WTN: 2018 Terrine XV Event

The day of the 15th annual Terrine event dawned clear and hot, even though where we are located right beside a river is probably one or two degrees lower than other locations. Fortunately there was a nice breeze all day and we were in the shade.

I had obtained a full lobe of duck foie gras for my dish and had half of it left over and the thing to do was to confit it and offer it as an extra introductory course with a couple of foie friendly wines.

1988 Château de Rayne-Vigneau – this Sauternes was a medium golden colour with a typical orange rind and apricot nose with some nice spice hints and what I took to be faint pine as well. Balanced, not too sweet, and worked with the foie gras.

2007 Château Raymond-Lafon – I was surprised that there wasn’t too much difference in colour between the two wines two decades apart. More citrus crisper nose here and lots of acidity on palate though still quite sweet – needs time.


Next up was a Scallop and Shrimp Terrine with leek and saffron in St Jacques sauce with Abbotsford Corn.

2002 Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé – delightful lemon brioche nose and clear appley flavours with long finish. Good.

Ariston Aspasie Champagne Brut Prestige NV – broader fruit notes in the nose and some bread dough. Good fruit levels and medium length.


Foie Gras Ballotine and Asparagus Terrine with Shallot Rosemary Marmalade, Fennel Apple Salad and Buttered Radishes

2010 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Remus Plus – This has been in my cellar for several years and is showing maturity now and should be drunk in the near term, but it was still lovely. Floral interesting nose, on palate rich and with sweet melon, but followed by a dry finish.

2012 Tantalus Vineyards Riesling Old Vines – one of the best Riesling producers in BC, in this case overshadowed by a later wine. Youthful colour and very Riesling petrol nose, impeccable balance and dry finish.


Rabbit Terrine with sour cherry compote, cornichons and toast points

2011 Sperling Vineyards Riesling Old Vines – light yellowish with a clean varietal nose, more citrus than petrol and a long clean finish. Good.

2011 Muller-Catoir Mussbach Riesling Kabinett – a good choice for the food – a Spatlese would have been too sweet and a trocken too dry. Lighter Riesling nose with citrus hints, crisp acidity and classy long finish. Nice Riesling.


Duck Terrine a l’Orange with fresh fruits

2016 Bellingham Chenin Blanc Bernard Series Old Vine – I’ve tasted this wine twice recently and in neither case was there the level of sulfur I saw in this bottle. Like sticking your head in a bag that someone had lit a match in. As a result I liked the wine less than I had before and felt that it was marred by the excessive sulfur, but otherwise the flavours were fairly clean and the finish had decent length.

2014 Marcel Lapierre Morgon – nice medium red colour, some very nice strawberry fruit in the nose, with followed through on palate with a clean medium length finish.


Terrine of Artichoke, Deviled Ham and Black Truffles with braised fresh artichoke heart and candied Nicoise olive

2006 Domaine Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet Cornas - bright colour, darker than the Beaujolais of course and showing a very nice Northern Rhone black pepper and meaty bacon fat nose. On palate some nice dark cherry and blackberry elements and still significant tannins. Classy wine.

2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape – browner edges and a sweeter riper nose than the Cornas. Mellow in the mouth, smooth and absolutely ready, somewhat to my surprise – time to drink! Have tagged mine for near term drinking.


After the smoke cleared and most had departed homeward, I opened a last bottle:

2005 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim – quite a bit of colour and a rather nice sweet ginger nose and some apricot, off dry but carrying a fair bit of acidity ending with good length. Worked as an after terrine wine.[/quote]

[David M. Bueker]

Always an interesting tale.

Is this really just an annual event? I could have sworn you folks refer to the terrine-wine matches more often than that!

Yes, a terrific yearly event.
What did Jenise turn out?

Yes, a terrific yearly event.
What did Jenise turn out?

Try and guess which one was Jenise's. She'll jump in and tell you.

[Jenise]

Bob, I was the last course (Bill decides the order). Kind of cool because once I learned that, I abandoned my plan to serve one each white and red and went double red since no one else was doing that, and added the truffle element and Beaucastel to make it a suitable finale. Here's what my terrine looked like before slicing:

Terrine2018.jpg

[Jenise]

Bill, I'd forgotten that you and I have different tolerances for what you call 'sulphur'. But I'm not even sure it's tolerance, rather varying ability to detect it. My meager notes on the Bellingham included "salted caramel" and "petrol" but there's no indication that I found anything offensive there. Conversely, I'm turned off by even the mildest oxidation which you often don't mention as being there at all.

I thought my Montlouis was showing some oxidative notes, but sometimes that can add some interest even if it detracts from the freshness of a wine.

I think the reason I detest sulfur is that it never adds anything good - the best you can ask for is that it be at a less than offensive level.

Kind of reminds me of areas where I have travelled and the chlorine levels in the local water was so high that sticking your nose over a running tap was like sniffing a bleach bottle. No thanks!

[Jenise]

I don't have your experience with aging chenins, but I didn't pick up oxidation in the Montlouis so much as a much more pronounced beeswax thing than had been evident in any of my three bottles (all of which I drank early though about a year apart) and virtually none of the exotic, multi-faceted floral thing that had been, for me, the wow factor in the younger wine. So while I enjoyed yours well enough, I didn't think that it benefitted from more time in bottle.

[Jenise]

Oh by the way, I want to publicly congratulate you on your resourcefulness and generosity in starting the event off with the bonus course of foie gras and Sauternes. That was absolutely sensational!