We commenced with the pleasant Chardonnay based Champagne from Agrapart et Fils “Les 7 Crus,” that is, made from grapes of all seven of his rated vineyard sites, many of them being of Grand Cru status. Toby informed us that this producer still uses an ox to pull his cart through the vineyards during the harvest, eschewing any mechanization at all. A pale yellow color with a fairly explosive attack with some sweetness noted. A sense of yellow apples and a present minerality. Good acidity. Settling down, not an aggressive mousse, but fine. Yeasty. Nice foil to the pecorino on the grilled nectarine.
Next up Andrew served us a salad of bitter greens along with Régis Cruchet’s 1994 Vouvray Sec. Deep, golden color. Initially, a very musty smell typical of old Chenin, but blowing off with some aeration. The acidity quite present on the nose. Not a great sense of fruit, but many tertiary aromas shyly coming forward including a very intriguing sense of almond paste. On the palate: huge acidity with the almond paste bringing up the rear. Timid attack followed by a firm mid-palate and long finish. A bit vegetal and a hint of alcohol coming through on the nose, along with some vanilla extract. An interesting wine, but probably should have been drunk a few years ago.
The next wine represented my contribution to the dinner, Vincent and François Jouard’s 2004 Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées. Very tight and needing some time to shed its cloak of oak, this wine nevertheless performed extremely well showing an intense minerality and a hint of buttered popcorn. Sweet, oaky attack with vanilla creaminess dominating. Full bodied, rich, and well-balanced with firm acidity. Floral notes coming through after some aeration (honeysuckle) and a slightly medicinal aspect. Oak very prominent, and dominating the subtler aromas. Needs time. Let’s just hope the oak doesn’t take over but integrates. I’d give it another two to three years (?).
Because I don’t usually eat steak, I asked Sean, the chef over at Cassis to prepare for me a dinner to go. He cooked some delicious scallops that went perfectly with the burgundy. The richness of the wine and the scallops married together extremely well, while the acidity saved it from heaviness. The oak and slight citrus notes of the wines highlighted and were expanded by the scallops. Really delicious. Thanks Sean!
Then came a flight of two vintages of Dominus, the Cabernet Sauvignon lite 1994 (only 72%) and the more typical 1996 (82%). Toby decanted both of these wines about two and a half hours prior to service. After some confusion around the table, it was determined that the 1996 would be on the left and the 1994 on the right.
1996: Oaky, chocolatey nose. Very dense, rich, and surprisingly, a bit closed. A touch of alcohol noted, as well as sweet red cherries, and then more alcohol. On the palate: very full and generous, a bit monolithic, again dense. Some heat. Faint hint of unripe banana, leather, violets. Some tannin. Evolving with a bit of cranberry and an almost liqueur like cherry component. Again, the alcohol present. For me this wine is a bit incomplete and lacking the balance of the more harmonious and integrated 1994. Perhaps two more years in bottle will smooth out the rough edges, but I wouldn’t put my money on it. Overall, a very good wine, no doubt California wine fans will find it to their liking. I however, cannot get past the alcohol.
1994: More advanced. A bit of a milky quality and slightly vegetal with cedar and sweet spice on the nose. The palate shows better integration with very nice balance (though tenuous). A big wine, but carrying itself well. More subdued than its younger sibling. Milk chocolate and a lot of licorice, fennel, and a touch of menthol. A density not unlike the 1996, though seemingly more penetrable. Evolving, with notes of tobacco and leather. Seamless palate. Very, very nice. A bit more effeminate, which is to my liking. Bravo.
1999 Karlsmuhle Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Auslese “Geiben”: A honeyed nose with notes of ripe apricots, white flowers, and a dash of petrol. Very well balanced, with attractive sweetness (not overly so) and strong supporting acidity. Full and rich. Delicious.
I’ll note here that the conversation took an interesting turn when Ted mentioned that he is unwilling to buy German wine as he feels it somewhat compromises his ethics. Evidently he maintains a picture in his head that an old Nazi grandpa comfortably wiles away his remaining days from the profits of a family owned winery. Cathy, usually quite outspoken in her views, felt she had something to say to this, especially being Jewish. She may have succeeded in disabusing Ted of maintaining his German wine boycott.
2003 Baumard Quarts de Chaume: Clearly something not quite right here. Tinny, canned asparagus aromas. Very sweet without much acidity, reflecting the vintage I suppose. Candied citrus emerging after some aeration, along with burnt sugar. A lactic quality about it. I can’t quite remember this, but I wrote: like a baked pie crust (indecipherable word) without a concluding part to the sentence. Eminently forgettable. Must try a good example of this wine as this was most likely cooked.
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