Thursday, April 24, 2008
Last Minute Invite
Sorry for the lack of updates; I've been pretty busy with catalog production for the auctions, as well as preparing for tomorrow's sale. I have two events to write up, a blind tasting with my regular group in Westchester, as well as a combined Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile vertical and old Rioja evening, so watch this space.
Late yesterday morning, I was asked if I had any plans for the evening, and if not, if I'd like to go to Nougatine (the sister restaurant to Jean-Georges) with Fritz Hatton, our auctioneer, and a major collector in town for the Lyons sale. There's really only one answer to that question! So, four of us gathered for a great meal from the Nougatine kitchen and some amazing wines.
The collector had brought all of the wines for the evening. I walked in and there was an open bottle of Montrachet Ramonet 1990 on the table. It was delicious, bright acidity, medium weight and yet very concentrated at the same time, with just a hint of butterscotch and nuttiness coming out on the end to signal that it's starting to mature.
A burgundy glass was placed on the table next, quickly followed by a bottle of La Tache 1976 to pour into it. This is my second time having the wine in three months, and both times it has been showing great, good cherry fruit, a little earthy, bright, and while it is tannic, it doesn't have the harsh, drying tannins that some 1976s have. For comparison he opened a bottle of Romanee St Vivant Marey-Monge 1969, which was my dry wine of the night (more on that later). It had a lot of cherry fruit as well, plus some savory spices; the acidity was very high, which didn't bother me but one taster thought it was a little mouth-puckering for his taste. Finally, "just for fun," a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin Leroy 1969, which would have been perfectly good on its own, but couldn't compete against the other wines in the flight.
We had been told in advance that all of the dry wines but one would be from Burgundy, and next up was our lone Bordeaux: Latour 1945. This was the first encounter I'd had with this legend, which, if served blind, I would have thought was 15 years younger. Perfectly mature, rich, perhaps not quite as complex as I expected, but a great bottle. The consensus was that this was not quite as good as the bottles from the other case the collector owns, but all agreed it was still an extraordinary wine by any standard.
We'd been told that there would be dessert wines, but I wasn't expecting them to bring out two glasses. A spectacular bottle of Climens 1947 was poured, full of pineapple, banana, modest but vibrant acidity, and as long and pure a finish as any wine I've had in a long time. Wine of the night for me. Finally, while we nursed that, we watched a sommelier apply port tongs to Fonseca 1966. This is a vintage that was unjustly ignored by the marketplace for years, but now trades only a little bit lower than 1963. This may be the best port vintage for drinking now. One of the guests described it as "like drinking a Twizzler." A beautiful bottle of port and a great way to end.
Late yesterday morning, I was asked if I had any plans for the evening, and if not, if I'd like to go to Nougatine (the sister restaurant to Jean-Georges) with Fritz Hatton, our auctioneer, and a major collector in town for the Lyons sale. There's really only one answer to that question! So, four of us gathered for a great meal from the Nougatine kitchen and some amazing wines.
The collector had brought all of the wines for the evening. I walked in and there was an open bottle of Montrachet Ramonet 1990 on the table. It was delicious, bright acidity, medium weight and yet very concentrated at the same time, with just a hint of butterscotch and nuttiness coming out on the end to signal that it's starting to mature.
A burgundy glass was placed on the table next, quickly followed by a bottle of La Tache 1976 to pour into it. This is my second time having the wine in three months, and both times it has been showing great, good cherry fruit, a little earthy, bright, and while it is tannic, it doesn't have the harsh, drying tannins that some 1976s have. For comparison he opened a bottle of Romanee St Vivant Marey-Monge 1969, which was my dry wine of the night (more on that later). It had a lot of cherry fruit as well, plus some savory spices; the acidity was very high, which didn't bother me but one taster thought it was a little mouth-puckering for his taste. Finally, "just for fun," a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin Leroy 1969, which would have been perfectly good on its own, but couldn't compete against the other wines in the flight.
We had been told in advance that all of the dry wines but one would be from Burgundy, and next up was our lone Bordeaux: Latour 1945. This was the first encounter I'd had with this legend, which, if served blind, I would have thought was 15 years younger. Perfectly mature, rich, perhaps not quite as complex as I expected, but a great bottle. The consensus was that this was not quite as good as the bottles from the other case the collector owns, but all agreed it was still an extraordinary wine by any standard.
We'd been told that there would be dessert wines, but I wasn't expecting them to bring out two glasses. A spectacular bottle of Climens 1947 was poured, full of pineapple, banana, modest but vibrant acidity, and as long and pure a finish as any wine I've had in a long time. Wine of the night for me. Finally, while we nursed that, we watched a sommelier apply port tongs to Fonseca 1966. This is a vintage that was unjustly ignored by the marketplace for years, but now trades only a little bit lower than 1963. This may be the best port vintage for drinking now. One of the guests described it as "like drinking a Twizzler." A beautiful bottle of port and a great way to end.
