Introduction
A simple outreach to make plans for a free evening in Los Angeles mushroomed into an epic food and drink extravaganza, with extraordinary food and ambiance accenting a tremendously executed 'best bottle' theme to memorable effect.
A private room at Republique proved to be the ideal location for our group of eight, allowing for our geekdom to thrive without disturbing the patrons dining nearby. The pairings were thoughtfully organized, and pulled off with aplomb. The wine service was seamless and unobtrusive, not easy to accomplish, and the stemware was perfectly chosen too.
My words will not come close to capturing the magical bliss of this evening, but take my word for it: this was special in every respect.
Flight 1 - Aperitifs (1 note)
We started off with a cocktail called the Queen Elizabeth, using Benedictine from the Thirties, contemporary Vermouth de Chambery and a special, locally sourced lime from Sycamore Hill Ranch that probably merits its own blog. A beautiful, balanced and refreshing kickoff before moving to the bubbly.
These drinks were beautifully paired with a trio of small dishes: radishes stuffed with butter and smoked trout, Beluga caviar on potato chips, and Kumamoto oysters in a baby leek and potato soup.
White - Sparkling
1988 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Grande Cuvée
France, Champagne
I can't recall enjoying a Champagne more than this, though that says as much about my palate as it does about the bottle, I suppose, as it's table wine characteristics were such a large part of the appeal for me. Dark yellow in color, veering towards amber. It was hard no to focus on the wine's slight oxidation and no mousse, but there was plenty of minerality, with baked apple skin and almond notes. I loved the tension here, with focused, steely acidity and a very long finish.
Flight 2 - Two White Burgs. (2 notes)
It took a bit of time for the Raveneau to surpass the hedonistic Roulot, though in fairness these really weren't like for like, and each has its place in its own right.
The Mediterranean Rouget, accented by a slightly spicy tomato sauce and sharp virgin olive oil, was among my favorite dishes of the evening, and paired fabulously with the Chardonnays.
White
2012 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
A powerhouse, showing mild reduction and bright orchard fruit dry, rich and ripe. I was distracted a bit by the touch of malo on the mid-palate but it went away with time, revealing brioche, oak-derived vanilla notes, saline and citrus nuances. I can't say I picked up any of that energy or intensity I look for with a Perrières. Serving this next to the confident, prototypical Raveneau we paired it with framed the Roulot as more of a hedonistic than an intellectual Burg.
Flight 3 - Two Unico from the Sixties (2 notes)
Splendid showings. demanding one's full attention. The ambitious pairing here was with Maine sea scallops bathed in black truffle sauce, which was spectacular. I preferred to enjoy those separately as I found the sauce too powerful for the well-evolved wines.
Red
1964 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Simply stunning right out of the bottle, spot-on in every respect. The wine was properly evolved but not advanced, firing on all cylinders, with dominant dark fruit notes accompanied by tar, anise, saddle leather and oak-derived spice. Eventually the finish dried out a bit, but what a treat.
Red
1966 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
I brought this to pair with a 1964, and did so despite my last bottle having been marred by substantial VA and subdued fruit. No such issues here, especially with time. Stunning from the get-go, spot-on, evolved but not advanced, with smoky dark fruit notes, tar, anise, saddle leather and subtle oak notes. Imagine the texture of liquid velvet. Like its 1964 brethren, it began to dry out a bit after an hour or so. What a flight!
Flight 4 - Checking Back in on 1982 Bordeaux (2 notes)
A can conjure up the Lafleur at will. Just reminiscing on the astonishment I felt with the first swirl and sniff makes me smile.
Matching this flight to loup de mer with chanterelles and sauce matelote blanche was genius.
Red
1982 Château L'Evangile
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Our only flawed wine of the night, so it is hard to complain, but the TCA slipped the otherwise ample fruit and cost us the opportunity to see if this could keep pace with the astonishingly good 1982 Lafleur served alongside it.
Red
1982 Château Lafleur
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
I had zero doubt from the first sniff of the tasting pour from the somm. that this was a perfect wine, on aromatics alone. A youthful black color, no bricking at all. An amazingly fresh, pure and enticing nose displaying sweet red fruit, both intense and perfumed, alongside waves of spice. There was no drop-off on the palate. Concentrated kirsch, baked cherries, truffle, vanilla spice. A glycerined texture, with intensity, purity, lift and length. This wine had it all. When I first tasted this wine at a dinner a few years ago, I scored it at 99 due to drying tannins, but this bottle finished seamlessly. Several others, with whom I have tasted for decades, independently declared this to be the best wine they had ever tasted, a conclusion I had come to myself, with no regret. If I had to pick a weakness, I would concede that after ninety minutes, the wine began to fade a touch, but at almost 40 years' old, that hardly seems problematic. My fourth ever 100 point score, and call me Mr. Oxymoron, because it was the best of that elite bunch, without doubt.
Flight 5 - A Pair of Splendid Barolo from Legendary Vintages (2 notes)
How could the chef not pair these with a simple risotto and the first white truffles of the season?!
Red
1958 Cantina Mascarello Barolo Cannubi
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
My first Barolo from this legendary year. A friend graciously sourced this from a trusted relationship, specifically for our tasting, receiving all appropriate assurances of excellent provenance. If it were not for this, I would have declared the bottle a forgery based on color alone: amazingly dark and robust. And yes, the label spelled 'Cannubi' with one 'n' and two 'b's', as the Vinous experts told us to expect. No decant, which I regret a bit. This was a fabulous wine right away, but gained weight with air and probably could have used 6 hours or so to find its apogee. There were some minty notes on the nose, alongside red fruit and some balsam. The wine had plenty of structure, with firm tannins wrapping around the dark cherry and tapenade flavors, which emerged in waves. A rich and powerful Nebbiolo, presumably due both to vintage and vineyard.
Red
1971 Cantina Mascarello Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The second of two bottles bought as part of an old cellar, and I cheekily brought it to pair with a promising 1958 Mascarello despite the first one having been pretty much DOA. We were in luck, indeed. The color was very, very light, almost transparent. Nonetheless, there was a lot of life here, with evolving notes of balsam, tar, smoke, and some tart acid adding lift to the restrained red berry fruit. There was reasonable structure, too, and I would describe this as a mediumweight wine. As with the 1958, there was no decant here, and the best sip was the last. I would have loved to linger with this one.
Flight 6 - A Sort of Appellation Role-Reversal Flight (2 notes)
The powerful, inward Burg. played the role of Rhone here, whereas the soaring Rayas took on a gorgeous Burgundian persona.
Duck two ways showed these wines perfectly.
Red
1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
I wanted to bring this as a gesture of respect for one of my fellow tasters, who has the nerve to be only 30 years of age (snort!). He has matured a bit more rapidly than this backward beauty, I suspect. Compact and tightly wound but truly harmonious, with tremendous density and chewiness. The wine showed its ample oak in the best way, balancing the sweet black fruit. There was a lot of complexity, with mineral notes, saline and citrusy aspects sneaking in, along with some soy, but it was missing roundness and length at this age, just so primary. Give it two decades, if you are lucky enough to have any.
Red
2005 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Such an impressive showing, youthful and spot-on for the house style, with astonishing complexity as the hallmark attribute for me. Perfumed, ethereal raspberry, citrus, blood orange and flavors interplayed seamlessly, with good acid keeping things in check. The win was balanced and generous, with silky smooth tannins guiding the very long finish.
Flight 7 - Ageworthy Bordeaux Plus a Ringer (3 notes)
I cannot say that the wines within this flight really 'spoke' to one another, but each paired beautifully with a beef wellington accompanies by porcinis.
Red
1989 Château Mouton Rothschild
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Not flawed, just not very generous, I am afraid. Both green and volatile, with a little barnyard as well. Maybe this turns in the years ahead, but hard to be confident based on this bottle.
Red
1990 Château Angélus
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
I loved everything about this bottle, youthful and exuberant, with layers of black and blue fruit, both sweet and tart, plus mocha and some herbs. The aggressive tannins suggest that in time the fruit may round out and lengthen, too.
Red
1992 Harlan Estate
USA, California, Napa Valley
Our only American wine, and though served blind, it did not strike me as Old World. However, the three Frenchmen among us were sure it was Bordeaux, go figure. We did agree that it was flat-out delicious, fresh and robust, with lush American oak and ripe fruit in happy balance. Complex and rewarding, within the modern frame exhibiting its polish and purity, with no edges.
Flight 8 - A Surprise LaLa (1 note)
No one needed this beauty added to the line-up, nor did anyone regret it!
Red
1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
A bonus wine, unnecessary but very welcome. It also was something of a thing apart, relative to the rest of the evening's wines, making it a bit hard to place it in context. Clean and ripe from the start, fully open for business and not fading at all, with lots of oak and red fruit on display alongside some smoke and leather, pepper and garrigue. Midweight, polished but restrained. A treat indeed.
Flight 9 - Another Unplanned Bottle (1 note)
We needed a palate reset at this point, and the Cazals fit the bill splendidly.
Flight 10 - A Splendid Sauternes Plus Bonuses, Including a True Old Stitzgerald (1 note)
This was accompanied by a walnut raisin bread with blue cheese crumble I did not partake in. After that, we also had some remarkable beverages I didn't try to enter into CellarTracker:
First up was a remarkable, lovingly sourced Cognac from the Thirties, a Courvoisier Fine Champagne De Luxe 50-year Napoleon, meaning the contents were put into barrel in the 1880s. In fabulous shape, all I can relay is that the persistence and elegance were emotionally profound.
Last came another extraordinarily generous contribution of what I am told is a true unicorn in the Bourbon/whiskey world, a splendid bottle of Very Very Old Fitzgerald 12-Year Old 1951-1963, i.e., distilled by Pappy Van Winkle in 1951 and bottled in bond. It was 100 proof, accordingly. I found it ethereal, power wrapped in velvet, with some caramel, and also a hint of sweet oak just beneath the surface. I was not worthy... but sure enjoyed.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1989 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
A better bottle than my last tasting of this vintage, which was lacking in acid. Dark brown in color. The wine was unctuous, and sweet but not cloying, I recall plenty of honey, coconut and tropical fruit.
Closing
Kudos to my fellow tasters/contributors, and especially to Chef Walter and his crack team. Shout out to Sarah and Shawn in particular. We are very fortunate, and even more grateful.
I never expected wines of this age and ambition to show so well, virtually across the board. As singular as that Lafleur was, any number of these wines could have carried a memorable tasting alone. As it was, the bar is now set awfully high, and I look forward to trying to exceed it again soon.
