TNs: 1983 Chateau Margaux, 1995 Chateau Climens

[Michael Malinoski]

On two successive nights, my wife and I were privileged to dine with fine and good gentlemen named John. The first evening was an impromptu dinner at Café Mangal for my father-in-law John’s 80th birthday. We had a big event with a bunch of guests planned for later in the week-end, but on the actual day itself we got the family together almost at the last minute to celebrate on the actual date. The following evening, we attended our annual dinner at our good friend John’s house, at which he always pulls out all the stops in the kitchen and in the wine cellar.

Dinner at Café Mangal:

N.V. Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. This was an excellent way to start the evening, as this showed extremely well from a bottle purchased just a few days earlier. It features a full-throated yet elegantly-fruited nose of berries, lime peel, pears, apples, chalk, flint and herbs that are strong and direct but refined and engaging. In the mouth, it demonstrates great balance and an effortless flow to the sappy berry, citrus and mineral flavors. It has a gentle frothy mousse to it, but solid drive and a clean yet pleasingly berry-laden finish that leaves you wanting more.

2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière Knights Valley. From my wife’s stash, this wine delights with its overt and exotic bouquet of crushed hazelnut, honeysuckle, spiced pear, nutmeg, chalk, mineral and wood shaving aromas. In the mouth, it’s delightfully oily-textured on the entry and really fans out in the mid-palate to deliver deliciously leesy flavors of poached pear, pineapple, star fruit, nutmeg, light caramel and vanilla that linger on long after swallowing.

1998 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. From my brother-in-law’s cellar, this also showed very well on this night. It soars up out of the glass with big, round, plump aromas of cherry compote, plums, tar, smoke, rawhide leather and sweet incense in an utterly seamless, sexified, languid and inviting package. In the mouth, it’s lusciously smooth and completely integrated—showing no hard angles anywhere and hardly a hair out of place. The acidity is soft and the flavors of cherry liqueur and plum tart are boldly sumptuous and sweet. There’s no sense of raisined or pruney flavors and the alcohol isn’t even noticed—it’s just drinking in a great place right now.

Dinner party for 4:

N.V. Gosset Champagne Grand Rosé Brut. The color here is really much closer to gold than to anything resembling pink. It makes no difference to me, as the aromas of the wine are quite nice and exuberant—featuring scents of dried red berries, toast points, yeast, poached tree fruit and powdered minerality. In the mouth, it’s quite foamy and expansive—delivering nice flavors of baked apples, nuts, citrus, dark berries and smoke carried along by copper-tinged acidity. I like the energy, complexity and flavors a good deal and find it to be drinking quite nicely.

1995 Château Climens Barsac. The first course once we sat down to the table was a ridiculously decadent foie gras appetizer dish, with which John opted to pair this 500ml bottle of Barsac. I find the nose to be refined and elegantly restrained more than overt or exotic with its aromas of baked peaches, light apricot, dried pineapple, white flowers, vanilla and brown spices. In the mouth, it’s again elegantly-styled and medium-weighted, with gorgeously lifted and tangy-sweet flavors riding atop a nice creamy texture. It’s sneaky bright in tone and seems to be ideally built for pairing with food.

1983 Château Margaux Margaux. We pulled the cork on this bottle and decanted it just 30 minutes before dinner, but in retrospect should have given it at least an hour longer, as it was very healthy and the last sip of the night was perhaps the best. In any event, the nose soars up out of the glass with aromas of beautiful Margaux berries, red currants, classy earth, peppercorn, old sweaty baseball mitt, and gently savory tertiary bits. The savory and earthy elements lead the way on the palate, but are soon joined by the gently sweet red and blue berry-dominated fruit that just unfolds more and more as the delicious venison course progresses. The texture and body also fleshes out the longer you stay with it and by the time all is said and done and the accolades really start to build, the bottle is gone!


-Michael

[DavidG]

'83 Margaux is awesome stuff. I had only a few bottles and undoubtedly drank them too early, but boy were they good.