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Ninth Annual White Truffle Dinner
Chez Weber - Chicago IL
Tasted December 7, 2013 by Burgundy Al with 724 views
Introduction
The usual suspects, the usual 500 grams of beautiful white truffle, foraged just days before.
Flight 1 - As People Arrived (1 note)
Served with smoked trout
Rosé - Sparkling
1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut
93 points
From magnum. Very fresh and energetic. Lots of apple, raspberry. Long and lively with just the most faint hints of bread. Excellent.
Flight 2 - An Egg with White Truffle (3 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Krug Champagne Brut Rosé
92 points
I don't recall the disgorgement date. Forward fruit aromas and flavors with apple and strawberry both prominent and charming with some yeasty notes on finish. At a very good place now. I liked this a lot, others liked it more than I did tonight.
Rosé - Sparkling
1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé
94 points
I don't recall having this wine in many years and was thrilled with how well it showed tonight. Lots of lemon and strawberry on nose and palate. Great power and structure with increasing intensity towards long finish. My favorite of tonight's great Champagne flight.
Rosé - Sparkling
2002 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut
93 points
Also mostly showcasing bright red berries with a very enticing spice note in the middle and sensational minerality and acidity from start-to-finish. Certainly needs more time in the cellar but great potential here.
Flight 3 - Pappardelle with White Truffle (4 notes)
White
2000 Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet
92 points
Ripe apple flavors and aromas with some charming woodsy spice on nose as well. At a great place now, but this was a little more advanced than I'd expect from a top producer's 2000 Montrachet. I always enjoy this wine, but have found reasonable bottle variation.
White
2006 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Dent de Chien
91 points
Fat, lush and very ripe apple and peach comes through on both nose and palate. Seemed very "2006" at first glance but plenty of structure came through middle to finish, particularly with food, that gave this wonderful balance. Drinking well now, I expect it will evolve nicely over the next few years.
White
2005 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Dent de Chien
91 points
Ripe apple aromas with a bit of pronounced new oak spice. Lots of density and power on palate, but the structural elements didn't all seem perfectly integrated. Good today with good potential, but not quite as exciting as another bottle opened from a different case a few months ago. But perhaps that previous bottle benefited from more attention over a full dinner vs tonight's limited time in one flight with one course of food.
Flight 4 - Scallops with Pea Puree and White Truffle (3 notes)
White
2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte
91 points
Ripe stone fruit start with some baking spice. Ripe and mature flavors, lots of concentration, good background spice. More advanced than I would expect. If served blind, I'd have most likely thought this from 1999 or 2000. Drink up, if this bottle is representative.
White
2004 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Le Montrachet
93 points
I don't recall trying this wine since I tasted it at the Domaine in 2006. Lots of elegant orchard fruit aromas and flavors with great acidity and minerality. Very harmonious and regal. Montrachet at its understated best.
White
2009 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus
90 points
Nice floral start with apple and some peach aromas. Fat fruit flavors with firm structure that today comes across as slightly awkward, not yet fully integrated. Upside potential as its harmonizes.
Flight 5 - Quail with Mushroom Stuffing and White Truffle (3 notes)
White
1994 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand
91 points
Ripe apple and orange zest aromas. Similar flavors with a rich, sweet character with slightly candied fruit. Good power and intensity. Slightly sweeter than I'd prefer, but that's the vintage.
White
1994 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain
89 points
Tropical fruit aromas and flavors, also showing the sweetness of the vintage. Easy to enjoy, just a little one dimensional.
White
1991 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain
93 points
Bright color, incredibly fresh overall. Apple, some pear and orange. Very good energy and minerality. Easily my favorite of the flight, most others agreed.
Flight 6 - Risotto with White Truffle (3 notes)
Red
1970 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Montefico
90 points
Incredibly pale tea color. Nice floral start with dried rose petal, some mushroom, very mature red cherry aromas. Subtle and nuanced flavors, still interesting but lost in the flight.
Red
1971 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Arione Di Serralunga
97 points
Truly sensational in every way. Lots of mature red fruit with great spice and modest floral notes. So much finesse, this kept showing additional textures and nuances through long, long finish. Wine of the Night. Last few ounces were still sensational the next night.
Red
1974 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Speciale
95 points
Very similar to another bottle from earlier this year, great concentration and complexity start-to-finish. Lots of floral elements, anise, red cherry and lots of spice. Long and very well textured.
Flight 7 - Duck Confit with Quinoa and White Truffle (3 notes)
Red
1987 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
90 points
Open several hours before serving. Blackberry and plum. Black pepper and game hints. Moderate density and length. Good today.
Red
1980 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
92 points
Open several hours before serving. Black fruit aromas and flavors that were bright and fresh for the wine' sage, with good black pepper, allspice. Bold start , moderate length and finesse.
Red
1982 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
93 points
Open several hours before serving. Mature black fruit aromas and flavors with some charming sweet baking spice and black pepper with some sautéed mushroom character. My favorite of the flight, even if this comes across as more advanced than the 1980 vintage in the same flight. Next time I'd give this less air before serving.
Flight 8 - Prime aged Steak with Foie Gras, Fingerling Potato Cooked in Duck Fat...and White Truffle (2 notes)
Red
1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba
92 points
Open several hours before serving. Ripe red cherry aromas and flavors with hints of tobacco, clove, smoked meat and fresh mushroom in the background. Moderate intensity. Lots of upside from here.
Red
1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba
93 points
Open several hours before serving. Starts with dried roses, baking spice, anise, espresso aromas with very ripe and lush red cherry. Similar fruit flavors with slightly more depth, length and complexity vs the Falletto from the same vintage in the next glass.
Flight 9 - Odds and Ends (7 notes)
Red
1997 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin
93 points
Very ripe black fruit aromas and flavors with modest spice. Mature fruit, clearly at its peak, it with enough concentration that I expect this will hold at this quality level for 10 years. Very good textures and balance given the level of ripeness.
Red
2006 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin
93 points
Very ripe black fruit with lots of spice and floral aromas. Very forward and charming but with an underlying structure that makes this a sturdy 2006 with a long life gong forward. Served alongside the (also ripe) 1997, this is a clearly superior wine with better balance.
Red
1964 Domaine Montrieux Grands-Echezeaux
Old, tired and not much of interest. Bottle had great color, great fill.
Red
2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée
92 points
Charming with wonderful red fruit and lots of classic Vosne spice. Consistent with other examples of Leroy 2004, this comes across as being 20 years older, even while very pleasurable.
Red
1998 Claude Dugat Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
92 points
Lots of black fruit aromas with a bit of mushroom and some good meaty spice. Lots of black cherry and blackberry flavors with very good power and concentration for a 1er. Very good today, this should continue to improve as it evolves.
Red
1999 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes
91 points
Mature red and black fruit aromas with lots of sweet baking spice. Moderate intensity and length, this is a more finessed than powerful Gevrey 1er. At its peak today.