Tonight, we celebrated Jean's return from several days of privation at a
scientific meeting in a New Hampshire boys' school by cooking dinner and
opening a couple of wines.

With a tomato gazpacho:
2006 La Vieille Ferme Cote de Ventoux Rosé
c: lurid hot pink
n: muted, a hint of strawberry
p: fairly simple with a limited sense of fruit, decent acidity

Although not a very exciting rosé, it did stand up well to the tomatoes
in the gazpacho.

With smoked duck, green beans and bread:
1988 de Montille Volnay 1er 'Tailepieds'
c: intense ruby red with faint orange at the rim
n: initially, pencil lead and a green, sappy note; after 45 minutes'
decanting, bright raspberry
p: tart raspberry, resolved tannins, medium body, acidic

Although Jean and I find that Pinot Noir usually pairs better with some
birds other than duck, the smoking of this bird called for a Burgundy
and we just happened to have a few bottles of this lying around the
cellar from an auction lot purchased a year or two ago. The decanting
was essential and several hours might have done it even more good. No
hurry to open up the remaining bottles, that's cetain.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Aug 10, 1:05�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Tonight, we celebrated Jean's return from several days of privation at a
> scientific meeting in a New Hampshire boys' school by cooking dinner and
> opening a couple of wines.
>
> With a tomato gazpacho:
> 2006 La Vieille Ferme Cote de Ventoux Rosé
> c: lurid hot pink
> n: muted, a hint of strawberry
> p: fairly simple with a limited sense of fruit, decent acidity
>
> Although not a very exciting rosé, it did stand up well to the tomatoes
> in the gazpacho.
>
> With smoked duck, green beans and bread:
> 1988 de Montille Volnay 1er 'Tailepieds'
> c: intense ruby red with faint orange at the rim
> n: initially, pencil lead and a green, sappy note; after 45 minutes'
> decanting, bright raspberry
> p: tart raspberry, resolved tannins, medium body, acidic
>
> Although Jean and I find that Pinot Noir usually pairs better with some
> birds other than duck, the smoking of this bird called for a Burgundy
> and we just happened to have a few bottles of this lying around the
> cellar from an auction lot purchased a year or two ago. *The decanting
> was essential and several hours might have done it even more good. *No
> hurry to open up the remaining bottles, that's cetain.
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

La Vieille Ferme tends to provide good value, even if not excitement.

Not surprised the Montille needed time, lots of '88s do, and de
Montille wines tend to be real slow agers.

And I think you and Jean are insane if you don't usually like duck and
PN.

DaleW wrote:


> Not surprised the Montille needed time, lots of '88s do, and de
> Montille wines tend to be real slow agers.

IIRC, you are of the mind that they may *never* stop being tight. This
wine would certainly support that thesis ;-)
>
> And I think you and Jean are insane if you don't usually like duck and
> PN.

Rest easy, Dale. You could serve us a '93 Lafarge 1er with magret de
canard and we wouldn't utter a word of complaint. But... when dining
out with Ian and Jacquie Hoare on my birthday in '01, we got a bottle of
Echezaux (producer, alas, not recorded) and compared it with my squab
and her duck -- no contest! The wine was a far better match with the
gamier squab than with the duck. It's not that it's *bad* with duck --
far from it -- but there are better matches with it, as that meal proved
for us. YMMV, of course.

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com