Winter's Weakening Death Grip
Tasted March 10, 2011 by Dave Dalluge with 890 views
Introduction
Brad Ballinger invited a small group over for some home cooking and an eclectic line-up of wines. Other participants included Steve Sigmond, Dave McMahan, Brad England and Craig Vanderah.
Flight 1 - Champagne (3 notes)
Brad started with an excellent smoked whitefish and a selection of cheeses. These proved to be perfect with the champagne.
White - Sparkling
2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne
France, Champagne
This is a huge step up in quality from the previous two champagnes. Beautiful nose with clean aromas of lemon/citrus and mineral. As the mousse fades flavors of lemon, bread dough and mineral take over. Well balanced. Great intensity. Long, satisfying finish. I had high expectations for this one and it delivered in a big way.
Flight 2 - White Burgundy (2 notes)
These were served with crab cakes made by Craig's wife Nita and Brad's chipotle mayonnaise. My only complaint was that the crab cakes were too small and there were too few of them. Otherwise they were perfect and an excellent pairing for the white Burgs.
White
2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
This proved to be a bit perplexing. Big, California-esque nose of ripe citrus, butter, oak and vanilla (no Leflaive smoke/match stick?). In the mouth this seemed big with expressive fruit, great balance (just barely enough acidity), great weight (almost full-bodied) and a great long finish. As much as I liked this, it has to be considered a bit disappointing given the lack of Leflaive-ness.
White
2005 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Wow, has this improved since I last had it about four years ago. Pale yellow color. Awesome nose giving a unique expression of aromas featuring citrus fruit, honey, toasty oak/smoke, mineral and cut grass(?). Most intense and while hard to describe, easy to love. In the mouth this has great intensity from the attack through the finish. Expansive flavors surprise given this seems barely mid-weight and amazingly elegant. Perfectly balanced. Beautiful finish with long, ringing flavors. This is a first class white Burgundy, and probably the best Corton-Charlemagne I've ever had.
Flight 3 - Lots of Reds ... (5 notes)
Brad put together a perfect late-winter dish starring beef chuck eye roast braised on barolo served with mashed potatoes and hericot verts. This was very tasty and paired really well with all of the wines served.
Red
2002 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Very light red color. Soaring nose of red fruit and spice with some brown sugar and mineral. You almost hate to start drinking given how elegant and thrilling the nose is. Equally elegant in the mouth, but less intense. Barely mid-weight. Perfectly balanced. Fine grained tannins still present on the finish. Really great wine.
Red
1990 Château Clinet
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Damn. The plan was a throwdown between this and the '90 L'Evangile. Unfortunately this smelled and tasted swampy. Not corked and not obviously heat damaged, but undrinkable nonetheless.
Red
1990 Château L'Evangile
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
The nose is most impressive with dark fruit, dried herbs and espresso. A big step up in the mouth with complex flavors, great weight, fine grain/elegant tannins, and an satisfying finish. Maybe not up to my lofty expectations, but a thrilling bottle of wine.
Red
1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Added to the Bordeaux flight due to the bad bottles. When first popped and poured this was incredible. Big, effusive nose dominated by blackberry fruit, herbs and a nuanced bell pepper. Maybe a little tighter/sterner in the mouth, but still impressive with a tannic/drying finish. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes this closed down hard. Hard enough that all joy was gone and it became joyless/pointless to drink. My advice to Brad B was to pour this at a party for 15-20 people so it didn't sit around long. There could be some academic interest in tasting this after another 5-10 years but I'd be a bit worried about its long-term viability.
Flight 4 - Life's NOT Too Short For Village Wines (2 notes)
Siggy delivered some bottles of the '06 I'd asked him to pick up for me after his recent thread and somehow we decided it might be time to pop one and see what we thought. Brad added a bottle of the '02 and it proved to be a good flight to bridge the time from the entree to the dessert. Great call by Siggy by the way. I'm glad to have five more bottles of this.
Red
2006 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
Young but thrilling nose featuring strawberry, spice and some oak. Beautiful on the palate with concentrated red fruit. Borders on being too lush, but there's just enough structure to keep it balanced. Slightly tannic on the otherwise nice finish. Give this 3-5 years in the cellar and it should become even more special.
Red
2002 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
Dark fruit, earth and coffee on the nose. Red fruit and cinnamon on the palate but with some sour acidity (I wrote grapefruit). Mid-weight. Nice finish. Probably showed better on this night, but I suspect the '06 will be the better wine over the long term.
Flight 5 - Dessert (1 note)
Brad served a killer dessert of challah bread pudding with piloncilo syrup. Wow was this excellent. The wine he poured to pair with it was equally profound. Definitely a spectacular end to a most enjoyable evening. Thanks for the hospitality Brad.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1979 Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles Don PX Gran Reserva
Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles
I had no real interest in tasting this given all the wine already consumed, but that would have been a mistake. This was most impressive with dark fruit, fig and plum on the nose. The intensity of the flavors on the palate are almost unequalled in my experience. Deep, complex and thrilling. Pairing this with the bread pudding was brilliant. I may have to seek out some half-bottles of this to enjoy over a longer period of time so I can carefully confirm my appraisal.
Closing
Thanks to Brad for hosting us and doing such an excellent job on the food. The pace was leisurely which proved appropriate given the number of wines to be poured. I'd call Craig's Corton=Charlemagne as wine of the night, followed closely by the Dom Perignon and the Don PX Gran Reserva.
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