Since I don’t cook, for the last several years I’ve developed the habit of inviting friends over for wine, cheese and salad. Passé but easy and effective. The format has evolved, but the lineup tends to be one white, three reds, and an off-dry or dessert wine. The wines usually follow a theme and, whenever possible, are accompanied by cheeses from the same region as the wines, and made from different (i.e., goat, sheep. and cow) milks. This last part has become nearly impossible since moving down to Brazil, so I frequently bring assorted cheeses back with me from New York (and have to hold the tastings within a week or two).
Last night my sister and brother-in-law came with two other couples, and since none of those present (except Marcia and myself) were passionate about the juice, I went with my most basic (and predictable) format: 100% France, starting with a chardonnay, followed by a horizontal of reds from each of the three most important wine producing regions:
2002 Domaine de Bongran Viré-Clessé Cuvée Tradition
Attractive nose of botrytis honey and some apple and pear (Jean Thévenet, the legendary Mâconnais winemaker, includes slightly botrityzed grapes in the mix). Excellent body, beautiful acid/fruit balance, but not as complex as I would have hoped. My sense was that this would benefit from more oak treatment. The whiff of Meursault that I have come to love and expect in all white burgundies was missing, though perhaps the fault lies in my expectation. Still a first class wine.
Pouligny St. Pierre – my favorite goat’s milk cheese, terrific.
1999 J.M. Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin aux Échezeaux
Refined perfume of rose petals, cherry and stems, so very Burgundy in its delicacy. Hard to avoid the word feminine, despite my objection in principle to genderizing wine. Mature, medium weight, delicious, lacking only a bit more punch that burgundies often manage the miracle of pulling off in a velvet glove.
Époisses – cow’s milk, from Burgundy, stinky as hell.
1999 Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage
Alcohol on the nose overwhelms anything else. Over time, chocolate, green stems and kirsch aromas develop. In the mouth, syrah pepper and robust tannins join the fray, with the chocolate less present than in previous bottles. This has shown better before, but is nowhere near tired, so perhaps it is going though a mild dip before reemerging.
Abbeye de Belloc – my favorite sheep’s milk cheese, a little past its prime, having been bought almost three weeks ago, but still delicious.
1999 Léoville Poyferré St. Julien
Lovely cedar, plums, blackberries and barnyard nose. Medium body, delicate (for a claret), perfect acid/fruit balance at this stage, sweet raspberry jam fruit, delicious.
Pont l’Éveque – mediocre, first and last time I’m buying this at Murray’s Cheeses.
2003 Domaine de Baumard Quarts de Chaume
Immensely aromatic, sharp honey mingled with delicate flowers and almonds. Excellent body. Less complex than bottles I’ve had from other vintages (or even from this vintage), so less of a wow experience than usual. Perhaps it’s going though a dumb phase, but this wine is so basically exuberant that even a dumb phase is expressive.
Roquefort Vieux Berger – delicious, but violent. Tempered with molasses, a good combo.
