Three Boston ex-pats and an East Valley native gather in celebration with the visiting Boston wine geek luminary.
2005 E. Vatan Sancerre Clos La Nèore (Loire) Refined and elegant with crystal clear purity, crisp acidity, and lots of minerals. This is a wonderfully captivating expression of sauvignon blanc that I keep going back to over the course of the night. So subtle, so precise.
1998 D. Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex (Loire) Completely different than the Vatan but also wonderful expression of sauvignon blanc. This wine is super rich and powerful with creamy tropical fruit yet nicely balanced. One of Lill’s faves of the night.
2001 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein (Kamptal) A good dose of petrol gives way to lean, crisp yummy riesling. Lots of spicy baked apple, crisp clean acids, and a lingering finish. Great nose, great flavor.
1988 Salon Brut Blanc de Blancs (Le Mesnil) First thing we notice are the smallest little bubble trails in the glass that look so delicate. But wow, this wine is super rich, super complex with just a hint of sherry oxidation buried under layers of baked apple, yeast, wheat and orange citrus. Love the taste, love the texture, love the finish. And it goes great with the beef tenderloin.
1995 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Champin le Seigneur (N. Rhône) This wine has really transformed in the last 2 years. Great nose of beef blood, bacon, and dried lilacs, the tannins are now a soft, silky texture, and the wood has integrated from the foreground to the back. The taste and finish is ok but the nose is killer.
1971 Domaine Touchais Coteaux du Layon Réserve de nos Vignobles (Loire) The cork on this one was completely saturated and just dropped into the bottle as soon as the tip of the corkscrew touched it. The nose is pretty intoxicating with mushrooms, forest floor, and lightly toasted marshmallow. Tasty rich, honeyed, lemon cream flavors really coat the palate. There is plenty of acidity, wonderful balance, and enough sweetness for the end of a meal. Plenty of life in the wine but I’m sure glad I opened it given the shape of the cork.