A Northern Rhone Dinner with Doug
Chez Senna
Tasted July 22, 2017 - July 23, 2017 by CMN with 308 views
Introduction
Doug decided a Northern Rhone dinner was in order and he went all out. Our generous hosts went all out and everything -- the food, wine, and circuses -- was fantastic. A lovely evening with some great people.
Flight 1 (8 notes)
The wines were expertly paired by Doug, but between the copious amounts of wine and the conversation it was a but hard to keep accurate track of what was going on. The wines listed are in the order that they were consumed per the notes I took on my phone. I think that I missed out on a couple other wines, but c'est la vie.
White - Off-dry
2000 Prager Grüner Veltliner Auslese Achleiten
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Medium+ yellow colored with a lightly sweet and tropical nose with a hint of almond. Smooth and dense on the palate, with dry tropical flavors mixed with a dollop of unsweetened butterscotch. Finishes slightly bitter with some nuttiness coming through. Will not improve; drink now.
Paired very well with a lettuce and onion soup.
White
2015 Julien Pilon Condrieu Vernon
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Pale gold. Floral nose with a pinch of confectioner's sugar. Purple flowers on the palate with a bit of citrus, great freshness and a medium+ finish. A unique wine that was flat out fun to drink.
Red
2002 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Red fruit and white pepper nose. Red fruits and a healthy does of white pepper on the nose with some licorice on the finish. Tannins are still a bit prickly. There's plenty of life left and it should be drinking well on it's 25th birthday.
I liked this quite a bit; the other tasters at the table were a bit more indifferent.
Red
2015 Julien Pilon Côte-Rôtie La Porchette
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Very grapey nose with some of the Viognier poking through. The palate follows the nose; all grapes and flowers in a medium weight package. There's no complexity to speak of; right now it is just hinting at its future potential. More about grace than power. Hold 2-3 years minimum.
Red
2004 Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
A dense wine that is marked by flavors of blackberry and well-integrated oak. I was worried by the 15.5% abv listed on the label, but it was very well balanced. While it improved with extended aeration, I didn't get the hype.
White - Fortified
N.V. Osborne Pedro Ximénez Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Rare Sherry Pedro Ximénez Viejo
Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry
This wine was fucking insane. Our host told us the bottle had been open for 10 years. Thick in the glass, a bit of swirling left a thick yellow haze coating the walls of the glass. Nose is sweet and raisiny. Palate is figs and raisins with just a hint of nuttiness. Thick, viscous and only moderately sweet. Finishes long and gentle. Loved it.
Closing
Toward the end of the evening some hard alcohol was poured (not that it was necessary). I was particularly smitten with Blanton's bourbon. At 93 proof it was way outside my comfort zone, but it was unbelievably tasty. Thanks again to Doug and Senna for a fantastic evening.
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