I arrived in DC last week so it was about time to meet up with Jonathan Loesberg and Bob Semon to drink some wine. We started at the ‘Grand Tasting’ of Bell Wine and Spirits. I mean nothing better than churning through 30 some-odd wines before sitting down to dinner. That said, most of them didn’t leave much of an impression.
Of the few that did leave an impression, the 2005 Dagueneau Silex was refined and fine and definitely showed why it cost more than all the other mere mortal sauvignon blanc wines on display. But I still wouldn’t pay $120 for the pleasure. I also had a pleasant reaction to the 2005 Pithon Anjou Les Pépinières which was pretty fresh, full, and firm and not as dominated by oak as I remember some of his dry whites being in the past. That said, it didn’t speak to me enough to want to buy it, although maybe I might prefer recent vintages of his Croix Picot?
Three other wines that stood out to me were the 2007 Schoffit Chasselas VV which was (surprisingly) rich, fresh, and delightfully easy to drink (although again, at $23 I’d probably rather have other stuff), the 2006 Mikael Bouges Touraine Les Cots Hauts which was ripe round juicy fun, and the 2006 Chidaine Chenin Blanc de Touraine which Bob was the first to herald as usefully easy basic chenin. Seems more successful than his negociant sauvignon blanc, but that could also just be because chenin is better than sauvignon blanc. There were various Southern French wines that Jonathan seemed to enjoy, but I wasn’t paying attention.
And, it was time to leave for dinner anyway.
At the restaurant we started with a comparison of the old guard (2005 Huet Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec) and the middle-aged turk (2005 Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Bournais). Both were very fine wines although to my tastes they were showing a bit heavy at the moment. I will be curious how the remainders taste tonight. The Bournais was great fun although I think it suffered by being served next to the Le Mont which was more focused, precise, and elegant. For last night’s purposes I preferred the Le Mont but I’m guessing that both will turn into something even more delicious in the future once they strip off some of that fat.
Next was the 2002 Olga Raffault Chinon Poplinière which was tart and crunchy and very refreshing. It felt constricted and sour around the edges at first, but it filled in (a bit) with air and became a pleasing drink although there were other more compelling wines on the table. Such as the 1996 Monchiero Carbone Roero Srü which had the requisitely firm nebbiolo tannin nails but also some delightful floral subtlety that made me want to keep re-pouring. Not the most complex, but worthy of several (too many) re-pours.
The 1997 Masi Rosso del Veronese Osar was interesting. It was very darkly fruited for my palate, but of course it had quite a firm acid (and tannin?) based structure. Could have been pleasing to drink at a casual meal, but truth be told I was more interested in the 2001 Texier Chateauneuf-du-Pape VV. This showed some comfortable resolved fruit and very very friendly drinking (again, a few too many re-pours into my glass). For most of the dinner this was my favorite wine, although at the end of the evening it started to feel a bit alcoholic. Of course that could have also been all the substances piling up in my body!
All in all, it was a great selection of wines and we had no complaints (well, other than my first choice for dinner being already sold-out, but that’s a different story…).