WTN: Pre-vacation wines (Bdx,Burg, Loire, MSR)

Short notes, as I've wasted morning rebooking a cancelled flight. Ugh. Saturday I was doing freezer cleanout, with meatballs and spinach ravioli the 2005 Jerome Chezeaux Bourgogne Rouge. Lightest 2005 I've run across, nothing exciting,but solid lighter styled Burg with red cherries and a little soil. B/B-

Sunday I was trying to get self and office into shape before leaving tonight, but had some favorite winegeeks (and a couple of SOs) over for dinner. My time ran short and my dinner plan had to change, but despite that and a huge thunderstorm that rained on my outdoor plans we had a good time.
Lucy was delighted Arv and Jen brought Lena, even if polite Lena showed up Lucy's lack of manners.

This was billed as a combination "see Oswaldo when he was visiting from Brazil" and "try out the 2 '06 CRB SBs head to head." Jacques brought the '06 #2, I had the #5 (and the '07 #2). My understanding is the #2 is in stainless, the #5 in old oak.

With cold shrimp and crottin de Chavignol

2007 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine)
Lightest of the three, good minerality, citrus fruit, excellent zip. B+/B

2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #5 (Touraine)
Big and ripe, grapefruit and tropical fruit. Lacks some of the cut of the other two today, though still a good bargain. B

2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine)
The in-betweener. Good acidity, I like more than a previous taste. Some citrus and grass. Nice wine, but if I had to choose it would be the '07 by a hair. B+/B

We moved to table for some king crab legs and caprese salad (sadly, my tomatoes look like they will be ripe day after I leave, these were from other sources)

1999 Domaine Ramonet "Les Vergers " Chassagne-Montrachet 1er
Between the year and the producer I had some premox fears, but this was a lovely bottle. Spiced pears, rich honied fruit with balancing acidity. There's a chalky mineral note underneath, and there's still a whisper of new oak vanilla. Best white of the night. A-

2002 Rene & Vincent Dauvissat "Sechet" Chablis 1er
This was rather reticent. Some seashell and mineral, light fruit. We'll see how the half I transferred to a 375 fares in the fridge for a week. For now, B-

Main course was lamb loin chops, with some grilled squash and a mustard potato salad. I asked the guys to choose 3 reds from an assortment I had stood up, they chose

1979 Ch. du Tertre (Margaux)
Nice mature midweight claret, good acidity, resolved tannins, beautiful red and dark berry fruit. Floral at first, develops some classic Bordeaux aromas of cigarbox and earth. A-

1990 Ch. Pape Clement (Pessac-Leognan)
Lovely cassis fruit framed with ferric mineral notes and earth. A little bigger and riper than the du Tertre, equally lovely. A-

2001 Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux
Quite tight at first. Raspberries and cherries, with time some herb and smoke notes emerge. Drinks well with a couple hours, will hold last bottle a bit longer. A-/B+

No dessert, but with some cheeses (Reblochon, Stilton, and Tomme de Savioe) we contined with previous wines and tried:

1983 Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Trier Avelsbacher Hammerstein Riesling Auslese (Mosel Saar Ruwer)
This was an impulse buy, one of my favorite vintages but a wine from I believe the state run domaine. Was it worth $29? Yes,actually. Color quickly darkened, but a nice lighter mature Auslese, Nice texture, some petrol over citrus and pear fruit. B

1999 Meulenhof Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese ( Mosel Saar Ruwer)
Herbs, apples, moderately sweet. Not complex but nice enough. B/B-

Nice to see good friends, fun night.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

I didn't know the differentiation between the #2 and #5, Dale. Thanks.

That was a great evening and Dale surpassed himself (is that even good English?). Awesome food and a phenomenal line up of wines.

My favorites among the reds were the two Bordeaux with the du Tertre winning the nose battle and the Pape Clement edging it in taste. The Ramonet was extraordinary; smoky with hazelnuts for me. I still like Niellon's Chassagnes better than Ramonet's but this baby may change my mind.

Dale and I agree on the CRB; I like the #2 better and the 2007 is slightly better than the 2006.

The modesty of this thread’s title obscures the fact that this was one of the finest wine dinners I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Unassisted, Dale pulled out all the stops for his friends, doing us great honor. Hit by Murphy’s Law before and (evidently after) the tasting, Dale nevertheless was able to pull together a memorable feast for the senses.

2007 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine) 12.5% stainless steel
Grass, honey and a whiff of anis, with good mouth feel, lemony acidity, and nice balance. A touch on the light side, but good QPR.

2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #5 (Touraine) 13.8% oak
Also grassy and lemony, with more pronounced anis. Much more body than the preceding. Hard to tell how much of this is due to greater alcohol, greater oxygenation from oak, or an extra year in the bottle. Most likely due to the alcohol, of which I feel there is too much.

2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine) 13.8% stainless steel
Similar aromatics, but more subdued, so the high alcohol stands out even more. Lighter, less body, suggesting that alcohol is only one of the elements that make wine #2 have more body than wine #1.

I would have difficulty choosing a favourite among these three, since my ideal would be somewhere in between #1 and #2.

Then came an assortment of superb wines that I tried to sample from youngest to oldest:

2002 René & Vincent Dauvissat "Séchet" Chablis 1er Cru 13%
Nice lanolin nose. Mineral and lanolin flavors mixed with lemon and oak. Great mouth feel. Excellent wine, still very young.

1999 Domaine Ramonet "Les Vergers " Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 13.5%
I totally loved this. Awesome and complex nose of oak butter, bacon and lemon, confirmed by excellent balance, perfect fruit/acid combination, delicious mouth feel. If it weren’t for the premox fears, I’d rush out and buy. One of the finest whites I have ever had. Thank you, Dale, for the sublime experience.

2001 Mongeard-Mugneret Échezeaux
Barnyard and cherry nose, velvety and restrained in the mouth, with an exquisite sweetness. Still young, but already delivering considerable pleasure. Lovely.

1990 Chateau Pape Clement (Pessac-Léognan)
Dark cherry, tar and bacon nose, with a hint of cloves. Perfectly resolved tannins, every component in perfect balance. A textbook example of wonderful Bordeaux, at a perfect point in its evolution.

1979 Chateau du Tertre (Margaux)
Awesome nose, of cedar, damp forest floor, smoked meat and tobacco. Love the mouldy rims of these older bottles. Great fruit, great acid, still surprisingly tannic, much more so than the preceding Bordeaux, making it even more gripping for me. Memorable and quintessential Bordeaux.

1999 Meulenhof Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 8.5%
Petrol, honey and some burnt sugar. Not immensely complex but refreshing. I liked this quite a lot.

1983 Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Trier Avelsbacher Hammerstein Riesling Auslese
Nice beeswax aroma followed by good fruit and balance. By this time I was a bit beyond notes, but enjoyed it too (but preferred the previous).

Thank you, Dale, for the embarrassment of riches! Hope you’re having a good time in California.

Nice notes, sounds like a fun meal.

My understanding was that the CRB SB #5 was in new oak for its first (relatively recent?) vintage and then they've been using the same barrel(s) since then. Of course someone like SFJoe could help clear this up??

Yes, nice notes and great wines. It's great to get all three of your perspectives on the wines, too.

Mark Lipton

Rahsaan,
would love some real info on the CRBs

Oswaldo and Jacques,best part of wine is sharing with friends