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La Tablee: Celebratory Dinner (BYO)
26 Bridge Street, Brooklyn
Tasted February 2, 2019 by MC2 Wines with 397 views
Introduction
The wrap to the event. This was a large BYO dinner where participants were encouraged to bring fun stuff from their cellars and had an opportunity to have dinner with the winemakers and some other wine lovers.
Flight 1 (2 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Philipponnat Champagne Réserve Rosée
Much better than the standard brut that we served alongside it. This is a good champagne. Easy pink bubbles. Light bits of red fruits. Refreshing.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Philipponnat Champagne Royale Réserve Brut
Something wasn't quite working for me with this wine tonight. It came across as a bit too tart and slightly sour.
Flight 2 (43 notes)
Red
2010 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance
Was on our table to begin (I believe left over from the afternoon tasting) so I tried a bit. This was in that fruity style. Lots of red berries. Good acidity. Nice balance. It's tasty although overshadowed by some others.
White
2005 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc
This was a popular wine to bring for the evening - I believe there were a few other vintages of it running around. Very much in the style. More of a mouthful. Lots of honey. Lower acid. Much richer than the viogniers which is what most folks were serving.
White
2010 Domaine Yves Cuilleron Condrieu Les Chaillets
Again that very light style of Viognier. This is all light and refreshing and pretty and easy. It's a wine for a hot summer day. I appreciate the different approach.
White - Sparkling
1998 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses
I was a fan of this, but I do like old champagne. It was just starting to get some of the more age notes. I wouldn't have called it over the hill. Instead for me it was just starting to get into drinking window. It's tasty.
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White
2002 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Roussanne Vieilles Vignes
Huge fan of this wine always and this time was no different. It's beautiful. Balanced and pretty. It is more of a mouthful but there's a balancing acidity here that I don't find as much in the Chave blanc. Drinking very nicely.
White
2001 Domaine Georges Vernay Condrieu Les Chaillées de l'Enfer
From a mag. This is lovely and light and elegant. White fruits. White flowers. Hint of sweet. It's very pretty.
White
2009 Domaine Georges Vernay Condrieu Coteau de Vernon
This wine was a revelation for me today and with a few more years it's really just amazing. So beautiful and fresh and interesting and yet just packed with flavor. I am quite a fan.
White
2006 Château-Grillet (Neyret-Gachet) Château-Grillet
Lovely lovely wine which is always hard to find. Lots of honey. White flowers. Certain finesse. This is a bit rounder than some of the other viogniers we were drinking tonight. Very tasty.
White
2009 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc
Second vintage of these wines that we had tonight. Similar to the '05. Mouthful. Lots of honey. Lower acid. A bit intense, but still nice.
Red
1981 Patrick Jasmin Côte-Rôtie
From a magnum. Not often that I get to drink a birth year wine and always fun to do so. This opened a touch on the musty side, but quickly opened up. Some bricking going on. Lots of dried fruits, more potpourri. Some floral. A real loveliness to it. Very nice.
Red
2004 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
Elegant and light. Darker fruits. Some gravel. Very fresh. I had amazing in my notes. A wine that I quite enjoyed. Suspect it has many more years to go.
Red
1998 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins
Starts off with a touch of heat, but that blows off pretty quickly. This is very pretty. Lots of rose petals, red fruits. Power and finesse in the glass. It's really nice. We had a few of these during the night (also the '89 and the '01) and I'd say this was showing a bit less well than the others, but it's still a fabulous wine.
White
2004 Mathilde et Yves Gangloff Condrieu
Interesting - it seems like the wine has gained a bit more body with the years. Still lots of honey. A bit darker in color. Drinking well.
Red
2009 Domaine Yves Cuilleron St. Joseph Les Serines
Nicely done wine. Good smokey flavor. It's quite young. Still a fair amount of tannin. Very good though.
Red
2003 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Plume du Peintre
Interesting - I had never heard of this wine before but given that each of the bottles are numbered and there's only 1500 total I take that it is quite rare. Very fruit forward, very intense. It's almost a touch on the jammy side. This wasn't quite my style of wine.
White
2006 Mathilde et Yves Gangloff Condrieu
Interesting to see the note before. Wasn't my impression at all of this wine. Instead came across as quite fresh. Very pretty. Some spice notes. Lots of honey. Enjoyable.
Red
1999 Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Unique Viallieres
Very pretty and classy. Not quite as detailed. I think this one was still coming across as a bit younger.
Red
1989 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins
Really fabulous. Definite contender for WOTN. This is a pretty wine and still a very powerful one. Still on the young side. Lots of floral and potpourri and red fruits. Very tasty. Very well done. I really enjoyed this.
Red
2000 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
From a mag. This wine was really right on. It's got plenty of time left, but it was drinking very well this night. Very classy and well done. Good structure. Darker fruits. Really great. Glad that we have a few more bottles of this.
Red
2009 Domaine Yves Cuilleron Côte-Rôtie Terres Sombres
Blood and olive and meat and a certain intensity to it. Very nice and tasty.
Red
1999 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas
Needs some more years. Surprisingly enough the flavor that stands out the most is coffee. Lots of black fruits. Still a bit tannic. Very structured. Needs more time.
Red
2005 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Combe des Fous
This is not really my style of wine. I suspect it's well done for what it is, just not really for me. A bit more alcoholic. Very fruit forward. Very intense. It was just too much for me.
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Red
1990 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Classique
Very nice and pretty. Intense. Lots of animal notes. More briney. But still a hint pretty. Very tasty.
Red
2007 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Cuvée la Belle Hélène
From a 3L. Very intense and pretty and great fruit and interesting. It's much too young esp from that format, but it's got some wonderful stuffing and was fun to try. From the domaine.
Red
1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo
From the Domaine and man was this great. I would say one of my favorites of the evening in what was a very tough line-up. Still very young. Super classy. Nice precision to it. Tasty.
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Red
1999 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
Very different than the last time I had it. This reminded me of the finger painting style of wine. A bit all over the place. Lacking some structure that you seem to find in other Rhone. Still very animal and intense.
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Red
2001 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
Again all of that animal and all over the place and intensity to the wine. Coming on the heels of the '99. Similar wines.
Red
1995 Noël Verset Cornas
This was really special. Very classy and earthy and darker fruits and well structured. I am a huge fan.
Red
1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque
Really a very young wine. I've heard that these shouldn't be drunk for at least 30 years and this wine would be a good example of that. It's just very very young. Nice and fresh. Lots of black fruits. It's going to be a lovely wine, but it's nowhere near ready yet.
Red
2006 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve
This wine is always lovely. Very elegant and pretty and red fruits and a hint of tea leaves and just very classy and well done. Still quite young, but so nice.
Red
1989 Gentaz-Dervieux Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Réservée Côte Brune
Wow - so at first I missed which wine this was because the label was pretty banged up. Just a tiny pour. Still amazing. Very fresh and lovely. That intensity that hides below more of a finesse finish. Doing well.
Red
1981 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I was excited to get to try this since I've heard it's one of the few wines that was really well done in my birth year. It's got great age. Very well done. More restrained than most CdP. Was between a Gentaz and an 85 Landonne so a touch overshadowed, but I think this would be great on its own.
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Red
1985 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
Young and tight. Lots of pepper and dried fruits and a bit more tannin. There was something that seemed not quite right compared to some other bottles that we've had, but it was still tasty.
Red
2001 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins
First bottle from a lot we bought a few years ago. I was excited to get to try. It's still young, but it's really quite nice. Lots of red fruits, red flowers. Very well structured. Pretty. Will hold on our other bottles for awhile, but I'm looking forward to them.
Red
2004 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From a mag. This is good, but it's just way overshadowed by a lot of the other wines that are on the table right now. It's also on the young side. Some spice. Some fruits. Give it time.
White
2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc
Similar to some of the other vintages except this one had a ton of vanilla bean in addition to the honey and white flowers and all of that.
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Red
1999 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
I think age really helps these wines a lot. It's intense, but there's more restraint going here than the younger vintage. Lots of black fruits. Liked it.
Red
1998 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Cuvée la Belle Hélène
Wow - fun to get to try these so far back. Pure class. Loves of granite. Some more meaty notes. Darker fruits. So very young. This has a long life ahead of it.
Red
1999 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Cuvée la Belle Hélène
Had back to back with the '98. This was more intense. Lots of darker fruits. Some tin and metallic notes. Also some balance to it. Liked it.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
From a mag. Drank in the middle of the La Tablee tasting. It's always really nice to get to some bubbles there. Very crisp. A bit interesting. Enjoyable. Not quite the Bouchard.
White - Sparkling
2013 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine
This was a really lovely and fun champagne. Lots going on. More interesting. A nice break from all of the Syrah.
Red
1991 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde
Nice age. Nice acid. Very fresh. Somehow missing some of the robustness that I get from the La Landonnes though. It's still tasty.
Red
1985 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque
This was quite nice. We'd had a lot of wine at this point. I remember thinking it was very young. Suspect the bottle had just been opened and hadn't had enough time to really stretch it's legs. Tasty though.
Closing
It was just an embarrassment of riches in terms of wines. Hard to say what the WOTN was. There were just so many. Really fun.