Seattle was honored and graced to be the last and final stop on Brad's whirlwind summer tour of the Left Coast. His tour bus and entourage arrived fresh from Portland, after a visit in California. Apparently his trip has been good so far, with only a slight misstep at the Palmer House of schrooms. Brad told me he dined with another Mark Davis in Portland. Weird coincidence, but maybe this explains some strange occurrences. Mark, if you are reading this, did you receive a box of wine from Premier Cru? A mixed case of 02 Baumard sweeties and Dauvissat Chablis that I ordered about 3 years ago never arrived. Maybe they sent it to the Portland Mark Davis.
The night got off to a slow and sputtering start, with Friday traffic on I-5 reduced to a crawl due to several accidents and a reported convention of dental software entrepreneurs. Six of us gathered at Union in downtown Seattle to greet Kane and try some wines. The last to arrive was Roy 'the Port Guy Hersh', who walked in accompanied by the chef. Roy had several boxes and packages, and I was wondering what wonders from the Douro he had in his bag of goodies. Even though we had settled on a highly focused theme for the evening, "Wines From France", I thought it was a pretty good bet that Roy would have at least one bottle of Vintage Port. Also in attendance was Brad 'Only French wines, please' Liljequist, Clint Hall, and Micheal Gordon.
We eventually were seated at a nice table with plenty of room to spread out our bottles and glasses, right across from the kitchen. Turns out, Roy didn't have any Port, but he did bring a magnum of the 1996 Trimbach CFE . Who knew one could be a Prince of Port, a Maestro of Madeira, and still enjoy stony Alsace Riesling? Great flexibility, Roy.
We started out with some white wines, which were mostly from the Loire.
2004 Pur Sang had a nice floral and grapefruit essence nose. Very dry and fresh, with a long finish around a real elegant spine of acidity. Excellent bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
A couple of very young Chenins were up next.
The 2005 Belliviere Eparses had a pure, clean and expressive nose of quince, acacia flower, and honey. The nose was really the essence of Chenin blanc. Demisec level of sweetness. This was mouth coating, and the minerals and acid structure seem hidden under the baby fat.
Kane had commented earlier in the day that he doesn't bother with Belliviere, saying it is cheaper just to buy razor wire to drag across the tongue to get the same effect. I think the 05 version has changed his mind.
The 2005 Huet Clos de Bourg Demisec was more restrained than the Eparses. With some swirling it had a fine clean nose of flowers and some quince fruit. In the mouth it is tight and wound up, with a big spine. This is great stuff, but will need lots of time. Kane thinks the '05 Huet demis aren't as good as the 2002 versions, but it is maybe too soon to judge.
We tried the 2004 Texier Condrieu next. The nose is pretty and restrained for Viognier, with some stone fruit and peach aromas. Almost lithe in the mouth, with tangerine fruit and bright acidity which gives this a lift at the finish. A really nice version of Condrieu. I read in JLL's book that Texier raises this in old Acacia wood barrels to preserve the fruit and not mask the flavors with oak, and I think this bottle was a success in that regard.
Brad L asks Kane if he likes Burgundy wines. Kane scrunches up his face like he has swallowed something evil, and shakes his head no. He does admit to liking certain Beaujolais, like Lapierre, which he considers a "Gateway Wine". His explains this with an analogy: "Morgon leads to Bourgogne, just like smoking reefer leads to crack." Cool, who knew these things?
Our first course arrives, a terrine of Muscovy duck fois gras, served with cherry compote, a salad of frisee, and some walnut toast. More Chenin blanc is opened to go with the appetizer.
1996 Pinon Vouvray Premier Trie is a lovely match with the food. A very interesting high toned nose, almost sharp, with some wet river rock minerals. The wine is sweet, but not really dessert level. Peach with a little pineapple, mouth coating texture, nice tartness at the end gives it some Ying yang interest.
1996 Ch Soucherie Cotes du Layon VV is our sacrifice to the Cork Gods tonight. Damn, I heard this one had a lot of points, and it would have been interesting to compare with the '96 Pinon.
With the next course we had a little Northern Rhone flight.
1998 Jasmin Cote Rotie was a pretty elegant version of CR, but still true to its place. A little smokey bacon, some plummy fruit, horse saddle, a little high toned violets gave this an interesting and complex nose. I thought the tannins were pretty soft and approachable making this very drinkable right now. Brad L thought this was still young and will be better with more time.
1998 Jaboulet Cornas Domaine de St Pierre was more rustic than the Jasmin, with some Band Aid brett, chocolate, prune and dark fruits, tart acidity, and leathery tannins. A little bit astringent finish. It seemed like it had some new oak flavors, but I wasn't really sure.
The others mentioned that the Quail dish was a great match with the Syrahs. I saved some of the Huet CdB demi to drink with my grilled Branzino with fennel. The Huet had opened up a lot and was great with the fish fillet.
Brad regaled us with stories and tales about the NY wine geek crowd, teaching us some of the secret codes and handshakes, should we ever find ourselves in The Big City. Hard to believe what those New Yorkers have to endure, paying Crack whores to watch your parked car, and restaurants that 'steam cook' steaks.
A lone bottle of Bordeaux made its way around the table, a 1989 Leoville Barton. Very youthful appearance and nose, some cedar and cassis, with the faintest edge of green. Big burly tannins, and pretty primary overall, I would give this one more time.
WIth the main course three bottles of Chateauneuf du Pape were opened.
1988 Vieux Telegraphe had a crumbling cork, but the wine was fine and seemed fully mature. Some baking spices mix with a menthol aroma and an old leather earthy note. There is some sweet raspberry fruit left. The tannins were pretty soft. An elegant, mature CnP that was a great pleasure to drink, and terrific with my morel and chicken dish.
1995 Vieux Telegraphe was the red WOTN for 4 of us. Very expressive, earthy nose, with tar, brown spices, clove, and dark fruit. It approaches but doesn't quite cross the line of over ripeness to me. Lots of structure, and great balance. Very nice to drink now, but I think it will improve even more with time. This was a great bottle of wine.
1997 Chateau de Beaucastel was also drinking very well. It had a little horse saddle, but in the context of Beaucastel seemed almost clean to me. The nose was dominated by sweet Grenache cherry fruit, and this was riper with lower acidity than the 2 VTs. I was concentrating on the two VTs and didn't spend that much time with the Beaucastel.
A fun evening, with some very nice wines. It was a pleasure to finally meet Brad and his Great Palate. Thanks Roy for arranging the details, and good to see Michael, Clint and Brad L.
Best,
Marc
