JS really outdid himself this evening... Thank you to DE and RS for a great evening, along with JC, C&SL, The C's, The S's, and everyone else... especially to my parents for letting my wife and I tag along on their fabulous few days in Las Vegas. Dinner was at Picasso... Everyone I work with thinks I am a "foodie", well, I guess I am, but no more than a "wino". Since we pour Jacquesson Cuvee 728 at my restaurant, I was very familiar with the name, however, the 1995 Signature Rose was outstanding. Beautiful strawberry nose and just a slightly pinkish-hue. Tiny bubbles. Nice. Very Nice. First course saw two wines, one of which I am extremely familiar - 2003 Bodegas Godeval Godello, Spain - a great, simple starter wine. Not quite as crisp as Rias Biaxas, not quite as intense as Rueda, but a great seafood wine nonetheless. Also, was the 2002 Dom. JM Boully St. Aubin 1er Cru Pitangerets... Just to the west of PM and CM, this is an oft-overlooked area, but can produce good, if not stellar, wines. Minerals aplenty, but most just a nice white burgundy. Great with seafood... Next up, one of the stars of the trip (you'll notice pretty much the rest of them are) - 2002 Domaine Michelot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrieres - WOW. What a wine. This is what Chardonnay is all about - as good, if not better, than many Grand Crus (and widely rumored to be the next one), Perrieres is intense, nutty, buttery immensely powerful. Charmes is good, Clos de Richemont outstanding, but they are far below what an incredible Perrierers can be. This amazing white was better 2 hours later than when it was first poured. Classic minerals with nuttiness, a touch of oak spices, and a little bit of richness. Wish I had a few bottles in my cellar! To top it if, the pairing with the decadent Lobster and Corn Flan could be the best dish I've ever had... (I'm still clinging on to the White and Dark Chocolate cake I had to Paris all those years ago). The lobster was buttery and delicious, but the Corn Flan was to die for - and put the two together - blockbuster! Moving on... 2002 Dom. Labreuil Savigny-Les-Beanue 1er Cru Liards - while I prefer the SLB Serpentieres we had the night before, I this was a nice choice with the Pigeon. Could go a few years, but I think it's delicious now! Now, the big boys... 2002 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, Morey-St.-Denis. I must admit, my love of Burgundy often propels me to become quite harsh on wines that are simply "spectacular" rather than "mind-blowing". While impressed, and certainly a better bottle than I had previously encountered, on it's own, it was a great wine. It had classic MSD elegance, with a nice touch of tannic power. This was extremely approachable from the outset, with some nice dried earth, dried cranberry, wild strawberries, and plums. Not too tannic, I would gladly enjoy this wine any chance I could. But it was alas far outshone by the last two wines of the evening.
You could say I'm more of a Chambolle-Musigny/Vosne-Romanee guy than Chambertin/Pommard/Corton (except for Corton-Charlemagne - don't even get me started! - but I am talking red here). I prefer the elegance with understated power rather than the sheer brute force. I don't think that this wine changed any of that - nor did the 85 I had last night... As far as Chambertin Grand Cru's go, I often do prefer Chambertin, Chambertin-Clos de Beze, and Mazis-Chambertin generally over Charmes-Chambertin, as well as the other 4 Grand Crus. But, when a 2002 Dupont-Tisserandot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is put in front of you, you're going to drink it. If you don't, I will! Wow. Certainly the finest Charmes-Chambertin, and perhaps the finest of any of the Chambertin Grand Crus, I've ever had. Compared to the Lambrays, this was a monster. Hugely tannic, but round, ripe tannins. Amazing earthiness, but nicely balanced with the dark cherry, wild berry fruit. The power of Chambertin came rushing out of the glass - and all you wanted to do was smile! If I didn't drink any other wine this trip, this one was worth the effort. While not nearly as approachable as the Lambrays, I think in 5, 10, 15, 20+ years, this will go down as one of the great 2002 Red Burgundies. It clearly has the depth and balance to last that long or longer. I can only imagine... Last "wine" - I say that because it's technically not a wine, though it is made from grapes, and it has sort of been fermented... the 1993 Chateau Pajzos Tojaki Esszencia (there are 4 levels of Tokaji - Szasmorandi (dry), Aszu (sweet - measured in the number of puttonyas added to a gonc), Aszu Esszencia (super-sweet, a little of the gonc added to a puttonya), and then Esszencia (basically, the puttonya - completely free run juice)) was a mind-blowing syrup. Prunes? Figs? Botrytis? Oxidation? Sweet Cherry? All of the above and more... The finish isn't measured in seconds with Esszensia - it's minutes. Roughly 2.5-3.5% ABV (you can never really be sure as it's still fermenting and will do so for decades), this Furmint-Harslevelu-Muskatoly-Oremus Hungarian nectar is the stuff of the gods. How long will it last? Well, lets just say that my grandkids grandkids might have kids old enough to see it perhaps mature - and that's long before I will, as I always feel like a kid in a candy store.
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