palate; medium finish (WOTF for me and the group)

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Flight 7 - taste of Twin Oaks (1 Note)

Mark Weiner, of Twin Oaks, joined us midway through the meal, and opened this La Encantada Vineyard Pinot for us, which was very nice, despite some brettiness.

Flight 8 - Younger Pinot flight (5 Notes)

Another blind flight, this time served with roast Peking squab on a yellow chive pancake with bok choy and tamarind glaze. In this lineup, the one Burgundy was the clear WOTF for the group, and me, a delicious '01 Arnoux. The '04 Williams Selyem Central Coast was also quite good.
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Flight 9 - Syrah intermezzo (1 Note)

We needed some Syrah for the next course, a filet mignon on a parker house roll with truffle au jus (i.e., a Plumed Horse slider). This excellent SQN Syrah more than fit the bill.
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  • 2005 Sine Qua Non Syrah Atlantis Fe2O3~1a, b & c 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast

    Deep opaque dark red violet color; lovely liquid pepper and roasted red fruit nose; concentrated pepper and roasted red and black fruit palate, a little hot; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.

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Flight 10 - Sweet close (1 Note)

Our sweet close was twofold: first an orange ginger foam and shizo tapioco, followed by the yuzu souffle with lime salt. The latter went particularly well with the SQN Noble Man (which seems to get better and better every time I try it).
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Closing

Many thanks again to David, for knowing how to make a Monday a very special evening.

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