Two Parties -- Eight Wines
 

FAREWELL PARTY AND A LUNCH TO CONSUME THE LEFTOVERS - Home in Tokyo
(10/22/2005-10/23/2005)

On Saturday night, we hosted a farewell party for our friends Jonathan
and Samantha, who are moving to HK. We had a lot of leftover gumbo, so
we had my cousin Richard, his wife Naoko, and the kids over for an
early dinner on Sunday.

Champagnes and Hors D'Oeuvres

I've just found a merchant in Tokyo with a nice selection of Champagnes
that goes beyond the everyday and at very reasonable prices, at least
in Tokyo terms. This was a nice occasion to sample a few. We had these
with Parmigiano puff pastry crusts, a spinach/artichoke dip, broiled
breaded mushrooms, and shrimp braised in an herby wine broth.

*N.V. Gonet-Médeville Cuvée Perle Noire Brut Premier Cru - France,
Champagne, Bisseuil (10/22/2005)

Rich gold with bright flashes from the stream of the persistent but
large-beaded mousse. A very generous nose of ripe apple and fresh sweet
(but slightly musky) stone fruit. Some nut and toasted yeasty bread add
complexity. In the mouth, this is more to the creamy than cutting side,
showing more of the same fruit, a bit of gingery spice, and just a
touch of mushroom. There's a lot of body here, but also a surprising
degree of balance. Good complexity and very well integrated. On the
finish, just enough acidity to keep this round style interesting
through several glasses. A very generous wine, but still in balance. At
$40 in Tokyo, another good value.

*N.V. Tarlant Champagne Brut Zero - France, Champagne, Oeuilly,
Champagne (10/22/2005)

Light yellow with just a hint of gold. Tight mousse of small,
persistent bubbles. Lean nose with no hints of the wood aging, but with
crisp apple and green plum notes. Nose is very, very tight but
pleasantly lean and bright. The palate is where it really happens with
this wine. More of the green plum, allied to a nice minerality and a
little walnut-like astringency. The non-dosage austerity is
stylistically dominant, but there is just a little roundness and the
slightest toasty sweetness that takes the edge off. I really like the
way the two elements marry here. For $29 in Tokyo, this is a hell of a
value. The austere style will keep it from being an all-purpose wine,
but this definitely goes into the house wine rotation.

*N.V. Pommery Champagne Brut Royal - France, Champagne (10/22/2005)

Fresh yellow with small mousse. Great persistence on the mousse, as it
was still fresh and full 24 hours after opening (after sitting in
refrigerator stopped with a regular wine cork). Nose is clean and crisp
with apple, a little bit of toast, and a sweet lemon peel element.
Palate is dominated by tart apple, more citrus, and some rising dough.
Finish comes off a little short and begins to cloy a bit near the
bottom of the glass. Finishes fresher (and a little longer) the second
day, so I suspect this may need to rest in bottle for a year or two.
Relatively simple, but good cocktail party wine at $25. Shows well
versus other large houses whose basic Brut NV wines are hard to find
here under $40.

Gumbo Wines

With a slightly spicy chicken/sausage/okra gumbo, it was hard to think
of a perfect match, but we tried two things. In addition to the Côtes
de Rhone, we also served the Bonhomme Viré Clessé described further
below (because I didn't do more than give it a TCA-testing whiff until
the next day). Tough match, particularly at a party where most guests
are nowhere near the geek range so safe choices are in order. In a
geeky crowd, I'd be more adventurous and maybe get a tighter match, but
these worked pretty darn well.

*2001 Mas de Boislauzon Côtes du Rhône Villages - France, Rhône,
Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages (10/22/2005)

Deep red just lightening at rim. Red berry fruit on the nose, along
with a little spice, dust, and herby pine. Palate is smooth and fully
mature with very little tannin and just enough acid to keep it all
together. Fruit is the same red berries as on the nose, but with a
little dark cherry as well. Earth and fruit sweetness lead the medium
finish. Since tasting a year ago, this has lost a bit of lush
sweetness, but picked up an earthiness that is appealing. Drinking at
peak.

The Next Afternoon - Kickoff

With toasted pecans and conversation.

*N.V. Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Brut 1er Cru Rosé - France,
Champagne, Vertus, Champagne (10/23/2005)

Nice light tawny pink rose color with fine and fresh mousse. Nose
starts with the slightest hint of red berry, then moves into stone
fruit and a little citrus. Behind all of this is a complex layer of
toast (not yeast) and sunny warm mineral. Palate just screams structure
with the darker spine of pinot fruit combining with nice but round
acidity to keep this strong and fresh. Apricot and light berry notes
form the core of the fruit. Finish picks up a bit of creaminess which
smoothes out the big structure. The bubbles are there all the time, but
this presents much more as a nicely balanced wine that happens to have
bubbles. Complex and pleasing, but probably needs a few years for a
little more integration. Another good buy in Tokyo terms at $36.

Gumbo Wines II

The Bonhomme was begun with the last of the pecans and finished with
the gumbo. The Thanisch was begun with the gumbo and finished alone as
we relaxed before dessert. I didn't expect a perfect match, but wanted
to check in on the Thanisch so thought it would be an interesting
experiment to see how Auslese sweetness and nerve matched with the
gumbo.

*2002 André Bonhomme Viré-Clessé - France, Burgundy, Mconnais,
Viré-Clessé (10/23/2005)

Deep straw gold and very bright. Rich, sweet nose of citrus and
peach/apricot framed by a bit of round new oak. Nose is strong and
penetrating, offering additional background hints of brulee and cream
that almost suggest riesling. On the palate, the oak is there but well
integrated into this very rich wine. A streak of mineral supports the
ripe fruit. There is much, much more acid than one would expect from
the nose and the wine achieves a good balance, particularly on a long
finish that has distinct sweet notes but never cloys. This is not the
Cuvee Speciale, but still presents as if there were some residual
sugar. Smaller but similar in style to the Guffens-Heynan offerings,
this paired pretty well with the thick and moderately spicy gumbo over
rice - something I would have a hard time seeing most Chardonnay
doing.

*2001 Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch (Erben Müller-Burggraef) Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (10/23/2005)

Bright gold with the slightest green hints and a tiny spritz. Strong
initial whiff of sulphur on a closed nose. With a little vigorous
aeration, the sulphur blew off and revealed rich aromas of sweet citrus
peel, baked apple, and cream. The lime/peach/honey/sweet pastry palate
showed a little smaller and tighter than I had expected for an Auslese
from this vintage, but that was to the good as a strong core of acidity
combined with the very slight spritz to keep this fresh. A streak of
slatey mineral was evident in the full mid-palate and stepped up to
dominate the sweet finish. This is still very young and I expect the
palate to grow a little in size and generosity with another eight to
ten years of cellar time. Not up to a Prum standard, but a pleasant
surprise from this producer. Best on its own and the spatlese version
would probably have been a bit better match, but this was restrained
and taut enough to work moderately well against the spicy gumbo. Not a
perfect match but an interesting experiment.

Dessert

With assorted pastries featuring cream, citrus, berries, and nuts.
(Plus a chocolate one or two for the kids. As expected, the chocolate
ones were not good wine matches.)

*1996 Chteau de Fesles Bonnezeaux - France, Loire Valley,
Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux (10/23/2005)

(from 500 ml) Orange-tinted gold, bright and viscous. Nose is
immediately dominated by an array of dried and candied fruits including
orange and apricot. I sniff again to look for that tang of botrytis and
find the honey, but not the tang. On the palate, initial impression is
of texture - rich and honeyed. This is followed by more of the
candied fruit and honey, along with just a touch of citrus fruit acid.
Finish is long and rich but a little one dimensional and even seems a
little fat on the second glass. Three notable things missing: any of
the oak notes that have troubled others, any sense of the strong
acidity or botrytis tang that I would expect, and any real minerality.
Glad to see the oak has integrated, but I worry that there is not
enough botrytis or acid for this to go the long haul and age to the
complexity it should have. Perhaps I'm catching it at an awkward
stage. It's perfectly enjoyable but just doesn't have the zippy
mineral excitement that makes me love sweet Loire wines so much.

Sad to see Jonathan and Samantha go, but nice to have an occasion to
taste through a little Champagne. I'm definitely psyched about finding
a new merchant in Tokyo with a good selection of Champagne at
reasonable prices.

Jim