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Sumo Bowl Yamakase

May25

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

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: May 20, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Best yet!

Yamakase is just hands down one of the most fun evenings in LA. Not only is the “modern” Japanese cuisine incredible, but the convivial nature of the place is just great. It’s not very big and as usual we took the entire sushi bar (we had 10 this time, but you can squeeze in 11 or 12). This is my second time at the new location and while the back was empty first time around, this time there were 8 or so people at 2-3 tables back in the “depths” of the restaurant.

The location is in a good neighborhood, but something about this particular strip mall is a bit sketchy. Maybe it’s the 7/11. There are a lot of strange characters hanging about.

Inside, chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto unpacks his giant slabs of tuna.

We start with a bang! 2003 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil. VM 94+. The 2003 Clos du Mesnil is insanely beautiful. Vivid, resonant and textured in the glass, the 2003 boasts magnificent depth and pure breed. Since I last tasted it a few months ago, the 2003 has begun to shut down, which is probably a great sign for its future and overall longevity. Hints of smoke, slate and dried pear gradually open up in the glass, but the 2003 mostly stands out for its exceptional finesse.

Homemade tofu, Momotaro tomato, and sweet shrimp. A “typical” Yamakase tofu dish. Great interplay of textures and flavors. I could even handle the tomato!

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P2. VM 95. The 1998 Dom Pérignon P2 is open and beautifully expressive today. Unusually open for a young P2, the 1998 drinks well upon release, especially compared to the 1996, which was virtually unapproachable for the first few years after release. That is not at all the case with the 1998, which is quite open at this stage. Hints of apricot, almond, white flowers and chamomile add texture on the fleshy, resonant finish. The added time on the lees has given the P2 an added dimension of texture.

Abalone with eel sauce. The crunchy chewy mollusk simply served and delicious.

2002 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JG 99+. At first sight a lovely bright golden colour. A very charismatic fresh nose, promise of natural intensity and elegance with strong presence of fruits, fruits of all types. A diverse bouquet of orange aromas with some notes of liquorice and light chocolate biscuit can be enjoyed.
On the palate, astonishing, balanced and delicate with significant fresh, tropical, wild and crystalised fruits. It is a hymn to fruit: red, white and citrus fruit with notes of cassis, chocolate, candied-orange peel, cocoa beans, honey with hints of smoke and toast enhanced by a vibrant, persistent long finish. It is a balanced dialogue between Pinot Noir (40%) and Chardonnays (39%) with Meunier (21%).

Persimmon butter sandwich. This is an odd one, but delicious. The orange stripes are dried persimmon which has been hung to dry for months. This is a traditional Japanese New Year preparation and very highly prized. The lighter stripe is frozen high end butter! Almost like a little petite four.

Mantis shrimp, baby peach, scallop, seaweed. I loved the sweet/tangy sauce too. Very lovely.

1985 Louis Jadot Montrachet Le Montrachet. 90 points. Still intact, deep yellow, but fruit a bit faded.

Fresh steamed eel and baby squid. Lovely textures. I think the green things were bits of sisho too, or shiso flowers.

1986 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. 94 points. From a virtually perfect bottle, this wine had a deep yellow center and clear rims. Not surprisingly, the nose was rather closed at first. Eventually, the high- intensity nose showed apples, vanilla, macaroons, and white stone. In the mouth, this wine was reasonably ripe and rich but the wine’s majesty came from its powerful acidity. Not surprisingly, it showed awesome length after some time.

Scallop or clam with salmon row and steamed ice fish. These tiny little fish are so cute!

2007 Louis Latour Montrachet. BH 95. A deft touch of wood serves as a background presence for the reserved but fresh and bright floral, citrus, brioche and spice aromas that are strikingly complex and broad and complement the full-bodied flavors that are deep, dense and massive with exceptionally powerful drive and intensity on the gorgeously long and palate staining finish. This is an impressive wine blessed with great underlying material, perfect balance and superb harmony plus it’s built for the long haul. Note however that the expressiveness of the nose aside, the flavors are like a block of stone and thus I would suggest not opening a bottle for the next few years as it would likely be a complete waste.

Oyster, uni, quail egg, caviar. One of these super Yamakase spoons of crazy umami-rich ingredients.

1979 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots. JG 92. Or bottle was in great shape!

Seared beef, foie gras, and a foie gras sauce. Rich and delicious.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet. Burghound 93. Tight yet fragrant aromas of stunning complexity reveal hints of peach, pear and a trace of wood spice, leading to large-scaled, extremely ripe flavors that stain the palate with wave after wave of sappy extract. Exceptionally powerful and very masculine, this is a very backward wine today with impressive focus and precision and it will require a minimum of 5 to 7 years of cellar time to arrive at its peak, though it should be capable of lasting a good deal longer.

Frozen toro, uni, and blue crab on toast. This toast and rich toro/crab combo is so good. Like a super high end version of a tuna sandwich.

From my cellar: 2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les . BH 94. Razor sharp aromas of wet rocks, earth and white fruits meld into flavors that are crystalline in their precision, purity and transparency. Understated, discreet and fine yet this is painfully intense with buckets of minerality. Quite backward presently but this is a genuinely breathtaking wine that defines class. In two words, absolutely brilliant and consistent notes.

agavin: our bottle was fabulous. still reduced even.

Truffle, crab, quail egg, uni parfait. Classic Yamakase greatness. White truffles apparently this time of year. In December it was black.

1999 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet. BH 92. Slightly exotic fruit (often a characteristic of Champs Canet) with notes of pineapple and banana with that mouth watering Granny Smith apple acidity. Marvelous intensity on the mid-palate that continues on to the long, powerful yet discreet finish. Not flashy and in fact rather understated for Champs Canet but it has arrived at its peak and is drinking perfectly now. Impressive in that it’s generous yet precise and pure with lovely harmony of expression.

Some kind of delightful raw shrimp or such in a dressing.

Bluefin tuna, caviar. Some of the best chunks of tuna I’ve had.

2000 Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91. The nose is still relatively fresh though the aromatic profile is one of a fully mature white burg, offering up notes of dried flowers, green apple and citrus hints that are also picked up by the elegant and pure medium-bodied flavors that display some wood influence on the otherwise admirably long finish. This is a Corton-Charlemagne of finesse and about the only nit is that one could wish for a bit more mid-palate concentration. No other recent experiences.

Yama’s new assistant plating.

Foie gras, toro, quail egg, truffle cheese, blue crab. Wow! This dish was absolutely out of this world. Just crazy rich and delicious. You wouldn’t think it works, but it’s amazing.
Uh oh, crabs!
King crab, steamed. Simple steamed fresh crab.
At work in the kitchen — which is right behind the sushi bar.

From my cellar: 1997 Joseph Drouhin Romanée St. Vivant. 93 points. Garnet color, with light bricking on the rim. Red fruits on the nose, with some spice as well. The red fruits are also present on the palate. Long finish. Very good given the vintage and kept very well.

The chef is working on his ramen broth. Bright yellow eggy noodles.

Ultimate ramen bowl. This foie gras based seafood broth was topped with truffles and filled with yummy seafood bits. Underneath are the ramen noodles. There was crab, beef, oyster, and who knows what else in here. Absolutely stunning. So rich. So good. The broth had quite a white pepper kick too which was amazing.

Because I asked I got the lefthand “sumo” bowl as my personal portion. It was so large even I couldn’t finish it! Almost though.

From my cellar: 1982 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs. Burghound 88. Superb nose of dried rose petals trimmed in minerals and damp earth follow by middle weight, slightly thinning flavors that display excellent complexity and frankly more structure than the mid-palate sap can adequately buffer on the finish. That said, this receives its marks for the sheer breadth of flavors and the clean, pure character. This is a first rate effort in what was a very difficult vintage.

agavin: 94 points. I thought this was drinking great.

This is real Japanese Wagyu, from Miyazaki. It comes with a certificate of authenticity that includes the cow’s nose print and stats. Yeah, the actual animal.

Miyazaki beef with truffle pepper sauce. Melt in your mouth with a bit of pepper kick.

A super complex sake Adam brought.

Erick brought this premium sake back from the brewery in Japan.

Another special aged sake Adam brought.

Some opted for the sashimi plate.

Blue fin sushi. Bordering over to chu-toro. Just a lovely bit of sushi.

Sea bass. To die for.

Amberjack. Amazing.

Chu or O toro. Lethal. We had about 4 pieces of this each.

Uber handroll. Uni, king crab, toro, shiso. You’ve never had a handroll quite like this powerhouse! Had two of these. The second one almost gave me a gout attack!

A small taste of baby peach sorbet. Super light and refreshing.

“Only” 16 bottles of wine. 10 people. Great stuff tonight too. No bad or spoiled wines. Stuff was great in all 4 categories: champ, white burg, red burg, and sake. Just some really stellar drinks.

Plus, food-wise, this was one of my best meals this year — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. A really great format. A total blow out and Yama’s cuisine keeps gaining in strength and power. Really quite incomparable.

Oh, and that toro cheese dish and foie gras “ramen” are just to die for. I’m headed back in July for more.

Click here for more LA sushi reviews,
Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Champagne, Foie gras, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, kobe beef, Krug, Sushi, Truffle, White Burgundy, Wine, Yamakase

2005 Burgundy at Water Grill

Apr29

Restaurant: Water Grill Santa Monica [1, 2]

Location: 1401 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 394-5669

Date: April 27, 2016

Cuisine: American Seafood

Rating: Solid coastal seafooder

Tonight’s outing to Water Grill Santa Monica is with a friend’s wine group. Some of the regulars I’ve known for some time and a bunch of the others I can’t believe I haven’t “met” as we clearly have been at the same events together.

The primary wine theme is 2005 Red Burgundy. A little young, but beginning to come around.

The ocean sunset throws some awesome color on the facade.

1990 Henri Goutorbe Champagne Collection René.

2010 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir. Burghound 95. There is a lovely mineral reduction to the pure aromas of citrus, ripe orchard fruit, dried rose petal and sea breeze that marry into full-bodied and overtly muscular flavors that possess seemingly endless reserves of acid-buffering extract on the mouth coating, long and almost painfully intense finish. This bone dry effort will require plenty of cellar time but it will be more than worth the wait as it’s a knockout.

2004 Hospices de Beaune Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Cuvée Baudot Louis Jadot. Good stuff, very “round” and tres meursault.

The King Iced Shellfish Tower. Love me some raw sea creatures.

Downstairs are oysters, clams, shrimps (with and without heads), mussels, and snails.

Upstairs is uni, lobster, crab, and Peruvian bay scallops with salsa.

From my cellar: 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. Burghound 93. A very discreet touch of brioche highlights the much more reserved honeysuckle, anise, honeysuckle and apricot aromas that are elegant, pure and wonderfully refined and dissolve into sweet, intense and unusually precise flavors that also reflect more minerality than I typically find in this wine as well, culminating in superb punch and energy. A terrific vintage for Pucelles and one to consider closely.

agavin: sadly our bottle was (mildly) corked 🙁

2013 Francois Carillon Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 91-94. A beautifully expressive nose of notably ripe yellow fruit, acacia blossom, spiced pear and hints of lemon are trimmed in enough wood to notice. The detailed, concentrated, layered and intense middle weight plus flavors are unusually powerful before culminating in a stony, persistent and palate staining finish. This is dense to the point of being luscious and while this is certainly a lovely effort, I wouldn’t call it typical in the context of a classic Chevalier.

agavin: crazy young but still fabulous, particularly at the end of the evening once it got some air. Super long finish.
Crudo Sampler. Wild tahitian bigeye tuna, wild eastern sea scallops, farmed faroe islands atlantic salmon.
Farmed Manila clams with Chorizo. Steamed in saffron broth with crispy french baquette.
Jump lump blue crab cake. celery root remoulade.

From my cellar: 2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées. Burghound 94. Here the aromas are slightly riper than those of the villages with a positively sublime elegant dark berry fruit and violet-infused nose that complements the seductive yet notably powerful plum and mineral-inflected medium full flavors that are firmly structured yet velvety with excellent depth of material on the driving, complex and stunningly long finish. The mid-palate sap completely buffers the dusty tannins and this should be capable of at least a decade of improvement but it’s a 25 year wine, perhaps longer. This delivers grand cru quality and should absolutely be on your shopping list.

agavin: lots of promise, but needs more time.

2005 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru. Burghound 93. A strikingly complex nose offers up notes of dried rose petal, exotic spices, tea, earth and very ripe red pinot fruit that merges into rich, full and wonderfully precise medium full-bodied flavors that possess impeccable balance and length that goes on and on. A smaller version of the Musigny and built to age almost as well.

agavin: forward enough to be really yummy, but pretty young
Fritto misto. mixed fried seafood with smokey marinara and tzatziki.

Seafood fritters. crab, shrimp and atlantic cod, with romesco sauce and pickled peppers.

2005 Domaine Xavier Liger-Belair Clos Vougeot. 94 points. Drinking great, with lots of umph. Big wine too.

2005 Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos Vougeot. Burghound 92. Moderate wood spice and a pretty if serious mix of red berry, black pinot and plenty of earth influence can be found on the round, rich and very suave full-bodied flavors that possess ample volume and excellent underlying material though the finish is perhaps not quite as precise and delineated as the very best in the range. Still, this offers plenty of character and superb length plus it’s less youthfully austere than most examples at this very early stage.

agavin: this is a very new world producer. Wine was pleasant, but a little short.

WILD ALASKAN RED KING CRAB LEGS. steamed with our homemade coleslaw and drawn butter.

LIVE WILD NORTH AMERICAN HARD SHELL LOBSTER. steamed with our homemade coleslaw and drawn butter.

2005 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 93-95. A pungent mix of wood spice, earth, red berry fruit, game, smoke and natural spice highlights the moderately sauvage character of the rich, full, refined and pure flavors underpinned by ripe and very firm tannins that culminate in an austere and very backward finish. This will require lots of cellar time to be at its best and like the Clos de Vougeot, this will be a long-distance runner.

2005 Camille Giroud Chambertin. Burghound 93-96. There are actually several different cuvées of this wine and at the time of my tasting, Croix had not decided what he was going to use for the final blend. The best of them featured a reserved and very backward, indeed almost brooding nose of ripe and distinctly earth red pinot fruit plus a touch of animale that merges seamlessly into textured, powerful and pure big-bodied flavors that despite the size, richness and raw muscle are harmonious and perfectly balanced. A monument in the making but I reemphasize that this review may or may not reflect the final blend.

agavin: massive but very good

PRIME DRY AGED SPLIT-BONE “COWBOY” RIBEYE 20 oz.

PRIME NATURAL “NEVER EVER” NEW YORK STRIP STEAK 16 oz.

FILET MIGNON “double r ranch” 12 oz.

French fries.
Yukon gold mashed potatoes.

Overall, a super fun evening. The wines were a bit young but fun — plus I never mind a surplus of Burgundy. Food was tasty and fresh. The restaurant did a good job by us, even if they didn’t totally get our “wine guy” thing (they never do). Seafood and apps more exciting than mains. The company was awesome though, and that’s what really matters!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 2005 Red Burgundy, Burgundy, Santa Monica, Water Grill, watergrill, Wine

Food as Art – Tempura Endo

Jan04

Restaurant: Tempura Endo

Location: 9777 Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90210 USA. 310-274-2201

Date: January 3, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Tempura (Kyoto style)

Rating: Like being back in Japan, including the price 🙂

My friend Liz Lee of Sage Society invited me to a pre opening dinner at Beverly Hill’s latest high end Japanese restaurant.

Tempura Endo is a new branch of a traditional Kyoto style tempura restaurant. As they say on their website: “Savor our exquisite Kyoto-style tempura in a most traditional setting in the ancient capital of Japan. the ingredients for our delectable tempura feature the choicest seasonal delicacies. Indulge yourself in exquisite Kyoto-style tempura at Tempura Endo.”

The frontage and interior is modern Japanese elegant.

Tonight’s maxed out Omakase menu.

The plate is pre-prepared with a variety of salts, soy sauce, and lemon. “The delicately seasoned original dipping sauce, made with a secret recipe and carefully selected salt, enhance the natural flavors of the tempura. Premium quality cottonseed oil made from the finest guarantees the amazingly crisp, light, healthy tempura.”

Even the toothpicks are artful.

Liz brought: 1999 Bruno Paillard Champagne Nec Plus Ultra. AG 94. Vivid yellow-gold. Potent, smoke-accented aromas of pit fruits, melon and honey, with a sexy floral overtone and building minerality. Lively, sappy and seamless, with intense nectarine and candied ginger flavors and notes of buttery brioche and anise. Shows a compelling blend of richness and vivacity, with no rough edges. A refreshingly bitter note of citrus pith adds lift and cut to the smoky, strikingly long finish, which leaves notes of honeysuckle and poached pear behind. a 50/50 blend of chardonnay and pinot noir that was aged for 12 years on its lees and disgorged in January, 2012.

Cold Tempura Appetizer. Kyoto-eggplant, minced shrimp, ginger dashi gelee. Very Japanese, with that mild savory flavor lent by the dashi. Interesting textural interplay between the jelly, the bits of ginger, and the cool eggplant.

Amuse Tempura.

Corn tempura. A quarter turn of kernels skimmed off the cobb. Perfectly fresh. The frying style here is light and fluffy, with a nice crispy texture, but without any taste of oil. It serves to enhance the ingredients rather than distract from them. The was eaten (as recommended) with the rice salt.

Shrimp bread tempura. Tasted more like a bit of pan fried shrimp toast. Delicious. This was eaten with the green tea salt.

Liz brought: 1992 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. Burghound 92. Deep golden. When this wine is good it’s terrific but these days it often isn’t. After years of being a relatively closed wine, particularly in the context of the vintage, this has arrived at its full maturity and is now wonderfully expressive with ample breadth and depth that complement well the admirably rich and full but delineated flavors that offer better fine acid/fruit balance plus excellent length. While not a great vintage for this storied wine, it still is really quite lovely plus, if well-stored, remains a lovely effort. Still I would suggest drinking up sooner than later as my experience, even from perfect storage, has been very inconsistent with several oxidized examples.

agavin: our bottle was a bit flat. No nose at first, although this blossomed. So did the taste, but it never really reached the heights one would have hoped for.

Sashimi course.

Abalone sashimi. Nice crunch and mouth feel.

Toro sashimi. Melt in your mouth good.

Sea bream sushi. Took this simple fish to new heights.

Wagyu sashimi. The beef is from Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan, one of the most elite sources of genuine Wagyu beef. It completely melted in your mouth, silky smooth. Almost certainly the best beef sashimi I’ve ever had.

Just appreciate the geometry of the sauce tray — ignoring the white blob at the bottom.
From my cellar: 2006 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. Parker 94. The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc (80% Roussanne and the rest Marsanne, Picpoul, and Bourboulenc) possesses classic notes of orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and rose petals, a full-bodied, unctuous texture, gorgeous purity and richness, and a stunningly long finish. It can compete with the finest full-throttle, dry whites of France as well as the world. It is difficult to find a better white Chateauneuf du Pape than Beaucastel. Much like their reds, their whites are made in a style that is atypical for the appellation. It is put through full malolactic, and one-third is barrel fermented, then blended with the two-thirds that is aged in tank. Extraordinarily rich and honeyed, it is ideal for drinking with intensely flavored culinary dishes.

Endo’s Tempura, style 1. On the left, classic shrimp. They use a bit of wine in the batter, either Chardonnay or Sauvignon blanc, depending on the type of thing being fried. This tempura is eaten primarily with salt, in this case the yuzu salt.

And the shrimp head, which was certainly the best fried shrimp head I’ve had. It was rich, and paired nicely with the Rhone.

King crab tempura. A great piece of fried crab. Light and delicate — although hot.

Sea urchin (uni) tempura. Santa Barbara Uni, wrapped in seaweed, and lightly fried. The uni was still soft and buttery.

Daikon radish, as a palette cleanser.

Eaten with a bit of soy sauce.

From my cellar: 2011 Veyder-Malberg Riesling Bruck. 92 points. First beautiful straw chablis like color, nose of oil can like and lead pencil, the finish is very long smooth and lasting for over a minute. Awesome wine…

Sillago with shiso tempura. A very crispy light fish wrapped in yummy shiso.

Abalone tempura.

This pure butter was provided.

To top the abalone. The result was crispy, with a wonderful combination of textures and richness.

Pea Croquette tempura. A crispy pea pod.

The next course comes in a bag.

Taro with truffle! Very light and delicate.

Then the Refreshment Tempura.

Flambed sweet potato. Sweet and crispy. Like the ultimate high end version of one of those sweet potato desserts served at some Chinese Restaurants.
Yuzu Granite. Delightfully refreshing.
Caviar for the next course.

The roe was used to top this Tempura Style 2 Scallop with Truffle and Caviar. The truffle is layered in the middle. This was one of my favorites.

Sesame Tofu. Soft and gooey inside with a hint of sesame, with a touch of heat too from some daikon. A delightful ponzu too.

Wagyu tempura. The richest tempura you’ll ever have!

Special Salada. Tempura carrots and various stripped vegetables with a zesty dressing. Delicious.

Green tea.

Tempura Bowl.

Ten Don. Egg and various other bits all fried together over rice. This is a high end version of what they serve at Hannosuke. Another of my favorites. I love the egg yolk on the rice.

Red miso soup.

Tsukemono pickles. Nice with the rice.

Chef Satoshi Masuda works the frier.

Traditional pressed sugar candies to go with the special tea (that’s coming).

Each of us got to pick our own tea bowl!

A specially trained member of the staff prepares the tea in the “tea nook.”

The above video shows the entire ceremony.

The special green tea. It was strong, without any bitterness.

Very soft sesame ice cream. Light and delicious.

A close up of the tea.

Overall, this was some spectacular tempura and a lovely meal. In every way it reminded me of various dinners in Japan: the small intimate room, the friendly staff, the small courses of exquisite food, the high price tag (although it’s also similar in price to Totoraku and Yamakase). I also understand this kind of food is inherently expensive, because the staff is large (relative to the guests) and the technique labor intensive. You’ve never had fried food with this attention to detail! But it will be interesting to see if LA appreciates that.

Also, in terms of experience, once they officially open they plan not to allow corkage, which is something I’d like to see changed. They have a very straightforward wine list, and wine guys like us have way too much interesting wine to go that way. If I were eating here again under those rules I’d go with sake (which I do like), but still, not allowing outside wines precludes this as a wine dinner destination — and that is 99% of my fine dining.

Still, as we have such a fine collection of great Japanese restaurants in LA, it’s nice to have yet another with such a different style of cuisine.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Japanese cuisine, Koichi Endo, Kyoto, Liz Lee, Omakase, Sage Society, Satoshi Masuda, tempura, Tempura Endo, Wine

Mayhem at Mastro’s

Dec24

Restaurant: Mastro’s [1, 2, 3]

Location: 246 North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, Ca 90210. 310-888-8782

Date: December 20, 2015

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: My favorite LA Steak joint

My friend Sebastian picked Mastros for his birthday dinner — no complaints here — so we all hauled out the wines and headed across town.

For good times were to be had!

Sebastian brought: 1992 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 91. Very fine aromas of quinine, lemon, lime, minerals and gingery; lightly musky suggestion of yeast autolysis. Very intensely flavored and solidly structured but already quite accessible and open to inspection. Slightly aggressive finish shows excellent persistence. Doesn’t offer the complexity or grip of the best D.P. vintages, but this is ripe and delicious wine.

A seafood tower for seven. The quality of the seafood here is impeccable and the only thing we had to complain about was that there wasn’t enough! Really for five we would have expected the two or three story version Still there were amazing shrimp, claws, king crab (didn’t taste frozen), and oysters.

One of the things that really makes the Mastro’s seafood tower are the sauces. We have cocktail, a spicy mustard, and the Atomic Horseradish. They use this particular magic brand (you can buy it here). The stuff is — pardon my French — fucking awesomely potent. I’ve taken to buying it myself for home. No other horseradish is this punishing. It has a nice flavor too. I particularly like it mixed in with the cocktail sauce. It can have you literally pounding the table in pain — ahem pleasure.

We broke out the appetizers into two separate courses, the seafood tower and salads/hot apps (below).

From my cellar: 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94. Extremely unevolved aromas of pineapple, spiced apple and grapefruit skin. Thick, rich flavors of grapefruit, apple and minerals; showing a slightly flat, oxidized, resiny character today, as well as a leesy component. A very substantial wine, but presently awkward. My range is just a rough estimate of the wine’s potential quality. “The 2002 whites will need longer on their lees, even if they are transferred from barriques to vats,” says Prost. “They’ll be bottled on the late side, even if the reds get an early bottling.”

From my cellar: 2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 93+. Pale green-tinged straw. Reticent but ripe and highly nuanced nose combines peach, nectarine, lime, lemon skin, nuts and an intriguing, soil-inflected vegetal/smoky quality. Very dry, taut and reserved yet already rich and mouthfilling, with the ripe fruit notes perfectly supported by a flavor of liquid stone. A wine of great energy, finishing with explosive length and powerful minerality. Grand cru size and cut.

Classic escargot. Buttery garlic goodness.

Seared ahi tuna.

Bone marrow and toast — have a bit of fat!

Mastros chopped salad.

Caesar salad. Not a bad caesar. I’d still like it even punchier.

From my cellar: 1993 Dominique Laurent Grands-Echezeaux. 94 points. Still some oak. Strong Vosne spice. Really nice pinot. Chevy and I thought it was WOTN.

Fries and Burgundy! An extra bonus intermezzo course.

Then a Bordeaux flight:

1982 Montrose. Parker 88-92. The 1982 is nowhere near the quality of some of the Montroses made afterwards (1989, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008), but it has aged better than expected having developed more complexity and richness than barrel samples suggested. Sweet kirsch, black currant, crushed rock, and floral notes are followed by a full-bodied, opulent, fleshy wine displaying no hard edges. It still possesses beautifully pure fruit as well as good body, but it should be consumed over the next 5-8 years.

agavin: I thought a very lovely mature Bord.

2003 Pavie. Parker 96-99. At its release, the 2003 Pavie was somewhat controversial in wine tasting circles, but eleven years later it is obviously a great classic. Its deep purple color is accompanied by notes of vanillin, lead pencil shavings, creme de cassis, plums, black currants and kirsch. Full-bodied, youthful and rich with terrific purity and texture as well as a striking opulence, its 40+-second finish, stunning purity and wonderful perfume suggest it can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years.

2000 Lynch Bages. Parker 97. Beginning to open magnificently, the still dense purple-colored 2000 reveals a blossoming bouquet of blackberries, cassis, graphite and pen ink. Full-bodied with velvety tannins that have resolved themselves beautifully over the last eleven years, this wine is still an adolescent, but it exhibits admirable purity, texture, mouthfeel and power combined with elegance. One of the all-time great examples of Lynch Bages, the 2000 is just beginning to drink well yet promises to last for another 20-25+ years.

We decided to order the mains “family style” by getting a couple steaks, sliced, and putting them in the middle. We brought them into two groups so we could arrange two flights of wines. This is the first grouping, which also included all the sides.

Salmon steak with olive tapenade.

Lamb chops.

Porterhouse.

Mushrooms.

Brussels sprouts.

Creamed corn. I love this stuff.

And even better, the evil “king crab truffle gnocchi.” Yes that’s right. Cream, cheese, truffles, crab, potato. What could be better?

This is “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” Oh so light, oh so yummy.

Dave brought: 2007 Domaine du Clos du Caillou Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve le Clos du Caillou. Parker 100! Just another perfect wine (ho hum), the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Le Clos du Caillou is an incredible effort that matches the 2010 in terms of quality, yet has a larger-than-life, richer and more over- the-top style. Loaded to the gills with sweet black cherry, cassis, licorice, lavender, roasted meats and creamy licorice, it hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied profile that carries awesome fruit, building, sweet tannin, incredible depth and blockbuster length. Spectacular in every way, enjoy it anytime over the coming two decades.

agavin: pure purple Grenache.

Sebastian brought: 2012 Sine Qua Non Grenache Stein. Parker 97. Starting with the Grenache release, the 2012 Grenache Stein is a blend of 76% Grenache, 16% Syrah and 8% Mourvedre, aged in 14% new French oak (15% was in concrete), that comes mostly from the estate’s Eleven Confessions Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, but also includes grapes from the Cumulus, Third Twin (Syrah) and Bien Nacido vineyards. Checking in at 15.7% alcohol, it’s no lightweight, yet it has considerable elegance in its sweet blackcurrants, white pepper, licorice, baking spices and hints of violet-like aromas and flavors. Possessing the hallmark purity of the estate, it’s full-bodied, concentrated, rich and textured, with sweet tannin barely noticeable on the finish. I don’t think it’s one of the greatest Grenaches from the estate, yet it’s still an incredible effort that will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 15-20 years or more of overall longevity.

agavin: even more teeth-staining purple!

Bone in filet.

Bone in ribeye.

Sebastian brought: 1995 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 95. Served from an ex-chateau bottle. The 1995 Chateau d’Yquem is moving into its secondary aroma phase. A deep golden color, it has a dense and almost Barsac-like bouquet with tangerine, apricot, acacia and melted candle wax. It displays good intensity, unfolding beautifully in the glass. The palate has a strident opening, with a slight bitter edge that lends this Yquem great tension. One can discern layers of marmalade infused with honey fruit, with a powerful, spicy finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is drinking perfectly now, but will surely age with style over many years. Tasted March 2014.

Chocolate sin cake. A lot like a soufflé.

Creme brûlée.

This is “Mastro’s signature warm butter cake ala mode.” Basically a pound cake with an extra four sticks of butter or something. It’s really sweet and really good. Goes well with the magic whipped cream (see below).

Extra vanilla ice cream.

Real whipped cream. Love it.
Mastro’s, while a zoo, and expensive, is a spectacular steak house experience. You can really feel your heart palpitating as you roll out of here!

Overall, a perfect steakhouse birthday!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, birthday, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Dessert, Mastros, Steak

Otium Oppulence

Dec14

Restaurant: Otium

Location:222 S Hope St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date: December 12, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Meaty goodness

When I got the invite for this dinner I knew I had to attend immediately. Martine’s Wines, at Otium, showcasing Flannery Beef. A sort of Holy Trinity.
Let’s take them one by one.

Chef Tim Hollingsworth and restaurateur Bill Chait have combined in Otium to create one of 2015’s most anticipated restaurant openings.

The stylish DTLA location is right next to the Disney Concert Hall and Patina. Otium’s concept is very much 2015. The loud hard surfaces, no tablecloths, paper menus, elegant but superficially informal style, emphasis on shared plates. All typical of new trendy eateries. I have no problem with most of these trends, except the noise. Otium is about 80-90% of the volume of Republique, which is still too loud.

But the space does look good. Here is our private “room”. More an area, an attractive one too and it worked quite well — except for the noise. Service was fabulous. You can see the wine glasses arrayed in front and they were individually labeled for each wine. I love not having to reuse stems. That way you can go back to and savor previous flights.

Chef Timothy Hollingsworth (above) cooked at the French Laundry for five years — that’s pretty enough said. As you’ll see, his food has not only very contemporary plating, but very bright ingredient driven flavors with deft pairings.

Our special menu for the night.

A pair of passing apps. Hamachi. Nori, Avocado, Sweet & Sour Tomatoes. This had a real citrus zing in the mix, lending an addictive brightness and making for a fabulous pairing with the Champagne.
Arancini. Typical Roman fried rice balls. These were nice and moist in the center, with great texture.

Greg Castells is our host, and as president of Martine’s Wines he brings some serious wine power into the room. The founder, Martine herself also joined us, and they brought bottles of rare wines in stunning condition. Martine’s imports some of France’s top artisanal producers. These include crazy great Burgundy like Leroy and Jayer and insane Rhones like Rayas.

1998 Saint-Chamant Champagne Cuvée Royále (magnum). 93 points. Nice strong acidity. A very nice classic Champagne.

Scallop tart with caviar, sea urchin, and truffle. Wow. First off the crust was to-die-for flakey. Then the rich pairing of soft umami flavors from the scallop (raw), caviar, and uni. Almost like a Yamakase dish (except the pastry). Great start. And a great pairing with the Champy.

1996 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. Burgound 90. Slight petroleum notes make for an odd nose but the middle weight, pure and delineated flavors are blessed with great sève and impressive concentration. The finish delivers excellent cut, definition and exceptional length. In sum, this is a lovely and altogether stunning wine for its level. Note: another recent bottle was very underwhelming as it was somewhat flat and without the lift and vivacity displayed by the bottle reviewed above.

agavin: 94 points. Meadows is so stingy if he gave this a 90. Lovely, lovely nutty mature flavor.

2002 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. Tanzer 92+. Pale yellow. Perfumed nose combines minerals, flint, smoke and a roasted nuance. Superconcentrated yet downright elegant, with strongly mineral flavors of lemon and liquid stone. Finishes with superb length and lemony cut.

agavin: 96 points. A real stunner. Still some reduction and searing long, beautiful acidity.

Risotto with hazelnut, brown butter and truffle.
Add truffle.
Add brown butter.

This dish was insane. The rice was cooked down to that perfect creamy (congee-like) consistency. Nice cheesy quality. Then the rich butter and truffle factor, and even the delicate hazelnut crunch. Amazing pairing too with the whites.

1964 Maison Leroy Grands-Echezeaux. AG 94. Leroy’s 1964 Grands-Echézeaux was simply phenomenal. A model of clarity and precision, it flowed with sensations of red cherries, spices and mint, showing remarkable poise as well as freshness.

agavin 97: My WOTN (and a close call with the 02 Narvaux). Tons of delineated fruit, precise, with a lovely balance on the palette.
1991 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot. Burghound 92. This has always been a very impressive wine and one that I have watched evolve since the wine’s release. It has developed an interesting floral element to go with the regal, still entirely fresh fruit and earth notes and it remains completely primary on the nose, indeed even brooding. The flavors are big, rich and powerful and offer outstanding complexity and while the tannins are just beginning to soften, this remains a youngster with a bright future. This should offer an exceptionally wide drinking window and for perfectly stored bottles, it needs another ten years to really be at its peak. Multiple, and consistent, notes.

agavin: 90 points. Deeper colored. This has a bit of that strong Burgundy flavor that MZ declared as “horse”. I taste it all the time and it isn’t our favorite. This note marred an otherwise excellent wine.

Here begins the Flannery Beef meats, this one actually being pork. Bryan Flannery was there with us and his passion for bringing the best meat to the table really stood out, both personally and in the flesh itself 🙂

Pork Callote. Squash, bok chow, coffee, papitas. This was an amazing bit of pork. Very seasonal too. Four of us polished off this huge plate in about 15 seconds.

1999 Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux. Burghound 94. It seems that this has barely budged since it was bottled and at this point, the 750 ml note remains accurate though I found a bit less wood influence here than I did in the smaller format version: An expressive, ripe and elegant nose of Vosne style spice, moderate oak and a mix of earth, minerals and violets leads to rich, round and impressively precise flavors that deliver serious punch and excellent depth. I very much like the overall sense of harmony and fine balance here. This should age well and Jayer lovers will definitely be pleased. Note that in this format the ’99 Cros will age for decades and it will require at least 20 years for this to be at its best.

agavin. 94 points. Superbly balanced, but brooding, young, and a bit closed.
2001 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux. Burghound 91. Explosive aromas of Vosne spice, fresh earth, soy and candied plum soar from the glass and the Cros does a better job of integrating the moderately toasty oak notes. It is also much more concentrated and one can literally smell the density as the powerful, complex, intense yet defined flavors offer impressive depth and persistence. This is really lovely if not incredible juice by the standards of this wine.

agavin: 95 points. This was much more open with an amazing searing finish. Great young Burg.
Flannery Beef Callote. So rich it was almost like Wagyu. Cooked perfectly too. A real heart stopper and delicious.

Flannery Beef brisket. Served on this little Totoraku-style grill. Dense and delicious.

Zoom in for some beefy goodness.

Potatoes, roasted and mashed, black truffle, greens. Totally opulent with the truffles. This whole course hit me like a tasty ton of bricks. Plenty of calories!

1989 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape (magnum). Parker 97-98. A wine that continues to catch up to the 1990 (and probably has greater longevity) is the 1989. A dense-colored Rayas, but not as thick-looking as the 1990, this dark ruby-colored wine exhibits plenty of roasted herb notes intermixed with scents of tobacco, sweet creme de cassis, and kirsch. Full-bodied, highly-extracted, powerful, and tannic (resembling 1995 more than 1990), it is shedding its cloak of tannin and beginning to approach full maturity.

agavin: almost young!

1996 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape (magnum). Parker 89-91. This lighter-styled wine appears diluted in terms of color, but it possesses surprising quantities of sweet black cherry fruit intermixed with hints of resin, licorice, and tobacco. It is a medium to full-bodied Chateauneuf with far more flavor and intensity than its light-ish colors suggest. The wine requires consumption over the next 5-8 years.

Lamb loin. Pine nuts, pole beans, tomato, yogurt. This huge rich dish (and we had one of these each!) featured some seriously delicious lamb, and an almost risotto made of pine nuts. The yogurt really brightened it up too, and in combination with the flavors gave the whole thing a bit of a middle eastern vibe.

Salad. This might look a little like a classic Italian American salad, but it had bold herby tones.

Check out the cheese plate!

Pyrenees de Brebis. Persimmon, beet, truffle honey. Very stylish and tasty.

1937 Château Gilette Crème de Tête. 93 points. Pristine condition, even given its age. The nose is so expressive – apricot, orange rind, bees wax, creme brûlée. Wow. Outstanding mouth feel, and length to burn. Tremendous.

Banana Cream Grand Macaron. Various caky and puffy bits in a giant macaron.

1970 Niepoort Porto Vintage. 94 points. Unbelievable bottle! So ridiculously dark. Coffee nose. Very young and dense. Seems surprisingly primary. Still some unresolved tannins. Long finish. With more time, there is an appealing confectionery aspect that emerges. I have had other bottles of this wine and they were more than ready to drink (and actually quite average). This particular bottle needs at least 10 more years of bottle age. Superb!

Chocolate Torte. Persimmon, Olive Sable, EVO Jam. Tasty little nuggets of chocolate.

In the middle is Elizabeth Huettinger, the Otium wine director and on the right Martine. The staff did an incredible job!

Overall this was another incredible evening.

The food was pretty awesome. The scallops and risotto incredible, and the then the assault of amazing meats. My favorites of those were the pork, the wagyu-like steak, and the lamb. There was so much food I couldn’t even finish my lamb. It must have been thousands of calories of meat.

The wines too were out of this world. I was slightly let down by the Clos Parantoux, only because they were great rather than absolutely mind blowing. But the 64 Grands-Ech and the 02 Narvaux were absolutely amazing — and there wasn’t one “bad” one in the bunch, the “worst” of the lot being the 91 Clos Vougeot — and it was still a nice wine. But even the most illustrious roster has to have a ranking.

I’ll be back to Otium both for more wine dinners I’m sure, and to try the menu under more typical circumstances. The overall balance of the normal menu is less meat heavy. Meat there is, but there is also quite a bit of seafood.

Thanks again to Martine’s wines and Otium for putting together such a wonderful event.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, DTLA, flannery beef, Foodie Club, Jayer, Leroy, Otium, Timothy Hollingsworth

Elite – King Crab Custard

Nov23

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998

Date: November 21, 2015

Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet

Rating: Elite!

Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but less well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is.

But Charlie chose it as the site for his legendary birthday feast, not only because of how good the food is (and it is good), but because they have a nice private room, great service, and are very Burgundy friendly.

They actually have a couple private rooms, but this time we had the small one, although it was certainly big enough for the 10 of us.

NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut V.O. 2006 disgorgment. VM 95. The NV V.O. (Version Originale) presents slightly darker, more burnished tonalities of Chardonnay. Almond, marzipan, dried rose petals, spices and anise blossom in an ample, generous Champagne built on volume, but supported by insistent veins of minerality. Hints of trademark Selosse oxidation make the V.O. a bit more eccentric, especially for readers who might not be familiar with these Champagnes. V.O. emerges from parcels in Avize, Cramant and Oger, all Grand Cru villages. The vintages are 2006, 2005 and 2004. This bottle was disgorged on October 15, 2013 and bottled with no dosage.

agavin: delicious. Super rich and tasted more like a 90s Champ.

Peanuts on the table is a Chinese staple.

2001 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 93. This is a big step up in power and weight with a gorgeously complex nose of minerals, white flowers and minerals that leads to pure, muscular, fantastically detailed and precise flavors just oozing with sappy extract. This is quite concentrated and there is a certain regal classiness that separates this from all of the prior wines plus the length and vibrancy are simply incredible. This will require a few years of bottle age to completely integrate as the finish is very firm and quite dry for an ’01 but all of the requisite material is here for this to evolve into a superb Les Clos.

agavin: a little closed and reductive at first, but opened up into a green apple monster.
Suckling pig. We preordered this little fellow. He’s kinda sad, but he sure tasted great. Really just a fabulous bit of pork and cracklings. The sweet sauce on the side is great too.

After we ate all the easy bits they took away the pig face and limbs and chopped them up for sort of a “piglet: the return” dish. A little too boney and nasty for me.

Charlie brought: 1995 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. Burghound 88. Golden color though with no hints of browning. As one would reasonably expect, the nose has now gone completely secondary fruit though there is no sous bois or undue exotic notes in evidence and introduces flavors that are classic Puligny in style with their understated, delineated and pure character and clear minerality that shapes and defines the mid-palate plus a crisp, intense and fine finish for a wine of this level. This has always been a somewhat lean effort for a ’95 and it remains that way and to my taste, should be drunk up over the next few years as the acidity may begin to dominate the finish if held for much longer. To be clear, there is no danger of this falling over the edge, just that the balance may become compromised in time.

agavin: our bottle was a bit oxidized. Old enough not to be premoxed, but heading downslope. Still, it had a lovely complexity and brulee.

We also went all out tonight and got the giant crab! Here he is alive!

From my cellar: 1996 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières. Burghound 91. Coche always seems to be able to coax another dimension out of his array of villages level vineyards and the Chvalières is no exception with its completely mature nose of hazelnut, orchard fruit and hint of reduction that doesn’t carry over to the precise and mineral-driven middle weight flavors that offer a fine sense of focus and energy on the punchy and lingering finish. This is lovely juice that has arrived at its apogee but should remain here for at least another decade.

agavin: Charlie opened a bottle of this exact wine at his birthday 2 years ago and I immediately bought some. Expensive, but a total stunner then and now. Reductive, with a staggering nose and real depth. Most in the room agreed it was one of the two best whites of the night.

And in his first prep: Garlic fried ginger crab. Leg sucking yummy.

2002 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94. A supremely elegant nose of white flower and limestone notes are followed by sweet, pungently mineral and ultra precise middle weight flavors that offer simply incredible focus with an almost painfully intense, stunningly long finish. This\nhas just now arrived on the front edge of its peak drinkability though some may prefer a few more years in the cellar first. In sum, this is really lovely juice that should age gracefully for several decades.

agavin: a young monster, but fabulous.

But nothing compared to prep 2: Garlic steamed crab. This was incredible. Just plain 15 minute old crab steamed with garlic. Oh so good.

2008 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 96. Here the nose is notably tighter and more reserved with aromas of citrus blossom and zest, spice, smoke, fennel and hints of acacia that introduce big, muscular and wonderfully complex broad-scaled flavors that culminate in a long, focused and explosive finish of breathtaking length and intensity. This should reward at least a decade in the cellar and drink well for a similar period thereafter. This too is terrific and very Bâtard and like the Combettes, the ’08 version is one of the very best young examples from Leflaive that I have ever seen.

agavin: The group joked that this was premoxed. But no, it was nice, young and fresh but dominated by reduction and will almost certainly be even better in a few years.

And version 3: King Crab Head Custard. This crab gave great head. The custard was amazing, soft and tofu-like with bits of crab mixed in. About as perfect a white Burgundy pairing as exists.

Fred brought: 1996 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. Burghound 94. Ultra pure and refined white flower and hazelnut notes introduce crisp, delineated and wonderfully refined, linear and nuanced middle weight flavors that culminate in a bright, racy and extended finish. This is incredibly youthful at 9 years of age and should age for 25 years. A great, great ’96 of uncommon elegance for Charmes.

agavin: another stunner. Got better and better through the night too.

Then garlic fried lobster. A truly great lobster prep. Crunchy, salty, and oh so garlicky.

Amanda brought: 1996 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH? In its youth and up to 2003 or so, this was a brilliant wine and one of the best examples of Bienvenues that I have ever tasted chez Ramonet with an almost painful intensity and superb cut and detail. However, the last 4 bottles that I have tried, and from multiple sources have all displayed unacceptable levels of oxidation and were essentially undrinkable. It’s not clear whether good bottles exist or not but my luck with it has not been good.

agavin: well, our experience jives with Meadows because this was super oxed. 🙁

Another super special. Winter melon soup. Served fresh in the winter melon!

This doesn’t necessarily look like much, but it was an amazing mild soup. I had 2-3 bowls of it. Delicate lovely broth, and all sorts of bits of goodness in there. More like one of those traditional Japanese soups. There was pork, chicken, seafood bits, crab from our crab of course, mushrooms, and this fibrous soft yummy thing that might have been melon. Hard to say.

Amanda brought: 1969 Camille Giroud Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers. 93 points. A late release from the domaine. This was showing quintessential Nuits, with a simply massive dose of rustic earth on the nose and palate. The mushroom note was also quite prominent, though I think it’s more reasonable to chalk that up to its age. This was showing amazingly fresh for its age thanks to some bright acids. I’d never be able to call this as an almost-50-year-old wine blind. The ripe and prominent fruit makes this taste a lot younger than it is.

agavin: very fresh for its age. Browned out in the glass after about an hour.

String beans with sausage. A richer version of the usual prep.

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Romanée St. Vivant. VM 94. Deep red-ruby. Knockout nose combines raspberry, violet, coffee, licorice, spice and smoky oak. Superb richness and volume without excessive weight. Thick for a ’96, but kept bright by tangy Oriental spices and a lively floral nuance. Extremely long on the aftertaste, with noble tannins. Classy juice.

agavin: good stuff. Very much in the house style.

Roast squab. Succulent little birds, heads and all.

Erick brought: 1990 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes. Burghound 92. A beautiful and now fully mature, complex and pure red berry fruit nose that has taken on secondary nuances is trimmed in noticeable oak that continues onto the supple, rich and still fresh middle weight flavors that offer excellent detail and plenty of finishing vibrancy. This is carrying a bit more oak than I personally like but there is no question that this is a quality ’90 that delivers a high quality drinking experience and should continue to do so for another decade, perhaps longer.

agavin: very nice, but at a sufficient level of maturity (bricking) that I’d drink up.

French style beef. Good with the reds.

2005 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs. Burghound 96. The magnificently pure and airy essence of notably ripe dark pinot fruit, cassis and menthol remains reserved and cool with its exceptionally rich, classy, sweet and vibrant mineral-driven and large-scaled flavors that are shaped by powerful if buried tannins. While magnificently long, this stunning Ducster is completely shut down at present and it would be a vinous crime to open one at this very early point in its development as the ’05 is built for the very long haul, indeed 20 years may be too soon. In my view, the ’05 Ducster is destined to take its place alongside the greatest vintages of the past, and while the words “best ever” are presumptuous in a wine with such a distinguished history, the mere fact that it has the potential to be among the very best ever is praise enough.

agavin: we decanted for a while. Even so, while there was tons of fruit, there was so much tannin that it needs AT LEAST another ten years.

Pea greens. Not the pea tendrils, but the older version of the same. With garlic of course.

1994 Vega Sicilia Unico. Parker 96-98. The 1994 Unico is a blend of 80% Tinto Fino, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot (presumably 2% is unknown varieties) that was picked from September 28. It is very intense with notes of raspberry, wild strawberry and mulberry with sensational minerality and vigor. There is a Margaux-like florality to the 1994 that blossom with aeration. The palate is rounded and supple on the entry with great weight and backbone. There is real substance here, similar to the 1996. It expands in the mouth with ravishing notes of blackberry, strawberry, citrus lemon, orange peel and a touch of cedar. There is enormous weight on the finish, a behemoth of a Unico. This is very potent, but it still requires several years in bottle. 96,280 bottles produced. Drink 2019-2040.

agavin: We decanted, very nice.

Dried scallop fried rice. Salty with a lot of umami.

1983 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Parker 90-94. A stunning wine, Pichon-Lalande’s 1983 has been gorgeous to drink for a number of years. It is one of the finest 1983s, especially for a northern Medoc. The color remains a dark ruby/purple, with slight lightening at the edge. The knock-out nose of roasted herbs, sweet, jammy black currants, and pain grille is followed by a full-bodied, gorgeously concentrated and well-proportioned wine with low acidity, plenty of glycerin, and a savory, highly extracted, fleshy mouthfeel. This has always been one of the stars of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: Now-2008.

agavin: in really great shape and lovely

Seafood chow mein. I love these crispy noodles.

The sauce soaks into them and softens them up. Oh so good.

1991 Domaine Bertheau (Pierre et François) Bonnes Mares. Burghound 87. Bricking now though still showing a bit of elegant cherry/berry fruit influence on the nose leading to slightly sweet, somewhat light flavors that offer good complexity but not much density. There is good complexity and overall, this is pretty rather than profound and performs more like a good but not special premier cru rather than a big grand cru like Bonnes Mares. In short, this is perfectly good but frankly a bit disappointing for a wine at this level.

agavin: a third bottle left over from the night before.

Dessert buns. These fluffy buns are shaped like peaches, which have traditional happy symbolism in China. They had a bit of sweet paste inside. Perfectly nice (for Chinese desserts).

Another awesome Chinese feast. A lot of these dishes were stunning, like the pig and all the crab dishes. The private room was great and we had a stunning lineup of (mostly) Burgundy. Only one wine had any serious issues (the 96 Ramonet) and this dinner showed the power of high quality producer Burgundy — particularly in context of a dinner without too many big reds (only really the Unico and older Bordeaux). I feel that Burgundy shows off by far at dinners where it dominates (although it can mix fine with Champy). You can’t easily go back and forth between the big extracted wines and the more subtle Burgundy.

Fu really knows how to celebrate!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Elite, Elite Restaurant, Wine

Day of the Truffles

Nov06

Restaurant: Laurent Quenioux [1, 2, 3]

Location: Near Pasadena

Date: November 4, 2015

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Truffles!

Four and a half years ago Foodie Club co-organizer Erick and I put together one of our more legendary dinners, the Bistro LQ Trufflumpagus. Now it’s time for the return!

Chef Laurent Quenioux grew up in Sologne, France, where he developed a passion for food. As a young boy, Quenioux and his father would hunt duck, partridge, and rabbit. Then, he and his mother would prepare her favorite recipes in the kitchen. Eventually, Quenioux left home to embark on an apprenticeship where he trained in some of Europe’s finest kitchens. Quenioux spent time at Maxim’s, Bistro De Paris and La Ciboulette in Paris, before moving on to Negresco in Nice and LaBonne Auberge in Antibe.

In the early 1980s, Quenioux made a move to the United States with a team from L‘Oasis at La Napoule to open The Regency Club in Los Angeles. In 1985, he introduced the celebrated and award-winning 7th Street Bistro in downtown Los Angeles. In the early 2000s, Quenioux debuted the cozy Bistro K in Pasadena and in 2009, Bistro LQ in Beverly Hills. At Bistro LQ, Quenioux set new standards for cuisine in Southern California with his Farmer’s Market-driven kitchen and an emphasis on value and fun.

Returning to Pasadena, Quenioux continues to delight patrons and critics alike in his role as Executive Chef at Old Pasadena’s celebrated Vertical Wine Bistro.

For this special dinner featuring fresh white truffles the chef hosted us at his house, out on the back patio.

Our epic menu.

Will brought: 1998 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 94-5. Bright gold. Ripe orchard fruits, peach pit, toffee, marzipan and dried flowers on the pungent, smoky nose. Broad and fleshy on entry, then tighter in the mid-palate, offering palate-staining pit fruit nectar, apple pie and brioche flavors, enhanced by a toffeed quality. Closes spicy and very long, with resonating smoke and toasted hazlenut qualities.

agavin: Krug is always great.

From my cellar: 2006 Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. AG 94. Mint, white flowers, pastry and yellow orchard fruit meld together in Krug’s NV Grande Cuvée. This is one of the very best versions of the Grande Cuvée I can remember tasting in recent years. The impression of total silkiness on the palate is classic Krug. Even though this release is exceptional today, I would be tempted to cellar a few wines for the future, as the best Grand Cuvées age effortlessly. This release is based on 2006 and includes wines from 11 vintages going back to 1990.

From my cellar: NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

On the left, Buckwheat truffle blinis, ankimo, caviar de Sologne, wagyu.

On the right, Bone marrow, sopes, hutlacoche, truffles.

Interesting and rich flavors.

Mark brought: 1983 Joseph Drouhin Chevalier-Montrachet. agavin 93. Very nutty and drinking rather lovely for its advanced age. Some reductive notes still.

Mark brought: 1983 Louis Latour Montrachet. BR 95. Golden. Deep and sweet nose with butterscotch and lanolin. The palate is intense without weight. Very nice acidity though lower than some – but that doesn’t seem to have harmed it. Overall a very impressive wine that has depth and still plenty of ripe fruit, but just missing an extra zip for the absolute top prize.

agavin: our bottle was just a touch inferior to the Chevy, but was still in very good shape.

“La ratte” potatoes, melted 24 months Comte cheese, H8 vinaigrette, truffles.

Very yummy, with a rich velvety quality.

Will brought: 1990 Domaine Michel Niellon Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 96. Wonderfully expressive, ripe, forward and complex white fruit and honeysuckle aromas explode from the glass leading to incredibly rich and powerful, massively proportioned flavors of simply incredible depth and awesome length. One of the greatest examples of this vineyard I have ever had and it should be capable of living for a long time to come. A genuinely terrific wine of uncommon breed, class and power.

agavin: great bottle!

Will brought: 1991 Domaine Michel Niellon Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 88. Fully mature aromas of honey and a lovely roasted bread quality lead to fat, rich, slightly heavy flavors of good length if not necessarily the best balance. To be sure, a perfectly good wine that is drinking perfectly now and should probably be drunk over the next 5 years.

agavin: much more mature than the 90, but rounded out in the glass and was still impressive for 91

Maine diver scallops crudo, bottarga, chanterelles, escabeche.

This dish had some unusual flavor notes going on. Perhaps it was the bottarga.

Veal tartar, sun choke chips, pickled onions, truffles brioche, celery leaves.

A really nice integration of all the classic tartar elements. Truffles and pickles, how can that not go with raw meat?

Truffle soup VGE. Rabbit albondigas.

Inside this buttery pot-pie pastry was a traditional kind of soup with “meat balls” made from rabbit. Quite lovely.

Trish brought: 1999 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 96. This is now knocking on the front door of its full maturity with the classic white flower, green apple and limestone aromas all framed by a touches of citrus and spice components as well. The flavor profile combines intense minerality and marvelous detail plus fantastic depth and breadth, all wrapped in a hugely long and powerful finish. This just oozes class and while it could be approached now because of the superb mid-palate fat, for my tastes, I would give this another 2 to 3 years in bottle and then drink over the next 10+. Note that I have upgraded my score as the wine has added notably more depth than I originally envisioned.

agavin: another great great bottle.

From my cellar: 2001 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 93. Big, rich and muscular yet this offers excellent definition with explosive fruit trimmed in obvious anise notes and luxuriant, sappy, dense flavors of uncommon depth and complexity. The finish is rather linear presently yet offers wave after wave of mouthwatering extract, all beautifully framed by more than sufficient buffering acidity. A Bâtard worthy of the name and a great success for the vintage.

agavin: still very fresh and reductive.

Truffle congee, poached hen egg, crispy basil snails Karaage, uni.

Wow! This was an amazing dish. One of the best congee I’ve had. The thing that looks like a bao or burrata was actually a poached egg. The fried snails were amazing too.

Celery root risotto, king crab, truffle air, aged parmesan, uni.

Another wonderful dish. Very harmonious. And that crab was fabulous.

From my cellar: 2000 Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet. VM 93. I tasted a sample of this wine from tank; the real bottling was scheduled for the next day) Bright but reticent aromas of iodine, clove and nutty oak. Fat, round and silky, with superb weight and volume. By far the richest and longest of this set of wines, with the most volume. Very suave and mouthfilling, but with plenty of underlying backbone and power. Very tightly wound but also very long on the aftertaste.

agavin: I was nervous since I had a corked bottle at the Locanda dinner, but this bottle was a stunner. Incredibly powerful.

Trish brought: 2002 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. Burghound 94. The bottle in the tasting displayed definite notes of premature oxidation. I last tasted this in 2011 and that note is: Astonishingly pure fruit aromas of very ripe pear, peach, honeysuckle and lovely green fruit are nicely complemented by a subtle hint of oak spice that merges seamlessly into powerful yet exquisitely delineated, strongly mineral laden flavors of incredible length. This has an amazing depth of sève and it completely stains and coats the palate. This combination of a silky palate impression yet driving intensity makes this an extremely impressive and very classy effort. For my taste this has just arrived on the front end of its peak drinkability and this beauty should be capable of holding at this level for years to come.

agavin: another great white.

Pacific lobster, Malaise, Truffle vichyssoise, nest.

More shellfish goodness.

Santa Barbara prawn, truffle creme brulee, brussels sprouts, xo.

This had interesting autumn notes of spices and such.

Amanda brought: 1991 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Big, rich and explosive, still very primary fruit nose that displays only the barest hints of secondary development followed by big, powerful, classically robust and structured flavors that offer superb depth and exceptionally good length. Still youthful, this should benefit from another 3 to 5 years of cellar time but live for a long time after that. A first-rate effort that will probably always possess a slight tannic edge to the finish yet the power and depth make it easy to overlook this.

agavin: Our bottle was cloudy and funky. Not undrinkable, but not really pleasant either.

Larry H brought: 2005 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. Burghound 94. I was frankly shocked to find that the aromatic profile here was even more elegant and arguably finer than that of the Amoureuses with its bright red and blue pinot fruit, minerals and spice notes, particularly anise that complement to perfection the sleek, taut, brooding and focused flavors that explode on the hugely long and deep finish. This is an impressive wine that has that ‘wow’ factor.

agavin: a young stunner. Really good.

Halibut, truffle granola, hazelnuts, chanterelles, brown butter vinaigrette.

The granola was crazy good. Chewy crunchy and a bit sweet.

Larry H brought: 2000 Château d’Yquem. Parker 90. The millennial 2000 Chateau d’Yquem is a valiant effort in one of the most challenging Sauternes vintages in recent memory. The 2000 is quite deep in color. The nose is crisp and well-defined but not the most complex, as you would expect from a truly challenging growing season in Sauternes. It is pleasant in its own way with delicate scents of tangerine, yellow flowers and Mirabelle. The palate is well-balanced with marmalade tinged opening. I like the acidity here, an Yquem with good race, although it does feel a little tapered toward the finish. Drink now-2025.

agavin: very nice sticky in a good spot.

Corn veloute, apple wood bacon, foie gras, truffle Soubise.

A fabulous foie. That corn veloute really notched it up too.

Pintade hen, crispy truffle potato crust, salsify, quince.

Nice interplay of textures.

From my cellar: 1971 Maison Roche de Bellene Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Collection Bellenum. agavin 87. Weird menthol notes.

Erick brought: 1988 Domaine Georges Mugneret/Mugneret-Gibourg Clos Vougeot. 87 points. Pretty tannic.

Amanda brought: 1995 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux. Burghound 90. Beautiful black fruit aromas laced with Vosne spice leads to medium weight, elegant, sappy and quite dense flavors that offer beautiful complexity and terrific length. What it isn’t at this point is especially complex but the tannins are well-integrated and this should drink well for all its life. I would give it another 10 years and drink over the next 10. Really pretty juice of evident class.

agavin: a great bottle. Powerful, fruity, and delicious.

Liberty duck breast, figs, vinegar jus, truffle confit rutabaga.

Here we have sweetness, and more than a little of those autumn notes. That jam like stuff was “spiced.”

From my cellar: 1989 Domaine Leroy Nuits St. Georges Aux Lavières. 94 points. Absolutely beautiful bottle. Floral scents with violets and roses, a lovely earthy underbrush tone on the nose. Bright red toned fruit, cinnamon and spice with a cherry backbone. Just got better and betterover time. Perfect balance, luscious fruit and a long finish. Plush yet sharp. A terrific effort.

Amanda brought: 1991 Domaine Leroy Pommard Les Vignots. 93 points. tart red cherry, candle wax, sl spice nose; full bodied, red raspberry, red pie cherry flavors, body matches promise of the nose; tannic, oaky in a new world way, finish all about barrels, not fruit; need rich sauce, meat to cover the tannins in the finish.

Veal sweetbreads, porcini, carrot emulsion, truffle.

I’m not a sweetbreads fan, but this was amazing. Rich too.

Amanda picked up these two old Italians in order to replace some we had lost in a “guest shuffle.”

1958 Oddero Barolo. LF 94. This was sauvage and untamed as a Barolo I’ve experienced. This was all black tar, dark cherry/berry fruits and a little horse on the nose with some macerated flowers and rotting forest floor. Lovely deep, sauvage nose. Sauvage Piedmont style though. The palate was big and concentrated. Apparently alot of the fruit that went into this was from Vigna Rionda which would explain the massive palate presence still at forty plus years old. This really opened up and became much more of a complete wine after around an hour. Definetly a bit less finesse than the Fiorina but compelling in a differnt way for itas singular character within the context of Barolo. Fantastic wine that really seemed four or five years away from full maturity.

agavin: this bottle was pretty nice, very Barolo!

1971 Gaja Barbaresco. VM 93. Angelo Gaja’s 1971 Barbaresco, takes a few hours to open up, but when it does it is fabulous. Still deep and quite intense, the 1971 is a testament to how well Nebbiolo can age.

agavin: ours was a bit on the “mature and cloudy” side.

Painted Hills Beef Hanger, vadouvan, eggplant mole, truffles.

Very rare. More autumn spaces too.

Emil brought: 2003 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg. Burghound 93. his too is very aromatically reserved with only glimpses of spicy and exotic perfume that speak of very ripe, even slightly surmature crushed berries, plum and spice because even though the nose is reticent, the intensity of the fruit is magnificent. The flavors are opulent and sumptuously proportioned with massive amounts of sap and dry extract that completely stains and coats the palate before exploding on the hugely long finish. Yes, this is a big, indeed enormous wine but one that never loses its sense of balance and the velvety backend largely buffers the very firm tannins. There is not necessarily great complexity yet but this is the one wine in the range that could easily surprise to the upside as the raw material here is exceptional and while the style is clearly particular relative to what it normally delivers, it has that “wow’ factor.

agavin: we decanted at the start of the dinner. Wow! Very nice massive powerful and complex bottle of Riche.

Erick brought: 1990 Gros Frère et Sœur Richebourg. JG 92. Starts off a bit meaty and sweaty but breathes up beautifully. Almost looks like an aged DRC with all of its hoisin and soy action. It has notes of mushroom and meat. It is full, rich and intense with acidity that is gentle and length that is superb.

agavin: oh Richebourg, how I love thee!

Scottish wild Hare ravioli, chestnut truffle nage, pecorino.

Great texture combos.

Vacherin cheese, truffle honey.

Tiny, but lovely. And the honey was amazing.

Epoisse flambee!

I love epoisse, but I was a bit disappointed by how much the alcohol in the “flambee” dominated the cheese.

From my cellar: 1977 Dow Porto Vintage. 95-100 points. Wonderful dusty cherry, prune/plum, and raisin aromas. Generous on the palate with more fruit and subtle, tawny-like carmel. Long finish.

agavin: a powerhouse. Next one I’m going to give some more years and then decant.

Chocolate Marquise, Thai basil, mango, macaron.

A really nice bit of chocolate with the mango brightening it up.

Tonka Cremeux, butter ice cream, caramel, granola.

And another great use of that granola.

Overall, this was one of those supremely epic dinners. The food was totally over the top, and delicious at that. Lots and lots of truffle. Not every dish was perfect, but many were very very good. Standouts include the congee, the lobster, the sweetbreads (I have a hard time saying it), and the foie.

The wine was particularly great. Almost all the whites were superb and many of the reds stellar like the Dujac, the Leroys, and both Richebourgs. The Krugs and dessert wines were no slouch either.

Certainly worthy of being called epic.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for more Foodie Club reviews.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, epic, Foodie Club, Laurent Quenioux, Pasadena California, Truffles, Wine

Sauvage Spago

Oct28

Restaurant: Spago [1, 2]

Location: 176 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 385-0880

Date: October 23, 2015

Cuisine: American

Rating: Great

Nothing like a Friday afternoon for Grand Cru Burgundy Lunch — and this time at LA classic Spago.

The whole restaurant is lovely, but the private room is the real way to go.

Our special menu.

From my cellar: 2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.

agavin: our bottle was a bit advanced.

1986 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeot”. 94 points. A single vineyard village, almost 30 years old, and stunning! Lots of nutty richness and good acid.

Buttery puffs filled with country ham. Delicious.

Spago staple, sweet sesame cones with ahi tartar.

Bread.

1996 Domaine Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin. Burghound 85. Lightish cherry/pinot fruit without much structure or body. Good finesse but that is about the best that can be said for this.

2000 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 92. Much more forward and evolved than any of the preceding wines as the malo finished almost 3 months before the others. Elegant, rich, extremely ripe with somewhat low acidity that is barely able to buffer the powerful flavors yet the wine is also able to effortlessly carry the elevated alcohol. The wine finishes with a touch of warmth but it is not unduly intrusive. This is a surprising wine in that it’s extremely ripe, lavishly rich with very high alcohol yet somehow it remains beautifully balanced. It’s not clear how well it will age but there is enough tannic structure to require 7 to 10 years to resolve.

agavin: spice, lovely.

1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Bonnes Mares. Burghound 93. This is still quite youthful with ever-so-mildly toasty dark berry fruit, earth, wet stone and underbrush-infused aromas leading to rich, full-bodied, powerful and appealingly intense flavors that are blessed with ample amounts of tannin-buffering dry extract that both coats the palate and confers a sappy texture to the beautifully long and still notably structured finish. This may turn out to be even better than my score suggests because while there is not yet outstanding complexity, the underlying material is present that could very well allow the additional depth to develop.

1999 Frederic Esmonin Chambertin. Burghound 89. A noticeable step up in size and volume though not necessarily in intensity or complexity. Earthy and rich with solid power and length to go with medium weight flavors and relatively fine tannins. While this is certainly not disappointing, I was hoping for more.

Grilled Lobster Tail. Herbed Oat Porridge, Glazed Baby Carrots. A big portion of juicy moist lobster. A very lovely dish.

2002 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Burghound 91-93. Always one of Faiveley’s best wines and the ’02 is no exception with an incredibly complex nose of damp earth, minerals, game and a slightly wild fruit component followed by wonderfully sappy, deep, broad, muscular flavors and knock-out purity of expression. I very much like this and the finish is long and strikingly persistent.

2001 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 91-94. As it should be, this is easily the biggest wine of the entire line up with robust, intense, broad-shouldered, supremely complex, solidly structured flavors introduced by deeply spicy, quite aromatic and expressive aromas and dramatic finishing intensity. An altogether superb effort that delivers knock out quality.

2003 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. Burghound 90-92. Interestingly, this is also quite ripe but not necessarily any more elegant though there is perhaps slightly better depth of material and certainly better overall purity of expression and intensity, especially on the superbly long, firm and punchy backend. While this is not classic in style, there is so much explosive energy and verve that this may very well surprise to the upside with time in bottle.

agavin: best wine of the flight right now.

2002 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin. Burghound 89-91. Noticeable wood spice frames pretty and pure earthy red fruit that highlights the rich, sappy and elegant medium weight flavors that deliver fine length. This is quite elegant yet altogether serious and blessed with plenty of old vine sap and enough structure to suggest that this will benefit from the better part of a decade in bottle.

Cacao Pasta Matlagliatti. Braised Oxtail Ragout, Pecorino Romano.

2002 Domaine Bertagna Clos St. Denis. Burghound 93. Rich, even extravagant and exotic black fruit leads to round, supple, forward and generous flavors with excellent richness and fine detail. The superbly long finish is impressive for its sheer depth and wonderful complexity and as many of the best ’02s reveal, the tannins here are extremely fine. In sum, this is an absolutely stunning wine with serious potential.

2002 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 91. A spicy black fruit nose that remains reserved and completely primary leads to rich, full and solidly concentrated flavors that have better definition than what Girardin usually produces and in particular, this is a good deal less fruit-driven as well. Good juice here and one that should age very well yet be accessible relatively early on.

agavin: drinking great now

2001 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg. Burghound 94. A spicy, elegant and very pure nose is just beginning to display the initial hints of secondary development. There is superb precision to the racy, intense and mineral-driven medium-bodied flavors that exude a focused power on the driving and explosive finish. There isn’t the mid-palate fat or velvety texture of the 2002 but this has its own personality and charm and overall, this has arrived at a place where it could be drunk now with immense pleasure or held for another 5 to 7 years. Note that I have had several bottles that did not show as well as the one described above though most bottles have showed most impressively.

agavin: really great right now, prob best of the flight

1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin. VM 94. Saturated deep ruby; one of the darkest ’96s I saw in November. Multifaceted nose combines black fruits, violet, licorice, espresso, smoke, gibier and sweet butter. The class of the cellar in terms of concentration, sweetness, finesse and length; in fact, today this wine makes Geantet’s ’95 seem almost heavy in comparison. Lovely roundness and clarity of flavor. Really explodes on the palate-staining finish.

Roasted Rack of Lamb. Cauliflower Flan, Wild Mushrooms savory cabbage, Cabernet Savignon Reduction. You can never go wrong with lamb chops. Well you can, but not when they are done correctly like this.

1990 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares. VM 98. Good deep, dark red. Explosively ripe aromas of plum, raspberry, mocha, mint and fresh herbs. Wonderfully fat and voluminous; in fact, this is downright massive for Bonnes-Mares, offering extraordinary palate presence. Finishes with huge, dusty tannins, outstanding breadth and palate-staining length. Unquestionably the most impressive wine of the tasting, but to my palate not the most interesting wine, as the vintage dominates the terroir But this will go on in bottle for many more years.

agavin: Maybe WOTN, or certainly close.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: this bottle was sadly just a little corked, not undrinkably so, but enough to steal away the fruit and ruin the experience.

From my cellar (replacing BM above). 1990 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 93 points. Powerful fruit, great structure. Just the beginnings of secondary flavors. Rich nose of bright fruits with a smoky undertone. Tastes incredibly fresh for a 19 year old. Bright cherries smoothed by tannins. Very nice. Great burgundy from a great vintage.

agavin: a great wine, in the top 3 or so of the day.

Chef’s selection of artisanal cheese. Nice cheeses, although not enough of them for my taste.
Great fruit bread for the cheese.

I needed a macchiato, it was after all only 4pm when we finished.

Sauvages lunches are always great, but this one like the previous Burgundy lunch was particularly fabulous. Spago is one of the few white table cloth restaurants left in town, and it’s been around for a while, but remains fresh and contemporary. It doesn’t embrace the loud new ambiance like Republique or Bestia, but it does knock the food out of the park, while keeping the look up to date and timeless. The food these days is more Japanese inspired, and less of the California whimsy that Puck originally introduced, but it’s equally fabulous.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or check out other Sauvages meals here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Red Burgundy, Sauvages, Spago, Wine

Salt’s Cure

Sep30

Restaurant: Salt’s Cure

Location: 1155 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 850-7258

Date: September 26, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Really tasty

Liz Lee of Sage Society really knows how to organize a dinner. Not only does she find some of the best chefs in town, but the wine is always crazy good.

Liz has long been a fan of Salt’s Cure, and now that they are moving to a new larger space wanted to do an epic dinner in the new location. Well, this is a very “soft” opening with regard to the construction, but the food and service are fully worked out.

This particular dinner was BYOB, and ended up with more than 25 wines for 15 people. All great too!

Our special menu for the night.

NV Champagne Savart Champagne L’accomplie. 91 points. Apricot, peach, wild flowers, honey, spices and mint all meld together in the NV Brut L’Accomplie. Here the style is round, succulent and approachable, with lovely up-front intensity and volume. The current release is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, based on the 2010 vintage with the addition of 45% Réserve wines. This is a very pretty wine, although the limits of the 2010 vintage are impossible to fully overcome.

Mussels with lemongrass.

NV Godmé Père et Fils Champagne Brut Reserve 1er Cru. Burghound 92. A markedly yeasty and impressively complex nose of various dried white fruits, particularly apple and pear, leads to equally complex, bold and robust flavors that are supported by a firm but not aggressive effervescence on the clean, dry and slightly austere finish. This is not an especially elegant Champagne but I very much like the frank character and the Réserve designation in this case is well warranted because it’s clear that there is a substantial percentage of older wine in the blend. Lovely and this could easily be drunk now but there is so much underlying material that this would make a great choice to age for another 5 to even 10 years if you enjoy the flavors of older Champagne. Recommended.

Crabcakes and tartar sauce. Lots of good solid crabby taste.

2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 95. Light, bright orange-pink. Heady mineral- and yeast-accented aromas of dried red berries, blood orange, buttered toast and tea rose. Densely packed and expansive on the palate, offering intense raspberry, cherry compote and floral pastille flavors and a smoky overtone that gains strength with aeration. The mineral quality comes back strong on the silky, focused finish, which goes on and on. An outstanding blend of power and finesse.

Steak tartar on potato crisp. I really liked these.

Chef Chris Phelps on the left, organize Liz Lee on the right (standing).

2009 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 94. The 2009 Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons is remarkably polished and balanced throughout, with plenty of vintage 2009 radiance. Apricot pit, smoke, peach and spice overtones take shape in a striking Champagne. Although quite open and expressive today, the 2009 is also holding back a considerable amount of pure, unbridled power as well as potential. Ripe and racy to the core, yet with no excess weight, the 2009 stands out for its exceptional balance. Dosage was 4.7 grams per liter, a bit higher than normal. Péters told me he thought the drier vintage needed a little bit more sugar.

NV Taittinger Champagne Nocturne Sec. VM 90. Bright yellow. Deeply perfumed aromas of poached pear, melon, nectarine and lemon curd are complemented by suggestions of buttered toast, anise and chamomile. Plush and broad on the palate, offering ripe citrus and pit fruit flavors with a touch of chalky minerality adding cut and lift. A floral quality builds slowly with air and carries through the spicy, sappy, gently sweet finish. I like this Champagne’s balance of fruitiness and vivacity and there’s no way that I’d have guessed that its dosage was so high.

2012 Prager Grüner Veltliner Stockkultur Smaragd Achleiten. Grapefruity, short finish, lots of acid.

Chicken liver pudding with soft pretzels and pickles. A great mix of bread, fatty liver, and bright acidic pickles and onions.

2008 Hanzell Chardonnay. 91 points. Carmel, citrus…nutty finish. Quite elegant. Drink over the next 2 yrs. Didn’t taste like Chardonnay!

Plum, cherry tomato and ricotta with basil vinaigrette. A nice bright salad.

1993 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LD. VM 92. Pale green-gold color. Knockout nose of orange blossom, minerals, apple and hazelnut. Thick, rich and uncompromisingly dry; already showing superb inner-mouth perfume of orange oil, apple, flowers and spices. Brisk but harmonious acids frame the deep flavors perfectly and contribute to the impression of strong structure. Finishes quite powerful and long. “This wine was still totally dumb six months ago,” notes winemaker Terry Leighton, who won’t release a wine until it ready for its close-up. Leighton’s LD bottling is from a north-facing slope, while the LV vines face south.

Chilled tomato soup with grilled cheese. The sandwich was fairly straightforward, but the soup was awesome, lots of vinegar, almost like a gazpacho.

2012 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane. VM 93. Bright yellow. Assertive aromas of nectarine, violet and smoky minerals, with a gingery nuance adding lift. Broad and silky on the palate, offering densely packed orchard and pit fruit flavors that become spicier with air. The mineral note comes back strong on the finish, which lingers with excellent tenacity and building smokiness.

Mackerel Toast with Sauce Gribiche. Tasty, but a real tough wine pairing with all that salt, vinegar, and strong briny tones.

2012 Domaine de Montille Meursault Perrières 1er Cru. Burghound 92. Here too strong sulfur and reduction render the nose impossible to assess. As one would reasonably expect this is intensely mineral-driven with an excellent sense of energy and tension to the saline-inflected flavors that display only moderate depth on the otherwise wonderfully long and well-balanced finish. My range offers the benefit of the doubt that more depth will develop with age.

agavin: Friend and dinner companion MZ owns a chunk of this estate and this was the first vintage from his collection! Very bright and delicious.

2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 93. More noticeable wood spice than in the prior wine combines with wonderfully pure green fruit and white pear aromas underscored by intensely stony notes, leading to ripe, chiseled, vibrant, wonderfully precise flavors that offer excellent definition. This really coats the palate and the finish lingers for several minutes. I like the punch here yet the intensity is delivered in an ultra refined, classy and pure style.

Yellowtail with succotash. I’m not used to having yellowtail fully cooked, but it was a nice flaky fish in this format.

2001 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Fourneaux. Burghound 89. Much finer and purer than the Suchot with detailed, precise, very earthy fruit and a subtle touch of finishing minerality. There is virtually no rusticity and while this is firmly structured, the tannins are almost completely buffered by an impressive sappiness that coats the palate.

1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin. VM 89. Full medium red. Floral, sappy aromas of red fruits, nuts and game. Tangy red fruit flavors are kept bright by healthy ripe acidity. Finishes with very good length and grip. An unusually strong showing for this cuvee.

2002 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. Burghound 93. Strong oak spice presently dominates the nose with round, sweet, rich and impressively complex flavors that deliver stunning length. This is quite a powerful wine yet there is almost no rusticity and I very much like the obviously high quality material. As with several wines in the range, my score awards the benefit of the doubt regarding the oak.

Roasted Chicken with Herbed Gravy. Chicken and mashers!

1998 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle. Very bright, like cherry juice.

1999 Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forêts St. Georges. Burghound 92. More serious than the ’99 Clos de l’Arlot though not quite as ripe with color that is almost black as is the fruit with crushed herbs and intense minerality, succulent flavors and excellent pinot character. There are sizeable tannins that are completely wrapped in velvety fruit and this displays a slightly sweet finish. This is really very fine and fresh and while this is not a truly dense wine, it has filled out better on the mid-palate than I originally predicted. It will also need a bit more time as well to really arrive at its prime drinking window. Consistent notes.

1991 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie. VM 93. Dark red color. Classic aromas of black raspberry, smoked meat and bacon fat. Dense, spicy and sweet on the palate, with sappy inner mouth perfume. Kept firm and fresh by pepper and mineral components. Finishes long and subtle, with dusty, even tannins. A beauty.

Chorizo with sweet onion puree and peppers. Tasty sausage, although with some heat.

2002 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 95. A heavily toasted nose with spice, wood and tar nuances frames ripe but fresh black pinot fruit and cassis aromas that also display an extraordinary panoply of secondary nuances, including earth, underbrush, leather, soy and spice. The powerful, rich and utterly delicious big-bodied and very concentrated flavors coat and stain the palate and completely buffer the now softening tannic spine on the superbly long finish. In short, this is flat out incredible juice and while it’s clearly quite oaky, the wood somehow works quite well with the wine even though it’s far from invisible. As to drinkability, I would probably opt to hold the ’02 Charmes for a few more years but it could easily be drunk now with pleasure.

2001 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux. Burghound 91. This closely resembles the style of the Beaux Monts with its lighter ruby color and ultra elegant pinot spice aromas followed by medium weight, pure, complex, quite refined flavors and a creamy, slightly toasty finish. Relatively light by the standards of many vintages of this wine but it is so elegant that is it hard to fault.

2002 Mommessin Richebourg.

Duroc Pork Chop. Sides Farro Bowl, Mashed Potatoes, & Wood Roasted Seasonal Vegetable.

Louis Jadot Latricières-Chambertin. I can’t remember the vintage.

From my cellar: 1991 Camille Giroud Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 93 points. Very rich with strong vosne spice.

1996 Domaine Leroy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots. VM 94. Excellent deep ruby-red color. Subdued but vibrant aromas of cassis, blackberry and violet. Superb sweetness and flavor intensity; penetrating flavor of spicy blackberry. Lovely acidity gives the wine juiciness and great cut. Very persistent and fine on the finish. Has fruit of steel. Great Nuits-Saint-Georges premier cru.

Duck, Oatmeal Griddle Cakes & Fruit Compote. This was a pretty awesome duck. Basically duck and pancakes, like a non-fried version of chicken and waffles?

Mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Grapefruit pie, date brownie. The brownie was much like a sticky toffee pudding.

Overall this was a really great night. A warm one too in this rough and half finished space. But for all the walls being unpainted, the staff both in the room and in the kitchen did a great job. The food was really solid. Excellent execution and slight variants on fairly classic ingredients and dishes — this isn’t radical food — but just very well done with a lot of flavor. We had A LOT of it too. Boy were we full.

The wines, and we had more than a few of them, were pretty spectacular. Perhaps a few too many great red Burgs pilled up on the last 2-3 courses, but one yummy bottle after another. We even managed our best at pairing with some difficult pairings (picked mackerel!), mostly because Liz is a master of pairing and brought some good ringers.

All around great times.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Chris Phelps, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Salt's Cure, Wine

Nanbankan – Stick with It

Aug28

Restaurant: Nanbankan

Location: 11330 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 478-1591

Date: August 25, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese Yakitori

Rating: Flaming good!

It’s been awhile since the last official Foodie Club dinner. We like to go to wine friendly places — particularly Burgundy friendly places, and Nanbankan certainly fit the bill.

Japanese. Grilled seafood. Grilled meats. Not a lot of “complicated flavors” just high quality ingredients.

Crudités. Everyone gets their own, with miso sauce.

2012 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir. VM 89-92. Burghound 89-92. This is almost always the best villages wine in Roulot’s range and so it is again in 2012. While strong reduction and sulfur mark the nose, the vibrant, intense and concentrated medium weight flavors are quite fresh where a lovely touch of minerality adds lift to the beautifully balanced, complex and lingering finish. This really coats the mouth with dry extract which buffers the moderately firm and well-integrated acid spine. Good stuff and this should be approachable young yet age beautifully well too.

agavin: Young but very nice acidity and vanilla.

Beef tongue. Nice and chewy, great with lemon.

Shrimp and vegetable tempura. Always a winner.

2005 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 94. This is a mild step up in overall class and elegance with a gorgeously perfumed white flower fruit nose introducing linear, precise, intense and powerful medium full flavors that remain splendidly focused on the stunningly long finish that drenches the palate in dry extract. This is a striking 1er and one to buy as it easily delivers grand cru quality.

agavin: The Rav is always a winner. Really nice and full bodied. Hardly like a Chablis.

Clam.

Tiger prawns. Shrimy goodness.

From my cellar: 2004 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90-93. A reserved, indeed backward spicy green apple and white pear nose complements delineated but very rich flavors that display moderate wood on the big and weighty if not necessarily super dense finish that packs a serious punch and intensity. The length here is really impressive and the balance is such that this should age for 15 to possibly 20 years.

agavin: reductive, powerful, and oh so yummy!

Ginko nuts. Like wax jellybeans.

Scallops. yum.

2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri. VM 93. Deep yellow-gold. Ripe pit and exotic fruits on the nose, with complicating notes of honey, sweet butter and green almond. Becomes more floral with air, picking up suggestions of jasmine and chamomile. Lush but focused, with a spine of acidity adding structure and carrying through a very long, sappy and gently sweet finish. Krankl said that he’d serve this with a rich shellfish dish.

agavin: a giant brooding Rhone-like monster, but great with the crab.

Fried softshell crab. Awesome. A really nice tempura crab and a great pairing with the SQN.

Abalone. Nice and tender (for abalone).

Squid. Tasted very Japanese. I love the rubbery texture and flavor.

2003 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne. VM93+. Red-ruby. Deeply fruity aromas of blackberry, raspberry, violet and bitter chocolate. Wonderfully precise and penetrating, with uncanny definition and detail for a 2003. The black fruit and violet flavors are lifted by a minty, medicinal element on the back end. Impressively concentrated, vibrant wine, finishing with noble tannins and outstanding persistence.

agavin: great medium young Burg.

Sirloin tataki. Will thought too much onion, but I liked it. Very bright flavors.

Pork belly. Yes sir, we ordered another round. Lemon cut the fat. Yeah, it really did.

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas. 94 points. Wonderfully open red currants scent. Sings with candied gooseberries on the palate. Multidimensional and unmistakeably Vosne. Graceful!

agavin: Awesome. A little funky at first, blew off quickly and had that “old but not too old” thing. Real yummy.

Chicken thigh with scallions. Good stuff.

Chicken neck. Sounds gross but was awesome. A bit of crunchy chew.

Chicken wings. Voted best dish of the night.

1989 La Fleur de Gay. Parker 95. Possibly the finest Fleur de Gay made, this rich, very large-scaled, tannic wine has a compelling nose of cassis, licorice, white flowers, minerals, and other sorts of black fruits along with some subtle new oak. Full-bodied, with great delineation, purity, and dazzling concentration and intensity, this is a fabulous example of a Fleur de Gay and a wine that seems capable of lasting at least another two decades.

agavin: A very nice fully mature (but not even slightly old) Bord.

Wagyu steak. Great with Bordeaux.

Shimeji oyster mushrooms. Helps push things on through.

1959 Château Margaux. 97 points. Sweet red cherry, violets, spicecake, cedar, and rose petals on the nose. Raspberry and tart red cherries are notable on the palate. An overall smooth palate help back somewhat by a medium length finish that falls off sooner than desired.

agavin: pretty stunning for 56 years old!

Black cod. Very tender.

Chicken meat balls. This is a Japanese classic and I happen to love them.

Raw quail egg. Plus the meat balls are even better when dipped hot in raw quail egg to coat them with eggy goodness.

Shitake Mushrooms. More fibre.

1994 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 96-98. The great glories of this house are its Cote Roties, of which there are now five separate offerings. The single-vineyard 1994s were singing loudly when I saw them in July. All of them scored significantly higher than they did during the two previous years, which is not unusual as Guigal’s upbringing (elevage) of the wines results in better examples in the bottle than in cask. All three wines flirt with a perfect score. At this tasting, they reminded me of Guigal’s 1982s – opulent, sumptuously-textured, forward, rich, precocious, flattering wines that will drink well throughout their lives. The exotic 1994 Cote Rotie La Turque exhibits a dense purple color, and a fabulously-scented nose of licorice, Asian spices, truffles, minerals, and gobs of black fruits. Full-bodied, with great richness, a multi-layered personality, and an exotic, overripe character, this is a sensational, chocolatey, rich wine with more tannin than La Mouline. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2020. Guigal is one of the cellars where the wines always taste better after they are bottled than they do from cask, although as the scores in this segment indicate, some profound wines can be found in the 1994, 1995, and 1996 vintages Chez Guigal.

agavin: Awesome! Syrah at its finest.

Lamb chops with garlic. We ordered 2 full sets of these. Amazing with the Lala.

Duck breast. Nice and a little smokey. Mustard and yuzu chili were awesome as a condiment.

Pork sausage. Like the BEST hot dog and mustard you ever had. One of my favorites.

NV J.W. Morris Founders Port. 93 points. Probably from the 70s, but mature and super tasty. Fruity and well balanced.

Strawberry and green tea mochi. The strawberry was awesome.

Overall, this was a fabulous dinner. Everything was great, but really the company was the #1 selling point. Very good group. After that, the food was very nice. A change from some of our usual fare and very wine flexible. The wines were fabulous. Not a single “off” wine.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or hear for more Foodie Club craziness.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Nanbankan, Yakitori

Katana – Stripping it all Down

Aug07

Restaurant: Katana

Location: 8439 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (323) 650-8585

Date: July 30, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese American Sushi / Robata

Rating: Best I’ve had here

I’ve long had mixed feelings about both Katana and IDG (Innovative Dining Group). They bug me a bit for being style over substance, and there is absolutely nothing innovative about them in the food department. But that being said they often run a fairly tight ship. BOA is a pretty solid modern steakhouse.

Back to Katana, which lurks right over the heart of the Sunset Strip. The crowd is different than it was when I was last here in 98 or 99 — then it was super hip and trendy. Now it’s still very busy, but feels more like a strong concierge referral business.

The patio gets hopping later.

Inside is the sushi / robata bar. Katana is a “Japanese” restaurant like I’ve never seen in Japan and it fuses a couple different culinary traditions. The sushi side inherits from Nobu / Matsuhisa (more Nobu) and then there is robata thrown in too boot. Oh, plus a ton of those creepy American mega rolls (like Spider Roll) that I don’t like: too much sauce and fry.

Tonight, however, we were there with a super regular who is friendly with the chef and so he made a lot of off menu stuff — and no silly rolls.

Our first wave of sashimi-like apps. This general category of heavily produced sashami is non-traditional, and deemphasizes the fish, but it is really tasty.

2006 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage Brut Rosé. VM 91+. Dried rose petals, anise, sweet red cherries and mint waft from the glass in the 2006 Brut Rosé Grand Vintage. The 2006 is a big, large-scaled Rosé built on depth and structure. The flavors show early signs of development, but the 2006 should continue to drink well for many years based on its stuffing. Today the Rosé is a bit tight. I won’t be surprised to see it improve over the next few years. In 2006, the Grand Vintage Rosé is 47% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier, with a high percentage of still Pinot Noir (23%) that gives the wine much of its pure vinosity. Dosage is 5 grams per liter.

agavin: these two roses were a gift from a Moet rep and were much appreciated.

Albacore or similar tuna with ponzu, parmesan, avocado, and arugula. An odd blend of Italian salad and sashimi, this did taste great.

NV Ruinart Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Light orange. Red berries, potpourri, toasty lees and orange peel on the highly fragrant nose. Lively and precise, with very good focus to its wild red berry and floral pastille flavors. The orange note comes back strong on the long, penetrating finish, which features a sweet raspberry quality.

Lobster, reduction, yuzu sauce, truffles. Again pretty over the top, but yummy.

2002 Paul Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean. 90 points.

Salmon, truffle, and tomato in a ponzu. Drawing these together are the vinegary sauces. These were “invented” (more adapted from Purvuian sauces) by Nobu Matsuhisa to make sashimi “easier” on the western palette.

2001 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. Burghound 92. Ripe and extremely opulent intense citrus fruit and white flowers coupled with medium weight flavors dripping with minerality and enough fat to buffer the bracing acidity. There is a subtle underlying complexity and this is remarkably intense, assertive and precise yet there is excellent power and depth as well.

Scallop with yuzu and dressing. Delicious. Hard to go too wrong with scallop and vinegar.

2004 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 93. Noticeable reduction and very subtle wood influence highlights the strikingly elegant and airy white flower, grapefruit and anise-infused nose that precedes the intense, powerful and superbly well-detailed medium full flavors that explode like a bomb on the mouth coating finish. There is a bit more wood on the finish but there is so much material here that it will almost certainly absorb it over time. This is a steamroller of a wine yet one that maintains perfect balance and grace though I would strongly suggest decanting it for 20 minutes first because of the reduction.

agavin: a little bit of that 04 green on the finish.

Tai snapper with baby peach and flowers and dressing. This one was most novel, featuring the baby peach. It was really quiet lovely.

From my cellar: 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused, round, intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now and I wouldn’t hesitate to open one anytime as there is no further upside to be had. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

Yellowtail with garlic and something else. Very tasty too, if rich.

2001 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Gruenchers Vieille Vigne. Burghound 88-91. A major step up as this retains the elegance and precision of the Chambolle villages and adds more depth, weight and complexity plus more length. This is first rate and offers excellent potential for 5 to 8 years of improvement.

Now we segue drastically heavier in an out of order filet mignon with mashed potatoes, foie gras, and truffles. Not that it wasn’t very tasty, but it was hefty!

From my cellar: 1970 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée. 93 points. Very much alive and drinking quite beautifully. A veritable chameleon in the glass, the aromas kept changing every time I brought the glass to my nose. First sour cherries, then papaya, then raspberries, then red clay, then lemon rind, then caramel — it was intoxicating. The palate, on the other hand, was a bit simple and one-dimensional, but I thought the nose more than made up for it. A lovely wine!

Beef rolled around foie. I guess it can get even heavier. Tasty too, but super rich.

1998 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays. Burghound 91. This has always had a wonderful nose and it has now reached the front edge of full maturity that complements well a flavor profile is a classy middleweight fighter’s grace and athleticism rather than a heavyweight’s power. The once relatively firm tannins have largely, if not completely, resolved to create a velvety and mouth coating texture that further delivers excellent length. There is a hint of acidity poking through on the finish but overall, this is indisputably an unqualified success for the vintage. Tasted multiple times with consistent notes.

Chicken liver skewers. Good for those with iron deficiency.

Sushi. Tuna, Yellowtail, red snapper, and salmon. These are the usual suspects of the nigiri world. They were nice pieces, but on the “been there done that” side.

Uni, battleship style. I never complain about good uni.

Toro. O-toro from the look of it. This wasn’t like Yamakase toro or anything, but I certainly wasn’t going to send it back.

Chicken cartilage skewers. Good flavor. Terrible cartilage texture.

Lamb chops. Oddball at a Japanese restaurant, but very nice.

Lobster tempura in ponzu sauce. Total guilty pleasure. This sauce was more like a sweet and spicy eggroll sauce. The lobster was so fried you would have never known there was anything in there. Despite that, it was amazing in a totally decadent fried way.

Snapper, and truffle, wrapped around foie gras with shiso. Such an odd combo, but delicious (if, like much of the meal, was very rich).

Turley Zinfandel. Don’t know which one. Well, it was a zin.

A dessert plate with flourless chocolate tart, a kind of cheesecake, and (way too little) ice cream.

2009 Heinrich Mayr (Nusserhof) Lagrein Alto Adige – Südtirol Riserva. VM 94. The 2009 Lagrein Riserva wraps around the palate with layers of super-expressive, radiant fruit. Sweet red berries, tobacco, crushed flowers, mint and anise are some of the many notes that are woven together in the glass. Extended time in barrel has added considerable textural richness. The 2009 needs quite a bit of time to open up, but it is fabulous. The silky tannins and overall depth of the fruit cover some of the wilder notes typical of Lagrein, but there is plenty of varietal expression. This is another striking, reference-point wine from Heinrich Mayr.

agavin: never heard of this — at all — but it was a great food wine.

A coffee chocolate mousse. My favorite.

Overall, a really fun evening. Service was fabulous and I enjoyed the food. It is, as mentioned above, an odd hybrid of different Japanese types and other more American influences. It emphasizes super rich ingredients and sauces in a way that really isn’t fundamentally Japanese. All the while failing to strike out on it’s own with any kind of real vision. This comes off more like an amped up “crowd pleaser” style, thus striking an odd note with my purist side. Still, it is a crowd pleaser — and plenty tasty.

For more LA Japanese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Katana, Robatayaki, Sushi, Wine

Saint Martha Modern

Jun07

Restaurant: Saint Martha

Location: 740 Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 387-2300

Date: May 29, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Really savory

I’ve been wanting to try Saint Martha since it opened, having heard really good things about it.

The tiny frontage in a random Koreatown minimall.

There is a little chef’s counter and behind the camera the small table space.

The menu.

2002 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d’Or. VM 92. Vivid yellow-gold. Ripe orchard and pit fruits complicated by flowers, smoke and spices on the nose and palate. Broad and fleshy but lively as well, with gentle acidity adding back-end lift and cut. Spreads out very nicely on the leesy finish, which hangs on with strong toasty persistence. This hefty Champagne could handle the richest foods.

Fried mussel with saffron. A deconstructed fried moulles.

Hamachi nuoc cham, tiny green things and crispy rice cracker. Small but delicious with bright flavors.

Juniper cured salmon with smoked goat cheese, pickle and everything bagel churro. Really yummy take on salmon.

Uni “tataki” with avocado mousse, serrano, hearts of palm and seaweed doritos. Delicious briny bite.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. VM 90. Complex, precise aromas of apricot, mirabelle , honey and smoke. Silky, fat and full if quite dry; considerably richer than the young 2003, with sound framing acidity. Finishes very long, with a subtle whiplash of flavor. This has filled in quite nicely since I tasted it from barrel last spring.

agavin: needed a little time to open, and a touch of reductive funk. Delicious, but not as good as the previous bottle I opened.

Chicken liver mousse with mushroom, hazelnut praline, pickled blueberries and toast. Tasted like holiday dinner chicken liver mixed with Nutella! Rich and delicious.

The toast for the liver.

Octopus with koshihikari rice, sauce nero, lardo and espelette. Really nice light octopus bite.

Crab and sake cream “okonomiyaki”. I used to get these all the time in Japan. This was definitely taken up a notch.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots. Burghound 92. There is a hint of exotic fruit to the expressive nose of dried apricot, white peach and pineapple hints. There is outstanding size, weight and muscle to the overtly powerful middle weight plus flavors that possess a lemon character on the lightly mineral-infused finish that delivers terrific complexity. As is typical for this wine, it’s no model of finesse but it certainly delivers excellent depth and plenty of development potential.

agavin: Fresh and highly reductive, this was drinking great. It might close down soon, but was certainly highly enjoyable young great white Burg.

Beets with avocado, curry-almond streusel and coriander. Sweet, almost like a beet dessert. Really good though with a great interplay of textures. The beet was sorbet like constancy and texture.

Mixed baby carrots with coconut, tamarind sriracha and puffed amaranth. A bit of a kick. Delicious combo and cold smoothness of the coconut (ice cream?).

From my cellar: 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. Burghound 91. A discreet touch of pain grillé and reduction frames fresh and exotic aromas of peach, melon and mango that continue onto the round, rich and concentrated flavors that possess real texture due to the solid dry extract on the mouth coating and solidly long finish. This is notably better than it usually is.

agavin: A little advanced, as there were oxidative notes, but drinking great right now.

Chicken skin granola with spiced date jam, sunchoke, parsnip milk and frozen foie gras.

He adds the parsnip milk.

Then shaves foie on! The whole thing tasted like granola cereal. It was weird how much it did.

Japanese sweet potato tempura with lime cream, chili and crushed peanuts. Great little bit of sweet fry.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: like delicious cherry soda.

Yellowtail collar. Super super and flavorful.

Brassicas with brewer’s yeast broth, mushroom and egg.

Bread to dip in it. This wasn’t the easiest dish to split!

Scallop steamed in smoked kombu with braised kohlrabi, enoki and brown butter dashi. Yum!

Whole Thai snapper that was cooked with all these aromatic leaves.

The chef brought of the fish to show us.

Thai snapper with black puddling broth. This was a delicious fish. Smoky and full of flavor and the broth was amazing. I even loved the blood sausage.

1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. agavin 91. A little leaner than the 93 above, but still lots of bright cherry action going on.

Pecan wood smoked brisket with lettuce, carrot, daikon and chili-hoisin. Soft, fatty and A LOT of flavor.

Fried chicken thigh with snails, acorn spaetzle and parsley garlic sauce. Super tender chicken.

Braised pork belly with eggplant parmesan, grits, rapini and manchamantel. Decadent!

From my cellar: 1990 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Betsek. 93 points. Like mostly sweet raison juice. A very enjoyable oxidative quality too, like a sweeter mid sweet sherry.

Passion fruit. This was an amazing dessert. Interesting texture and temperature plays too.

Strawberry. More great texture plays. This tasted great too, like some soft strawberry cobbler.

PB&J. A sort of take on the classic with peanut butter and strawberry inc cream, brioche, and chocolate crackles.

Shortbread cookies. Really nice ones out of some odd grain.

Overall I was super impressed with Saint Martha. This is some really inventive cooking. Every dish worked to some degree and 80% of them were fabulous. Great textural playfulness, and bright bright flavors with a good amount of subtle Vietnamese influence too. But very modern American. Nick Erven is an extremely talented chef. Service was first rate too and it had a fun and lively vibe.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Nick Erven, Saint Martha, Wine

Homestyle Korean Double Dinner

May15

Restaurant: Seong Buk Dong

Location: 3303 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 738-8977

Date: May 7, 2015

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Super flavors

My friend Liz Lee of Sage Society wanted to take a bunch of us out to her favorite homestyle Korean restaurant, but they don’t allow alcohol, so we decided to do a “double dinner” with a part 1 at Republique (including wine) and a part 2 at Seong Buk Dong.

We sat near the Republique bar, early in the evening.

I just had to show off their Normandy butter.

Tonight’s menu.

Liz, being Liz, whipped out a bottle of P2! (Dom Perignon’s high end cuvee). Check out the fancy box.

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P2. VM 95. Pale gold. Intense, mineral-tinged citrus and orchard fruit aromas, with a suave jasmine nuance adding complexity. Smoky and penetrating on the palate, offering vibrant orange, anise and toasted brioche flavors and a touch of poached pear. Shows outstanding clarity and power on the mineral-driven finish, which clings with remarkable tenacity and resonating florality. This late-release bottling was formerly called Oenotheque; P2 stands for Plenitude Two.

agavin: Fresh, bright, and delicious. Got better and better in the glass.

Oysters, 3 types.

Bread and normandy butter.

2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 97. Very pale color. Extraordinary nose reminded me of a great riesling from schist soil: pineapple, wet stone, iodine, spring flowers, even a hint of petrol. Compellingly rich and ripe but extremely dry, with great breadth and depth of flavor. Coats the palate with liquid stone. Builds slowly and goes on and on; all minerals and white flowers today, not yet fruity at all. A wine of great precision and suavity, but with its richness and sweetness it comes across as less sharp than the Forest. I couldn’t get this wine out of my head on my drive to Paris the next day and on the flight home: is that long, or what?

agavin: fine, but not as good as the 2002

Tempura. Green beans, zucchini flowers, sweet onions, fresno chilies, basil aioli. Some great tempura, amplified by the pesto-like aioli. The zucchini and chilies were particularly good.

2002 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 96+. Very ripe but unforthcoming aromas of wet stone, honey and oatmeal. Extremely primary on the palate, with bracing grapefruit and mineral flavors and superb vibrancy. This offers great sweetness and breadth without any impression of weight. Finishes with explosive citrus and mineral flavors and great finesse. Wonderfully refreshing wine that’s the perfect antidote to dry mouth. Like the young 2003, the finish of this wine seems to come in waves.

agavin: awesome depth and complexity.

Crispy Soft Shell Crab. Just pure fried crab — awesome!

From my cellar: 1995 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 92 points agavin. Fresh, young, still some reduction. Meursault richness, very nice.

Charcoal grilled Atlantic Calamari and razor clams. Very fresh.

Chips and Dip. Crispy pork rinds…

Ora king salmon crudo, cucumber, yogurt. Really good stuff. I particularly liked the dill.

1991 Domaine Groffier Bonnes Mares. agavin 90. No nose, but a nice palette.

Grass-fed beef tartare. tarragon aioli, pickled red onion, potato chips.

1996 Domaine Leroy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots. VM 92-94. Excellent deep ruby-red color. Subdued but vibrant aromas of cassis, blackberry and violet. Superb sweetness and flavor intensity; penetrating flavor of spicy blackberry. Lovely acidity gives the wine juiciness and great cut. Very persistent and fine on the finish. Has fruit of steel. Great Nuits-Saint-Georges premier cru.

agavin: Really nice with a sexy nose and that classic Leroy style. Lots of depth.

Charcuterie. All sorts of amazing pates. Pickled vegetables. Spiced persimmons which were to die for, cured duck, and salami.

Duck Liver mousse — amazing and some other kind of potted meat.

Duck filled agnolotti in brown butter sauce. Amazing pasta. Rich too, no surprise.

The wine lineup.

We ubered over to K-Town to visit this slice of Korea.

Looks the part inside.

The menu.

Barley tea.

Banchan.

Delicious Kimchi.

Pickled spiced green.

Pickled spiced green.

Egg custard with greens.

Chewy sweet beans.

Marinated bean sprouts.

Seaweed.

White rice, necessary to sop up the spicy sauce.

Godeungeo Jorim. Braised Mackerel in a spicy soy sauce mixture with white radish and kimchi. Amazing sauce and very tender fish. I particularly loved the daikon radish.

Galbi Jjim. Braised Beef Short Ribs. trimmed of (some) fat, seasoned in a sweet soy sauce & braised until tender. So tender, this was some of the best “beef stew” I’ve ever had.

Jaeyuk Bokum / Kimchi Bokum. A stir fry of sour kimchi, fatty pork, & green onion. Amazing dish. The pork was full of flavor and the kimchi sauce was awesome and balanced. This is actually relatively similar to the twice cooked pork we had the previous night at Lucky Noodle King, but about 10x better.

Samgyre Tang. Ginseng Chicken Soup. Tender whole young chicken stuffed w/ ginseng, jujubes, sweet rice and whole garlic cloves & simmered until tender. Homestyle Korean chicken soup, which is much like any chicken soup. A bit mild for my taste, but certainly very tender.

Jogi Gui. Grilled yellow croaker. Classic grilled fish.

Haemul Pajeon. Seafood and green onion pancake. Tender young green onion steams folded into a flour batter with squid, clam meat, and oysters. Pan fried.

The all important pancake sauce.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Burgundy, Dom Pérignon (wine), Kimchee, Mackerel, pork, République, Sage Society, Seong Buk Dong, Wine

Babykiller Birthday

May06

Like many of us, my friend Matthew likes to celebrate his birthday with Burgundy. In this case, a free-for-all house party with lots of it. NOTE: this group doesn’t have real name, but I call them the Babykillers because they’re mostly younger than me, and because of a tendency to open great wines young (like 2010 DRC!). But hey, after who knows how long in the decanter those young DRCs were pretty awesome.

The birthday boy.

It should be noted that this dinner, like many Babykiller birthdays before it, has an unusual format. Food is casual, and all the when is just popped and self serve with small pours. There are 1.5-2 bottles per person, so there is no huge rush. Even the 1990 Dujac took 2 hours to be finished.

1988 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 95 points. howed beautifully, but not as well as the last bottle. The wine is light golden honey coloured, with fine mousse and effervescence that’s still alive, although fading. Notes of toasted brioche, hazelnuts and dried fruit on the nose. On the palate the wine is smooth, rich and long, with good, muted fruit and great balance and decent effervescence. Drinking at its peak now.

1999 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 95. The 1999 Salon, tasted from magnum, is the first wine in which fresh, primary fruit flavors are replaced by more mature notes. Lemon oil, light honey and chamomile flesh out in a radiant, expressive Champagne loaded with class. Here it is the wine’s texture and breadth that impress above all else. The 1999 is a fabulous transition to the older wines in this tasting, as it is both youthful and complex.

From my cellar: 1995 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 93 points. Quite refined nose and palate with subtle nose of flowers, green fruit and brioche. Fresh and not even slightly premoxed.

1996 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. Burghound 91. Exquisite nose of hazelnut and ripe melon with flavors that are not particularly dense but very fine, tight and beautifully detailed with plenty of minerality and outstanding acid/fruit balance. Even though this is young vine fruit, it shows excellent intensity on the long finish.

1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Auxey-Duresses Les Clous. 94 points. This seems to be a mix between the roundness of a Meursault (buttery flavor, texture on the palate) and the minerality of a Puligny (fresh, citrusy scents, length on palate). This one is a knockout, that clearly rivals the grands crus, let it be Chevalier/Batard and the likes. But for a fraction of the price. A knock-out effort by Mme Bize!

2002 Bouchard Aîné et Fils Montrachet. 95 points. A real stunner. We decanted and it had a knockout power.

2004 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet. 93 points. The aromas are softer and lighter than the ’05, with some slight green notes. Soft palate entry, with a creamy, chunky texture, without quite the complexity of the ’05. Still very rich, offering nice lemon notes coupled with some good minerality. Nice blossoming finish, which really opens up beautifully, and surprisingly considering the palate. Lovely puckering notes linger, but they are particularly graceful. Nice tartness. Really wonderful on the finish.

Lucky to be having more Amiot Monty!

Various cheeses. I always forget how great a pairing cheese and White Burgundy is.

Antipasta.

Caprese.

Panna.

Arugula salad.

2001 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle. Burghound 92. Riper red fruit nose and with excellent finesse and purity of expression as the intense, understated, precise and detailed flavors display outstanding length. I very much like this as it’s harmonious, subtle and dazzlingly pretty.

2010 Finca Allende Rioja Martires. 91 points. Holy oak, vanilla, alcohol batman. Served blind. Thought it was high octane california chardonnay. Yowsers. No me gusta.

From my cellar: 1997 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. 94 points. Drinking great. Very RSV, round and expressive. Hedonistic.

1997 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. VM 93. Deep red-ruby. Precise, floral aromas of red fruits, flowers and minerals; less superripe and perhaps more vineyard-specific than the Boudots. High-pitched, fine and light on its feet. Really impressively delineated and lively. Fruity but with firm underlying backbone. Firmly tannic, pure aftertaste.

1990 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux. Burghound 91. A beautiful and fully mature nose of dark berry fruit, spice and earth with just the initial hints of sous bois leads to round, rich, powerful and still moderately structured medium full flavors underpinned by still firm but softening tannins and excellent length. This is still quite well balanced and displays none of the “fruit/tannin” separation that so many ’90s do today and as such, the ’90 Ech should drink well over the next 20+ years.

agavin 96: a knock out and clear WOTN.

1986 Michel Bonnefond Ruchottes-Chambertin. 88 points. Short.

2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant. VM 95. The 2006 Romanée-St. Vivant is backed up by firm veins of mouthwatering salinity and acidity. The characteristic Romanée-St. Vivant perfumed bouquet is very much in evidence, while there is a sense of energy and pure drive that distinguishes it from the Échézeaux. The RSV can be drunk today, but knowing how these wines age, patience will be rewarded as 2006 still isn’t showing all of its cards.

2010 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux. Burghound 94. Exuberant and ripe spicy purple fruit also exhibits distinct floral and warm earth nuances that go on to suffuse the rich and finely detailed medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent underlying tension before terminating in a focused, intense and gorgeously long finish. This is pure silk and lace but the really impressive aspect of this wine is just how much depth it has. A sublime knockout, particularly by the usual standards of this wine.

2006 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 94. Despite being harvested first, this is clearly the ripest wine in the range where the wonderfully dense fruit is highlighted by a background touch of wood that continues onto the refined, pure and concentrated flavors that are supported by dense but fine tannins and flat out terrific length. This is a lovely wine in every respect and while not exactly understated, everything does seem to be in perfect proportion.

agavin: tighter than a witches tit!

Spaghetti with seafood.

Spaghetti al carbonara.

Baked ziti. I haven’t seen that in a while!

My plate.

195x R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. Can’t read the year, but it was good. Very dirty, in that good Rioja way.

1960 Fonseca Porto Vintage. 91 points.

Beard Papa cream puffs, both chocolate and vanilla.

Cookies.

More cookies.

The damage.

Overall another night of great fun and fabulous wines.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, Chardonnay, Italian cuisine, Matthew G, Pinot noir, Wine

Papilles – Guy Amiot

Apr29

Restaurant: Papilles

Location: 6221 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 871-2026

Date: April 15, 2015

Cuisine: French

Rating: Great French Fun

My friend Walker, who is the Director of the LA Wine Department at Bonhams Auction House organized this fabulous look into the terrior of Domain Amiot Guy & Fils, a boutique Chassagne-Montrachet producer. After we all went to a nearby French restaurant (Papilles) for even more Burgundy!

The auction room at Bonhams filled with art — but in our case with tasting tables.

Walker (white shirt on the right) introduces Fabrice Amiot, scion of the Amiot wine family.

Flight 0:

We began with this nice Aligote:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Bourgogne-Aligoté. Burghound 86. A fresh, spicy and very cool nose offers up lovely aromas of pear and apple. There is good verve and the same appealing freshness to the delicious and lightly mineral-inflected flavors that terminate in a clean, dry and slightly saline finish.

agavin: I’d give it more an 89. Very crisp and nice.

Flight 1:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles. Burghound 87-90. Reduction. Here too the middle weight flavors possess an attractive texture as there is plenty of palate coating dry extract present that imparts a sappy and seductive mouth feel on the lingering finish that displays a bit more depth.

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain. Burghound 89-92. This is aromatically similar to the Macherelles with the addition of an appealing floral element. There is good volume to the fleshy and opulent middle weight flavors that possess plenty of mouth coating dry extract, all wrapped in an intense, linear, focused and impressively long finish that is quite dry without being particularly austere. Worth considering.

2010 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain. Burghound 91. By contrast here the wood treatment is much less visible which allows the grapefruit, pear and rose petal scents to shine. The textured, cool and pure middle weight flavors possess a sophisticated and refined mouth feel before terminating in an intense, dry and impressively persistent finish. Good stuff.

Flight 2:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers. Burghound 89-91. Here the expressive nose mixes notes of resin, white flowers, peach and apricot. There is excellent volume to the very concentrated and intense middle weight plus flavors that ooze a very fine dry extract that coats the palate and does a fine job of buffering the moderately firm acid spine on the delicious and impressively persistent finish. This isn’t elegant but I like the character and balance.

2010 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers. Burghound 92. While not invisible the oak regimen here is much less prominent and allows the complex and pungent nose of petrol, citrus zest and acacia blossom aromas to have center stage. The old vines are definitely in evidence as there is a remarkable amount of palate staining dry extract that imparts a distinctly textured mouth feel to the impressively deep and persistent finish. This is worth considering.

Flight 3:

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Demoiselles. Burghound 91-93. An overtly floral nose of pungent citrus, honeysuckle, pear, spice and wet stone introduces refined, pure and gorgeously intense flavors that possess fine precision and a lovely sense of vibrancy. There is a restrained mouth feel to the impeccably well-balanced and highly complex finish and this should amply reward medium-term cellaring.

2011 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet. Burghound 93-95. A discreet but not invisible application of wood frames a ripe and quite phenolic nose of both yellow and white orchard fruit where added breadth is present in an array of spice and floral elements. There is superb size, weight, punch and intensity to the big-bodied, suave and overtly powerful flavors that possess really strong underlying material, all wrapped in a superbly long finish. This is an excellent Montrachet and one of the better vintages for this wine in some time.

Flight 4:

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Bourgogne. Nice and bright and young.

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 86-89. Reduction flattens the nose but there is good freshness and energy to the suave and attractively textured medium-bodied flavors that possess solid length but only average complexity, at least at present. Still this will need a few years to arrive at its peak so more depth may very well develop.

2012 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean. 91 points. Quite light in appearance. Cherry / Chocolate (Cherry Ripe??) on the nose with some exotic spice – fennel & lemongrass. Very bold and brooding up front with rich mouth feel. Tight on the backend – stacked with dark fruit and plums with some tar on the finish. Really enjoyed this now but assume improvement.

After all that goodness we moved on to Papilles:

Small place with an open kitchen tucked away in the corner of a Thai town mini-mall!

Le menu.

French Bread.

1989 Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay.

Asparagus Salad. Cooked and raw, 63 degree duck egg. Tres francais.

2002 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet. Burghound 86. A deft hint of toast complements moderately spicy, very fresh pear and apple suffused aromas that lead to complex, precise, linear and pure if not especially dense flavors that finish on the lean side.

Chilled Asparagus Veloute. One of those nice gazpacho like soups.

From my cellar: 1999 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 89-91. Big, powerful and rich aromatics of honey, oak spice and limestone merging into intense, medium weight flavors and a penetrating, relatively fine finish. While not especially big or complex by the standards of classic Bâtard, it is quite intense with beautifully textured, luxuriant, almost opulent flavors.

agavin: nice!

Smoked Ora King Salmon. Sungold, egg yolk, pickles, rye.

2006 Camille Giroud Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. Here the nose is distinctly more elegant and a bit cooler, revealing notes of ripe green fruit and wet stone that continue onto the rich, full and powerful flavors that possess plenty of size and weight and culminate in a tangy, intense and mouth coating finish that is explosive and persistent. This is a big but balanced and harmonious effort that should age well over the medium-term.

Foie-Gras. Crostinni, strawberry gel. One of those lovely terrine type classic preps for foie. yum!

1990 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Vineyard. 94 points.

1995 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 90. Classic sexy nose that is both spicy and still relatively primary with solid, middle weight flavors and a lightly structured finish. This is beginning to become approachable now and while it’s pretty, it could perhaps use a bit more density. Still, an impressive, opulent effort.

agavin: kicking ass and taking names right now.

2005 Domaine de la Vougeraie Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Bel-Air. Burghound 89-92. A more elegant and high-toned nose of red and black fruit plus lovely floral notes, especially violet, leads to rich, forward and generous flavors that possess a beguiling texture on the long finish that evidences a hint of mocha. This is quite ripe yet fresh and there is so much sap that one could approach this now though it clearly has the material to improve for 6 to 8 years.

2008 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard. VM 94. Bright red. Highly perfumed, seductive bouquet of black raspberry, cherry-cola, incense and dried rose, with a slow-mounting mineral element. Lively but strikingly concentrated as well, offering incisive red fruit and floral pastille flavors underscored by intense spice and mineral qualities. Really stains the palate and finishes with superb clarity and juicy, spicy raspberry and cherry notes. Etzel told me that a tiny bit of stems were used in this year’s wine.

2007 Domaine Y. Clerget Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Verseuil.

1985 Domaine Ponsot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes. Burghound 90. This may have been ever so slightly corked and opinion was divided on this aspect. However, the richness of the flavors and sheer complexity of the finish plus the outstanding performance of all the Ponsot wines in ’85 suggest that the benefit of the doubt is in order, if not for this particular bottle then certainly for the wine itself. Tasted only once.

agavin: I think our bottle was corked too.

1989 Domaine Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: great again!

1993 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens. Burghound 90. I had acquired a case of this in the late ’90s and have never had a great deal of luck with it because while there was reasonably good precision and pruity to the middle weight flavors, the finish was mildly dry and not at all what I typically find with this wine. Then I was able to try a bottle at the domaine that showed appreciably better and without the dryness that my bottles displayed. While this is not a great vintage for what is often an amazing Rugiens, it does underscore that there can be significant differences. In sum, a very good but not truly excellent wine that is just now beginning to come into its own. As noted, inconsistent experiences.

1976 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Aloxe-Corton. Clean and bright, medium, medium-plus colour – a mahogany rim but clearly still a ruby-red core. From opening this was just a little monolithic on the nose; faint baked fruit and a savoury undercurrent. If you wait – over 1 hour – the nose tightens to a very nice and tight powdery red fruit impression The palate is surprisingly plush and intense – it’s hard to keep hold of the wine, as your mouth starts watering in response to the acidity. I’m very impressed by the balance here. Slowly some sweetness builds to counterbalance an edge of tartness in the finish. The tannins are still there and quite chewy. This is a surprisingly robust and healthy wine – just like the label says, this is a village wine so no real fireworks or mind-bending length.

Alaskan Halibut. Peas, carrot, fava, radish, tendrils.

2003 Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 92-94. The powerful 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape comes closest in character to the 1990 (which is still drinking beautifully). Its dark ruby/plum/purple color is followed by sweet aromas of resiny pine forest interwoven with creme de cassis, black cherries, melted licorice, and smoky herbs. In the mouth, gamy, meaty flavors emerge along with black currants, cherries, and a hint of the sushi wrapper called nori. Full, rich, and moderately tannic, this 2003 requires another 1-3 years of bottle age, and should keep for 12-15 years.

Sonoma lamb. Weiser potato, zucchini, confit tomato. Nice healthy chunk of lamb.

1999 Dominus Napanook Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 87. The soft, supple, easygoing 1999 Napanook (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot) exhibits cherry, earth, leather, and foresty aromas, sweet fruit, and a forward personality. It is best consumed over the next decade.

2012 Morlet Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles. Parker 93. Luc Morlet produces between 450 and 650 cases of three cuvées of Pinot Noir, all of which come from the second ridge from the Pacific Ocean in the Sonoma Coast AVA. The vineyard elevations range between 1,000 and 1,250 feet. All of them come from suitcase field selections of Pinot Noir, largely sourced from the most famous domaine in Vosne-Romanée. About one-third of the aging process is in the larger 500-liter wood pungeons, and the rest in smaller barrels. The wines are also bottled without fining or filtration. The 2012 Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles displays meaty, spicy, clove, nutmeg and earthy notes intertwined with ripe plum and black cherry fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of spice. Drink now-2025+.

Flat Iron Steak. Morel, asparagus tips, ramps, carrot.

Cheese plate. Fig, almonds, honey.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crisp. Delicious.

Overall, a super fun night!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bonhams, Burgundy, Dessert, Domain Amiot Guy & Fils, Guy Amiot, Papilles, Wine

Sauvage Republique

Apr22

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: April 10, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

Back to Republique again? I was just there last night!! Well, it seems in 2014 half the serious wine events are here. Possibly it’s because Sommelier Taylor Parsons is so good. In any case, today is Sauvages annual “Grand Cru Lunch.” How could I resist more great Burgundy?

The building is an interesting fusion of pre-war factory…

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud!

Our lunch is in the back half, where is just ever so much less loud. We have this big table in the middle of an even bigger room.

A close up of our table and below our menu:

Flight 0: Whites

2004 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Melville Vineyard. 90 points. This wine is very traditional for this winery. Not huge nose, but fragrance of lite melons and honeysuckle. Straw hue. Cold, it is closed, but as it warms, it starts to open with notes of melon, cream and sweet pineapple– but not acidic. It also has some effervescence, and a clean, Stoney finish. Some vanilla and hay and a little stone fruit.

2010 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 94. A reserved yet classic Chablis nose that is ultra-fresh, pure and elegant with the hallmark floral and stone notes of a fine Montée de Tonnerre complement well the rich, dense and impressively well-detailed flavors that culminate in a mineral-inflected and driving finish. A wine of harmony and balance that should age well plus it offers so much Chablis character that this would be almost impossible to miss blind. In sum, one to buy.

agavin: I have 6 bottles of this stuff in my cellar.

2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 96. Here too the elegance of the nose is simply stunning with a layered and perfumed aromatic profile trimmed in an almost invisible touch of oak that allows it to ooze Chablis character and in particular, a fine minerality that continues onto the impressively concentrated and palate staining flavors that possess striking precision on the explosively long and bone dry finish. This is a great Les Clos that will make old bones.

The famous bread.

Flight 1:

It should be noted that Sauvage lunches always have the lunch itself arranged into (usually 4) flights of food with wine flights matched by the organizer (in this case, Kirk). They are not blind.

1971 Louis Latour Romanée St. Vivant Les Quatre Journaux. agavin 93. Surprisingly fresh. Lots of fruit. Very mature, but a nice singing finish.

1974 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant. agavin 87. Brown and tired. Tea like. Got a bit better with a few minutes and was enjoyable.

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. agavin 92. Round, mature, and delicious. A very nice well balanced Ech with considerable fruit and power.

1995 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. Tanzer 96. Similar deep ruby-red. Pure perfume on the nose: cassis, kirsch, violet, licorice, tobacco, game. Like a rare liqueur whose formula is locked up in the heads of two monks. Great volume and sweetness in the mouth; fruit saturates the entire palate and anything else it can reach. Really extraordinarily concentrated. These grapes were picked with near-14% potential alcohol; the yield, according to Roty, was about 28 hectoliters per hectare, not particularly low for these ancient vines planted in 1881. Fabulous brooding fruit on the finish, along with suave, superripe tannins. Another dimension of concentration and texture.

Rhode Island Black Bass. A perfectly nice bit of fish “juiced” up by the bacon based sauce.

Flight 2:

2001 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Burghound 92. A moderately pitched nose that exhibits only traces of secondary nuances also features notes of cool red berry fruit, earth and a hint of the classic Mazis sauvage character that continues onto the delicious, well-detailed and intense middle weight flavors that exude a fine minerality on the mildly austere but not dry finish. There is a bit of unabsorbed wood that is present on the finish though it’s not enough to really detract from the overall sense of harmony. While this could easily be enjoyed now, for my taste there is just enough unresolved structure to warrant allowing this to continue to age for another 5 or so years.

2002 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir West Block. Burghound 90. An expressive nose of violets and ripe black cherry introduces complex, elegant and sweet medium full flavors that coat the palate with ample dry extract, culminating in a sappy, persistent and generous finish underpinned by firm and ripe tannins. This is clearly a ripe effort yet the finish displays only the barest trace of warmth. Lovely stuff and recommended.

agavin: one of the better New World pinots I’ve had, very Burgundian.

2002 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Burghound 92-94. Dramatically earthy, spicy and sappy black pinot fruit beautifully frame the dense, intense, superbly complex flavors that are supported by ripe, solid, firm tannins and incredible length. As good as several of the preceding wines are, there is a class and presence here that only the Musigny possesses and this is extremely impressive and built for the long haul.

2004 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot. Burghound 90-2. This too displays more than a trace of wood with very floral and unusually high-toned red pinot fruit aromas nuanced by hints of iron, underbrush and earth that lead to sweet, round and again unusually supple and forward flavors that are textured, punchy and vibrant and finish with excellent length and precision. While there is a touch of the youthful finishing austerity that a typical Clos de Vougeot often displays, this is more forward and expressive than normal.

agavin: green on the nose, green on the palette. Disgusting really, I couldn’t handle it.

Stinging Nettle Cavatelli. Same pasta as last night, but with an oxtail ragu, cheese, and a bit of bone marrow. This pasta was a “10.” A really rich tasty concoction of goodness.

Flight 3:

1996 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. Tanzer 92+. Deep, bright red-ruby. Complex, wild aromas of raw crushed blueberry, violet, raw meat and iron. Intense, primal flavors of crunchy berries and powdered stone. Integrated acidity gives the fruit an urgent quality. Quite powerfully structured for aging. Very long and bright on the back end, with tannins nicely supported by extract.

1996 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Echezeaux du Dessus. Tanzer 93+. Deep, bright ruby-red. Explosive nose combines dark berries, kirsch, violet, spice and smoked meat. Sweet, sappy and large-scaled, but with great delineation of flavor for a wine of this size. Like a solid today, and quite backward. Finishes with substantial but silky tannins and a whiplash of fruit. Along with the example from Emmanuel Rouget, this is as impressive an Echezeaux as I’ve tasted from 1996.

2001 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart. Burghound 95. I have been in love with this wine since I first encountered it in barrel and it seems only to have gotten better and better. An elegant, pure and refined nose of earth, coffee, spice and intensely perfumed black cherries combine with focused, tautly muscular, remarkably complex and precise full-bodied, sweet and palate staining flavors that seem to go on and on. But the quality that impresses me the most is the dazzling combination of finesse and power, all wrapped in a finish of near perfect harmony and balance. This should be capable of aging well for at least two decades. A great wine that is not as dense or monumental as the ’05 but this is finer. Multiple, and consistent, notes.

2000 Dominique Laurent Bonnes Mares. Tanzer 92-5. Ruby-red. Confectionery aromas of tiny wild fruits, minerals and smoke; the Chambolle character dominates today, whereas last year the ’99 Bonnes-Mares was more Morey. Sappy, sweet and quite refined; an extremely pure wine that already exudes compelling inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with firm tannins and superb fruit intensity and persistence. Tasted from only 100% new oak, as this wine had not yet been racked into a second new barrel. A wine of extravagant sweetness, and the best in the cave on this day.

Sonoma Duck Leg Confit. A rather perfect and meaty duck leg with a great sauce, over a bit of nice oatmeal with some blueberries. A stunning wine pairing too.

Flight 4:

1990 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes. Burghound 91. The classic truffle-infused Ruchottes nose is missing though the usual game, subtle earth and spice notes are present with remarkably rich, full, broad-scaled flavors that offer lovely balance and fine length. Many ’90s are overly ripe and over the top but this remains balanced and really quite pure and understated if not particularly dense. In sum, this is an attractive and satisfying effort that is just now coming into its own.

1990 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 89. As long time readers know, I have never thought very highly of this wine and I have had on the order of 3 cases of it without ever finding one that I thought was very good, let alone great. This would include a bottle that was air expressed directly from the domaine so my objections have nothing to do with storage, provenance or shipping. However, the bottle in this tasting displayed the best fruit/acid/tannin balance of any ’90 VV that I’ve yet had and while I would stop well short of according it the accolades that it once received in abundance, it didn’t not display the green finishing tannins and overtly advanced aromas that its predecessors have. In short, a wine of moderate promise and while by no means great, at least acceptable in the context of the extremely high standards of this wine and this vintage.

1995 Domaine Philippe Charlopin-Parizot Clos St. Denis. No reviews. Woah!

1995 Dominique Laurent Romanée St. Vivant. 90 points. Typical pinot noir aroma but sense of inbalance. Hint of barnyard but does blow away. Sour oak juice! Mouth puckering dryness from the acid. Does not resemble my previous RSV experience which was warm. Light bodied and smooth tannins. Spicy with bitter pears, chempaka and granny smith apples. Medium finish.

Cheese.

Finish:

2001 Marc Colin et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. agavin 90. A nice Corton Charlie drinking in a good spot.

Expresso. Needed after a wine lunch.

My notes on the wines.

Chef Walter Manzke pays us a visit.

Wine director / Somm Taylor Parsons handled this event himself and did a superlative job.

Enough wine for a Friday afternoon?

This was probably the best Suavages lunch I’ve attended, and that’s saying a lot as these are very fun events.

While the food wasn’t as extensive as the previous night, our three non-cheese courses were still fabulous. The pasta and duck in particular were killer. I generally like the private room, but this big downstairs space was cavernous and comfortable — although at night it would be too loud. Each course was brought by an army of 6-7 waiters and dropped elegantly in front of us.

As usual Taylor did an amazing job with the wine service. My only regret is that we had just four glasses each and so had to dump the previous flights.

An overall fabulous afternoon.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Kirk juggled the credit cards

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Pinot noir, République, Sauvages, Taylor Parsons, Walter Manzke, Wine

Republique of Vosne

Apr17

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: April 9, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

Back to Republique again? Well, it seems in 2014 half the serious wine events are here. Possibly it’s because Sommelier Taylor Parsons is so good. In any case, tonight’s special dinner is an exploration of my favorite wine sub region,Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echézeaux. This dinner was organized by Dan Perrelli of the Wine Hotel.

The building is an interesting fusion of pre-war factory…

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud!

Tonight our dinner was in the private room upstairs, but our champagne and appetizers began on a little table in the upstairs hall.

Flight 0: Champagne

1996 Alfred Gratien Champagne Brut Millésimé. AG 94. The 1996 Brut Millesime shows why this vintage is so highly regarded. Everything is in the right place. Rich, voluptuous, yet also structured, the 1996 impresses for its superb overall balance. There is lovely complexity in the glass, but none of the aggression found in some wines. A soft, gracious finish laced with a totally refined mousse rounds things out in style. The 1996 is 65% Chardonnay, 18% Pinot Noir and 17% Pinot Meunier.

agavin: nice oxidized notes.

NV Doyard Champagne Cuvée Vendémiaire Brut.

Here is our host Dan, who combines an eerie resemblance to George R. R. Martin with a deep voice and an equally deep wine knowledge.

Fresh oysters.

Tonight’s menu.

Flight 1: Replacing Expectations with Experience

2012 Forey Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée. Burghound 89. A very spicy nose is comprised of mostly black pinot fruit that is also cut with plenty of earth, plum and floral notes. Once again there is a completely different texture to the velvety, pure and relatively refined medium weight flavors that possess good mid-palate concentration, all wrapped in a slightly austere and beautifully persistent finish. This is also recommended as it’s a fine Vosne villages that should repay 7 to 9 years of cellar time.

agavin: very young, almost with a bit of cherry lifesaver

2011 Jérôme Chezeaux Vosne-Romanée. AG 87. The 2011 Vosne-Romanée comes across as a bit wild and rough around the edges, with less density and fruit than is typically the case. Today, the 2011 is dark and brooding. Hints of smoke, earthiness and tobacco add nuance to the dark fruit, while firm tannins support the finish.

agavin: had a vegetal green character that I really didn’t like. I even thought it might be corked.

2010 Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 91. An exuberantly spicy nose of both red and black cherry liqueur aromas leads to suave and silky medium-bodied flavors that are blessed with plenty of sappy dry extract that coats the mouth. Once again there is a lovely mouth feel due to the extremely fine-grained tannins and while this is not the most complex of these villages level wines, the sense of harmony and outstanding length make up for it. This is also worth looking at carefully.

agavin: Fabulous. Tasted like a nice 1re cru. Very vosne.

Turbot with chanterelle mushrooms. Supposedly line caught in the English channel. A very lovely bone in fish.

Flight 2: Vintage Characteristics and Terroir

2010 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 91-4. Again, reduction is present but not enough to totally diminish the appeal of the spice notes that continue onto the rich, intense and remarkably vibrant flavors that also possess excellent volume along with an abundance of dry extract that confers a velvety texture to the linear and austere finish. It is a very good thing that there is so much sap because this is especially firmly structured and will need every bit of 15 years or so to fully resolved the underlying tannins.

2009 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 91-3. A highly spiced and very Vosne nose offers up cassis and black raspberry aromas that precede the very seductive, concentrated and mouth coating flavors that are suave, indeed even silky yet culminate in a firm, powerful and balanced finish.

2008 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 92. A notably ripe and ultra fresh nose of spiced black cherry and cocoa powder nuances combine with more typical hints of soy and anise that also are reflected by the rich, full-bodied and relatively supple flavors that are blessed by concentrated mid-palate but the long, palate staining and youthfully austere finish tightens up immediately to become very firm. Patience will be required.

Pig’s Head, frisee, lardons, duck egg, and lentils. A sort of breakfast-style dish, and rich rich all around. The pork (wherever it came from on the animal) was rich and delicious. Particularly smothered in egg yolk and laced with lardons.

Fresh baked bread and normandy butter. I had to skip, passover and all.

Flight 3: Style in Middle Age

2000 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux (from magnum). Burghound 92. Ripe, rich and spicy with crushed black fruit flavors that display good power, impressive length and simply outstanding precision and focus. This has an element of the floral quality of the Beaux Monts but there purity of expression here is stunning and this displays wonderful density for the vintage. Complex, subtle and very classy.

agavin: great for about 20 minutes, really great, then started to close down a bit.

1998 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Echezeaux. Burghound 89. A mildly toasty note detracts slightly from the otherwise expressive, fresh and mature nose of spice and some secondary fruit aromas. There is good verve and detail to the middle weight flavors that offer reasonably good depth and length on the ever-so-slightly astringent finish. I would advise drinking this over the next 5 to 10 years as it risks drying out if cellared too long. Tasted only once recently.

1998 Forey Père et Fils Echezeaux. AG 89+. Medium-deep red. Expressive aromas of plum, cherry, coffee, spices and mint. Supple and sweet but firmly built; already displays enticing inner-mouth aromas. Less forbidding and more elegantly styled than most of these ’98s but still rather unforthcoming and tannic on the end. Is it long enough for outstanding?

Cavatelli, four story hill farm avian poularde. The chicken here is some kind of special milk fed chicken. Awesome dish.

Flight 4: Cru Classification & Vintage are no Guarantee of Longevity and Age is no Guarantee of Enjoyment

2007 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. AG 92. Captivating, fruit-driven aromas of cherry, raspberry, minerals and cocoa powder lifted by rose petal. At once sweet, pure and penetrating, with excellent vinosity and energy. Quite refined and suave on the back end, where the late-arriving tannins give the sappy fruit a chance to expand and linger. As sexy as this is now, I’d give it three or four years in the cellar as it’s still a bit hardened by CO2.

agavin: young but good.

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée. Burghound 88. Bright and spicy, somewhat earthy fruit aromas introduce racy and moderately structured flavors that have enough richness and sweetness to buffer the tannins. With food, this is easily approachable today but it will continue to positively evolve for another 3 to perhaps 5 years. A lovely effort at this level. Consistent notes.

agavin: good, but the 96 Suchots was better

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. AG 92+. Fresh, deep red-ruby color. Sappy, higher-pitched, very complex aromas of cassis, raspberry, minerals and game. Terrific concentration and freshness, but slow to open in the glass. Thick but lively; a floral note contributes to the wine’s impression of brightness. Finishes very long and subtle, with a burst of dark berries. Premier cru with the palate presence and nobility of a grand cru.

1973 Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. agavin 92. Popped and poured. Surprisingly fresh and delicious, although certainly an old Burg.

Risotto, Oregon morel mushrooms. A classic rich and buttery risotto and a fabulous pairing.

Flight 5: Five Decades of Similar Geology, Three Classifications

2012 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 91-3. A strikingly complex nose features notes of Vosne spice, black cherry, plum and sandalwood. There is first-rate intensity and verve to the beautifully well-detailed medium weight flavors that display plenty of minerality and dry extract on the firm and austere finish that delivers marvelous length. This is also an exercise in harmony allied with finesse.

1991 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees Vieilles Vignes. Much more mature.

1964 Charles Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. Burghound 91. Heavy bricking to the core. Upper register aromas of ripe secondary aromas cut with really lovely oriental spice nuances and hints of sous bois, earth, leather and truffle that introduce fully mature, velvety and utterly delicious older burg flavors and a finish of sneaky persistence. As pretty as this is, there is real grace and style underneath the spice veneer and while it must be noted that the flavors are now in gentle decline, I very much like the overall package. That said, it’s time to drink up. Another recent bottle with ullage of ~ 5 cm was almost as good but was exhibiting a somewhat curious nose of celery and peat-infused aromas. Otherwise, the flavors were consistent with the first bottle.

agavin: our bottle was sadly pretty gone, very brown, like tea. Not much fruit.

Beef, sauce bercy. The sauce is made from bone marrow, and there were little bits of bone marrow on top. This was a super rich, soft, beefy slab.

Flight 6: Another Geology, Another Wine Entirely

1995 Domaine Jean Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas. Burghound 88. Tasted blind and immediately identified as a lower level Vosne 1er because the nose is wonderfully spicy and if not particularly elegant, then certainly expressive and pretty. The flavors are nicely complex and offer good authority and a certain beguiling velvety texture, which helps to smooth out the otherwise rough tannins. This could be drunk now or held for a few more years.

1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. Burghound 95. Classic and very ripe mature burg fruit intermingles with a wonderful array of spices, especially anise and soy all of which are framed by a touch of caramel. The flavors are extremely rich, sweet and wonderfully concentrated with a deep, very sweet essence of pinot finish that still retains glimpses of its former power. The tannins are fully resolved and the finish is nothing but pure silk and velvet. Tasted many times and while there is some bottle variation, well-stored bottles are consistently marvelous.

agavin: long long finish and a lot of fruit (considering the 44 years!)

Consomme, four story hill farm avian poularde, foie gras.

With the actual soup added. Delicious stuff. Moist and tender meat, and the fat from the warm foie distributed into the broth in an amazing fashion.

Flight 7: Bonus

1961 Palmer. Parker 99. The 1961 Palmer has long been considered to be a legend from this vintage, and its reputation is well-deserved. The wine is at its apogee, with an extraordinary, sweet, complex nose with aromas of flowers, cassis, toast, and minerals. It is intensely concentrated, offering a cascade of lavishly ripe, full-bodied, opulent fruit, soft tannins, and a voluptuous finish. This is a decadent Palmer, unparalleled since in quality with the exception of 1983 and 1989.

agavin: great stuff, even if I had the sediment at the end of the bottle.

Chef Walter Manzke pays us a visit.

Wine director / Somm Taylor Parsons handled this event himself and did a superlative job.

I’ve now been to Republique 7-8 times and the restaurant is at its best in the private room with a special tasting dinner. Walter really cooked his butt off for this one, carefully pairing each course to the wines. Downstairs, the room is very loud and there are some timing and pacing problems. We had none of these. Each course was brought by an army of 6-7 waiters and dropped elegantly in front of us. All the wine glasses had individual labels for each wine, etc.

I was extremely impressed with Dan’s dinner series (this was my first). Like Liz at Sage Society he got the very best out of Walter’s already great cooking, and he brought an interesting and intellectual set of Vosne’s. Very interesting flights, and he was quite knowledgable. We had 5 straight hours of wine discussion too! Very nice people as well. An overall great evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Dan Perrelli, La Tache, poularde, République, Taylor Parsons, The Wine Hotel, Vosne-Romanée, Walter Manzke, Wine

Marcel Vigneron – Taking Epic Further

Jan30

January 24, 2015, my wife and I hosted a very special fund-raising dinner at our house. And given our penchant for details, things were bound to be off the charts epic.

I met Marcel Vigneron a year back at a 2009 Bordeaux dinner, and ever since have been looking for an excuse to have him cook at our house. For those of you who don’t know, Marcel was the original Executive Sous Chef at The Bazaar, and also cooked at Joel Robuchon. He’s been on numerous Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars shows and was the star of his own series, Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen.

I might like modernism in my food, but when it comes to the decorative arts my wife and I agree things have been on a downhill slope since the mob stormed Versailles. We’re both history buffs and have gone to some length to recreate the fantasy of a 1730s Italian villa. So, in that vein, guests are welcomed into the Chinoiserie Drawing Room for champagne and snacks.

And a classical setting deserves a classical ambiance: a harpist playing baroque pieces!

All wines are from my cellar and served by 2/3 Master Sommelier Chris Lavin. By 2/3, I mean he’s passed 2 out of the 3 of those torturous tests detailed in the Somm documentary. Which really means he’s an amazing Sommelier.

It should be noted that going back and forth Chris and I chose about 40 wines from my cellar and arranged them into a rough progression by “type.” i.e. bubblies, brighter whites, white burg, red burg, etc. Then he dynamically chose to organize these into flights by making up interesting duos or sets to play off both each other and the food.

I’m not a big believer in rigidly pairing at a dinner like this. With 18 people, there is no way to predict in advance the consumption rate, so the pre-planning needs to allow for a flexible rate of consumption if one doesn’t want to leave a lot of wine sitting on the table unfinished. We used a system with 3 specific stems (Riedel Sommelier Chardonnay/Chablis, Burgundy, and Bordeaux) and 2 general stems (Riedel Degustazione Red, which I think is a great general glass). Flights were all 2 or 3 wines and people could either finish old wines, move them “down glass” or pass on a flight. With this many wines many people (particularly the ladies) needed to take a breather.

NV Bochet-Lemoine Champagne Les Grimpres 1955. An amazing, rare, acid bomb of a champy.

Marcel’s culinary assault begins with a number of snacks.

Endive Boat. smoked trout, cucumber, dill. Bright and fresh.

NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne L’Originale. 89 points. clear and bright with a pale lemon colour and presence of many small bubbles. The nose is clean and fully developed, showing medium(+) intensity aromas of green fruits (green apple, pear), MLF (cream, butter) and yeast (bread dough, brioche). The wine is off-dry in the mouth with a high refreshing acidity. It has a medium alcohol and a medium body with a creamy mousse. It has medium(+) intensity flavours of green fruits (green apple, pear), MLF (cream, butter) and yeast (bread dough, brioche). The finish is medium(+).

Topped egg. salmon roe, chive. Salty and rich.

2005 Gramona Cava III Lustros Gran Reserva. 88 points. Clear and bright, pale lemon colour and presence of small bubbles. The nose is clean and developing, with medium- intensity aromas of neutral yeast and simple green fruit such as green apple and pear. It’s dry in the mouth, with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, creamy mousse and medium intensity flavours of neutral yeast and simple green fruit like green apples and pear. Medium finish. It’s a good quality wine, fresh and easy to drink with good overall balance, bit it lacks complexity and the finish could be longer. Other vintages have been better. Drink now, but it has enough acidity and concentration to develop more complexity in 1-2 years.

Mushroom “tart”. goat cheese, thyme. Lots of lemon zing.

2011 i Clivi Collio Ribolla Gialla Spumante Brut. Another unusual bubbly.

Marcel and team slave away in the kitchen while we enjoy ourselves.

The table is set, and with Riedel Sommelier stems too, as it should be. The walls of the dining room were painted by my mother from photos we took in Italy.

2013 Veyder-Malberg Riesling Bruck. 95 points. These puppies are so rare the professionals have barely reviewed them, but this dry riesling is a total knockout. The purity of expression is off the charts, and that’s without even getting into the searing acid finish,

2007 Lur-Saluces “Y”. Parker 94. The rare dry wine from the world’s greatest sweet producer is an unusual find. These are made to age, and this one was no exception, still showing all it’s baby fat. The 2007 Ygrec has a light, fragrant nose with apple-blossom, pink grapefruit, citrus lemon and just a touch of cold granite. Good definition. The palate is bright and lively, a lot of energy packed into this Ygrec, with citrus lemon, green apple, a touch of lemongrass, very harmonious and smooth towards the finish that display superb persistency, a hint of fiery lemongrass lingering in the mouth.

2009 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc. Parker 98. Smith-Haut-Lafitte hit a home run with their red Pessac-Leognan and came very close to perfection with their dry white Graves. Possibly the best dry white the estate has produced since the proprietors, the Cathiards, acquired the property in 1990, this wine exhibits a sensational fragrance of buttered citrus, honeyed melons and a touch of grapefruit, lemon zest and orange rind. It also displays grapefruit on the attack and mid-palate as well as real opulence, terrific acidity and length. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. Astonishing!

Hamachi carpaccio. avocado, olive, citrus, watercress, wild rice, ponzu. A nice mix of flavors and textures. Marcel’s food is light and playful, with bright flavors. He doesn’t use a lot of butter or heavy ingredients.

A duo of Raveneau MDT!

2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 93. This too is very opulent with a richness and breadth of aromas that is dazzling in their sheer range. Big, powerful, very masculine and exceptionally intense flavors blessed with huge extract but despite the size and weight, this also has the best acid/fruit balance of any of these 1ers plus this absolutely coats and stains the palate. In fact, there is an interesting textural quality by virtue of all the sap yet the finish is quite dry. A great effort that explodes on the backend and lingers for minutes.

2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 93. Subtle wood sets off aromas of flowers, oyster shell and tidal pool that complement perfectly the racy, pure and strikingly well-detailed medium plus weight flavors that brim with minerality on the delicious, mouth coating and impressively long finish. This beautifully vibrant and concentrated effort should drink well young and age well too plus it’s more classic in style than many wines from this vintage.

Salmon crudo. brussels sprout leaves, apple, pomegranate, lime. A really fabulous dish. The sprouts had no bitterness, and there was a pronounced citrus and the strong pomegranate flavors to complement the rich fish.

1993 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 92. A fully mature and expressive nose of elegant secondary fruit and floral aromas introduces intensely mineral-driven, pure and beautifully well-detailed middle weight flavors that possess excellent depth and fine length. This is drinking perfectly now and should continue to do so without effort for at least another decade. Tasted only once recently.

2004 Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 95. Perhaps the most backward and reserved wine to this point as the nose reveals only hints of white flower and green fruit aromas that are framed in a subtle touch of pain grillé but the flavors explode on the palate as there is a chewy texture to them yet there is ample minerality present, particularly for Bâtard. This too is blessed with abundant dry extract and a finish that won’t quit but for all of the size and weight, this is impeccably balanced. This has that “wow” factor and in terms of style, it’s almost like a muscular Chevalier.

Pumpkin soup. nutmeg creme fraiche. An amazing soup. Like a sort of savory pumpkin pie!

And in the spirit of pairing, double 97 RSV.

1997 Remoissenet Père et Fils Romanée St. Vivant. 86 points. Our bottle was slightly corked. Not horribly, but enough to mar my enjoyment.

1997 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. 93 points. The nose just jumps from the glass. Plenty of spice, red fruit and a lot of earth. The wine is cloudy with amber edges. More spice, ferrous notes and tart tart cherries on the finish. Kind of reminds me of a young Leroy. Not sure how much it will improve, but a very interesting drink right now.

Just one of four types of bread from the bakery at Maison Giraud. We had Baguette, Pain aux Olives, Pain de Campagne, and Brioche Fine.

Butter from Normandy. If Republique can do it, so can we! It’s funny how many people are blown away by how much better good French butter is than our usual American fare.

And a pair of Clos Vougeot Musigni.

1990 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 92 points. Rich, smoky nose with a supple, well balance flavor of slightly tart cherries mixed with currant and medium length finish. This is an extremely elegant wine and I would definitely buy more. This wine is at its peak, but shows no sign of age at all. Delicious.

1984 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 87 points. This good wine from a terrible vintage won’t win any awards, but it drinks so much like strawberry jam that I happen to love it.

Nesting egg. rocket, radish, cashew dressing. Check out this presentation. The coddled egg is set in the crispy nest and is complimented by the zesty salad below.

1989 Château Lynch-Bages. Parker 99+. The 1989 has taken forever to shed its formidable tannins, but what a great vintage of Lynch Bages! I would rank it at the top of the pyramid although the 1990, 2000, and down the road, some of the more recent vintages such as 2005, 2009 and 2010 should come close to matching the 1989’s extraordinary concentration and undeniable aging potential. Its dense purple color reveals a slight lightening at the edge and the stunning bouquet offers classic notes of creme de cassis, subtle smoke, oak and graphite. Powerful and rich with some tannins still to shed at age 22, it is still a young adolescent in terms of its evolution and will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring. It should prove to be a 50 year wine.

1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. 92 points. Surprisingly young. Gorgeous and interesting nose with a slightly weak mid palette and a long pretty sour cherry finish. Most people thought it was some odd pinot noir and had no idea it was so old.

Miso black cod. celeriac risotto, brown butter, charred broccoli. This is an unusual dish. The cod was buried in there between the risotto and the broccoli, which was baked with olive oil and spices. The whole bit was topped with grated nori which enhanced the “sea” factor.

1993 Roagna Barbaresco Riserva. 90 points. It has a soft and inviting nose. The palate is supple and round but with sneaky structure. Roses, some balsam, tar, and savory notes. This is on the muscular side of Barbaresco but with a suppleness and sweetness that draw you in. Fresh and balanced, with good depth, there is no part of this that stands out, but it all comes to a greater whole, and while its no barn burner, it is in a really nice place right now. My only nit to pick is that the tannins may outlive the fruit here. Mid peak and while I am sure this will hold for quite a while, it is in such a nice place right now that I see no reason to hold it for holding’s sake. Lovely.

1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia. 92 points. Nose to die for. A wonderfully mature, sleek Barolo with no hard edges and classic flavors of tar, black fruits tree bark. Medium-bodied and pure elegance rather than concentration and power. Lit up like a candle when the pasta wiyh white truffles was served.

Linguini “carbonara.” parmesan, black pepper, egg, smoked mushroom. The quail egg is filled with cheese. Dump and stir and this resolves into a scrumptious combo of smokiness and richness.

Left to right, Sam, Marcel, and Shanti help use liquid nitrogen to whip up an intense, smooth, frozen form of sorbet.

Nitro sorbet. Pomegranate. Tastes just like pomegranate juice — not surprising as that’s its only ingredient!

1998 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume. 92 points. The nose is gorgeous, lots minerality, slightly oxidative notes of bruised apple, also lemon pith and orange blossom. On the palate it’s sweet and silky but with a tart, zingy acid component. Lovely balance of flavors, part citrus but also with more of the apple, a touch of limestone, and honeyed pear. Lengthy, tapering finish that lasts for a long time. An outstanding wine.

Cheese plate. Not only were all four cheeses great (We made a family outing of tasting — I mean selecting — them at Andrew’s Cheese Shop), but the chefs arranged and decorated to great effect. The plate is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen!

1960 Barbeito Madeira Bual Reserva Velha. Doing it’s intense madeira thing, this wine was an amazing pairing with:

Flourless chocolate cake. coconut lemongrass orb, hazelnut butter, gold. Wow! What a “cake.” The rich chocolate (more like a ganache) paired amazingly with the refreshing and almost Thai-flavored orb, plus the hazelnut just kicked it up.

Mignardises. pate de fruits, macarons, nougat, brigadeiros. I love these little desserts, so we sourced all this stuff ourselves.

Roy Rene Nougat de Provence, flavored with honey and lavender.

Hawaii Pates de Fruits, guava, ginger, and coconut.

Brigadeiros, Brazilian chocolate/dulce de leche deserts in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla coconut, pistachio, and lime. Sourced from Simply Brigadeiro.

Macarons from ‘Lette Macarons. Chocolate, vanilla, coconut, raspberry, and almond.

Bundt cakes to go from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Can’t have a truly epic dinner without “parting gifts.”

And we even printed up the menus.

The wine damage was significant. 21 bottles for 18 people.

But what was really epic was the length. Nearly 7 hours for dinner! I don’t think all the guests knew what they were in for, but everyone had a fabulous time. Marcel’s cooking was on point and inventive, and no one went home hungry. In fact, the “wafer thin mint” joke was bandied about more than once.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

Me and my lovely wife, Sharon

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Cheese, Christopher Lavin, Marcel Vigneron, Molecular Gastronomy, Wine

Pistola with a Bang

Jan19

Restaurant: Pistola [1, 2]

Location: 8022 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323.951.9800

Date: January 14, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Tasty good

Tonight’s dinner is themed around 1990s grand cru Burgundy, both colors. Why exactly we took this to an Italian Steakhouse is anyone’s guess, but that didn’t matter — we had a blast.

1998 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. AG 95. Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne made from a small, one hectare plot located on the property in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The wine is fermented in oak and bottled with no dosage. In only its third release, Le Clos Saint-Hilaire has already established itself as one of the region’s most fascinating wines. Anticipated maturity The 1998 Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire emerges from the glass with an exotic array of intensely perfumed, candied fruit. The wine possesses gorgeous textural richness in a deep, layered expression of Pinot Noir. The mousse remains refined and very elegant all the way through to the deeply satisfying, resonating finish.

The menu. We actually had the chef bring up appetizers, pasta, and dessert, with everyone ordering their entrees.

From my cellar: 1992 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90. As would be expected from a relatively soft vintage at 18 years of age, this is fully mature with sous bois and truffle notes to the dried apple and rose petal nose. There is good richness but also lovely detail and minerality to the moderately concentrated finish that offer excellent depth and length. I would be drinking this sooner than later because even though it is in no danger of falling apart, it’s clearly time to be drinking up over the next decade.

agavin: doing great for 22+ year old chardonnay

1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. As de la Morinière suggests, this is a good deal more powerful than the 2000 version but it is not quite as bright or quite as focused. That said, this is a very impressive effort with big, almost massive aromas of earth, ripe green fruits such as apples and pears leading to equally big, powerful flavors that offer great mouthfeel, all of which is underpinned by plenty of minerality and more than adequate buffering acidity. This is extremely long already but this should continue to improve for 7 to 10 years and hold for much longer than that.

agavin: rounder and actually “older” tasting than the 92, but drinking great.

1997 Domaine Marius Delarche Corton-Charlemagne Reserve. 90 points. Really singing and massive.

1969 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 92 points. Mature Burgundy nose, forrest floor, mushrooms, damp earth. Fresh palate of dark fruits, great minerality, iron with nice acidity. Became sweeter after an hour and kept going. Great bottle.

Meatballs. On a bed of ricotta. Awesome. These were similar to the similarly awesome ones at Gusto.

Insalata Mista.

Steak tartar. Good meat, but didn’t have enough bite for me. Needed more pepper? It had some truffle oil in it.

Crab Crocchetti. Dungeness Crab Cake, scallion pesto.

1996 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. IWC 92+. Deep, bright red-ruby. Complex, wild aromas of raw crushed blueberry, violet, raw meat and iron. Intense, primal flavors of crunchy berries and powdered stone. Integrated acidity gives the fruit an urgent quality. Quite powerfully structured for aging. Very long and bright on the back end, with tannins nicely supported by extract.

As a note, we did two flights of 3 reds each more or less blind.

1998 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Nuits St. Georges Les Hauts Poirets. IWC 89. Bright ruby-red. Fresh aromas of violet and nuts. Rich, sweet and silky, but also vibrant and shapely. Finishes with sweet tannins and very good length.

1990 Burguet Gilles Gevrey-Chambertin.

agavin: great for old village wine.

Squid Ink Agnolotti. Awesome stuff with a nice sweetness.

Buccatini alla Carbonara. Guanciale, onion, black pepper, egg yolk & pecorino.

Mixed up it’s great stuff.

Buccatini All’Amatriciana. Like a red suace pasta with more flavor.

1995 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. IWC 93. Black raspberry, violet and herbs on the nose. Thick, brooding and very intensely flavored; has a mellow flavor of woodsmoke. Large-scaled and multilayered. Finishes with ripe, chewy tannins. A terrific example of the ’95 vintage at its best.

1993 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux. Burghound 88. Very elegant, spicy rich fruit framed robust, intense but edgy flavors that are a bit lean on the moderately long finish. It’s not clear whether this will regain its balance or not with a few years of bottle age but there is no doubting the lovely complexity and solid flavor authority.

agavin: whatever meadows says, our bottle was filled with great wine. Lots of power and elegance.

1995 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint.

agavin: a nice wine but not in the league of its immediate predecessors.

Dry-aged Delmonico steak.

Herb butter.

Rib-eye.

Colorado lamb chops.

Veal Chop Alla Parmigiana. Wow, I’m not a big straight steak fan so this really saved the course for me.

Crispy Tuscan Fries. Not sure what is Tuscan here.

Funghi Misti.

Caramelized Romanesco. With a bit of heat and a little vinegary tang, very nice.

Creamy Polenta. Mild.

Various ice creams.

And sorbets.

Vanilla ice cream, because you can never have too much of that.

Cannoli. My fave.

Tortino (aka Chocolate cake).

The chef brought us out something he was working on.

Grilled bread, prosciutto, foie gras, and uni. Wow, you wouldn’t think all that would work together, but it so does.

Overall, Pistola was really solid. We all thought some of the apps and the pastas were a bit better than the meats and sides (although I enjoyed my chop), but it was a very tasty meal. They treated us like kings too. Our waitress really put up with a lot of wine guy “hassle” and did a good job managing the flights.

Room is very pretty but a little loud with a bar feel (some love that, some don’t). If I were them, my biggest suggestion foodwise would just be to add some more decadent sides like a “gorgonzola gnocchi” and the like. Not really Italian, but then again, I’ve never actually seen a steakhouse in Italy. Not that Italians, particularly Tuscans don’t love steak, but the steakhouse format is an American thing — which is fine.

But this was overall a fabulous evening for a number of reasons. We had eight people all at a round table, which while cramped is great for conversation, and a great mix of guys. Plus we had a nice Burgundy focused theme.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Champagne, Chardonnay, Foodie Club, Pinot noir, Pistola, Steak, Will C, Wine

The Power of Providence

Dec23

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2]

Location: 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 460-4170

Date: December 15, 2014

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

It’s been a month since the Foodie Club convened for the awesome white truffles at Saam dinner and so Erick was itching for some more epic wine dinner awesomeness. Enter the chef’s table at Providence. There is no doubt that Providence is one of LA’s top fine dining establishments.

Enter the private chefs table: pretty much inside the kitchen!

And tonight’s menu.

From my cellar: 2006 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94-96. This is notably more elegant, refined and complex with only a trace of exoticism to the mostly white flower and peach aromas that are followed by textured, pure, detailed and delineated flavors that are quite reserved and cool at present while culminating in a focused, crystalline, dry and driving finish. This does a slow build from the mid-palate before exploding onto the knockout finish. A Zen wine. Note that while I am giving a suggested initial drinking window of 2013, this will be capable of aging for years.

agavin: personally I think there was a trace of premox in this bottle, perhaps, but that it was drinking fabulously for us. It just didn’t taste that young, more like a 2000 or something. So if you have these, perhaps drink up.

Sphereified Greyhound. Like a greyhound popper.

Scallop “taco.” This spicy leaf (nasturtium, a bit like shiso) contained a mixture of scallop and some grain. It was scrumptious. As Yarom puts it: “a 10!”

Razor clam. With a bunch of sauces and bits.

Bacon and squid. A popsicle of… you guessed it… bacon and squid.

Beef cigars. Basically super yummy beef taquitos.

Smoked Bacon soup. This little cappuccino was incredibly delicious. Super creamy it tasted strongly of bacon. Yummy little bits were in the bottom.

Creme fresh with salmon crisps. The crisps are actually salmon skin. The Ikurka (salmon eggs) were incredibly fresh too.

The bread. The greenish one was seaweed. The brioche was the best though.

Fancy Normandy butter and salt.

2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 92. This is presently quite reticent and it requires considerable aeration to coax aromas of airy white flowers, spice and limestone that precede textured, pure and defined energy-filled flavors that possess a linear mouth feel, all wrapped in a focused and mouth coating finish of impressive length. Perhaps this is just going through a phase but it seems a bit awkward at present, and while all the component pieces appear to be in place, I wasn’t knocked out despite the length of the finish. One thing that is clear though is that this definitely needs more bottle age before it’s ready for prime time. Tasted only once in bottle.

agavin: This was our weakest wine, but it was still very nice.

Sashimi. Calabrian chiles, lemon, mint.

Uni in yuzu. Caviar, soy milk.

Check it out inside. It’s literally in a yuzu too!

New Zealand abalone. buckwheat, dashi butter. A very savory little dish.

From my cellar: 1983 Domaine Clair-Daü Bonnes Mares. JK 94. The Clair-Dau, whose vineyards are now all owned by Louis Jadot, was another excellent 1983. I have had good luck with this once-heralded vintage, which I often find delicious to drink. Menthol was the most prevalent characteristic, to go with its open and autumnal fruit.

agavin: I adored this wine. There was some funk on the nose that blew off in 5 minutes. Then it opened and opened and opened. The acidity was perhaps stronger than the fruit, but I still loved it.

Squid carbonara. pancetta. Truffles. This was actually a bit spicy. The spice nuked out all the cheese and the truffle though. It would have been better as a pasta (and without the spice).

Live scallop. white truffle, salted butter. It came out in the shell.

Then they cracked it, so it was steamed in the shell.

And truffle was shaved on top. A really delicious dish.

1971 Pierre Ponnelle Bonnes Mares. 94 points. After a few minutes the nose came around and also became vibrant and full of dried red fruits. There was a ton of fruit left in here and a lovely long finish.

agavin: really really nice.

Monkfish. Matsutake.

John dory. lardo, cabbage, apple. A really delicious dish with a nice fruity tone to the sauce that paired well with the old red Burgundy.

We added this duck dish. It wasn’t on the regular chef’s menu.

1983 Château Margaux. Parker 96. The 1983 Margaux is a breathtaking wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes achieved perfect maturity in 1983, and the result is an astonishingly rich, concentrated, atypically powerful and tannic Margaux. The color is dark ruby, the aromas exude ripe cassis fruit, violets, and vanillin oakiness, and the flavors are extremely deep and long on the palate with a clean, incredibly long finish. This full-bodied, powerful wine remains stubbornly backward and at least 5-6 years away from maturity.

agavin: we decanted ours at the beginning of the meal and it was very lovely.

a5 wagyu. Pickled bitter greens, caramelized onion puree, carrot. Really fabulous bit of meat.

Cheese cart!

A real cheese cart is so much better than those “they just give you two cheeses” kind of cheese plates. Those are lame. We even got seconds (and a whole other plate of different cheeses I forgot to photo).

1990 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 99. An extraordinary effort, Yquem’s 1990 is a rich and fabulously superb, sweet wine. This wine also possesses lots of elegance and finesse. The wine’s medium gold color is accompanied by an exceptionally sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits, peaches, coconut, and apricots. High quality, subtle toasty oak is well-integrated. The wine is massive on the palate, with layers of intensely ripe botrytis-tinged, exceptionally sweet fruit. Surprisingly well-integrated acidity, and a seamless, full-bodied power and richness have created a wine of remarkable harmony and purity. Certainly it is one of the richest Yquems I have ever tasted, with 50-100 years of potential longevity. An awesome Yquem!

Frozen yogurt. tangerine, carrot, ginger, hazelnut. A very autumn tone to this and the other desserts.

Hachiya persimmon. Whiskey, mint, cocoa.

Pear. Sunchoke cake, manjari. Really autumnal.

Petite fours. The usual, but all very lovely.

And a bag of slightly spicy chocolates to go.

The wines varied very good to spectacular. Four people, six bottles. We could have really used an extra white, as Providence is very seafood heavy, but it still worked out well.

The food was pretty awesome. Having just eaten at Maude a couple days before it’s pretty obvious that this slightly more 2000s style of French American (with Asian influences) is ultimately a little more successful on the plate than the more textural play at Maude. There were a lot of very good dishes here, although a couple of goofs like the carbonara.

Overall, a seriously epic night! We started at 7:30pm and walked out after 1am!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Foodie Club dinners here!