TN: Dinner with Danny, Brunello, Barolo, more...

[Chasse-Spleen]

My girlfriend Maria and my friend and personal chef Danny Brunello joined me at my home for a highly successful repast that included wines from five different appellations.

With brie we slugged the Michel Bouzereau 2011 Bourgogne Blanc. This wine impressed even the supposed chardonnay resistant Maria. Bouzereau has a following in the U.S. but I think the wines are not that easy to find. The other day I unloaded all 30 bottles of his Meursault (can’t recall exact appellation) to one customer so I figured the time was right to try one of these, the only Bouzereau wine left in the store at the moment.

Medium gold. Med-full body. Smokey oak on the nose with hints of peach and flowers. Nice attack. Good long finish. Some tropical fruit in the mouth compliments the oak. Delicious and easy to drink but not just easy. Hard to put down. Will improve in the short term.

With an herbed goat cheese we sipped the Domaine Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol 2012 “Les Monts Damnes.” Pale gold color. Melon, grass and pepper on the nose. Light to med body. Nice long mineral finish. Decent acidity but not high, balanced. Dry, quaffable but complex. Excellent Sancerre. We revisited the whites with an incredibly tasty and aesthetically pleasing salad of Danny’s invention, crisp hearts of romain lettuce with diced tomato and red onion and slices of cucumber. The blue cheese dressing kept the finishes of the wines in full form. I think I could become a salad man…

Turning to the main course of medium rare Newport steaks (a cut that Danny contends originated in Greenwich Village, where he lives) with roasted potatoes and sautéed shitake mushrooms, we enjoyed the Cascin Adelaide Barolo 2004. This wine has an unusual label and was new to me. One of Danny’s wine suppliers (he is a restaurant professional and Italian wine buyer) rated the wine at 97. I would perhaps suggest a more conservative 93-94 but I’m not a serious numbers guy. In any event it was one of the best Barolos I’ve ever had, in part because of the amazing steaks, company and the maturity of the wine. Drinking beautifully.

Translucent ruby with some lightening at the edge. Leather, oak, earth, herbs and decaying leaves, cherries and on and on in the nose. Mature taste with rose petals, cherries, minerals and a long, persistent finish. Tannins mainly resolved. Very good balance with excellent acidity. Soft, inviting texture but with depth. Beautiful, cedary, woody flavor. Danny in heaven with this wine. Maria totally loved it. I was simply enthralled and satisfied…

Simultaneously, we poured the Col D’Orcia 2005 Brunello. It wouldn’t be a Danny evening without Brunello. Bright, translucent but darker colored ruby with no lightening. Wood and herbal aromas along with soft cherries on the nose. Younger than the Barolo with fine tannins. Medium body but fills out with air time. Perfectly balanced although fruit lovers may complain a bit. Good finish. The nose eventually becomes spectacular with more herbs, tea, wood and spices and the wine fattens up considerably. A complex nose. Both the palate and the nose have that mysterious Brunello character that I find hard to describe as of yet. A very nice drink.

With Danish blue cheese and white chocolate (and Reeces Peanut Butter Cups – we are rough and ready guys, after all), we finished with the Petit Guiraud 2009 (second wine of Chateau Guiraud). A very impressive 18 carat gold color. Light at the center but very concentrated at the sides. Tangerine on the nose plus some orange marmalade. Lovely apricot on the palate. Some botrytis on the palate and the nose. Rich apricot on the nose. A long but light finish. Good potential. The finish starts to grow over time. Danny was not super impressed with the wine, claiming that a low level of botrytis limits its appeal. I feel that it’s not a world beater but still has potential and is a very good QPR. Good richness and flavor if not super complex. Perhaps a bit mundane after the previous company.

All in all, a very nice evening with great food and friends. The wines showed really well and despite a highly varied lineup, the meal was extremely harmonious and decadently enjoyable.
-Chasse