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Three day birthday celebration; great wines.

Tasted October 18, 2020 by WST with 154 views

Introduction

It's not safe for a big birthday gathering, so we had two or three couples over outdoors for each of three nights. It was a salve to the soul to finally spend fun time with friends. The food and wine were spectacular; not a bad bottle or dish.

Flight 1 - Starting strong with Cristal! (1 note)

Great pairing with anything. In this case, cold-smoked salmon carpaccio with chopped hard boiled egg and capers on crostini

White - Sparkling

2009 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut France, Champagne

I need to slap my hand every time I reach for these, but I can't stop opening this wine. A birthday was a better excuse than for most of the previous empties. It's drinking so well, yet has great potential to improve. Dense citrus including lemon, lime and tangerine. The minerals, balance, structure...superb.

5 people found this helpful Comments (3)

Flight 2 - Homemade lobster bisque (2 notes)

My first attempt ever making this, and it was exquisite. The old reisling was the perfect pairing. Vilmart provided the proper finish!

White - Off-dry

1959 Deinhard Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Spätlese Germany, Pfalz

I had to manually enter this wine on CT. An auction risk purchase that paid off in spades. It's my second bottle opened, and it continues to impress. Uncorked hours before drinking but not decanted. Medium amber. On the nose, petrol, apricot, walnut. For the palate, the same plus a big citrus tartness. Quite dry; I'd have guessed it was half its age. It never declined in the glass through the night.

Comment

White - Sparkling

2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

My last bottle ten months ago was grumpy and shut down. I was both excited and worried to see Ann-Marie had brought this. It was sensational. More plush than the 2008. Apple, lemon, apricot mix well, with nice yeasty brioche and minerals. I'll wait a while to start opening these with abandon, but no harm if you have several.

2 people found this helpful Comments (1)

Flight 3 - Second consecutive day with truffles, pasta and Flannery beef (3 notes)

Inaudi Tagliotelle with a pound of Breton Au Sel de Mer butter, equal Tuscan EVOO, three planed black burgundy truffles, and a pile of micro-planed Parmigiano Reggiano bigger than my head. Heavenly!
Also, seared Flannery Hanger steak. Delicious, but not to the level of the the prior night's Jorge bone-in full rib cut, which was the best steak I've ever cooked.

Red

1985 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

I'm fairly oak adverse, except with Rioja. Good thing in this case. Oak,
cedar, tart cherries, smoke, orange peal and oak again. From the flavor and aroma profile, I'd have expected to antipathetic, but I liked this, as did the entire small group.

Comment

Red

1996 Château Montrose France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

Corked. Lars' bottle. Too bad.

1 person found this helpful Comments (1)

Red

2000 Château La Conseillante France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

Lars' bottle. Restrained and elegant, I really enjoyed it. Cassis, lightly truffled and earthy. Medium bodied. This was my kind of right banker.

Comment

Flight 4 - Champagne cake (1 note)

Ann-Marie made a Champagne cake and frosting which apparently took a full day and night. It was exquisite. We had leftover Rivesaltes from the night before.

White - Fortified

1959 Domaine Singla Rivesaltes Ambré Héritage du Temps France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes

Left over bottle from last night. Still tasty. Like an undersized tawny port with less density; buttered toffee, tobacco and spice.

Comment

Flight 5 - Just sherry (1 note)

White - Fortified

N.V. Equipo Navazos La Bota de Palo Cortado 48 "Bota Punta" Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Ted's bottle, hand carried from Madrid. Dry, dense, salty and intense. Nutty, with burnt caramel and brown spice. This was served late. It would have paired better with nuts and cheese. Really good though.

Comment

Closing

It was a lot of work and prep, but it was so worth it. Maybe next year we can do it all indoors with everyone together on one night. However, I'm liking out outdoor canopy with a variety of heat sources.
After three nights of vinous and culinary debauchery, it's time to work out and dry out a while.

Cheers!

Three day birthday celebration; great wines.

Introduction

Flight 1 - Starting strong with Cristal! (1 note)

Flight 2 - Homemade lobster bisque (2 notes)

Flight 3 - Second consecutive day with truffles, pasta and Flannery beef (3 notes)

Flight 4 - Champagne cake (1 note)

Flight 5 - Just sherry (1 note)

Closing

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