Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Too much to drink, Part II: Dinner!
Dinner kicked off with 2 wines that I owned a lot of at one point, the 1992 and 2000 Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc, de l'Oree. Having these two made me wish I hadn't sold all of mine! Next up was the 1995 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne. They're some of the most expensive white Burgundies you'll find, and this was my first time trying it. I was unimpressed--sure, it's really thick-textured, but where's the fruit? I didn't like it nearly as much as the Dauvissaut, and it's many times the price.
Some red Burgundy came next, the 1980 Ponsot Clos de la Roche and 1966 Ligeret Chambertin. The Ponsot is a legendary wine, and was terrific, concentrated but not showing too much of the over-ripeness of other vintages. The Chambertin was also showing very well, and I preferred it slightly to the Ponsot (a minority view)--fantastic complexity, but pretty light-bodied.
The next wine up was the 1965 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, and like the Ardanza, is one that I'd love to throw into a tasting of mature Bordeaux. They really knew how to make 'em in those days. After that came the only two Italians of the day, both by Gaja: 1982 Barbaresco Sori Tilden and 1985 Barbaresco Costa Russi. Totally different wines; the Costa Russi was open, fruit-forward, and after an hour or so in the glass really started to decline, while the Sori Tilden was bigger, more tannic, seemingly younger.
I was starting to hit the wall at this point, as was everyone else, but the 1947 Chateau l'Evangile brought me back to life. This may be the best wine I've ever had. Incredible scents of earth, truffles, fruit, and plenty of other things that I couldn't quite identify. If I'd been told it was the '75, I might have believed it; it was still that concentrated, the kind of wine that makes you tune out everything around you.
A few other things were still to come. The 1974 Ramonet Batard-Montrachet was a surprise; from what I recall it was not quite as good as the Prieur from early in the day, but still with plenty of life left. The 1961 Faiveley Chambertin, Clos de Beze was great too, probably nearing the end of its useful life (light-bodied, like the Ligeret), but really good aromatics. The 1974 Mayacamas was solid, but I expected more; and finally, the 1990 Foreau Vouvray Goutte d'Or, a total freak of a wine--dark amber in color, more sugar than a Cinnabon, thicker than motor oil--it's pretty amazing stuff, but you can't drink more than about an ounce of it (why they bottled it in 750s, I can't imagine).
There were still a few bottles on the shelf at that point, as well as dessert, but everyone had pretty much hit the wall, and there was a unanimous vote for calling it a night. Which was all for the best; the wines left out deserve better than to be opened after we'd taken down almost 3 bottles each. It was an incredible day, and I can't thank everyone enough for their incredible generosity.
