Champagne and Burgs #2
Tasted September 29, 2010 by Dave Dalluge with 693 views
Introduction
A small group of us (Craig Vanderah, Steve Sigmond, Brad England, Chris Palm and me) met at the La Belle Vie lounge in Minneapolis for food, wine and conversation. This lounge is one of the best dining rooms in the Twin Cities; its absolutely perfect for our wine dinners -- great ambiance, great service and great food. The theme was Champagne and Burgundy which I'm happy to say everyone complied with this week (probably Brad's influence). We ordered the five course bar tasting menu and then added some pre-dinner appetizers and few extra courses along the way. All of the food at La Belle Vie is beautifully conceived, perfectly executed and aesthetically stunning. It is also subtle enough in most cases to pair well with the wines.
Flight 1 - Champagne and White Burgs (5 notes)
All of these ended up showing well (although I probably didn't focus enough on the Clos des Goisses due to my fixation on the two Pol Rogers).
White - Sparkling
1999 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses
France, Champagne
Pale yellow color. The nose delivers clean, fresh fruit. Good intensity but somewhat one-dimensional. Somewhat compact on the palate but with good fruit and minerality. Drying finish. Based on this tasting I would be reluctant to open these for a few years based on this bottle, as it delivered more potential than joy tonight.
White - Sparkling
1988 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill
France, Champagne
Of somewhat dubious provenance and showing considerably older than the '98 Winston Churchill -- but still most enjoyable. The nose shows some oxidation/maderization, but has otherwise thrilling aromas of lemon, orange, herb/Drambuie. On the palate this has an unctuous/savory taste of orange marmalade. The initial attack is somewhat muted, but flavors kick-in by mid-palate and the finish has great intensity and a delightful blast of acidity culminating a long, satisfying finish. I suspect perfect bottles would show considerably better but despite the oxidation I enjoyed this a lot.
White - Sparkling
1998 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill
France, Champagne
Pale yellow color. The nose is far brighter than the '88 with tons of fresh fruit, some bread dough/yeast and exotic floral notes. On the palate there are tons of bubbles and clean citrus flavors that coat the palate. Great balance with nice acidity building towards the long, clean finish. This is just a baby and in need of many years in the cellar but is drinking pretty well already.
White
2002 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
This was popped and poured. Craig had given up on it as oxidized (and opened the Le Clos) before I even got a taste. I thought it was great. The nose had a heavy dose of vanilla and honey but was constantly evolving and definitely improved throughout the night. This had great texture on the palate. Flavors started somewhat compact but opened up nicely in time. Packed with fruit but with nice structure/acidity. Great length on the finish. Most enjoyable.
White
2002 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Craig's back-up bottle. Awesome Chablis nose of grapefruit and mineral. Equally great in the mouth with palate-coating flavors, elegance, excellent balance and a long, intense finish. Lacking a bit of complexity relative to the Jadot, but made up for that with intensity.
Flight 2 - Red Burgundy (6 notes)
We devoted more time than usual to the champagne and whites. Both the Vogue and the Faiveley were disappointing relative to the rest of the wines opened. La Belle Vie's sommelier Alex spent a good deal of time with us when we moved into these wines. I think he tasted pretty much everything. Steve had an '04 Leroy Vosne-Romanee ready to go but we decided we had enough wine open. Talk of Leroy caused Alex to talk about the '02 Leroy Bourgogne Blanc on their wine list and before we knew what was happening we had another round of stems containing this wine. Timing was pretty good since one of the added courses was a spring vegetable risotto that paired really well with it.
Red
1996 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
Light cherry red color. Soaring nose exuding black fruits, mineral, spice and even a hint of brown sugar. Extremely fragrant and really, really nice. The taste is also excellent giving dark cherry and spice in a balanced, elegant style. If anything this is a little lighter, less intense on the palate than you would expect given the great nose, but this only became apparent after repeated tastings and discussion among the group. Tannins are fully resolved and the finish is excellent. This is really everything you can hope for from a high-end Burgundy. Spectacular stuff.
Red
1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Popped and poured. The nose shows sweeter red fruit than the Dujac but with big funky barnyard aromas (brett?). The taste is dominated by dark fruit with some licorice and cola/root beer notes. I wrote "etherial" which I take to mean it was much lighter on the palate than expected. This had great balance and nice length on the finish. I suspect this had a dose a brett that most of the group disliked. I thought it was a decent enough wine, but given all the other great choices it went unfinished.
Red
1998 Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Wow was this impressive. The nose was very similar to the Dujac with a little dirtier fruit but soaring aromatics. Equally great in the mouth with dark fruit flavors that expand across the palate. Great weight and great texture along with perfect balance create an impressive elegance. Still showing some tannin. Decent length on the finish. Brad has been a big fan of this wine and now I see why. It has everything you could want from a high-end Burg.
Red
2001 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
My second go at this wine and this was far more memorable. This has a great nose of dark fruit, spice and cinnamon -- somewhat reserved and brooding but really pleasant nonetheless. On the palate this comes across as younger and much more closed/structured than the preceding wines but with great flavor intensity and excellent balance. This is still surprisingly tannic on the otherwise nice finish. This was fun to try, but based on this bottle I would recommend holding these for at least five years before trying again.
White
2002 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc
We were sharing/discussing with the Sommelier and suddenly he left, returning moments later with this wine and six new stems. Initially served way too cold. As it opened up it showed a nice but simple nose of honey and fresh fruit. Adds some mineral to the taste, has excellent balance and a long, clean finish. Pretty impressive bourgogne blanc, but I'm sure there are better options at this price point.
Red
2001 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
The nose is dominated by barnyard/brett. On the palate this shows as compact and tannic with more structure than fruit. Not sure what to say about this one. Surely closed down. Likely afflicted with brett. Not a favorite.
Closing
It was a great night of conversation and wine. Having Alex (the sommelier) hang out with us as time permitted was also fun as it didn't seem like he'd had a lot of these wines.
I'd call wine of the night a draw between the Dujuac CSD and the Leroy Charmes. Both were beautiful wines at a good point in their development.
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