TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

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Michael Malinoski
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TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

Post by Michael Malinoski »

Every year for the past 6 years or so, my wife and I have joined a small group of friends to kick things up a bit at this annual dinner party and wine tasting. We try to pair up some very nice wines with a series of courses over a long evening of debauchery. Our host this year performed his usual top-quality cooking in the kitchen and the rest of us tried to do it justice with some bottles from our cellars. I’m happy to report that we succeeded in excess yet again this year!

Flight One: Champagne

This flight was served with assorted appetizers that included Pan Seared Foie Gras on toast points with Sauternes gelee, Mini Brie & Tarragon Quesadillas, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tartlets, and Baked Parmigiano Reggiano with honey, walnuts and shaved truffle.

N.V. Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. This was served in magnum format with a disgorgement date of March 2007, which by several accounts means it is likely a 100% vintage 2000 bottling—a very good year for the estate. And that quality shines right through in this beautiful wine from start to finish. The nose is precise and controlled, yet showing beautiful depth to the lovely aromas of chalk, graphite, granite, lemon rind, lime zest, green herbs and apple butter. The outstanding bouquet draws one back time and again, but this is also delightful on the palate—exhibiting wonderfully layered texturing of airy citrus and chalk-flavored top notes allied to a richer apple flesh core. There are no hard edges anywhere, but the creamy flow also feels chiseled and loaded with minerality. It all adds up to impeccable balance, tremendous drive, great class and impressive staying power. The magnum seems to really be the way to go here, if this outstanding bottle is any indication.

1985 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut. This bottle was disgorged in October 1998. It’s a darker gold color, but it has a beautiful lustre to it. The impressive bouquet fans up out of the glass, reaching out to all corners of the senses with effusive aromas of roasted nuts, ginger, dried citrus fruits, caramel and baked apples. In the mouth, it features a lovely streak of salinity running from the entry right through to the finish, supported by dark and toasty flavors of roasted nuts, baked apples, toasted bread, caramel, berry fruit and dark citrus. There’s a great sense of vinosity here to go along with a serious and thoughtful demeanor and plenty of delicious mature flavors. This is drinking very well, indeed.


Flight Two: Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Emile

These three wines were served with Pan-seared diver sea scallops and butter-poached lobster served over seasoned sushi rice with Uni and soft boiled quail egg garnish.

1990 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile. This is phenomenal stuff on the nose, featuring an absolutely beautiful bouquet of dried honey, star fruit, waxy tropical fruit cubes, lavender, blue slate and petrol aromas that are wonderfully harmonious and intoxicatingly inviting. In the mouth, it’s a bit more subtle and refined, but with a rounded body and an oily texture delivering a solid mouthful of lovely yellow fruit flavor. That depth of flavor is nicely balanced by a fine nick of acidity that comes on strong toward the back of the palate and on the finish. It has really impressive length and great dynamism up and down the palate journey despite the limpid weight and gorgeous mouth-coating texture. Really, I could drink this all night.

1996 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile. This is an obvious younger sibling to the 1990, showing much the same profile on the nose, but just a bit darker and more direct with its aromas of blue slate, petrol, honey, wax and white flowers. In the mouth, the acidity isn’t quite as fine-toned or driven as it is in the 1990, but it’s still delicious with its fleshy and oily flavors of lemon drop, dried grapefruit, pineapple, chalk and minerals. Even though it doesn’t quite deliver the length or drive of the tremendous 1990, it’s extremely enjoyable and I’d be excited to drink it any time.

1999 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile. This is by far the palest-colored wine of the trio, but it possesses the brightest and airiest bouquet of the three—opening up with time to reveal pretty but tighter-scaled aromas of lemon oil, pineapple, passion fruit, lilac and heather. On the palate, it’s lithe, taut and tangy. It falls short of the depth and gravitas of the previous two wines, but delivers plenty of pretty and focused flavors of lemon, grapefruit and mineral, with subtle acidic undertones lending it sneaky drive. It improves all night long, showing a lot of charm and pretty flavors that make for a rather enjoyable drink. On the whole, this was a fabulous flight, with all three wines showing very well and delivering tons of pleasure with the food.


Flight Three: Couly-Dutheil Chinon

Here we had two dishes: Roasted golden and red beets on a bed of arugula with goat cheese and hazelnuts dressed with a fig and balsamic vinaigrette, and Truffle Gnocchi served with a parmesan cream sauce.

1976 Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Baronnie Madeleine. Here one encounters a decidedly Old World bouquet, with beautifully aged and savory aromas of pounded leather, horsehair, pungent earth, tobacco leaf, tomato plants, green pepper, baked cherry and cranberry emanating from the glass. I love the style and really appreciate the complexity and mellow intermix of aromas it delivers. In the mouth, it’s delightfully feminine and ethereal in weight, but with very good intensity to the earthy and leather-tinged flavors of cherry, cranberry and brown spices. The acidic backbone is firm but subtle, and the wine shows fine balance to go along with refined tannin and soft edgings. It’s really healthy and rewarding, and is an absolute treat to drink for those who particularly enjoy this old-fashioned type of wine.

1989 Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Baronnie Madeleine. This takes a little bit longer to open up and in any event is more robust all around, showing off plump and dark-toned aromas of black raspberries, black cherries, beef stock, raw meat, charred wood, grilled peppers and fine leather In the mouth, it’s stickier and more structured to be sure, but with an undeniable finesse and refined texture. It’s tangy and juicy, but also a tad drying around the core of the black cherry, black raspberry and cranberry fruit. There’s a fine vein of mineral, iodine and beef blood character to go along with dark spice and tobacco accents, as well. Although still rather classy in tone, this wine is certainly a bit gutsier than its older sibling, though both are delivering just a lot of fine savory Cabernet Franc character that’s hard not to enjoy.


Flight Four: Château La Conseillante

This flight was perfectly paired with Beef Short Rib Cannelloni – Home-made pasta stuffed with slow braised beef short rib meat in a rich beef sauce served with roasted marrow bones and braised baby carrots.

1981 Château La Conseillante Pomerol. There’s a fun, funky, earthy-sweet nose to this very pleasing wine, showing all kinds of dried blueberry, spiced plum, cranberry mince, tobacco, black tea, dried sweat, animal hide and barrel spice aromas that are delightfully complex and engaging, especially for the vintage. In the mouth, it delivers nice funky earth notes to go with sweet and finely-resolved fruit flavors of dried cherries and cranberries, spices and green leafy qualities. It’s smooth, giving, tangy and drinking just great right now. I wouldn’t wait on it too long, but it’s totally enjoyable right now.

1982 Château La Conseillante Pomerol. Of the three wines in this flight, this one is by far the most introspective, dark and reserved—needing a lot of aggressive swirling to bring forth the earthy aromas of dark soil, fudge, black plum, hung game, animal fur and limestone. Following it over the entire course of the evening, it just never really seems to fully release its potential, staying far too reticent and tamped down relative to what it ought to be showing right now. In the mouth, it’s darkly red-fruited, meaty, beefy and thick, with a subtle tang of acidity. The earth and herb notes seem to overwhelm the fruit more than I would like, but the wine feels very pleasantly smooth-textured and easy-flowing. Overall, it’s just too reined-in and slightly “dumb”, and it really makes me wonder whether this is just a slightly off bottle or one that really just needs more time.

1989 Château La Conseillante Pomerol. Ooh, this is wonderful. I love it on the nose, where it shows sexy aromas of powdered blueberries, melted milk chocolate, sandalwood, vanilla bean, cherry rollup, kirsch liqueur and exotic spicebox. In the mouth, it’s super-smooth, luxuriant and slinky, delivering fine flavors of vanilla bean, baking spices, plums, baked cherries and milky chocolate. It’s full-bodied, fleshy and rich, yet fresh, tangy and classy all around. It’s top-notch stuff.


Flight Five: Syrah World Challenge

This trio of wines was paired with a trio of pork dishes: Slow-braised wild boar shank, braised pork belly, and home-smoked bacon served with Puy lentils and Swiss chard.

1988 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde. This is one umami-driven nose, loaded with olive loaf, bacon fat, sausage, tar, iron, grilled meat, smoked herb, black pepper and black cherry aromas that make for a really nice old-fashioned combination. It’s much the same on the palate, with iron, ink, earth, olive, herb and meat flavors wrapped around a core of cracked black pepper and dark cherry flavor and tangy acidity. It’s finely-resolved, classically-made, and an excellent pairing with the pork dishes.

1998 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm McLaren Vale. Sadly, this bottle was musty and showing low-grade cork taint.

2002 Sean Thackrey Orion Rossi Vineyard Napa Valley. This is dark and sultry on the nose, with aromas of black raspberry, lava field, eucalyptus and wildflowers. It’s loaded with sweet-tinged flavors of blackberries, raspberries, plums and candied cherries that are full-bodied and smoothly lactic in texture. It’s fairly low-acid but with good push and life through to the lengthy finish. It’s maybe a bit less exotic than I was led to expect but it’s nice and tasty if not quite as special or unique as I was hoping.


Flight Six: The Grande Finale

We wrapped things up with an assortment of Baklava from Athans Bakery and also Pears poached in Riesling syrup with crumbled blue cheese and hazelnut brickle with a Foie Gras stuffed prune garnish.

1989 Château d'Yquem Sauternes. This wonderful d’Yquem offers up immediate and mesmerizing aromas right from the moment the cork is pulled. In the glass, it’s pure, focused, energetic and gorgeously layered with aromas of mandarin orange, nectarine, rich marmalade and slinky toasted spices that are sublimely luscious but without any sense of overt weight. In the mouth, it’s captivating without being unctuous or overly plump. It’s a svelte thoroughbred, with the lush yellow fruit and acidity in perfect harmony. It has years and years to go, but is a total treat to drink right now.

And with that, we rolled out of there and headed home, counting down the days until next year’s dinner.


-Michael
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

Post by Comte Flaneur »

What a night! I am very envious!

Love that you drank 81 Conseillante.

The 82 should have been much better, so I reckon you might have had an off bottle.

Ian
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stefan
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Re: TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

Post by stefan »

As good as the wines were, the food looks over the top.
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Carlos Delpin
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Re: TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

Post by Carlos Delpin »

Love that 81 Conseillante. Always brings a smile. Cheers on a great evening.
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Outlier
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Re: TNs: A big night, with a mini vertical of La Conseillante

Post by Outlier »

I drank '81 Trotanoy on two occasions recently and found both bottles to be utterly mesmerizing. Unbelievably I got them for $65 each. It feels like a vintage like '81 lives in the shadow of '82 and so can sometimes be under-rated. Another case in point may be '88, of which I've enjoyed a fair few bottles at a fraction of the price of '89..
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