DINNER WITH FRIENDS (2XCHAMPAGNE, VOUVRAY, BANDOL, BOURGUEIL, ALSACE) -
Jonathan and Samantha's (11/11/2005)


Food was an amazing homemade gravlax with sweetish mustard dill sauce
followed by lamb shanks cooked osso buco style, but with more Provencal
flavours. Selection of cheeses to finish the reds and start the
riesling. Dessert was a coconut cake that did a great job of being
luscious without being overly sweet.


*N.V. Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs - France,
Champagne, Cramant, Champagne*

Light sparkling yellow with very small, tight mousse. Bursting nose of
tart green apples surrounded by characteristic chardonnay aromas and
some stone. As the wine warms up a little, there's a bit of ginger
biscuit and maybe a little floral character. But that characteristic
chardonnay keeps coming back. Close your eyes and it could be a St.
Aubin. At first sip, it seems awfully soft, but only for the first sip.
After that, the palate is bright with acid and a lemony fruit, along
with a healthy shot of mineral. Not heavily dosed, but avoids being
overly austere. Nice texture and nice finish that brings the floral
element back out, along with a little more white burg wafting up the
chimney. There's certainly a lot going on here (especially for the
price), but it does seem to be a little disjointed. I suspect a few
more years in the bottle would do wonders. Great bubbles for the money.


*N.V. Louis César Beaufort Brut Rosé Premier Cru - France, Champagne,
Bouzy*

First impression is that there is an oddly Tavel-like tone to the
color. But the visual assessment stops there as a disturbing scent of
musty, stewed, overripe strawberries competes with a somewhat chemical
note. This is not a good sign. I'm not sure if this is TCA-affected
or something else, but it definitely isn't right as the chemical note
only gets stronger. On the palate, more stewed berry and more sweetness
than I would hope for in a brut. Revisited an hour and half later with
vain hope. Alas, no better. Not quite DNPIM, but definitely DNPImyM.

*1985 Domaine Bourillon Dorléans Vouvray Demi-sec - France, Loire
Valley, Touraine, Vouvray*

(With the salmon)

Surprisingly youthful color of bright yellow just beginning to tend
toward deeper gold. Visibly rich viscosity when swirled in the glass.
Whoa! This begins with an extremely reductive nose, slightly chemical
and extremely muted. Just worrying enough for me to open the other
bottle and check. Same thing there. Within about fifteen to twenty
minutes, this begins to open up with whiffs of lovely bright apple and
nectarine fruit braced by clean and clear river stone. As the wine
warms and opens more, a creamy lemon sweetness on the nose makes for a
great match with the salmon. On the palate, nice dense richness, but a
great streak acidity that keeps the sweetness in check and more of a
textural feature than one of taste. There's good white fruit here,
but mineral, fresh cream, and citrus zest take the lead. Terrifically
harmonious and integrated but also amazingly youthful. Drinking
perfectly now but has the stuff to last for a good while. Another great
value.

*1995 Chteau de Pibarnon Bandol - France, Provence, Bandol*

(With the lamb)

The purple of youth has given way to a dusty red, but this is still
pretty deep and solid to the rim. In the decanter, it gives off an
immediate scent of the south - sunny herbs, warm earth, and berry
fruit. In the glass (about two hours after decanting), the same sunny
south is there, along with a little clay dust and a bit of the
mourvedre funk (but just a touch). With time, there are hints anise and
pine forest as well. Pleasantly soft, smooth entry shows dark berry
fruit with just enough acid to keep it bright. Nice full and expanding
mid-palate with more of the same fruit and a little mineral and dust to
boot. Finish has good length, a touch of spice, a slight touch of
remaining dusty tannin. Great showing from a less than heralded vintage
and a screaming statement of Provence that just goes perfectly with the
lamb. Two great matches in a row.

*1989 Domaine des Chesnaies Bourgueil Cuvée Prestige - France, Loire
Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil*

(With the lamb and carryover with the cheeses)

Pretty young color with hints of purple still there. Nose is open and
immediate - and all green. It isn't ivy, but it is some kind of
vine leaf. I often smell it when I walk out the front door of my house
on an autumn morning. Reinsert nose to glass and see what else is
there. Okay, we're getting a little variety now but not the kind
we're looking for, as bell pepper joins the vine leaf. Leave it alone
for while and then take another sniff. Okay, somewhere in the
background is some very faint berry fruit. On the palate, some more
prominent fruit on entry that immediately dies on the mid-palate.
Finish is reasonably long, but all vine leaves and bell pepper. I
recently had the '76 and it took a long time for that one to pick up
weight and fruit, so I try again after forty-five minutes or so.
Wishful thinking may have produced a touch more fruit and let some
earth step up a little, but this is really just a really
disappointingly green wine. I loved the green notes in the '76 and
I'm a big fan and defender of Loire cab franc in general, but this is
just too much. In the past I may have modified Jean-Marie Guffens's
oak quote to "There's no such thing as an overly green Loire red,
just an underfruited one". After this wine, I can never say that
again. Damn disappointing as I was really looking forward to this.

*2000 Domaine Ostertag Riesling Muenchberg Vendange Tardive - France,
Alsace, Haut Rhin, Alsace Grand Cru AOC*

(With the cheeses and the dessert)

Beautiful bright gold with sparkling yellow highlights. Incredibly rich
and viscous like an SGN or a BA. This is just lovely on the nose with
swirling and soaring floral notes of honeysuckle nectar and sweet
freshly mowed hay taking the lead. Beneath that, there is rich peach
fruit and a honeyed elegance. One can almost taste the concentration
just by sniffing. Equally concentrated on the palate with a very sweet
entry of honey and ginger-candied fruit. As it moves to the mid-palate,
the acid picks up and - while still very sweet and concentrated -
the wine just seems to zip right along the tongue very brightly,
leaving a trail of sweet stone fruit and cool mineral in its path.
Floral honey, more mineral, and hints of citrus are the highlights of
an almost perpetual finish. This is stunning stuff and more than makes
up for the Beaufort and Bourgueil disappointments. If infanticide is
this good, I can only imagine what the wine will be like in time.


Two abject failures and some great showings.

The Beaufort wine was just wierd. I've had an André Beaufort rosé
doux that was incredibly strawberry-driven, but it was lovely. I don't
know what the relationship may be, as I can't keep the Beauforts
straight in Champagne. The Bourgueil was a major disappointment, as I
normally love the leafy notes in cab franc. But this was greener than
any Medocino cab sauv you've ever seen.

The Diebolt-Vallois is always a great wine to show people who normally
drink big-house Champagne and it was on form. The Vouvray had one
person who doesn't normally drink white wine coming back for refills.
The Bandol was just one of those matches made in heaven. It would have
been good on its own, but it was sublime with Sam's perfect lamb. The
Ostertag was a revelation despite its youth. (I'm going to be buying
more of that for sure.)

Jim Jones in Tokyo

Jim wrote:

> DINNER WITH FRIENDS (2XCHAMPAGNE, VOUVRAY, BANDOL, BOURGUEIL, ALSACE) -

Jim,
Thanks for the great (as usual) notes. One question: are you able to
find these wines for sale in Japan, or did you purchase them elsewhere?
Just curious, as you're mentioning producers who are totally
unfamiliar to me.

Mark Lipton

Sigh, you can take the boy out of Indiana but you can take the......

Seriously (and I know you're a Californian at heart), surprised you
find these (other than Louis César Beaufort , which indeed is unknown
to me) obscure. Domaine des Chesnaies is not a Bourgueil I know, but
they're a big Muscadet producer. The others are pretty well-known, in
the civilized parts of the country.

Just feeling mean on a Thursday night.....

DaleW wrote:
> Sigh, you can take the boy out of Indiana but you can take the......
>
> Seriously (and I know you're a Californian at heart), surprised you
> find these (other than Louis C�sar Beaufort , which indeed is unknown
> to me) obscure. Domaine des Chesnaies is not a Bourgueil I know, but
> they're a big Muscadet producer. The others are pretty well-known, in
> the civilized parts of the country.
>
> Just feeling mean on a Thursday night.....
>
Oh, you meanie! Actually, the Ostertag and Pibarnon are well known
to me as well, but not the Chesnaies, Dom. Bourillon or Diebolt-Vallois.
And, yes, geography does play a role: Sam's has a ****-poor selection
from the Loire, and their Champagnes tend to run to the big producers.
*sigh*

Mark Lipton

Mark:

Thanks.

These actually did all come from Tokyo. Some of the stuff I drink has
come from elsewhere, but a lot comes from Tokyo. These particular
wines were bought for the occasion. Some friends had a dinner party
and wanted to do something interesting with the wine. Sam's not a big
wine drinker (except for bubbles and stickies), but I've been lucky
enough to serve her something she liked a couple of times. Thus, she
and Jonathan gave me a food menu and sent me shopping. (I'd love to do
this for a living, by the way.)

You can actually get a great selection of stuff in Tokyo, but you need
to be willing to shop around and pounce when the right thing is
available at the right price. As long as you never get into the
position of having to get a _certain_ thing at a _certain_ time, you
can avoid getting burned too badly on the prices. I figure that, on
most things, we pay 10% to 20% premium if we shop carefully. Other
things, like Champagne, are as well priced here as almost anywhere
(except Premier Cru, of course).

Jim