Tonight, to celebrate my birthday, Jean cooked a meal of applewood-smoked pheasant with roasted potatoes and asparagus. To accompany the bird, I opened:
1990 Clos du Mont-Olivet Cuvée du Papet
color: dark garnet with brick at the rim
nose: kirsch, game, mineral, licorice, alcohol
palate: medium body, good acidity, fruity, balanced
Chosen as a wine to accompany smoked game bird, this wine perfomed admirably, scoring a clean 4 on the Hoare scale of food/wine pairings. Still young, it displayed few signs of the hot vintage (no roasted/pruney fruit character) and had great acidity. Given a lofty 98+ by Parker at its release and bought for $26.95, this was one of the first wines purchased at Sam's after our move to Indiana. My only complaint would be at the difficulty in getting through the %^^&%$#^&%&* wax capsule.
Mark Lipton
