Having just recently returned from our CA excursion, extended notes on
the wineries will have to wait. In the mean time, here are notes on a
few of the wines we had with meals.
With last night's dinner of pork loin in an apple reduction, I opened:
2005 Breton Bourgueil "Franc de Pied"
color: inky, dark purple
nose: dark berries, a touch of pencil lead, a hint of leaves/herbs
palate: slightly tannic on entry, deeply fruity, good acidity, dark,
berryish fruit, getting more herbal with time
This wine is made from ungrafted Cab Franc vines, hence the name. It's
also one of those rare wines that produced wildly divergent responses in
Jean and myself: she found this wine undrinkable because of a very
offputting medicinal/Band-Aid note in the nose (Brett?) that I didn't
get at all. For myself, the wine was a very good match with the pork
and got better the longer it sat open, opening up quite a bit.
With a dinner at Jardiniere in SF:
NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé
c: pale salmon (no pun intended)
n: subtle strawberries, very light toast
p: fine mousse, very restrained strawberry fruit, fine acidity
(with duck liver mousse)
Our first encounter with this wine and it did not disappoint. A
marvelous match with our food and a great treat. Not exactly cheap at
$140 on the excellent wine list.
2004 Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny
n: initially closed, floral and slightly earthy over tart raspberry
p: good acidity, medium body, tightly structured with some tannins left,
slightly earthy, deep raspberry fruit, getting more open with time
(with a mushroom risotto and duck breast in a ginger consomme)
My one complaint about their otherwise excellent wine list is that their
Burgundy selection was way too young, with the oldest bottle being a '99
GC and heavy in '02s that I suspect are mostly closed down now. We had
them open and decant this '04 30 minutes before consuming it, but it
still needed much more time to fully open. Even so, it was a lovely (if
young) Pinot Noir and was magic with the food.
More to follow...
Mark Lipton
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