WTN: Wines from lunch: C. Moreau Chablis 2003, Figeac 1998, Malmsey Madeira

Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2003 - Slightly greenish tinge to this. Young, stony wine. Melon flavor. A little acidic. Long finish but not a lot going on here. Seems closed to me. Good wine but nothing special. Maybe time will give it more character. A good match for the soft shell crab but not a convincing pairing for the oysters.

Chateau Figeac 1998 - Quite dark and young looking. Medium-bodied with plenty of dried fruit character. Very dry. Long finish. A very good drink now but the structure suggests a long life ahead. Real easy to drink and excellent with the steak and duck breast.

Henriques & Henriques 10 Year Old Malmsey Madeira - Dark olive-brown color. Complex nose of caramel, orange and prune. The flavors reflect the character of the nose. Plenty of acidity makes it refreshing, quite easy to drink and gives it a good balance to the sweetness. A selection of chocolates and a parmesan ice cream with candied dates filled with a blue cheese, while not really clashing with the wine, weren't that successful with the Madeira, unfortunately.

I'm not surprised that this Chablis didn't go well with oysters. Oysters and Chablis is a great match for the simplest of most Chablis. Grand Cru Chablis from a full bodied vintage would certainly overwhelm something as simple as oysters.

Thank you for the notes on the '98 Figeac. Nice to read a data point that it's doing well.

I am a fan of 98 Right Bank wines and my experience is that most of them, at least the ones that I sampled about two years ago, will definitely require more bottle aging. In addition to a couple of the Figeac and a few other Righ Bankers that's lying in my cellar, I will hold on these '98s for at least 5 more years before starting to pop them.

I agree with Alan - ripe GC Chablis to me is more like a Cote d'Or from matching standpoint.

R.- is that Ramon? Welcome in any case. Agree re '98s. If Ramon, I think you were at our '98 tasting at Inside. I think the wines that showed best were those decanted 6+ hours ahead of time. I'm only drinking the satellites and lesser St-Ems now.

Dale,

Good to see a familiar poster here. I always look forward to reading your notes anywhere.

One thing I took away from our '98 Right Bank offline was that they need plenty of time to come around.


Ramon