This past weekend, my wife and I had another couple over for a casual dinner party with a few selections from our cellar.
N.V. Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvee No. 731. The nose of lemon peel, poached pears, dark ginger ale and yellow apple is both suave and lively. It is solid in the mouth, with a certain fleshy density. Flavors or smoke, tangerine, brass and something like mushroom combine with a sulfur-edged mineral water note to make an interesting quaff. The finish is on the dry side and perhaps a bit abrupt, but overall this is pretty good.
2007 La Tosa Malvasia Sorriso di Cielo Colli Piacentini. This and the next wine were served with a salad featuring cooked apricots and onions in prosciutto served over balsamic-dressed greens with parmigiano chunks. While the next wine was the absolute perfect pairing, this was no slouch. The wine is a very pale color. The bouquet just soars up out of the glass with orange blossom, rose water, honeysuckle, peach fuzz, honeydew melon and fruit cup syrup aromas. It is soft, gentle and flowery in the mouth, with flavors my wife described as honey drizzled over honeydew melon, but also some chalky earthier notes underneath. It is medium-weighted and airy and perhaps a touch sweet, but there is enough of a rounder bass note under it all to keep it interesting and give solid definition to the fun summer-like profile.
2005 San Fereolo Coste di Riavolo Langhe Bianco. This is a fascinating white wine from the Dogliani area made primarily from Riesling, with a bit of Gewurztraminer in the mix. It is made in small quantities, which is too bad, given the outstanding quality and character of the wine. It possesses a complex and wild nose of litchi, exotic spices, chalk, lemon drop, candied tropical fruits and maybe even something like white chocolate. On the palate, it features an oily texture as it rolls around in the mouth showing pleasing viscosity. Flavors of passion fruit, clementine and ginger ale are creamy and beautifully balanced in a lovely package that was a perfect pairing with the salad. One of our guests thought it among the best white wines she's had in a long time. Really nice wine.
1990 Chateau La Louviere Pessac-Leognan. The La Louviere was opened about 4 hours before serving and eventually decanted about 90 minutes. There is a beautifully plush, yet dark and serious bouquet here, featuring aromas of crushed gravel stones, iron ore, blood, dark currants, leather, animal fur, classy cocoa and moist cigar wrapper. The sense of plushness carries through on the palate-feel, where there is a brushed velvet texture to go with a nice little acid twist, especially in the mid-palate and finish. Flavors of dark chocolate, black cherry, blood orange and some more savory notes are draped over a medium to full-bodied frame that leads to a juicy, more red-fruited finish. This can certainly go a while longer, but was a lovely pairing this night with a couple of simply-prepared, medium-rare racks of Colorado lamb cooked on the grill.
1990 Domaine Cauhape Jurancon Vendages Tardives. Served from 375 ml bottle. The cork was completely stuck to the walls of the bottle neck, so we punched a hole through and filtered the rest. For the most part, this seems like it should have been drunk a few years ago. Still, it makes for interesting drinking. The color is like iced tea. On the nose, it shows tons of high-toned caramel, toasted pecans, crème brulee crust, molasses and a bit of a madeirized metal edge. On the palate, it is more of the same really, with an extremely nervy acidity and minerality throughout. It is more edgy and medium-bodied than thick, despite all the caramel and toffee flavors. It has begun to turn, so definitely time to drink up.
-Michael
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