Wines with Nita's Tasting Menu
Tasted October 27, 2010 by Dave Dalluge with 646 views
Introduction
Craig's wife Nita volunteered to prepare a multi-course tasting menu for a small gathering of Craig's wine friends. I was lucky enough to be invited. The food was both interesting and well executed. It was obvious a lot of work went into the food, and everything was excellent -- a perfect occasion to open some nice wines.
Flight 1 - Champagne (4 notes)
Nita started the meal with homemade potato chips with a pan-fried onion dip along with a cheese plate as we gathered and sampled some champagne. I got stuck in traffic and arrived 30 minutes late. There was only a small pour of each champagne available so my notes are a little sparse, but the chips were excellent.
Flight 2 - Butternut Squash Soup (1 note)
Excellent soup topped with a swirl of cream laced with apple that really added a nice layer to the taste. Paired pretty well weight-wise with the Rayas, although I wonder if the slight bitterness on the finish of the Rayas wasn't pairing related.
White
2004 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Réserve
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Subtle nose of honey (?) with floral notes. Heavy honey and fruit on the palate. Some acidity near the finish. Decent length. Almost turns bitter at the finish but that could be the combo with the butternut squash soup. Overall nice but a little flat.
Flight 3 - Crab-Stuffed Shrimp with Lemon Vinaigrette Frisee (2 notes)
It's hard to dislike shrimp stuffed with crab! The vinaigrette was also excellent with enough flavor to have a presence without overwhelming anything. Paired great with both wines, although weight-wise the Lafon was a better match. Both wines were great, although the Lafon seemed the younger of the two and the one most in need of many more years of aging (if it weren't for the risk of that damn premox).
White
2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Désirée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Clear gold color. Reserved but pretty nose with some cinnamon/spice. Awesome flavors on the palate with great intensity and expansiveness. Honey, fruit, oak and mineral. Great balance with exhilarating acidity. Long, satisfying finish. A delight.
Flight 4 - Coq Au Vin (2 notes)
Chef Nita prepared an excellent rendition of coq au vin that paired well with the two red Burgundies. The '04 Leroy is an ugly sucker to look at with its cloudy brown color, but wow is it something special to smell and taste. I am generally a huge fan of Mugnier, but this bottle just didn't rock me. It lacked the subtle sensuality that is usually present with Mugnier. Almost more like a young Vogue Musigny than Mugnier 1er. It's desperately in need of many more years of cellaring.
Red
2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
Cloudy red color. Awesome nose of sour cherry, spice and pepper. No brett in this bottle. Great taste of sour red cherry, earth and mineral. Really coats the palate. Endearing acidity builds from mid-palate through the finish. Great flavors from attack through mid-palate with a great, long, satisfying finish. Great, great stuff.
Red
2002 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Awesome nose of red fruit/kirsch with spice and earth. Very pretty but lacking complexity that will almost certainly develop in time. The taste gives structured red fruit with deep flavors of red cherry. Compact and less silky than I would expect. Turns almost sour on the finish with quite a bit of tannin, but still really great. Long finish. This is my first taste of this wine so I don't have a lot of experience here, but I suspect it is somewhat closed down at the moment and will develop into a real beauty with another 5+ years in the cellar.
Flight 5 - Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce (1 note)
Craig grabbed a bonus bottle of Rioja to fill the gap between Burgundy and Rhone. This was a recent purchase by Craig and showed really well given unknown provenance. Also a pretty good pairing -- The meatballs disappeared incredibly fast.
Red
1998 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Red fruit on the nose. Simple red fruit and mineral on the palate with nice intensity but relatively simple. Mild tannin (?). Nice length on the finish. Based on this bottle I wouldn't hold these much longer.
Flight 6 - "The Dubuquer" (3 notes)
Craig and Nita are both from Iowa, so this must represent what they grew up -- sliced roast beef on bread with mashed potatoes and gravy. Maybe not such an inspired pairing but homey and comforting food nonetheless.
Red
2006 Stéphane Vedeau Hermitage J. Boutin "Arena Mica"
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Black fruit and pepper on the nose. Liquor-like but controlled, Layered and nuanced despite its youth. Beautiful. Deep, rich cherry fruit on the palate. Very tannic. Should age really well and become even more impressive with time.
Red
2001 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The nose delivers a soaring expression of CdP with red fruit, dried herbs, leather, black olives, licorice and garrigue. Almost liquor-like in its intensity and truly spectacular. The taste is equally compelling, offering a blend of liquor-like dark fruit, dried herbs, and licorice. The fruit is extremely concentrated yet the balance is perfect. This is still fairly tannic, but the finish is long and satisfying.
Flight 7 - Profiteroles with Coffee Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce (1 note)
Wow, what a dessert! Just beautiful. We sipped on the remaining Rhones while eating this. Conversation was continuing well after everyone was done eating and the wine had disappeared so I grabbed a bonus bottle I had brought along. This is a wine that Steve and I tasted at the domaine back in 2006. If anything it showed even better on this occasion.
Red
1997 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Huge nose with pronounced aromas of bacon and smoke mixed with red fruit and mineral. Quite impressive! Mid-weight on the palate with good balance and nice flavor intensity giving mostly tart red fruit. Still fairly tannic. Nice balance. No hurry to drink these -- they should continue to develop for some time yet.
Closing
Thanks to Craig and Nita for a very fun night. What time should we be there next week?
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