Restaurant: Melisse [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881

Date: Feburary 27, 2013

Cuisine: California French

Rating:?

And so we arrive at Part 3 of the epic three night 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series (Part 1 can be found here and part 2 here). This series of dinners, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell, explores in great detail the best wines of a particular vintage, in this case 2005.

Tonight features “Mostly Montrachet” that is, the wines of the great “Le Montrachet” Grand Cru, often considered the best white wine in the world.

This particular dinner is at Melisse, one of LA’s few 2 star Michelin restaurants and also one of my favorites (you can find links to three epic Carte Blanche meals at Melisse in the brackets at the top of the post). Let’s just say that Melisse generally has every area of fine dining covered: great food, great wine service, great everything service, etc.

Our testing  was setup in the elegant private room just to the right of the entrance.

Tonight’s special menu.

Less glasses tonight than on the previous occasions, as we have fewer wines and fewer drinkers.

Amuses

1988 Alain Robert Les Mesnil Reserve Tete de Cuvee Champagne. This rare vintage Champagne from magnum was wonderful and very fresh for it’s age (25 years!).

Blue Fin Tuna (Toro), Chrysanthemum, Pistaschio and Mlack Mustard. This dish borrows stylistically from LA’s Japanese influences. In many ways it’s very similar to the “Toro Tartar with caviar” at Matsuhisa/Takao.

Liberty Duck breast on shrimp toast? A pork rind? Tasty.

A spoonful of Lobster Bolognese. This is one of my favorite dishes at Melisse and I could have eaten a whole portion.

A Melisse staple. Grapes two ways. Out of the spoon are half grapes coated in goat cheese and pistachio. On the spoon sphereized grapes dusted with pistachio. The first has a nice contrast of the sharp cheese and the fruit, the second is an explosion of grapeness.

The official amuse, which was a bit of Santa Barbara Prawn (ebi) with avocado in a citrus sauce.

Flight 1: Montrachet

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale color. Steely wet stone, pear, apple and nutmeg on the nose, with floral and spice nuances adding complexity. Large-scaled, dense and oily, with deep pineapple and nut flavors framed by penetrating acidity. Finishes with outstanding palate-saturating length. Not quite as impressive as the Chevalier-Montrachet but this is built for slow development in bottle. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: An incredibly fresh¡ pure and elegant nose of acacia blossom and distinctly ripe orchard fruit displays added nuance from the gorgeously exotic spice notes that seem to change every few minutes. The palate impression is breathtaking as the classy¡ pure and finely detailed big-bodied flavors possess both seriously impressive power and wonderful refinment that continues onto the multi-dimensional¡ dense¡ long and palate staining finish that delivers simply dazzzling length. This is very much of a baby¡ particularly in magnum format¡ and will need plenty of time to really open up so be prepared to wait. One other aspect bears mentioning and this is how vibrant this is. Many ’05 whites are a bit heavy yet this is impeccably well-balanced with all the freshness¡ verve and acid support that one could wish for. In short¡ this is stunning. 97

This was one of only two wines in this flight that wasn’t advanced in some way. Arguably it was the best.

2005 Marc Colin et Fils Montrachet

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Here there is absolutely no issue with the integration of the wood because it is at best a background presence on the equally reserved but fresh and bright aromas that are strikingly complex and broad. The full-bodied flavors are deep, dense and massive with an exceptionally powerful drive on the gorgeously long finish. This could actually surprise to the upside as everything is here, including great material, perfect balance and superb harmony and it’s built for the long haul. 94

The Marc Colin was also still youthful and in the top two of the flight.

2005 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale yellow-straw color. Sexy nose melds fresh pineapple, stone and musky quinine. Large-scaled and showy, with superb fruit intensity and a sweet, tangy quality to the flavors of lemon, lime, pineapple and quinine. A huge and superripe wine with superb building length. This has the balance for extended aging and may well shut down in the bottle. Philippe wanted to harvest these vines early but his father Joseph wanted to wait-“like he did in ’59,” said Philippe. In the end, the last batches of fruit came in with potential alcohol of 15% but no rot. 95

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A gorgeously fresh and highly complex yet still rather primary white flower and notably ripe orchard fruit nose introduces broad-shouldered and powerful though refined flavors that retain excellent cut and terrific detail on the perfectly well-balanced and strongly lingering finish. There is so much dry extract present that this has a chewy texture on the vibrant¡ driving and explosive finale. It’s abundantly clear that this is very much on the way up and this is a while that will require another 4 to 6 years to arrive at its peak. The other aspect that I very much admire about the ’05 Monty is how light on its feet it is because some ’05 whites can be a bit ponderous¡ this is really quite graceful. 95

We tried this both from 750ml AND from magnum. The 750ml was significantly advanced, and the magnum less so, but still not stunning.

2005 Louis Jadot Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer:  Pungent, very ripe aromas of spiced apple, marzipan, honey and hazelnut. Large-scaled, round and impressively rich, but with slightly disjointed flavors of superripe fruits, nuts and fresh herbs. Very full but not heavy. This seemed to harmonize a bit with aeration and should be superb with extended bottle aging, but I wouldn’t broach a bottle now (if you do, pour it into a carafe). From the Chassagne side and thus a bit less vibrant, especially in the 2005 vintage. 92+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Moderate oak frames more reserved white flower and acacia blossom aromas that introduce round, rich and sumptuous full-bodied flavors that possess a suave mouth feel because there is dry extract here to burn and this extract confers an almost thick but not heavy palate impression on the imposingly persistent finish. Like the Bâtard, this is presently almost painfully intense and should age well. 95

Our bottle was oxidized and bordering on unpleasant.

2005 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Aromas of iodine, clove, apple and minerals. Superrich, fat and sweet but a bit youthfully subdued, even musclebound today (this was moved from barrel ten days before my visit), with the fruit in the deep background. But this rock-solid wine boasts terrific acidity and palate-staining persistence. There’s virtually no sign of new oak today, and yet this wine is very difficult to taste. Lafon told me this was the first time he ever picked his Montrachet later than DRC. 94-96

Allen Meadows, Burghound: Here the incredibly fresh and vibrant yet discreet nose reveals even more aromatic breadth that is brimming with spice, toast, honeysuckle and acacia blossom, all of which introduces broad-shouldered yet tangy full-bodied, notably ripe and utterly classy and sophisticated flavors of striking depth and length. What is perhaps most impressive though is that such a big wine retains such solid delineation that continues on to a palate staining, wonderfully intense finish. In short, this is just flat out brilliant. 94-97

Somewhat advanced.

True Day Boat Scallops. Camelina Seeds, Celeriac and Meyer Lemon.

The bread. I’m particularly partial to the green bail bread and the bacon bread (far right).

Flight 2: Montrachet

2005 Henri Boillot Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Captivating floral nose of clove, iodine and linden tea. Wonderfully sweet, seamless and full, showing outstanding density without undue weight. This has the texture of a red wine. An extremely young Montrachet with great intensity of flavor and inner-mouth floral lift. This will require, and repay, a decade or more of cellaring. Finishes with compelling sweetness. 96+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: This is almost as elegant as the Chevalier with a perfumed and wonderfully classy nose that is airy and pure, featuring a beautiful mix of floral and ripe orchard fruit aromas nuanced with hints of spice, honeysuckle and citrus that can also be found on the almost painfully intense, textured and focused full-bodied flavors that are a mix of the size and weight of the Bâtard and the delineation of the Chevalier, all wrapped in an explosive finish that spreads out on the palate like the proverbial peacock’s tail. A choice but what a wonderful choice! 96

Perhaps a little advanced, but one of the better wines of the flight.

2005 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale color. Compelling nose melds peach, nectarine, iodine, nutmeg and spicy, charry oak. Tactile and vibrant in the mouth, with superb intensity and density to its flavors of citrus fruit, apple and crushed stone. The finishing flavors of dusty stone and citrus peel saturate the palate. This is more backward than the Batard today but its inherent flavor intensity is more obvious. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: This is a massive wine of immense proportions but it’s also a very generously oaked wine that has ample toast, vanilla and wood spice yet as much oak as there is here, it can’t hide the elegance and purity of the ripe orchard fruit that has exactly the same character on the highly toasted but wonderfully deep full-bodied flavors underpinned by ripe citrus infused acidity and huge length. I have seen quite a number of vintages of this wine in its youth and this one seems to be all over the place, at once given to excess and blurriness on the mid-palate to tight, firm and focused on the finish. It is also, like the Chevalier, at distinct odds with what I am used to seeing with this wine and while my appreciation of its style is neither here nor there in terms of quality, I can’t say that I like the style here. However, it is a most impressive wine and while I don’t believe that it will go down as one of the all time great vintages of one of the most storied wines in Burgundy, it is indisputably a huge wine of immense proportions and for fans of size, weight and power that have the entry scratch (or can find a bottle), I would put this on your short list of the ’05 vintage. By contrast, if you’re a fan of what’s been done with this wine in the past, you may be less enamored. 93

The only really good wine in the flight, but still a little funky, with some bitterness in the finish.

2005 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Pale color. Steely wet stone, pear, apple and nutmeg on the nose, with floral and spice nuances adding complexity. Large-scaled, dense and oily, with deep pineapple and nut flavors framed by penetrating acidity. Finishes with outstanding palate-saturating length. Not quite as impressive as the Chevalier-Montrachet but this is built for slow development in bottle. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: An incredibly fresh¡ pure and elegant nose of acacia blossom and distinctly ripe orchard fruit displays added nuance from the gorgeously exotic spice notes that seem to change every few minutes. The palate impression is breathtaking as the classy¡ pure and finely detailed big-bodied flavors possess both seriously impressive power and wonderful refinment that continues onto the multi-dimensional¡ dense¡ long and palate staining finish that delivers simply dazzzling length. This is very much of a baby¡ particularly in magnum format¡ and will need plenty of time to really open up so be prepared to wait. One other aspect bears mentioning and this is how vibrant this is. Many ’05 whites are a bit heavy yet this is impeccably well-balanced with all the freshness¡ verve and acid support that one could wish for. In short¡ this is stunning. 97

Fairly maloactic, but one of the better wines of the flight.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Montrachet

Stephen Tanzer: Deep aromas of menthol, rocks, white truffle and iodine. Superrich and mouthfilling; as tactile as a solid, and like a red wine in texture. This begins quite linear, then expands impressively on the back half, and finishes with superb building length, texture and grip. Uncompromisingly dry Montrachet with a near-perfect balance between its strong material and fresh acidity. 95+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: In contrast to the expressive noses of the 3 priorgrands crus, this is positively discreet and almost reticent by comparison and only vigorous swirling would coax the broad-scaled nose to reveal itself, offering up notes of anise, peach, pear, citrus, orange blossom and honey that also merges seamlessly into textured, sweet, powerful and robust full-bodied flavors that possess a seductive mouth feel yet excellent precision and cut as well. This is a big wine and not overly refined but the sheer depth of material is almost hard to believe and as such, this will eventually transform into something very, very special. Patience required however. 96

Strong advanced notes of sherry and somewhat thin.

2005 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Montrachet

Allen Meadows, Burghound: As one would expect, and has always been the case in my experience chez Fontaine, this is the class of the cellar with its gorgeously complex nose, indeed by far and away the most complex wine in the range. The aromas are ripe, pure and elegant, indeed one can simply smell this and be knocked out which then dissolves into textured and classy flavors that possess excellent mid-palate fat and buckets of dry extract on the opulent, refined, mouth coating and palate staining finish that is decidedly austere but not aggressively so. In short, this is a baby and will require plenty of patience from those fortunate enough to acquire a few bottles. 94

Advanced and acidic.

Dover Sole Filet. Potato Gnocchi, King Oyster Mushrooms, Wild Spinach.

This dish was on the boring side, despite the truffle.

Have a few glasses!

Flight 3: Coche-Dury

This extra flight isn’t Montrachet, but instead three wines by top producer Coche-Dury. These were made in a very traditional manner and do not exhibit the oxidation problems endemic of many of the other wines in the vintage. All three were excellent.

2005 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

Stephen Tanzer: Tight, stony nose is youthfully subdued but vibrant. Distinctly less showy and fat today than the Genevrieres but already displays superb energy and thrust, with sharply delineated flavors of lemon, lime and minerals. All cut today and in need of extended bottle aging. As backward as this is, its deep sweetness suggests that it will be more than outstanding. 94+

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A wonderfully expressive and broad nose of ripe, pure and elegant pear, white peach, floral notes and liquid rock. The intense and broad-shouldered flavors are not only quite concentrated but seriously powerful with buckets of mouth coating dry extract yet the palate impression is cool and refined with no trace of heaviness on the massively long finish. The really astonishing thing about this wine is just the sheer amount of extract it brings to the party yet there is more than enough acidity to keep everything in perfect balance. Along with the ’90 Coche Perrières when it was in its prime, this is the best young example that I have ever tried. To be sure, it is still very much in its infancy but I am confident that this will be reference standard juice in due time as it is already genuinely remarkable. 97

Really a rather wonderful Chardonnay at this point.

2005 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières

Stephen Tanzer: Wonderfully aromatic nose of tangy soft citrus fruits and crushed stone. Dense, silky and sweet, with perfectly integrated acidity framing the rich, broad fruit flavors. A wonderfully complete Meursault whose powerful, explosive fruit builds inexorably on the back end. This must be the best bottling to date from these vines, now 60 years of age. 94

Allen Meadows, Burghound: A relatively closed but clearly quite ripe nose is composed of floral, white peach, pear and a hint of the exotic plus a discreet application of wood toast. The concentrated, powerful and broad-scaled flavors possess an abundance of mouth coating extract with excellent energy, particularly in the context of the vintage, all wrapped in a powerful and hugely long finish. This is a big Genevrières that carries its weight well, but note that despite the impressive richness, this is a long way from being ready. 94

A strong sense of sweetness, almost a touch Riesling like.

2005 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne

Stephen Tanzer: Steely aromas of citrus peel, apple blossom, wet stone and nutmeg; an essence of this grand cru. Wonderfully sweet and rich, gaining breadth and texture as it mounts on the back half. As dense as this is, it’s all about energy and verve today. A monumental, utterly complete Corton-Charlemagne that combines extraordinary subtlety and complexity with intense, palate-staining minerality. As long as anything I’ve tasted from this vintage. 98+

Lots of citrus and mineral. Fabulous.

Overall, this flight was BY FAR the best of the night.

Roasted Jidori Chicken. Baby Broccoli, Braised Yuba, Vadouvan Spice. There was also a reduction sauce poured over top, but I forgot to photo it.

This was probably the best chicken dish I’ve ever had. The skin was delightfully crispy and the meat absolutely perfectly cooked and juicy.

The whole array of bottles.

Standing is Brian Kalliel, Melisse’s Sommelier. He’s quite the master, and did an impeccable job with this complicated tasting.

Moi.

Dessert

2005 Turley Roussanne Alban Vineyards Late Picked Reserve. Stephen Tanzer says, “Orange-amber color with an unfiltered appearance. High-toned dried apricot, caramel and floral aromas offer an exhilarating penetrating character. Extremely thick and sweet but with pungent racy acidity giving lift to the saline dried apricot and peach flavors (the actual acidity level, which Jordan told me was around 17 grams per liter, is virtually off the charts). An incredibly concentrated wine with a chewy, tactile, extremely long finish that’s hard to scrape off the palate. This x-treme wine, from grapes harvested at 55o Brix, took 20 months to finish its alcoholic fermentation.”

This wine was cloudy and tasted much older than 8 years. It was rather wonderful, but very unusual with a honied apricot thing combined with some kind of exotic herb vibe. Elderberry? Hard to pinpoint.

Tarte Tatin!

Apple Tarte Tatin. Ricotta Ice Cream, Black Sage Syrup.

With the syrup added. The herbal note in the syrup went perfectly with some of the peculiar (but good) herbal tones in the wine.

Overall, 2005 is a problematic vintage with regard to aging. And it’s the best wines that suffer the most. The Montrachets just plain aren’t worth the money right now, and very few of them are likely to be getting better. Many are already past their prime or headed toward steep decline. Perhaps things were too ripe for these top vineyards. Perhaps it has something to do with vinification.

You could pretty much spot the problem wines in the glass as their color was several tones darker (toward the amber). 2005 Grand Crus should still be straw/green yellow.

That all being said, it was a fabulous night and we had a great time. It’s always interesting to get such a concentrated look at winemaking and it really broadens one’s ability to distinguish nuance in the specialized area of Burgundy tasting. Plus, the company and food were great! There are a lot of really sensitive palettes in the room and it’s great to collate and integrate the various opinions.

Part 1 (Chablis, Meursault, and Corton-Charlemagne) at Spago can be found here.

Part 2 (Batard-Montrachet, Criots Batard-Montrachet, Batard-Montrachet, and Chevalier-Montrachet) here.

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