Jonathan Dinh 4th Annual Magnum Birthday Dinner
Donato Enoteca, Redwood City, California
Tasted Monday, December 28, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,062 views
Introduction
l to r: Richard, Mark, Mark, Jonathan, Craig and Mischa
This was a fun, large-scale wine dinner as usual, with 19 guests, and everyone bringing either one large format bottle or two regular size bottles of the same thing. Our room at Donato Enoteca was opulent and spacious, with plenty of room for staging the wines, and for our mass quantities of stemware on the table. Most of our wines showed very well, a few of the younger ones being, as expected, a little too tight and youthful in large format. The only real dud was the '88 Clerget Meursault. In a couple of cases where we had two regular size bottles, one was noticeably better than the other, especially with our '86 Gruaud Larose, where one of the bottles was corked. A good size plurality voted the '00 Groffier Chambertin Clos de Beze the WOTN, a judgment with which I concurred. My next favorite wines were the '97 Insignia, the good bottle of '86 Gruaud Larose, the '94 Dofi, the '02 Pride Cab Franc and our "emergency Champagne" at the end, the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle. Donato did a very good job on the food as well.
It was great to see Jonathan, who hasn't been in our area since April, as well as his gorgeous sister, who I only get to see once a year at this dinner. Guests came from Sonoma and other points around the Bay, but our farthest travelers were a couple who made the trip from Shanghai for the dinner. Thanks to Jonathan for keeping this fun annual tradition going, and to Mark for arranging things with his usual organizational finesse with the restaurant.
Flight 1 - Champagne warm up (2 Notes)
Our birthday boy started us off with a couple of mags of Champagne. The Perrier Jouet Grand Brut was, for me, easily the best of the two, and surprisingly good, with the Veuve Fourny seeming a little tired already for an '02.
Flight 2 - Chardonnay Flight (3 Notes)
The '02 Boillot was the easy winner of WOTF in this flight. Our food course for this flight, Anitpastino di Mare, consisted of seared scallops with Fregola, grilled Monterey Bay calamari, and poached prawns with watercress and basil olive oil.
Flight 3 - Cali Pinot Flight (2 Notes)
This was a "tweener whackage" flight, sans food. The '78 Hanzell initially came off as oxidized, but made a miraculous recovery after 10 - 15 minutes in the glass. The '84 Mount Eden was very good, consistent with the few times I've tried it in the past.
Flight 4 - Burgundy Flight (3 Notes)
This was a really stunning flight, and my favorite of the evening. The Pommard and NSG were very true to their climats, and excellent examples of both. The Clos de Beze, while still youthful, was lovely and balanced. Our course for this dish was Agnolotti del Plin, housemade small ravioli of three "meats": sausage, veal and tomato and onion; braised Niman Ranch oxtail, Sangiovese, asparagus tips and bigoli pasta.
Flight 5 - Cali Cabs Flight (3 Notes)
The '93 Beringer, in large format, performed much better than when I've had it in regular format in the past. The Insignia and Pride Cab Franc were both youthful but excellent. Our dish for this flight didn't exactly fit the wines, but was very tasty on its own: Filetto di Branzino.
Flight 6 - Spanish & Italian Flight (2 Notes)
Another tweener whackage flight, without a food course. Both wines were young yet, but the Dofi was showing a lot of complexity. Both have many years to go.
Flight 7 - Left Bank Bordeaux Flight (2 Notes)
Our two Left Bank Bordeaux were natural allies to our final meat dish: Vitellino e Funghi, roasted white veal loin with mixed wild mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. The good bottle of '86 Gruaud showed very well.
Flight 8 - Cheese wine (1 Note)
It was a treat to try this 50-year-old vintage of a lesser St. Emilion. I didn't expect that much, but was pleased at how well the wine was holding up, even in regular format.
Flight 9 - "Emergency" Champagne refresher (1 Note)
A celebration this big somehow required some additional, last minute Champagne. This bottle was a beauty, although not quite as strong as when I've had it on a couple prior occasions.
NV Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum - light golden yellow color; powdery, tart citrus, tart peach nose; tasty tart peach, citrus, mineral palate with depth and balance; medium finish
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2002 Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Millésime 91 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
From magnum - light golden yellow color; tart lemon, yeasty, dough nose; surprisingly mature tasting, creamy textured, tart lemon, baked lemon palate, lacking structure; medium finish
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