Farewell Party and a Lunch to Consume the Leftovers

On Saturday night, we hosted a farewell party for our friends Jonathan and Samantha, who are moving to HK. We had a lot of leftover gumbo, we had my cousin Richard, his wife Naoko, and the kids over for an early dinner on Sunday.

I've just found a merchant in Tokyo with a nice selection of Champagnes that goes beyond the everyday and at very reasonable prices, at least in Tokyo terms. This was a nice occasion to sample a few. We had these with Parmigiano puff pastry crusts, a spinach/artichoke dip, broiled breaded mushrooms, and shrimp braised in an herby wine broth.

• NV Gonet-Médeville Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Perle Noire Brut

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (10/22/2005)

  Rich gold with bright flashes from the stream of the persistent but large-beaded mousse. A very generous nose of ripe apple and fresh sweet (but slightly musky) stone fruit. Some nut and toasted yeasty bread add complexity. In the mouth, this is more to the creamy than cutting side, showing more of the same fruit, a bit of gingery spice, and just a touch of mushroom. There’s a lot of body here, but also a surprising degree of balance. Good complexity and very well integrated. On the finish, just enough acidity to keep this round style interesting through several glasses. A very generous wine, but still in balance. At $40 in Tokyo, another good value.

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• NV Tarlant Champagne Zero Brut Nature

  France, Champagne

  (10/22/2005)

  Light yellow with just a hint of gold. Tight mousse of small, persistent bubbles. Lean nose with no hints of the wood aging, but with crisp apple and green plum notes. Nose is very, very tight but pleasantly lean and bright. The palate is where it really happens with this wine. More of the green plum, allied to a nice minerality and a little walnut-like astringency. The non-dosage austerity is stylistically dominant, but there is just a little roundness and the slightest toasty sweetness that takes the edge off. I really like the way the two elements marry here. For $29 in Tokyo, this is a hell of a value. The austere style will keep it from being an all-purpose wine, but this definitely goes into the house wine rotation.

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• NV Pommery Champagne Brut Royal

  France, Champagne

  (10/22/2005)

  Fresh yellow with small mousse. Great persistence on the mousse, as it was still fresh and full 24 hours after opening (after sitting in refrigerator stopped with a regular wine cork). Nose is clean and crisp with apple, a little bit of toast, and a sweet lemon peel element. Palate is dominated by tart apple, more citrus, and some rising dough. Finish comes off a little short and begins to cloy a bit near the bottom of the glass. Finishes fresher (and a little longer) the second day, so I suspect this may need to rest in bottle for a year or two. Relatively simple, but good cocktail party wine at $25. Shows well versus other large houses whose basic Brut NV wines are hard to find here under $40.

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With a slightly spicy chicken/sausage/okra gumbo, it was hard to think of a perfect match, but we tried two things. In addition to the Côtes de Rhone, we also served the Bonhomme Viré Clessé described further below (because I didn't do more than give it a TCA-testing whiff until the next day). Tough match, particularly at a party where most guests are nowhere near the geek range so safe choices are in order. In a geeky crowd, I'd be more adventurous and maybe get a tighter match, but these worked pretty darn well.

• 2001 Mas de Boislauzon Côtes du Rhône Villages

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages

  (10/22/2005)

  Deep red just lightening at rim. Red berry fruit on the nose, along with a little spice, dust, and herby pine. Palate is smooth and fully mature with very little tannin and just enough acid to keep it all together. Fruit is the same red berries as on the nose, but with a little dark cherry as well. Earth and fruit sweetness lead the medium finish. Since tasting a year ago, this has lost a bit of lush sweetness, but picked up an earthiness that is appealing. Drinking at peak.

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With toasted pecans and conversation.

• NV Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (10/23/2005)

  Nice light tawny pink rose color with fine and fresh mousse. Nose starts with the slightest hint of red berry, then moves into stone fruit and a little citrus. Behind all of this is a complex layer of toast (not yeast) and sunny warm mineral. Palate just screams structure with the darker spine of pinot fruit combining with nice but round acidity to keep this strong and fresh. Apricot and light berry notes form the core of the fruit. Finish picks up a bit of creaminess which smoothes out the big structure. The bubbles are there all the time, but this presents much more as a nicely balanced wine that happens to have bubbles. Complex and pleasing, but probably needs a few years for a little more integration. Another good buy in Tokyo terms at $36.

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The Bonhomme was begun with the last of the pecans and finished with the gumbo. The Thanisch was begun with the gumbo and finished alone as we relaxed before dessert. I didn't expect a perfect match, but wanted to check in on the Thanisch so thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how Auslese sweetness and nerve matched with the gumbo.

• 2002 Domaine André Bonhomme Viré-Clessé

  France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Viré-Clessé

  (10/23/2005)

  Deep straw gold and very bright. Rich, sweet nose of citrus and peach/apricot framed by a bit of round new oak. Nose is strong and penetrating, offering additional background hints of brulee and cream that almost suggest riesling. On the palate, the oak is there but well integrated into this very rich wine. A streak of mineral supports the ripe fruit. There is much, much more acid than one would expect from the nose and the wine achieves a good balance, particularly on a long finish that has distinct sweet notes but never cloys. This is not the Cuvee Speciale, but still presents as if there were some residual sugar. Smaller but similar in style to the Guffens-Heynan offerings, this paired pretty well with the thick and moderately spicy gumbo over rice – something I would have a hard time seeing most Chardonnay doing.

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• 2001 Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch (Müller-Burggraef) Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  (10/23/2005)

  Bright gold with the slightest green hints and a tiny spritz. Strong initial whiff of sulphur on a closed nose. With a little vigorous aeration, the sulphur blew off and revealed rich aromas of sweet citrus peel, baked apple, and cream. The lime/peach/honey/sweet pastry palate showed a little smaller and tighter than I had expected for an Auslese from this vintage, but that was to the good as a strong core of acidity combined with the very slight spritz to keep this fresh. A streak of slatey mineral was evident in the full mid-palate and stepped up to dominate the sweet finish. This is still very young and I expect the palate to grow a little in size and generosity with another eight to ten years of cellar time. Not up to a Prum standard, but a pleasant surprise from this producer. Best on its own and the spatlese version would probably have been a bit better match, but this was restrained and taut enough to work moderately well against the spicy gumbo. Not a perfect match but an interesting experiment.

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With assorted pastries featuring cream, citrus, berries, and nuts. (Plus a chocolate one or two for the kids. As expected, the chocolate ones were not good wine matches.)

• 1996 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

  (10/23/2005)

  (from 500 ml) Orange-tinted gold, bright and viscous. Nose is immediately dominated by an array of dried and candied fruits including orange and apricot. I sniff again to look for that tang of botrytis and find the honey, but not the tang. On the palate, initial impression is of texture – rich and honeyed. This is followed by more of the candied fruit and honey, along with just a touch of citrus fruit acid. Finish is long and rich but a little one dimensional and even seems a little fat on the second glass. Three notable things missing: any of the oak notes that have troubled others, any sense of the strong acidity or botrytis tang that I would expect, and any real minerality. Glad to see the oak has integrated, but I worry that there is not enough botrytis or acid for this to go the long haul and age to the complexity it should have. Perhaps I’m catching it at an awkward stage. It’s perfectly enjoyable but just doesn’t have the zippy mineral excitement that makes me love sweet Loire wines so much.

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Sad to see Jonathan and Samantha go, but nice to have an occasion to taste through a little Champagne. I'm definitely psyched about finding a new merchant in Tokyo with a good selection of Champagne at reasonable prices.