A few fellow wine lovers came over for dinner on the weekend. I decided to try a seafood theme, and suggested an all white wine event. One guest almost fainted at the suggestion, but then somewhat reluctantly agreed to the idea. We didn't take notes, and I was busy slaving away in the kitchen, so these are pretty basic impressions of the wines (all non-blind).
For the life of me, I can't remember what we paired with what, but here's the menu:
Smoked salmon dip
Pan seared scallops with lime and cilantro sauce
Crabcakes with a lemon dill sauce
Bouillabase
Pan seared halibut with rice pilaf and honeyed carrots
The salmon appetizer was definnitley paired with a 1999 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese, which was an enjoyable riesling showing some nice aged characteristics, but a bit more acidity would have been nice. Nice long finish, though (B+).
A champange was opened next, a Diebolt-Vallois Brut NV to be exact. Certainly a pleasant NV wine, with some toasty notes and a lemony finish (B+).
The scallops were paired, I think, with a 2001 Paul Blanck Rosenberg Riesling. A lovely Alsacian wine that was filled with mainly citrus and some tropical fruits, great minerality, and healthy acidity (A-).
I think we had a 2004 Alain Voge 'Fleur de Crussol' from the St Peray region of the Northern Rhone next. It was a great Marsanne, very interesting in terms of texture and flavours. Don't remember much else of this one, other than I liked it (A-)!
Someone was calling for more wine, so I rummaged downstairs and came up with a 1999 Chateau Musar Blanc. Wow. I tried this at a tasting with Serge pouring his wines a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. But I wasn't prepared for how well this bottle showed last night. It is one of the most singular wines I have ever had. The three other tasters weren't as impressed as I, but I was blown away by the power of the wine, the oily texture on the long finish, the hint of oxidation, the wonderfully unique flavours on profile. Stunning! (A/A+). I ordered several more bottles the next day! I think we had this with the Bouillabase, filled with tons of snapper and shrimp.
With the halibut, I think we had the two chablis. First we tried a 2002 Domaine Christian Moreau 1er Cru Vaillons Cuvée Guy Moreau, which was showing nicely, with lemon, lots of minerals and a hint of butterscotch on the balanced palate. Classic chablis, with no oxidation problems here (yet) (A-). We followed that up with a 1998 William Fevre Valmur Grand Cru, which had a mouthful of wet rocks, lemon and lime fruits, and did I mention minerals - this wine left imprints of ancient fossils from the limestone on my tongue (A-)!
We had to have a token red, so out came the 2004 Quinta do Vale Meao after all the food had been consumed. It had been opened 6 hours earlier, but it was still pretty tight, with a bit too much oak for my liking, and somewhat international in style. But it had incredible concentration and an amazing mouthfeel, so in 5 years or so this could be a stunner (A-).
Really interesting dinner and wines! WOTN was the Musar for me.