Saturday night my wife and I gave a dinner for my 40th birthday. We
had the dinner at the restaurant Au Petit Paris in Shirokane in Tokyo.
The restaurant did a great job coordinating with us to put together a
menu that would work with the wines I wanted to bring. It is a small
place (seats maybe 20 at absolute max) and they closed to focus on our
12-person party. They let me bring in wines (for corkage of about
$17.50 per) and, not having a regular cheese service, they also let me
bring in cheese. These guys have a short, but fairly priced and well
chosen wine list of nice producers from off vintages, so I bought the
champagne and one of the whites from them. (I always think it is more
reasonable to ask to be allowed to bring in a large batch of wines if
you are also buying something off the list.)

Wines and menu were as follows:

*Taittinger Brut Reserve NV – This one we bought off the restaurant's
list. Served this as people were arriving, mingling, etc. Does the
job fine, but nothing special. I always find the mousse to be a
little heavy on this wine, especially compared to the nose, which is a
little lighter than many. Some toast, a little apple/grapefruit, very
slight honey or similar sweetness on nose. Plain, crisp, direct
attack in the mouth. What can I say? Refreshing, fun, everybody
likes bubbles to start the night. It does the job.

*Chateau de Puligny Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet 2000 – Also off
the restaurant's list and served with two courses:

Amuse – Miniature croissant flavored with anchovy puree
Assiette de campagne – A small piece of lightly smoked duck, a sublime
uni and egg scramble served in the egg shell, and a piece of smoked
shellfish

I like this wine. It gets a little oak, but not more than the wine
can stand up to, even in this vintage. The little bit of smokiness
goes very well with the duck. This wine is by no means to be confused
with a top premier cru, but it managed to provide enough interest to
drink through two short courses and bridged the various elements well.
Stood up to the anchovies and smoke, but didn't overpower the
delicate uni dish. Nose is what I call broad…not really nuanced, but
a good solid attack of white fruit and light toast. Cycles among
apple, light citrus, pear, maybe an occasional bit of sweeter fruit.
Palate is solid throughout…no weakness here. A hint of acidity, a bit
of creaminess, fruit is more underneath than on top of this, but not
out of balance. Again, this wine is not going to live forever or be
confused with a Ruchottes or Morgeot, but it is good solid drinking
and a fair choice when ordering off the list. I think things have
gotten significantly better here since Hubert de Montille's son began
making the wine and the improvement showed well here.

*Zind Humbrecht, Tokay Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal 1997 – This one was mine
and was served with a choice of two dishes:

Sautéed foie gras with a sautéed apple and sherry vinegar sauce
or
Gratin of langoustine tails with spinach

The sherry vinegar sauce was only very lightly acidic and did not
threaten the wine. The langoustine dish was in a very rich
Americaine-type sauce.

This was not a VT, but the basic Jebsal. I've got four more of these
and I'm really glad. As rich and unctuous as you hope for from the
grape and the domaine, with the freshness and zing to make it all
work. I really admire ZH for their single vineyard zeal and think
they are astounding with late harvest wines. I'm not always
comfortable that the smaller wines will be in balance but this one
sure was. I'm becoming convinced that their style really does well
with Pinot Gris of any size. I opened and poured a tiny bit of this
wine from each bottle about two hours before it was served just to
make sure I was taking clean wine. (Didn't really want to chill
backup bottles unless there was a problem.) Man, as soon as the cork
came out, the perfume just leapt out. I was actually a little worried
it might be bordering too much on VT style for the food. However,
despite the sweet orange and cinnamon honey nose, the wine was zippy
on the palate. I'd love to know how much RS it actually had. It was
so unctuous and viscous, there must have been some, but against the
foie you couldn't tell. Others report it did equally well against the
langoustine. Awesome now with a long life ahead of it.

*Pierre Bouree Fils, Charmes Chambertin 1988 – This one was also mine.
Served with amadai (a kind of snapper) in an umami-rich preparation
(mushrooms, a little kelp stock, etc.).

Okay, this was the major moment of the night for me. I hadn't tasted
this wine in a long time and was nervous about it. There were so many
things I wanted to show/go right here – underrated vintage that I
really like – red burgundy/umami thing – old school
producer/negociant. (This is one of Bouree's negociant wines, but
they also have holdings in Charmes Chambertin and I am told that a
significant amount of their fruit goes into this wine. Also
understand that they take a major hand in the winemaking from the
moment of picking.)

On the other hand, there was a lot of risk – some 88s are still tough
and tight – Bouree wines get little or no destemming and a fairly warm
maceration and fermentation – even though Charmes is a little lighter,
the whole Gevrey area can come around slowly. And all this was
matched against a white fish! This pairing was either going to be
brilliant or a disaster.

I double decanted the wine at about 6:00 pm. A strong whiff Burgundy
funk when the corks came out. (That's a good thing, by the way.)
Rather closed and tight on the nose when tasting the dregs…a little
dust, a little funk (not quite crottin, but definitely in the stable),
some very tight sour cherry fruit. Tannins there but much more subtle
on the palate than I had feared. Reasonably stingy with the fruit in
the mouth, but a surprising sweetness on the finish. I headed to the
restaurant pretty excited about what might happen.

Several hours later, when poured at the table, much more open! Still
some funky element, but with much more open cherry and plum fruit and
some general spice and floral notes popping up every now and then.
Nice and clear, drifting toward lighter color at the edges, but not
looking very aged, particularly since wines of this style tend to
start life a little lighter. On the palate, the sweetness had moved
into the mouth, along with a bit of brambly fruit. Good long finish.
This puppy absolutely sang with the amadai, as well. I love
experiments that go well.

This wine is far from coming apart, but with ‘88s it probably makes
sense to drink them as soon as the tannins are resolved, which is now.
Unlike many of the ‘83s and some of the ‘88s, the fruit on this '88
has outdistanced the tannin and I can't wait to find an occasion to
hit the other four bottles I've got left.

*Chateau Pontet Canet 1985 – This one was also mine and was served
with a choice of two dishes:

Roasted quail stuffed with rice and garnished with foie gras
or
Entrecote with sauce Bordelaise

I really enjoyed this vintage in the early and mid-90s but, strangely
enough, have had fewer examples recently. The wines drank well when
they were relatively young, but seemed to have enough stuff to hang on
for a while as well. This vintage also seemed to be priced pretty
well, as it got lost a bit in the run of the ‘80s. Though they are at
different ends of the spectrum, I've probably drunk and enjoyed more
‘85s and ‘88s than anything else from that decade. I certainly think
those two have presented the best QPR over time.

I recently drank an '89 Pontet Canet that stunned me and had seen some
older good notes on the '85 (though the reviews on the '85 PC have not
been universally good).

I double decanted these at the same time as the Bouree bottles. While
these didn't have the exploding funk of the burg, they were – all in
all – showing more fruit and gave me more confidence they would work
at dinner. More evolution in color, but still solid and reasonably
deep. No longer opaque, but not something I could hold up to a soft
light to figure out how much sediment I was dealing with before
opening. Nose was restrained but classic Pauillac. Cedary, tiny bit
of vanilla, clean sharp dark berry. Palate was very slightly chewy
with tannin, but tannin was more underneath the same fruit that showed
on the nose. At that point, little complexity, but enough structure
and fruit to make me comfortable.

When served with the quail, it underwhelmed me. I wasn't sure whether
it had closed up or fallen apart. In retrospect, I think two things
happened. First, the fat in the foie garnish may have been a bit
much. Second, I do think it went dumb for a while. It was the same
wine, same Pauillac aromas, but basically little to no fruit on the
nose or palate. Perfectly pleasant drinking (and more pleasing to
those who had the entrecote), but a bit of a disappointment.

(Next morning, a quick sip from an unfinished bottle had opened up
nicely and had fruit once again. Next evening, the last bit with a
piece of well-aged Comte was really enjoyable, but fading again. I've
got three more of these and would love thoughts from anyone with
recent experience. My best guess is that I'll pop one soon with a
little plain roast chicken, see how it does over six to eight hours
and make a decision on the other two then. I don't have the feeling
there's any evolution left, but I'm baffled as to why these went dumb
for hours.)

*Chateau Rieussec 1990 – This one was also mine. We popped these to
have available with cheese and with dessert. At the same time, there
was also Pinot Gris, burg, and claret left on the table, so it was
"grab what you like" time with the cheese.

Cheese – Pouligny St. Pierre, Epoisses de Bourgogne, Comte, Camembert
de Normandie, Fourme d'Ambert. All were AOC and all except the Fourme
d'Ambert were lait cru. It may have been as well, but I couldn't find
anything on any sign at the cheese counter to indicate. (I brought
the cheeses myself and was really happy with the selection I had at
the market. Tokyo may be expensive, but it presents a wealth of
choice compared to Bangkok and Seoul, my two prior residences.) Each
of the cheeses was in good shape and at a reasonable state of aging.
I like them all, but I had forgotten how good the Pouligny is at about
middle age – not yet goaty-funky, but already taking on a little color
and strength.

Dessert – Pastry filled with roasted whole chestnut and a bit of
marzipan

Okay, this was one wine I had no doubts about. As long as they
weren't cork-skunked, I knew these would work. I've had the dessert
before and knew it was a great match.

I don't drink a lot of Sauternes, but enjoy it in the right
circumstances. The few 1990 Sauternes I've had have been spot on and
so was this. Rieussec made a great wine that year, significantly
darker (in color and flavor profile) than their typical Fargues wine.
This was big-time botrytis – honey and that piercing smell that lets
you know there's plenty of zing under the layers of sweet. This just
went on and on and on – honey, lemon, butterscotch, candied citrus,
middle eastern flower water, caramel, swirling and switching and
mixing. Amazing with the Fourme d'Ambert and similarly in synch with
the dessert.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of this left, except a bit in the
bottle sitting in my fridge. I'll probably pick up a little cheese on
the way home from work tonight and finish it off. What a shame; this
wine has several decades left. (But it's also amazing now!)

*Bas Armagnac, Chateau de Lacaze 1981 – This was just with coffee and
petits fours. Also something I brought. It's a fine standby, typical
of the appelation. Definitely a little closed and alcohol heavy when
poured. With a little warming and swirling come bits of sweet fig
fruit, warm caramel, coffee tones. Smooth with very little bite. Not
very expensive, not very complicated, but at that point of the night
my palate was pretty much burned out.

Final comment/question: I recently had the chance to pick up some
Rousseau ‘88s of known good provenance. Exact wines were Charmes,
Mazis, Gevrey Cazetiers. I initially passed due to price and
uncertainty about muscley Gevrey wines from '88, but am now intrigued
after how well the Bouree Charmes Chambertin showed. Anyone have any
recent experience? There are also a few Rousseau ‘83s and ‘85s
available to me if anyone has strong comments on those (though I am
very skeptical of the ‘83s).

Wow, fantastic notes (and Happy Birthday!).
I've not been a huge fan of the Chateau de Puligny wines, but if the de
Montilles are involved I should take another look.
I have a grand total of 2 '88 Burgs in my cellar, so can't offer real advice.
But I've probably tried a dozen or so (none Rousseaus) over last 2 years- some
hard and closed, some singing.
Fantastic dinner, great notes!

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

amnspam (Dale Williams) wrote in message >...
> Wow, fantastic notes (and Happy Birthday!).
> I've not been a huge fan of the Chateau de Puligny wines, but if the de
> Montilles are involved I should take another look.
> I have a grand total of 2 '88 Burgs in my cellar, so can't offer real advice.
> But I've probably tried a dozen or so (none Rousseaus) over last 2 years- some
> hard and closed, some singing.
> Fantastic dinner, great notes!
>
> Dale
>
> Dale Williams
> Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale:

Thanks for the kind words...and the birthday wishes.

I've not become a "huge fan" of Ch de Puligny, but do think it has
been getting better. I might have asked for a touch less oak on the
wine and a little minerality, but it was not a bad match for the food,
was a pretty fair value (in Tokyo terms) from the list, and was
perfectly enjoyable to drink.

I'm probably going to pass the Rousseaus. After four years in Bangkok
and Seoul, I'm so excited to be in a good wine city I'm in danger of
going nuts. I really need to sit down and map a buying strategy
before I do too much. Also, need to think about storage. I've got a
lot of pretty good passive storage and about 10 cases worth of
perfectly controlled active storage. Okay for now, but you know how
fast the bins fill.

In any case, thanks for the comments.

Jim

Great notes, Jim. As fun as they were to read, I expect that they were
even more fun to experience firsthand. Happy belated birthday!

Mark Lipton