Friday I made pork shoulder and Rancho Gordo yellow Indian woman beans in pressure cooker, with sauteed arugula and the 2014 Limerick Lane Zinfandel(Russian River Valley). Good acids for zin, just a hint of heat, red plums with a little herb. B
Snowstorm turned out not to be much, but neighbors came for dinner. They brought the appetizers- smoked salmon canapes and stuffed mushrooms. I opened the 2005 Andre Beaufort Brut Millesime Grand Cru Champagne and poured for all, but one sniff of my glass and I told everyone “stop,” I don’t think I’ve ever run across a Champagne as vilely corked as this one. Down to cellar (luckily pretty cold this time of year). First Champagne I came to was
the 2005 Philipponnat Clos Des Goisses. OK, time for an upgrade. Biscuits and herb on nose, sweet peaches and apple on palate. Full, apparently a fairly high dosage, long. Quite tasty but maybe not the minerality I’d expect from Goisses. B+
First sitdown course was pan roasted baby artichokes with a spicy curry yogurt sauce. Difficult pairing, so I poured 2 wines to experiment. The Cotat got a little bit of that metallic twang with the artichokes, not awful but distracting. The Trimbach however disappeared. Really. At the same moment as Betsy said" it tastes like nothing" I said "it tastes like water" . It was like the artichokes (or the curry? I think the chokes) stripped away all flavor from the Riesling. Never experienced that before.
Both wines showed great on their own:
2007 Francois Cotat “les Culs de Beaujeu” Sancerre
Grapefruit, lemon zest, a little waxy note. Deep and full, with a long Chavignol minerally finish. Drinking perfectly. A-
2007 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling
Quite young, no petrol yet, citrus and rocks. Totally dry, crisp. Long. A-/B+
2014 Krüger-Rumpf Schiefer Riesling Feinherb
(not with the artichokes) A little sweeter than I expect from Feinherb, but well-balanced in a light bodied package. Good value ($10). B
Main course was duck legs with mustard and panko, with cauliflower puree and sauteed spinach. Our friends like wine, have a cellar, but I wouldn’t call geeky. But I decided to pair a Burgundy (for me) and a wine I knew the husband liked. For the Burg I decided on the 1990 Jadot Corton-Pougets. I had grabbed a bottle Friday when Betsy told me menu, brought upstairs, it sat on cabinet for 24 hours. I opened just before arrival but didn’t decant. And then I went to pour with duck, and finally actually looked at label instead just neck label. Oops. I had actually opened the Ruchottes-Chambertin!
1990 Jadot Ruchottes-Chambertin
Ripe but not roasted, black cherries and plums, some coffee and smoke. Holds up well for several hours, with some sandalwood with time. A-/B+
2001 Havens Bourrriquot
Ripe, black fruits and espresso, holding on but drink up. B
(but friend loved)
Fun night with good friends, just with the Goisses and the Ruchottes it was a bit spendier than I planned!
Sunday skate schnitzel with a caper/lemon sauce, broccoli with a bagna cauda sauce, & rice
2014 Enfield Citrine Chardonnay
12.5% , good acidity, with producer’s rep I’m a little surprised by some apparent oak, nice Meyer lemon and pear fruit. The oak just surprised, didn’t detract. B+/B
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.
