Important Update From the Founder

Special Burgundy Dinner

DC/Silver Spring MD

Tasted July 6, 2019 by ericindc with 148 views

Introduction

A friend wanted to try one of his 1990 La Tache's and generously invited me. I grabbed a couple wines that we felt would go as well and the 5 of us (4 whom would drink) had a great night. Wines were fantastic and interesting with the great dishes they were paired with.

Flight 1 - Champagne and Cheese (1 note)

Starter was a nice bottle of Cristal and a selection of french cheeses, Epoisses, Brillat Saverin, Comte, Camembert. Perfect as I feel that champagne and sparklers in general are the best match for cheeses. As mentioned in my note, this showed a bit younger and fresher than the bottle I had about 6 months ago. As I prefer older, more mature champagne, I generally likes the one from January a bit better.

White - Sparkling

1995 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut France, Champagne

Very similar to my January note. This bottle seemed younger and fresher than the previous bottle I tried. The provenance on this bottle was much better than the previous one, so it could be that or just normal bottle variation. More honeyed as it sat with less oxidative and mature notes. Still a great wine!

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Flight 2 - Burgs and main dishes (2 notes)

This was served at the tail end of the cheeses, as well as with a pasta with mushroom sauce, and grilled duck breast with salad. Simple and perfect;to let the wines be the star. As noted, this was my first and probably only La Tache I will have. I found it strangely atypical for burgundy (but maybe not for La Tache), but had one of the most complex and changing nose and palate on a wine I've had. The Musigny was quite fine, Not the best year, but a nice wine in the early stages of maturity. For both of these, I'd love to check them again in 10-15 years, but alas...

Red

1995 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

94 points

Double decanted back into bottle 1.5 hours before tasting. A touch hot on the nose with powerful red fruit, some cedary notes and some mint. Candied tart red fruits, light earth, some savory notes (rust/iron/blood?), moderate drying tannins with strong strong acidity. After 3 hours this started to get a touch lighter and fruits moderated and became dryer. Still pretty primary. Good now with a 2+ hr decant, but I think this still needs some time.

Comment

Red

1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

96 points

Big, deep monster of a nose: soy sauce, blacker fruits (black cherry, plum), some green pepper, even some cola notes from time to time. The nose was rather kaleidoscopic with things changing from minute to minute. Broad and deep on the palate, almost sur-maturite with big black and rd fruits, gamey qualities, and a touch of tobacco/green. Extremely long red fruited finish. Bitter on the tongue. As it sat over the 4 hours, more red fruits came out. Tannins were subtle and integrated and paired with the acidity to give it structure, but it was still mostly primary.

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have pegged this as a burgundy blind. Just felt atypical. At times I felt it had ripe qualities that detracted (e.g. cola), although the alcohol wasn't noticeable. Other times the nose felt more northern rhone-like. Having said that, this was the only La Tache I have had (or are likely to ever have). A great wine, but not what I expected.

Comment

Flight 3 - Dessert and Yquem (1 note)

I made a Apple galette with some sweetened vanilla mascarpone under the apples as I figured it would go great with the half bottle of '88 d'Yquem. It did. The '88 was good, but still youngish. No idea if this will be like the '75 and never get tertiary flavors. Having said that, just a really nice bottle.

White - Sweet/Dessert

1988 Château d'Yquem France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

93 points

Strong apple, apricot, cream and vanilla on the nose. Sweet fruits, some vanilla cream, light bitter note. Rather bracing acidity. Very little tertiary movement. This might last forever. 93 now, but will get better once it starts to get mature notes.

Note, i should have opened this earlier. I forgot and only opened it about 1/2 hr before serving. Maybe a decant needed as well?

Comment

Closing

Again. Great wines. The La Tache was obviously the most memorable, albeit not what I expected. In order, my favs were the La Tache, Cristal, Musigny, d'Yquem. Very memorable night!

Special Burgundy Dinner

DC/Silver Spring MD

Introduction

Flight 1 - Champagne and Cheese (1 note)

Flight 2 - Burgs and main dishes (2 notes)

Flight 3 - Dessert and Yquem (1 note)

Closing

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