| The wines:
92 Laetitia Elegance (Bubbly, San Luis Obispo)--Remnants from
the old Maison Deutz sparkling wine estate, now converted over to making
still wine under the Laetitia label. Big nose of toasty yeast. Slow rising
bubbles, fine acidity, but very frothy in the mouth. Decent. 86/100
94 Guigal La Doriane (Condrieu)--No mistaking this for domestic
viognier. White-gold color. Hay nose. Minerals, stone, lime zest. Silky
texture, big body, very dry finish showing talc, grapefruit. 94 Drink up.
96 Brocard Chablis (AC)--Light straw color. Flinty, mineral nose.
Some lemon, honey, match-head in bouquet. Firm acidic structure. Lemony,
steely minerality. Long finish tickles back of throat. 91+ Will improve
for a few years.
91 Star Hill Pinot Noir Renate's Vineyard Grand Reserve (Napa)--Dark
Burgundian violet color. Burgundian nose of earth/horse blanket/morels.
Beautiful texture, fine tannins. Plummy fruit. Good acidity. Soft, but
tannic finish. 90
96 Martinelli Pinot Noir Martinelli Vyd. (RRV)--Red violet. Floral,
fragrant. Earthy. Very linearly defined. Fine tannins, acidity. Violets.
Deep concentration, excellent balance. Lingering tannic finish, needs a
few years to resolve. 93+
96 Martinelli Zin Jackass Vyd. (RRV)--Dark Burgundy color. Bretty,
stinky, skunky, briary, huckelberry nose. Sweet zinberry flavor. Fine drying
tannins. Very concentrated. Black currants, big tannins. 94+ Needs 5-6
years bottle age.
94 St. Francis Reserve Cab (Sonoma)--Black violet color. Very
sensual nose showing black fruit, lilacs, roses, somewhat volatile. Voluptuous
silky texture. Black plum, candied violets, tar. Fine finish with integrated
tannins, bit dry. 93
90 Saddleback Cellars Cab (Napa)--Medium red violet. Seductive
warm nose, horsey/black cherry/tobacco/gunpowder. Thinnish texture, but
good fruit flavor. Drying tannins. Needs a few more years. Bit acidic finish.
89
All the above wines were opened and tasted before even the first course
of food arrived. Also decanted at the very beginning just after the cork
was popped on the Laetitia, but not tried until later in the meal:
94 Angelus (St. Emilion)--Inky black. Very warm, seductive nose.
Black cherry/gunpowder/cedar. Very concentrated dark berry, plumskin, blackberry
flavors. Very coarse, intense tannins. OK acidity, but not enough sweet
fruit. 90 now. Needs 15 years minimum, but will there be any fruit when
the tannins resolve?
95 Pichon Baron (Pauillac)--Or should I say "Pichon-Barren"?
Just a bit lighter color than the Angelus. Muted nose shows very little
now. Maybe a hint of cassis. Light texture in mouth. Fine cherry fruit,
acidity in balance with fine tannins. Needs some time but this is not a
powerhouse. Very disappointing for the vintage. 88+
94 Fox Creek Shiraz (McClaren Vale)--Blacker then the Angelus
(India ink?) Nose of black currants. HUGE sweet fruit Bomb (with a capital
B). Huge tannins, but all in balance. Fabulous flavors, smooth mid-palate,
long finish. Tobacco. 95+ Needs a few years.
83 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Reserva--Light red violet
with an orange rim. Classic nebbiolo nose of cherry, violets, tar. Sweet
cherry, excellent balance. Still some tannins, but wonderfully evolved.
Silky fruit. Not a great vintage, but excellent wine. 92
To go with the above wines, many at the table ordered Filet Mignon with
gorgonzola sauce, a definitely good piece of cooking. But Bruce L and I
shared a Bistecca Fiorentina for two, a very tender extra thick rib chop
served in the Tuscan manner--simply grilled with pepper and served with
olive oil and flaked sea salt crystals. Umm-um-mmmm. Superb. To go with
these meats, I thought the Barbaresco went best with the filet. But the
Martinelli Zin matched best with the rib steak, its sweet fruit going very
well with the meat. The Angelus was way too tannic for this meal and the
Shiraz was over-powering. Until the Fox Creek settles down in a few years,
it would best match some real smokey BBQ with a perky BBQ sauce.
For dessert, the creme brulee and chocolate bread pudding were fine
with:
94 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris VT (Heimbourg)--Medium straw color.
Great nose. Pineapple, minerals, orange zest. Well balanced with perky
fine acidity, tropical flavors, apple, hazelnut, Mountain Dew. 93
96 Baumard Quarts de Chaume--Light straw color. Perky nose of
ginger, celery, lemongrass. Very nice sweet/acid balance. Intense chenin
flavor. Musk melon, honey, mandarine. 94+ Will get much better in
decades.
61 Ch. Guiraud (Sauternes)--Pink/orange/gold color. Great nose
of roses, orange zest, apricot. OK flavors. Nectarine, caramel, passion
fruit. Rather thin in middle. Hot alcoholic bitter finish. Over the hill.
87
Borrowing Tom Hill's pulpit:
A complete contrast to the Leonetti tasting earlier, here we had some
outstanding wines with food, the way they're meant to be comsumed, and
the foods made a great foil to the wines. As you can see from my scores,
just about every wine really hummed. Only the Baron was really less than
impressive. Even though I rated the Guiraud lower, it's impressive bouquet
was enough to keep it very interesting. Too bad it was past its prime.
Great meal, great company, and a very interesting and diverse selection
of wines that were both fun and exciting to drink. Cafe Pierre provided
excellent, attentive service and the food was top notch. While 15 wines
may seem like a lot, there were 11 of us drinking. RodSch had brought along
a breathalizer and everyone came up green (under 0.08). Even Der Spiegel,
so clearly the Breath-O-Meter needs recalibrating. |
