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Archive for Chablis

Valentino – 2010 White Burgundy part 1

Mar30

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd  Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 829-4313

Date: February 7, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and educational!

_

This dinner is the first part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. Tonight’s particular dinner covers 2010 Chablis, Meursault, and Corton Charlemagne. Other dinners in the series are listed at the bottom of the post.

As usual, the dinner was at Valentino, which has been a mainstay of the LA fine dining scene for decades. I first started coming here in about 1995 and it was a mind blowing change from the usual trattoria and red-sauce style Italians. Valentino is much closer to Michelin 2 star restaurant in Italy, although not as modernist as some of those are in recent years. If food in Italy turns you on, check out my Eating Italy segment.

And with regard to the wines and vintage: 2010 is a classic year for white Burgundy. The relatively cool growing season maintained crisp acidity, and the reduced crop delivered great intensity of flavor. Moreover, the wines have structure, and although the simpler wines are accessible now, most premiers and grands crus from top estates have a long life ahead of them.


Our private room. Notice the large table with a lot of space. This is important when you have 30+ glasses a person!


Notice the awesome array of glasses in the background. Only about half of them are visible. Few restaurants can handle this sort of thing, as they need over 400 stems of the same type and a dedicated Sommelier with sufficient experience and skill. Ours tonight handled the whole wine service with extreme professionalism and personality.

The whole thing in session.

Tonight’s special menu.

Flight 0: Champagne

2002 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses. VM 96. The flagship 2002 Brut Clos des Goisses is simply stunning in this vintage. Seamless, ripe and beguiling, the 2002 is pure harmony in the glass. Dried pears, apricots, flowers, red berries and spices are some of the many notes that inform this towering, aristocratic wine. At once vertical yet endowed with serious length, the 2002 stands out for its breathtaking balance and overall sense of harmony. Layers of fruit built to the huge, creamy finish. This is a great showing from Philipponnat. The 2002 was disgorged in June 2011.

Parmiggiano Schegge.

Eggplant Cotoletta.

Grilled pizza.

Calamaretti Fritti.

Branzino & Enoki Mushroom Rolls.

Bread sticks.

Flight 1: Chablis

2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 97. The 2010 Chablis Les Preuses combines the minerality of Valmur and the fruit of Bouguerots in a style that is immensely appealing. The wine’s balance is utterly impeccable throughout. This is one of those effortless, gracious wines that is easy to underestimate because the elements are so seamlessly woven together that nothing in particular stands out. I am blown away by the sheer balance, purity and harmony of what is in the glass. This is a great showing from Fevre and Didier Seguir.

2010 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 96. The 2010 Chablis Preuses is a dense, structured wine bursting with fruit. The typical Preuses bouquet is very much present, but today the wine is young and needs time to settle down. This is a decidedly bold, ripe Preuses that captures the weight and richness of the year. Although insanely vivid and beautiful in the glass, it needs time to fully come together. Today, the minerality appears nearly buried by the sheer weight of the fruit.

2010 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. VM 96. The 2010 Chablis Valmur is intense, rich and heady, but also has more than enough acidity to back things up. It is at once rich yet weightless in its expression of fruit, which is rare for Valmur. Hints of slate, crushed rocks, peaches and apricots meld together on the dramatic, enveloping finish. The Valmur is every bit as fabulous as it was when I tasted it last year from barrel.

2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 95+. The 2010 Chablis Les Clos is all about understatement and balance. White floral notes meld into white stone fruit in this utterly gracious Chablis. Clos can at times be fleeting and elusive, and there is certainly some of that in the 2010. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s textural finesse and sheer overall balance. I will not be surprised if the 2010 continues to get better in bottle.

2010 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 96. Veins of saline minerality support expressive fruit in the 2010 Chablis Les Clos. White peaches, slate, smoke, crushed rocks and salt are all quite vivid in the glass. It is hard to resist the Clos today, as the fruit is so silky and delineated, yet at the same time it is quite clear the wine has the potential to evolve beautifully in bottle for many, many years. The 2010 is all about silkiness and precision. Today, it has a little less overt ripeness and weight next to the Preuses.

2010 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 97+. The very best elements of vintage and site is expressed by one of Chablis’s true visionaries come together in the 2010 Chablis Clos. The aromatics alone are breathtaking, but then endless layers of fruit flow across the palate, captivating all the senses; intellectual, hedonistic and everything else. The Clos has elements of all the preceding wines in the same way Romanée-Conti encapsulates all the wines at DRC. The 2010 Clos shows great balance and class from start to finish. It is a profound wine to savor over the next few decades, although it shouldn’t be touched before age ten. Readers who can find the 2010 should not hesitate. It is a magical bottle of wine.

2010 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. VM 95. An intriguing, rich, almost tropical expression of fruit emerges from the 2010 Chablis Blanchot, owing to the warmer microclimate in this site. The Blanchots is ripe, seductive and enveloping. Stylistically it is one of the flashier 2010s here. Layers of fruit build to the deeply resonant, radiant finish. The Blanchot should drink well relatively early.

2010 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. VM 95+. Readers will have to be patient with the 2010 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre. Some of the other 2010s are showing much more today, but the Montée de Tonnerre is all understatement and class. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s textural finesse and exceptional overall harmony. Everything is simply in the right place in this majestic, compelling Chablis. A gentle hint of spice frames the finish.

Warm King Crab Salad with Cannellini Beans and Citrus Essence.

Flight 2: Meursault

2010 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 93. Pale, bright yellow. Aromas and flavors of fresh peach and apricot, lemon-lime and crushed rock. Rich, dense, creamy and seamless, but with firm acidity and strong stony minerality leavening the wine’s sweetness. Very complex and intense Perrieres with superb energy and length. Made from a blend of three parcels.

From my cellar: 2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 94+. Bright pale yellow. Exotic, slightly high-toned aromas of orange, hazelnut and spicy oak. Then much more soil-dominated on the palate, with savory, chewy flavors of liquid stone and salty minerality dominating the wine’s underlying fruit. Tensile, tightly wound Perrieres, in need of five to seven years of patience.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères. VM 94. Roulot’s 2010 Meursault Bouchères comes across as weightless, perfumed and very beautiful. Floral aromatics lead to expressive stone fruits in this gracious, feminine wine. In 2010, the Bouchères is all subtlety, finesse and understatement. A distinctly salty finish full of tension and energy leaves a lasting impression. This is going to be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years. The 2010 is the last Bouchères made by Roulot. As part of the purchase of Domaine Manuel, Jean-Marc Roulot acquired the 1.3 hectare Clos des Bouchères, and he prefers to focus his efforts there, as that plot is quite a bit larger than his existing holding in the greater Bouchères.

From my cellar: 2010 Domaine Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 94. Knockout perfume of soft citrus fruits, menthol, wet stone and white truffle. Densely packed, saline and seamless; deceptively approachable today owing to its sheer richness and depth of flavor and its very long, sweet aftertaste. But this utterly primary wine has the stuffing for aging. Boillot recommends drinking it in the next year or so or holding it for seven or eight years; he’s convinced the wine will be totally closed in two years.

2010 Domaine Latour-Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Cuvée des Pierre. VM 95+. Bright pale yellow. Spicy oak, lemon oil, hazelnut and brown spices on the nose. Boasts superb saline density on entry, then remains tactile and salty in the middle, but with terrific energy to buffer the wine’s volume. There’s outstanding flavor intensity here but not the early tenderness of the basic Genevrieres bottling. Superb lemony minerality gives the finish terrific cut. Really mounts slowly and builds. Latour noted that both this wine and the cuvee classique went back into barrel for additional aging after the August racking; he moved the rest of his wines into tanks, where they remained in mass for another six months.

2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 96+. Usually we feature older wines in Cellar Favorites, but given the understandable trepidation consumers have around cellaring white Burgundy, I thought it would be interesting to see how a handful of highly touted white Burgundies are faring. To be honest, I had a selfish reason for wanting to taste these wines. I bought many of the Lafon 2010s (it is my daughter’s birth year), but I did so not really knowing when the wines would be ready to drink or how long they will last. I think I can at least offer a view on the first part of that question, but the second, happily, remains a question mark, in the best sense of the term.Vinous readers will recall that 2010 is unusual in the Côte de Beaune for its combination of both elevated ripeness and high acidity, two attributes one rarely finds in the same vintage. At Lafon, the 2010s were positively electric when I tasted them from barrel and then from bottle. Today, a few years later, the 2010 whites are every bit as impressive. Although projecting drinking windows for white Burgundy these days is fraught with peril, based on this showing all of the 2010s need at least a few more years in bottle with the possible exception of the Goutte d’Or.While the preceding Meursaults all offer a measure of exuberance – albeit in a classically austere style – the 2010 Meursault Genevrières is a much more introverted wine that draws the taster in with its myriad shades of dimension. Deceptively medium in body, the 2010 is all about intensity, cut and inward energy, with the classic reductive flavor profile that is typical of this great site, and breathtaking harmony. The 2010 refreshes the palate with every taste as it continues to grow in the glass. Over the last few years, the 2010 has blossomed into a spectacular Meursault. This is the best showing yet from the Genevrières.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 95+. Orange and lemon zest and pure crushed stone on the reticent nose. A real live wire in the mouth, with great verve to the flavors of lemon peel, white pepper and saline minerality. For such a bracing wine, this one boasts a magically silky, seamless texture. The outstanding, slow-mounting finish boasts pristine grapefruit, lemon and crushed stone elements and outstanding aromatic persistence. This wine finished its malo in June of 2011 and is still an infant today.

From my cellar: 2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 94. Deep aromas of fresh apricot, orange creamsicle, vanilla and spices. Big, concentrated and rich, displaying more power and weight today than the Genevrieres. Dense and silky-sweet but a bit shocked by the bottling and not currently showing the precision or length of the last sample. But this is still long on the aftertaste. Lafon notes that this wine will become more floral as it settles down in the bottle.

Linguine with Sea Scallops Ragu. Not a bad dish, but not the best White Burg pairing and oddly VERY similar to the next dish.

Flight 3: Meursault Perrieres

2010 Henri Germain et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 90-93. Here the SO2 had just recently been adjusted and it was strong enough to render the nose impossible to fairly evaluate. The stony, precise and energetic middle weight flavors possess both excellent complexity and plenty of detail before concluding in a dry, clean, focused and impressively persistent finish.

2010 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 93-95. Bright, light medium yellow. Fully ripe peach complemented by flinty minerality. At once thick and bright, with intense stone fruit, oak char and nut oil flavors. Quite serene today after the early malo. This switches to a higher gear on the back half, with its mounting finish showing strong crushed stone minerality, some smoky, petrolly, riesling-like notes, and outstanding persistence.

2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 95+. Locked up tight on the nose. Then thick, large-scaled and powerful in the mouth, with an extraordinarily tactile palate feel to the pineapple and crushed stone flavors. Packed with dry extract. Boasts the concentration, fine-grained texture and sheer sappy density of a grand cru. This brilliant wine finishes with uncanny rising length. I’d love to revisit it in ten years.

2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 96.  Bright pale yellow. Very ripe aromas of pineapple, yellow peach and wet stone, lifted by a floral topnote. Wonderfully fine-grained and sweet, but with pungent pineapple and mineral flavors conveying a powerful impression of energy. Finishes very long and lush, with a resounding whiplash of fruits and stone. These 2010s boast outstanding depth of fruit without any heaviness.

2010 Vincent Dancer Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 92-94. This is perhaps the purest wine in the range with its gorgeously complex floral, spiced pear and wet stone suffused aromas. The racy, intense and chiseled flavors possess good mid-palate fat and concentration with plenty of dry extract that buffers the explosive, classy and gorgeously persistent finish where a discreet touch of wood surfaces. This is, in a word, terrific.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 93. Much more exotic on the nose than the Charmes, offering aromas of pineapple, hazelnut and marzipan. Hugely ripe and concentrated, but almost tropical in the context of this set of 2010s. Offers grand cru weight and texture, strong acidity and palate-staining pineapple and grapefruit flavors but finishes with a slight youthful bitterness. I’d drink this very ripe wine over the next decade or so while waiting on the superlative Charmes.

2010 Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 94. Bright pale yellow. With its aromas of pineapple, powdered stone and tea leaf, this smells a bit sweeter than the Genevrieres. Dense but light on its feet, with terrific inner-mouth perfume to the flavors of lavender, powdered stone and minerals. Taut, elegant, very dry wine with superb cut and rising length. A very clear expression of Perrieres terroir.

2010 Albert Grivault Meursault 1er Cru Clos des Perrières. VM 92. Cool nose of mint, green herbs, some lemon and lemon drops, a bit of sweet oak. A bit oaky for my tastes. The palate shows more energy with good acid, not as deep or wide as I would like from a Perrieres but quite pretty with lemon drops, oak, a touch of the herbal/mint. The finish is the best part showing great drive and brightness with lots of lemon drops and some sweetness from the oak.

Risotto with Lobster and Mixed Seafood. We always get this dish, but tonight it was nearly identical in flavor profile to the pasta and again a bit too tangy/acidic for the Burg. Really we should have had the white cheesy/creamy risotto that was a Valentino specialty back in the 90s, the one that is closer to Risotto gamberi con crema.

Flight 4: Corton Charlemagne

2010 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. VM 96+. Bright pale yellow. Extremely closed nose hints at gunflint and menthol. Dense and pure on entry, then as powerful as a solid in the middle, with explosive lift to the flavors of white pepper, mint and dusty stone. Expands with air to fill the mouth without giving any impression of weight. Finishes with a convincing saline tang and outstanding persistence. This has the structure of a top red Burgundy: I’d forget about it for at least eight years.

2010 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. VM 95+. Good bright, pale yellow. Very pure, reticent aromas of lemon, lime and white flowers. Dry and penetrating to the point of painful, with pristine flavors of crushed stone, lime, lemon and ripe but lightly bitter pomelo. Pure energy: this makes the Cabottes seem almost creamy by comparison. Finishes with intense crushed stone flavor and outstanding cut and lift. For the cellar.

2010 Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. VM 95+. Palish bright yellow. Tight, vibrant nose offers white peach, pineapple, nut oils and brown spices. Juicy and sweet but kept under wraps today by powerful acidity. Still, this remarkably intense wine does not come across as austere owing the full ripeness of the fruit. Wonderfully classy Corton-Charlemagne with a penetrating, dusty, extremely long finish. This held up brilliantly in the recorked bottle. I suspect this wine will shut down in the next couple years.

2010 Domaine Patrick Javillier Corton-Charlemagne. VM 92+. Bright pale-yellow. Very closed nose hints at minerals and spices. Rich, dense and sappy, with almost surprising sucrosite to the flavors of orange zest and stone. Very precise Corton-Charlemagne with a tangy, slightly tannic back end. Forget about this one for at least five or six years.

2010 Domaine de la Vougeraie Corton-Charlemagne Le Charlemagne. VM 94-96. The 2010 Corton-Charlemagne Le Charlemagne is stunningly beautiful. Layers of expressive, voluptuous fruit are supported by persistent underlying mineral notes. The wine blossoms on the palate in all directions, showing off its pedigree and pure class. A vivid, crystalline finish leaves a lasting impression.

2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne. VM 95+. Pale, bright yellow-green. Discreet, pristine aromas of white peach, lime, white pepper and powdered stone. Extremely tight and penetrating, with outstanding intensity to its steely, lemony flavors. Conveys a powerful citrus character that’s accentuated on the back end by a bracing crushed stone element. Impenetrable today but built for a long and eventful evolution in bottle.

2010 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. VM 94+. Good pale yellow. Penetrating aromas of citrus peel, spices, metallic minerality and crushed rock. Tightly wound, gripping and deep, with outstanding concentration and clarity and a density of texture that reminded me of the 2005 here. A flavor of candied lime peel is already quite exhilarating but this wine’s youthfully imploded character calls for at least seven or eight years of cellaring. Today, this is rather like a tighter version of the 2011, and even more closed than a bottle I rated 94 in Issue 164.

2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence. VM 92?. Bright, pale yellow. Reticent but very pure aromas of yellow peach, hazelnut and vanillin oak; comes across as riper than the utterly primary basic Corton-Charlemagne. Sweet and fine-grained, with a distinctly silky texture to the yellow fruit flavors. I find this less limey and minerally than the basic bottling, without quite that wine’s tension. In fact, the finish shows a slightly exotic apricot quality and a bit of youthful warmth.

Pan Roasted Napa Quail with Parmesan Polenta. Good quail dish.

Flight 5: Dessert

1989 Château Rieussec. VM 92. Lively, complex, fresh aromas of tropical fruit, honey and spicy oak. Sweet and viscous in the middle palate; kept fresh by apple and pear notes and harmonious acidity. Very concentrated and deep. Very long on the aftertaste; has the sheer material to buffer its alcohol. Rieussec switched to later bottling with this vintage: 30 rather than 24 months after the harvest.

Made and brought by me for the meal: Mint Oreo Fudge Triple Threat – Fresh mint gelato base with Valrhona chocolate ganache and mint oreo cookies!

Apple Torte & Apple Fritters with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise.

Looking over the sea of glasses!

There is a lot to say about this tasting. First of all, Valentino did a good job as usual. The wine service was impeccable, and this is a difficult task (pouring lots of big blind flights). Overall service is absolutely first rate. It’s a large quiet room, and the staff was highly attentive. The food was okay, although feeling a bit dated and the menu selection was odd with the two nearly identically sauced dishes. The decor and food are also a tad dated now, very very 90s — and not even as good as I remember back in the 90s. But memory is a funny thing.

There wasn’t quite enough food and the flights were WAY too large. Really this dinner could use 6 flights, no bigger than 5 wines each and about 6 savory dishes. This was more a planning/budget issue than anything under the restaurant’s control.

Thanks to Don C again as always for organizing a super fun and education event! It’s an enormous amount of organization and we all really appreciate it.

Speaking of Don, his compiled results and comments from this dinner are as follows. The top five ranked wines of the evening were:

On February we held the first night of the 2010 White Burgundy and Vintage Assessment Dinners at Valentino Restaurant in Santa Monica.  The dinners were in our usual format with 14 attendees and sommelier Paul Sherman evaluating the wines at each dinner.  All of the wines were served single blind and all of the voting takes place completely blind (with individual written ballots) with the attendees ranking their top five wines by bottle number.  As we usually do, we attempted to include all of the top examples from each appellation.

We tasted 32 different wines from Chablis, Meursault and Corton Charlemagne (four flights of eight wines each).  On February 20 we had 30 different hyphenated grand crus from Montrachet and two ringers – one from California and one from France.  Again, we had four flights of eight wines each.

Here are the top ten wines based on the group rankings from each night:

 

Night One- Feb 7 (Chablis (8), Meursault (16), Corton Charlemagne (8)):

 

Top 5 DC
Group Ranking Total Points Votes Rating
1 Vincent Dancer Meursault Perrieres 29 8 95
2 Lafon Meursault Genevrieres 23 6 95
3 Raveneau Chablis Clos 20 5 94
4 Roulot Meursault Perrieres 19 6 95
5 tie Javillier Corton Charlemagne   [DIAM] 17 7 94
5 tie H. Boillot Meursault Perrieres 17 4 93|90?
7 Latour-Giraud Meursault Genevrieres Cuvee de Pierre 15 5 95
8 Vougeraie Corton Charlemagne 13 4 93
9 Roulot Meursault Charmes 11 4 94+
10 Fevre Clos [DiAM] 8 4 94+

The premox report for nights one and two were very good.   Over two nights, we had the lowest total incidence of oxidized or advanced wines over the past 13 years.  The group consensus was that 3 of the 64 wines were advanced or oxidized (6.25%).  By my count it was 7 of 64 wines (or 10.94%) [ Andy interjects that at dinner 1 basically nothing was premoxed and that he feels Don sometimes see a highly ripe wine as advanced ].  To date, the vintage with the lowest incidence of oxidized and advanced wines was 2004 — (12.7%).  But we still have 16 bottles of “Mostly Montrachet” to taste on March 7.   Once again, none of the DIAM-closed bottles were corked, oxidized or advanced and no one reported any sort of unusual flavors or aromas.  So far, that’s 13 perfect bottles over the last two years.

 

Some Impressions About the 2010 Vintage Based on this tasting:

I will provide details on each wine in the tasting notes, but I found the 2010 vintage more uneven and probably less impressive overall than I had expected – at least for the Cote de Beaune wines.  The Cote de Beaune wines are much riper and more dense (with lots of tropical fruit notes on the aromas) than the early reviews suggested.  And in several cases, particularly in Corton, Meursault and Batard, the acidity level wasn’t as high as expected and in some cases, seemingly not high enough to counterbalance the heavy ripe fruit flavors. [ Andy notes that he LOVED the 2010s – but it’s highly subjective ]

The 2010 Chablis as a group were marvelous.  They have prototype Chablis aromas (lots of oyster shell and green fruit) with excellent Chablis minerality/liquid rocks in the finishes.  The surprise was that this came with about 50% more depth of fruit than most of the classic Chablis years.  This is a vintage in a style that everyone can love – similar to 2002 but with better acidity and abundant minerality.  There were lots of smiles over these wines and no one had any doubts, as we sometimes do when tasting Chablis at 7.5 years.

The Meursault wines were very uneven, and in some cases the wines seemed totally atypical and excessively ripe for Meursault.  Three or four of the wines had Corton Charlemagne weight and density with none of the normal Meursault aroma or flavor markers.  These bottles gave the impression of being too sweet and way too fat for Meursault.  Since I’m a classic Meursault lover, I wasn’t pleased. While there were a handful of really stellar Meursaults (e.g. Vincent Dancer MP, Roulot MP, Lafon Genevrieres, Latour-Giraud Genevrieres Cuvee Pierre, and Roulot Charmes) overall I preferred the flight of 2009 Meursault Perrieres we tasted a year ago, which were exceptional, to the flight of 2010 Meursault Perrieres.  That’s certainly not what I would have expected going into the dinner.

The Corton Charlemagne flight was group’s least favorite flight on night one.  Two of the wines were advanced, one was corked and the BDM seemed quite off to me with an excessively bitter phenols finish.   Overall this flight of wines didn’t impress me.  Some were notably sweet, even for Corton, and the acidity didn’t seem to match the ripeness and sweetness. Only the Javillier seemed to be a classic Corton.

Other big tasting dinners from this dinner series:

2009 White Burgundy part 1

2008 White Burgundy part 1

2008 White Burgundy part 2

2008 White Burgundy part 3

2007 White Burgundy part 1

2007 White Burgundy part 2

2007 White Burgundy part 3

2006 White Burgundy

2004 Red Burgundy

2005 White Burgundy part 1

2005 White Burgundy part 2

2005 White Burgundy part 3

Related posts:

  1. Valentino – 2009 White Burgundy part 1
  2. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 1
  3. Valentino – 2008 White Burgundy part 1
  4. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 2
  5. Valentino – 2006 White Burgundy
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2010 White Burgundy, BYOG, Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Don Cornwell, Gelato, Italian Cusine, Meursault, Valentino, Wine

Valentino – 2009 White Burgundy part 1

May19

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd  Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 829-4313

Date: March 1, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and educational!

_

This dinner is the first part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. Tonight’s particular dinner covers 2009 Chablis, Meursault, and Corton Charlemagne. Other dinners in the series are listed at the bottom of the post.

As usual, the dinner was at Valentino, which has been a mainstay of the LA fine dining scene for decades. I first started coming here in about 1995 and it was a mind blowing change from the usual trattoria and red-sauce style Italians. Valentino is much closer to Michelin 2 star restaurant in Italy, although not as modernist as some of those are in recent years. If food in Italy turns you on, check out my Eating Italy segment.

And with regard to the wines. The relatively low acidities in 2009, especially low malic-acid levels which accelerated the malolactic fermentations, mean that many white 2009s are relatively soft and rich. Ripe grapes meant no added sugar to boost alcohol levels but yields were relatively high. This suggests they will make satisfying early drinking but should probably be consumed long before the more structured and long-term 2008s. This applies particularly in Chablis to the north of the Côte d’Or.


Our private room. Notice the large table with a lot of space. This is important when you have 30+ glasses a person!


Notice the awesome array of glasses in the background. Only about half of them are visible. Few restaurants can handle this sort of thing, as they need over 400 stems of the same type and a dedicated Sommelier with sufficient experience and skill. Ours tonight handled the whole wine service with extreme professionalism and personality.

Tonight’s special menu.

Flight 0: Champagne

2004 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee. 94 points. Light gold color; citrus, biscuit and lemon zest aromas; bright citrusy flavors with a lightly toasty element which adds complexity; a very long citrus and minerals finish. Very nice champagne.

Parmiggiano Schegge.

Bruschetta with wild arugula.

Shrimp Milanese.

Oysters.

Grilled flat bed pizza.


A word about tonight’s format. Every bottle was served blind, except we were aware of what flight it was and what was in the flight, just not of which wine was which. The reveal was held until the end of the entire evening so that we could vote on favorite wines without bias.

Personally, I’d prefer a reveal halfway through each flight for a number of reasons. True, this would compromise the voting a bit, but that’s not super important to me. I’d prefer to be able to taste the wines both not knowing which was which and knowing, so that I can continue to build up my subjective memory for each house style. I also find it very difficult to remember back across multiple flights for “best” comparisons. I took notes and marked my favorites of each flight and compared those, but I’m not even really sure it’s fare to compare a Chablis to a Corton.

The tasting notes below are cribbed from Don C who organized the dinner.

Flight 1: Chablis

2009 Raveneau Chablis Montee de Tonnerre. 90 points. Light gold color; sweet lemon (Meyer lemon) aromas; very light lemon flavors, and a mid-palate which is mostly some glyceryl effect and some modest minerals; this is a fairly thin wine. Group Rank: Tied for 17th, 1 points (0/0/0/0/1)

2009 Dauvissat Chablis Preuses. 91 points. Color between light and medium gold; distinct honeysuckle aromas that remind me much more of BBM than Chablis; light green apple and citrus flavors; this has better acidity than #1, but less minerality; a light mineral finish. Four tasters thought this was advanced. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Fevre Chablis Preuses. 90 points. Light yellow gold color; very light green apple and lime aromas; on the palate this is thin with a little green apple but not much other discernable character on the palate My score in retrospect is probably generous. This got one vote for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Raveneau Chablis Valmur. 91 points. Medium gold color; light green apple and some very faint anise aromas; very light bodied wine with mostly minerals and glyceryl elements; the finish is very light but minerally and fairly long (best feature). This got five votes for best in flight and our Somm. Paul Sherman had it in his top 5 for the night. Group Rank: Tied for 17th, 1 points (0/0/0/0/1)

2009 Dauvissat Chablis Clos. 87 advanced. Medium gold color; Lychee fruit and faintly oaky aromas – but as this sat the aromas started to get more like apricot; this has some odd, sour apple juice flavors; there is notable acidity, but the acidity reminds me more of “end acidity” when the wine is oxidizing rather than natural malic or lactic acid. This is definitely advanced. That is also the group consensus. Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Faiveley Chablis Clos. 86 advanced. Medium gold color; light green apple aromas; modestly rich green apple flavors and seemed to be more like a Cote de Beaune wine than a Chablis to me; not all that much to be excited about in the finish though. After some air there were some pineapple notes in the aromas on the second pass. Hard to see this as Chablis and I’m almost suspicious of what’s in the bottle. Three votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Fevre Chablis Clos. 86 advanced. This between medium and full gold color – definitely the darkest of the first flight; forward apple cider aromas with slightly oaky/toasty note – definitely advanced; advanced red apple fruit flavors. This was definitely advanced and the group all agreed. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Raveneau Chablis Clos. 90 points. Medium gold color; aromas of oyster shell and light lime – finally a Chablis aroma set; on the palate, this had richer fruit than the other wines in the flight, but it was still in a lighter and softer style. Some fairly light minerality and a short finish. While the aromas were definitely Chablis, the palate wasn’t and this wine didn’t seem to have anywhere left to go. Five votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 17th, 1 points (0/0/0/0/1)

Crab cake with white wine caper sauce.

Flight 2: Meursault part 1


2009 Roulot Meursault Charmes. 91 points. Medium gold color; overly sweet lemon/lime aromas – I immediately said “7-Up” with agreement from several in the room; on the palate, it had similar, overly sweet, almost syrupy lemon-lime flavors, but it had very good acidity and a decent finish. This wine strongly reminded me of what I didn’t like when I first tasted the 2009 vintage on release. [NB Retasting this after the reveal, it was impossible to identify this wine as either Roulot or Meursault Charmes] Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Henri Boillot Meursault Charmes. 90 points. Medium gold color; white flowers and pear aromas; lightly sweet citrus fruit on the palate but with some grilled nut background character; this reminds me more of a Meursault than #9; but this one is a bit harsh and almost phenolic on the finish. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Colin-Morey Meursault Charmes. 93+ points. Medikum plus gold color; light white flowers and some lemon – lime fruit aromas; very bright, medium bodied and charming lemon citrus and light pain grille flavors; a very long subtle fruit finish with a minor degree of acidity in the finish. Real Meursault with just a hint of upside. Four votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

Andre Jobard Meursault Charmes. 89 advanced. Between medium gold and full gold color; aromas of cheerios with sweetness (an aroma Ron Movich has traditionally flagged as outright oxidiation); on the palate, the wine is very fat, buttery, and has a sweet caramel flavor. This is exceedingly advanced and the group unanimously concurs. In hindsight my score seems too generous. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Latour-Giraud Meursault Genevrieres. 94 points. Very light gold color; aromas of green fruit (like Midiori liquer) and oysters; on the palate, intense, bright citrus flavors with excellent acidity and a good dollop of minerality; this also had a very long minerals and citrus finish that just kept improviing as the night went on. A genuinely impressive Meursault. One vote for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 15th, 3 points (0/0/0/1/1)

2009 Latour-Giraud Meursault Genevrieres Cuvee des Pierre. 94+ points. Light gold color; bright lemon citrus aromas with a hint of grilled nuts; very bright lemon-lime flavors with lots of minerality and noticeable acidity; some powerful citrus fruit and abundant minerality on the finish – excellent; this has a bit more fat on the finish than #13. Five votes for wine of the flight. My number four wine of the night. Group Rank: Fifth , 13 points (1/0/1/2/1)

2009 Roulot Meursault Porusots. 93 points. Light gold color; aromas of lemon citrus and hints of green midori liquer; very bright wine with good acidity, moderate intensity lemony fruit and intensely minerally mid-palate; nice components but there seem to be mismatches in intensity levels here; fairly long sweet finish. This got two votes for favorite of the flight, but five people thought it was advanced. On my second pass through it definitely seemed to have lost something. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

Risotto al frutti di mare. Some years we have had seconds of this — could have used it tonight.

Flight 3: Meursault part 2


2009 Lafon Meursault Charmes. 92 points. Between light and medium yellow gold color; light lemon citrus and minerals aromas; not much fruit here, but some intense minerality on the mid-palate and finsih; this is classic but dry; nice minerality on the finish. Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Roulot Meursault Perrieres. 94 points. Between light and medium gold color; fresh peach and hazelnut aromas; some lemon citrus, with stony, ground rock mid-palate and great acidity; a very long, mostly mineral and light lemon finish. I love this wine for the stoniness and mineral intensity, though some could find it too austere in the fruit department. Group Rank: Fourteenth , 6 points (1/0/0//1)

2009 H. Boillot Meursault Perrieres. 94 points. Between light and medium gold color; again peach and hazelnut aromas; unlike #17, this has some fat and richness on the mid-palate, the biggest wine of the flight; a nice minerally finish too. One vote for best in flight. Group Rank: Tied for 12th, 8 points (0/1/1/0/1)

2009 Bouchard Meursault Perrieres DIAM. 94+ points. Light yellow gold color; light green apple aromas; clean and bright citrusy flavors; very good acidity here; a very long minerals and fruit finish. There is some upside here. Four votes for best in flight. My No. 6 ranked wine of the night. Group Rank: Tenth, 10 points (1/1/0/0/1)

2009 Coiin-Morey Meursault Perrieres. 94+ points. Light plus gold color; very subtle white flowers and lemon pastry aromas; on the palate this had some more dense lemon fruit character and minerality; decent acidity; very long minerals and citrus finish. Impressive with some upside. Three votes for best in flight. My No. 3 ranked wine of the night. Group Rank: Tied for sixth, 12 points (0/1/2/1/0)

2009 Drouhin Meursault Perrieres. 94+ points. Between light and medium gold color; light green apple aromas that don’t really seem open or developed yet; on the palate this was backward, with very good acidity and had intense mineral-saline character over some light citrus fruit. This one needs time to open, but seems very impressive. Four votes for best in flight. My No. 2 ranked wine of the night. Group Rank: Tied for sixth, 12 points (0/1/1/2/1)

2009 Lafon Meursault Perrieres. 94+ points. Between light and medium gold color; very light white flowers aromas; this wine has very bright acidity, light citrus and intense minerality; a long minerally finish too. Two votes for best in flight. This was my No. 5 ranked wine of the night. Group Rank: Tied for 8th, 11 points (0/0/2/2/1)

Pan roasted Napa quail stuffed with wild mushrooms on soft polenta. Not a bad quail.

Flight 4: Corton Charlemagne


2009 Faiveley Corton Charlemagne. 92 points. Light plus gold color; aromas of pears and white flowers; nice medium density pear flavors, nice depth; it didn’t seem to follow through on the finish though. Group Rank: Tied for 8th, 11 points (0/2/0/1/1)

2009 Javillier Corton Charlemagne DIAM. 93 points. Just short of medium gold color; this had pear and green apple aromas; also similar flavors; this has an elegant and long finish which distinguishes it from #23. Group Rank: Tied for 15th, 3 points (0/0/1/0/0)

2009 Montille Corton Charlemagne DIAM. 93 points. Between light and medium gold color; white flowers and pear aromas; this has some greater richness and depth on the mid-palate with good acidity; minerality isn’t obvious here; fruity finish with some acidity. Group Rank: Tied for 20th (last), 0 points (0/0/0/0/0)

2009 Vougeraie Corton Charlemagne. 94 points. Between light and medium gold color; sweet white flowers aromas; intense pear flavors; this has more power and depth and more minerality than the preceding wines in this flight; it also has brilliant acidity, and very nice minerality; a very long minerally finish.. Two votes for best in flight. Group Rank: 11th, 9 points (1/0/0/2/0)

2009 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne. 93+ points. Between light and medium gold color; light white flowers and sweet citrus aromas; less depth of fruit than the others, and more citrus here, good acidity, but I found this somewhat dry, almost phenolic on the back of the palate; nice minerals on the finish. May round out with more time. Two votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Third, 22 points (2/2/1/0/1)

2009 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne. 93+ points. Between light and medium gold color; aromas of white flowers and lemon blossoms; on the palate this had some sweet citrus and a long dry minerally finish. Needs more time. This got five votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Fourth, 15 points (/3/0/0/0/0)

2009 Bouchard Corton Charlemagne DIAM. 93 points. Light yellow gold color, the lightest of the flight; light white flowers and green apple aromas; this had relatively simple green apple flavors but an incredibly long structured minerally finish. At first I thought this wine had good development potential, but by the end of the night, I just wasn’t sure. Group Rank: Twelfth, 9 points (0/1/1/0/1)

Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne. 94 points. Just short of medium gold color; light white flowers and green apple aromas; the most complex mix of fruit flavors of the flight – lemon, lime and green apple, with very nice depth and length; a very pretty wine though not as much minerality as some of the others. I liked this even a little more on my second pass. Five votes for best in flight. Group Rank: Second, 30 points (3/2/2/0/1)

Colin-Morey Corton Charlemagne. 95 points. Light gold color; very light white flowers aromas with some green apple undertones; very bright green apple flavors which are intense and snappy; this wine is extremely long on the palate and has amazingly good minerality on the finish. A wow wine. Three votes for best in flight (including mine). My number one wine of the night. Group Rank: First, 34 points (2/3/2/3/0)

Sicilian boneless rabbit with prosciutto, caciocavallo, a hint of chocolate. Not sure we needed TWO meat in brown sauce dishes.

Flight 5: dessert

 Fight the hangover!

1976 Schloss Eltz Auslese. Deep brown color; some burnt sugar and apricot aromas; from a personal perspective I had a real problem getting past the strong burned toast and earthy character on this wine that made the sweetness unreachable for me. Not my cup of tea, but I’ve never been a fan of the 1976 German vintage.

Cassatina di rocotta with pistachio gelato. My gelato is much better but the cassata tasted about 80% like a real Sicilian Cassata, which in my books makes it awesome as that dessert is almost impossible to find properly done outside of Sicily.

Conclusions

 No glasses to be found anywhere (else).
 Have a few white burgs!

There is a lot to say about this tasting. First of all, Valentino did a good job as usual. The wine service was impeccable, and this is a difficult task (pouring lots of big blind flights). Overall service is absolutely first rate. It’s a large quiet room, and the staff was highly attentive. The food was solid, although not as bright or modern as some places. The decor and food are a tad dated now, very very 90s — and not even as good as I remember back in the 90s. But memory is a funny thing.

There wasn’t quite enough food and the flights were WAY too large. Really this dinner could use 6 flights, no bigger than 5 wines each and about 6 savory dishes. This was more a planning/budget issue than anything under the restaurant’s control.

Thanks to Don C again as always for organizing a super fun and education event! It’s an enormous amount of organization and we all really appreciate it.

Speaking of Don, his compiled results and comments from this dinner are as follows. The top five ranked wines of the evening were:

The group’s top five ranked wines of the evening were:

1. 2009 Colin-Morey Corton Charlemagne.
2. 2009 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne
3. 2009 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne
4. 2009 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne
5. 2009 Latour-Giraud Meursault Genevrieres Cuvee Pierre

The details are all in the attached spreadsheet along with my ratings on the wines.

Of 31 wines, we had 0 corked, 0 oxidized but 3 were advanced (9.7%). In the four months leading up to this dinner I opened 11 different 2009 whites and didn’t experience a single bottle that was either advanced or oxidized. We had four bottles with DIAM cork closures at the dinner and none of them were advanced or oxidized.

Some general comments –

This was the fourth consecutive dinner where a Colin-Morey wine finished either the number one or number two ranked wine by the group (and all of the voting has been totally blind.) BDM Corton made the top five for the first time ever. Vougeraie made a very impressive first time appearance.

Except for the Chablis, the wines from 2009 far exceeded my initial expectations. When the Cote de Beaune wines were released, I thought most of them were excessively sweet (I frequently used the descriptor of “7-Up”). As a result, I cellared very few 2009s. But the Cote de Beaune wines today, for the most part, far exceed my initial expectation. The level of improvement was even more profound than what we experienced with the 2006 vintage.

The bad news for 2009 is that, in my judgment, 2009 is the least impressive vintage of Chablis that I’ve ever tasted – far worse than the 2007s or the 2005s. The Chablis were extremely thin and mostly lacking in Chablis character. The three best wines of the flight, all from Raveneau, were very light bodied wines with some minerality but very little else to commend them. In my opinion, it’s a vintage of Chablis to avoid.

But in contrast to the disappointing Chablis, the flight of Meursault Perrieres was, when considered as a whole, the most consistent flight of Meursault Perrieres, from one wine to the next, that we’ve ever had. Excluding the Lafon Charmes, (which I usually include with the MPs because of those vines’ immediate proximity to Perrieres and the fact that the Lafon Charmes usually tastes more like MP than Charmes), the wines were uniformly very impressive. They were fairly light in color and had varying pleasant fruit esters (mostly citrus, but in two cases green apple and two with some peach) along with grilled hazelnut in a couple of them. They also all had surprisingly good acidity and strong minerality. After writing my notes and provisionally scoring the wines I was astonished to realize that I’d rated every MP at 94 points and it was very hard to pick a favorite in this flight. Four of the wines are likely to improve a little more with additional bottle age (which to me was unexpected for the 2009 vintage.)

The Corton flight, while it had a greater range of variation, was also quite good. The aromas were mostly white flowers and green apple or pear (though a couple had some light citrus elements). The wines were bigger bodied and richer than the MPs, as you would expect. They were surprisingly classic in style compared to how sweet and 7-Up like many of the wines tasted like at the time of release.

Other big tasting dinners from this dinner series:

2008 White Burgundy part 1

2008 White Burgundy part 2

2008 White Burgundy part 3

2007 White Burgundy part 1

2007 White Burgundy part 2

2007 White Burgundy part 3

2006 White Burgundy

2004 Red Burgundy

2005 White Burgundy part 1

2005 White Burgundy part 2

2005 White Burgundy part 3

Related posts:

  1. Valentino – 2008 White Burgundy part 1
  2. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 1
  3. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 2
  4. Valentino – 2008 White Burgundy part 2
  5. Valentino – 2006 White Burgundy
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2009 White Burgundy, Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Don Cornwell, Italian cuisine, Meursault, Santa Monica, Valentino, Wine

Valentino – 2008 White Burgundy part 1

Feb10

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd  Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 829-4313

Date: February 9, 2016

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and educational!

_

This dinner is the first part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This dinner covers 2008 Chablis, Meursault, and Corton Charlemagne. 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series Part 1 can be found here. You can also read about previous year’s 2004 Red Burgundy dinner and 2006 White Burgundy tasting.

This particular dinner is at Valentino, which has been a mainstay of the LA fine dining scene for decades. I first started coming here in about 1995 and it was a mind blowing change from the usual trattoria and red-sauce style Italians. Valentino is much closer to Michelin 2 star restaurant in Italy, although not as modernist as some of those are in recent years. If food in Italy turns you on, check out my Eating Italy segment.

And with regard to the wines. In Burgundy, in 2008, up to the middle of June, when the moon was full on the 18th., the season had been cool, wet and miserable. The flowering was late and drawn out, promising a late and uneven harvest. The next six weeks happily saw a marked inprovement: plenty of sun, not too much rain – and what there was was sporadic and localised – though it was warm rather than hot. Temperatures rarely exceeded 30°C. Then the weather deteriorated. There was more rain and less sun right through to mid-September. A bleak summer indeed! Overall there was less precipitation on the Côte de Nuits than the Côte de Beaune, and less still in the Côte Chalonnaise. Chablis seems to have enjoyed the mildest weather of all. But inevitably, the incidence of mildew, oidium and botrytis became ever more serious as the weeks progressed. At various times from the beginning of May onwards, hail damaged the vineyards of Marsannay, Volnay and Meursault, Chassagne and parts of the southern Màconnais and northern Beaujolais.

At the last minute, however, more benign conditions returned and continued well into October. The harvest kicked off in the Beaujolais, as I have said, on September 15th. A week or more later the growers began to attack the Mâconnais and to some extent the Côte de Beaune. But many in the Côte d’Or held off until Monday 29th or even, in the Côte de Nuits, into October, and were able to profit from natural sugar levels of 13° and higher. It was the latest harvest for some years, requiring 110 or more, not 100, days from flowering to fruition.

A couple of us got here early and decided to get the party rolling with a great value off the Valentino wine list: 
1969 Maison Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. 94 points. This is just ridiculously young. Even the color doesn’t indicate its age. There’s a fair amount of sulfur, which could explain its vibrancy. Gently oaked, light nuttiness with plenty of lemon with a hint of minerality. Good acidity, round and rich, very Charmes. A treat to drink.

agavin: WOTN actually, as the upcoming 2008s just don’t have the age to compete with this kind of complexity.


Our private room. Notice the large table with a lot of space. This is important when you have 29+ glasses a person!


Notice the awesome array of glasses in the background. Only about half of them are visible. Few restaurants can handle this sort of thing, as they need over 400 stems of the same type and a dedicated Sommelier with sufficient experience and skill. Ours tonight handled the whole wine service with extreme professionalism and personality.


Tonight’s special menu.

Flight 0: Champagne

2005 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 93. The 2005 Brut Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons from Pierre Peters is beautifully open and expressive, which is quite unusual in young Chetillons. That is good news for those who want to catch a glimpse of one of Champagne’s most exciting wines. This is about as good as it gets in what turned out to be a very challenging vintage in Champagne.

Bruschetta with wild arugula and parmiggiano schegge.

Oysters.

Parmigiana crisps.

Crab cakes.

Pizza Margherita.


A word about tonight’s format. Every bottle was served blind, except we were aware of what flight it was and what was in the flight, just not of which wine was which. The reveal was held until the end of the entire evening so that we could vote on favorite wines without bias.

Personally, I’d prefer a reveal halfway through each flight for a number of reasons. True, this would compromise the voting a bit, but that’s not super important to me. I’d prefer to be able to taste the wines both not knowing which was which and knowing, so that I can continue to build up my subjective memory for each house style. I also find it very difficult to remember back across multiple flights for “best” comparisons. I took notes and marked my favorites of each flight and compared those, but I’m not even really sure it’s fare to compare a Chablis to a Corton.

Flight 1: Chablis

2008 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. BH 95. A highly complex if discreet nose of noticeably cool aromas features notes of limestone, lemon, oyster shell, iodine and dried white flowers that marry into beautifully precise flavors blessed with an abundance of dry extract on the tightly wound, seriously long and intense finish. This is flat out gorgeous and perfectly balanced with that Zen-like character this wine always seems to evidence.

agavin: lots of Chablis acidity

2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. BH 95. The reflections are the classic light gold-green hues of a fine Chablis. The barest touch of oak highlights the green fruit, menthol, saline and iodine aromas that precede the extremely stony, concentrated and driving flavors that are also blessed with ample amounts of dry extract that provides a much needed balancing element to the ripe acid backbone on the chalky and sappy finish. When Valmur is really good, it rivals Les Clos for the best grand cru in Chablis and this 2008 is really good.

agavin: slightly darker than most, a bit of oxidized advanced notes on the nose.

From my cellar: 2008 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. BH 97. A background touch of wood frames green fruit, white flower and salt water aromas that introduce ultra pure, refined, elegant and cool flavors that possess terrific vibrancy and focused power before culminating in a driving, understated, firm and altogether serious finish. I very much like this as it’s classic Valmur and should age beautifully as the balance is perfect. Perhaps the best way to capture the spectacular potential of this wine is to call it brilliant. Don’t miss it but note that patience is required.

agavin: reductive nose, and really singing. Clearly the best of the flight.

2008 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. BH 96. A ripe, pure and airy nose of classic Chablis aromas is trimmed in the barest hint of pain grillé while complementing perfectly the rich, mineral-driven and beautifully intense palate staining and mouth coating flavors brimming with oyster shell nuances on the penetrating, delineated, focused and bone dry finish. I love the underlying sense of tension here and like the Preuses, this has so much dry extract that it will require at least a decade to fully mature. Brilliant.

agavin: much darker, with strong oxidative notes on the nose. Tasted of apple, and at the moment, fairly decent, but probably significantly advanced.

2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. BH 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.

agavin: my glass smelled soapy, which was distracting.

2008 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. BH 96. This too is impressively pure and cool with an airy but reserved mix of floral, spice, mineral reduction and iodine notes merging seamlessly into gorgeously intense and almost aggressively stony medium-bodied flavors that exude a subtle sense of harmony, indeed this is Zen-like on the explosive, balanced and lingering finish that positively screams Chablis. This is simply fantastic and while I have a very slight preference for the Valmur, this is certainly an inspired effort as well. If you can find it, don’t miss this either but also like the Valmur, be prepared to be patient.

agavin: very nice, with a lot of Chablis acidity and apple notes.

2008 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. BH 95. A restrained, even discreet nose of toast, white flower, stone and quinine notes can also be found on the silky, pure and sophisticated medium-bodied flavors blessed with ample amounts of dry extract that completely buffer the firm acid spine on the detailed, minerally and lingering finish that is almost painfully intense. A classic Blanchots of both style and grace.

agavin: also a nice Chablis

2008 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 94. A more elegant as well as more refined but also much more reserved nose of white flower and salt water aromas is very much in keeping with the equally refined, pure and silky middle weight flavors that possess excellent detail and precision on the textured and seductive finish that displays grand cru level persistence. This is not quite as rich as the Butteaux but it’s finer as the chiseled flavors are flat out gorgeous. In a word, stunning.

agavin: nice, probably second best in the flight — showing that Rav MDT is a serious value.

Pan seared scallops with wild mushrooms and a crustacean reduction. A lovely seafood salad with good solid hunks of lobster.

Flight 2: Meursault

This flight included all the Meursaults that were not Perrieres.

2008 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères. BH 92. A classic Meursault nose of roasted hazelnut, fresh white flower, pear and white peach aromas trimmed in a touch of citrus marries into vibrant and impressively detailed flavors that also deliver ample power and punch on the intense and lively finish. This has real personality and in contrast to many examples of the appellation, this is really quite fine. Worth considering.

agavin: lots of acid.

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots. BH 92. An extremely fresh green fruit and herbal nose cut with hints of underbrush and citrus where the latter element can also be found on the rich, powerful and serious but not rustic medium weight plus flavors that culminate in a mouth coating and impressively long finish. This is robust but actually slightly finer than it usually is.

agavin: very punchy.

2008 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 92. As one would reasonably expect, this is much more elegant with an ultra pure nose of apricot, peach, lemon and toasted nuts that slides seamlessly into supple and very seductively textured medium-bodied flavors brimming with dry extract that really coats the mouth on the almost painfully intense finish. This is exceptionally well-balanced and will age though the extract is such that it will be enjoyable young.

agavin: one of the best wines of the flight

2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 90-92. A slightly more elegant nose features ripe white peach, pear and lemon aromas that introduce the rich, full-bodied, intense and mouth coating flavors that, not surprisingly, possess more depth as well as more underlying material, all wrapped in an impressively long finish. This is very Charmes as it’s generous but classy.

agavin: at first seemed like a hint of premox, but a very rich wine

2008 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 93. A discreet but not invisible touch of oak frames the ripe orchard fruit aromas, particularly peach and apricot, as well as pretty floral notes. The fresh, intense and notably sweet flavors possess excellent intensity and vibrancy before culminating in a generous and mouth coating finish that displays real verve. I really like the sense of underlying tension and the abundant amount of dry extract confers an almost chewy quality on the gorgeously long finish. In a word, terrific.

agavin: slightly darker, possibly advanced

2008 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 93. An impressively pure if somewhat reserved high-toned nose features wonderfully stylish aromas of white flower, hazelnut, wet stone and ripe lemon-lime nuances where the minerality also adds punch and lift to the mineral-infused, racy and punchy medium-bodied flavors that possess real finishing verve and seriously impressive persistence. The old vine sap is very much in evidence as it confers a seductive texture onto the mid-palate yet does not compromise the precise and chiseled quality of the backend. In a word, marvelous.

agavin: some people thought this might be off

Pan seared scallops with wild mushrooms and a crustacean reduction.

Flight 3: Meursault Perrieres

2008 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. VM 92+. Classic aromas of lemon, lime, minerals, hazelnut and grilled almond; smells rich in dry extract. Then dense and superconcentrated, with terrific inner-mouth energy to the flavors of peach, orange blossom, lemon and crushed stone. Time-capsule Meursault, finishing with superb length. This too should age very well.

agavin: nice, very focused and linear

2008 Hospices de Beaune Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Cuvée Baudot Pierre Yves Colin Morey. 96 points. WOW….there’s that pycm lime! SO friggin good…..piercing lime acidity, crushed slate, chalky limestone….the age has creamed it up well…actually quite rich…dried honey, florals galore…chiseled and drinking perfect! A true pleasure.

agavin: very reductive and lovely. We all swore this was the Coche. It tasted so like Coche. I guess we were wrong. Best wine of the flight.

2008 Comtesse Bernard de Cherisey Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru La Genelotte. 89 points. Showing just a hint of the wax and lanolin I associate with age (and I do not like). Showing more gunflint and power. The many fruit tones are lessened. Very complex. Very well made. We shall see where it ages too but I do enjoy it. But is it better young or old?

agavin: rich and strong with some soy sauce notes

2008 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 93. This is the most elegant wine to this point with a strikingly perfumed nose of spiced pear, wet stone and rose petals that gives way to minerally and focused middle weight flavors that are crystalline in their purity, all wrapped in a seriously deep and long finish. Like several wines in the range, a classic example of the appellation.

agavin: solid and tasty

2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 91-93. Here the nose offers yet another step up in refinement with an almost delicate nose of acacia blossom, citrus and wet stone that leads to linear and precise flavors of crystalline purity, all wrapped in a long, dry, serious and explosive finish that displays a penetrating minerality. A classic Perrières.

agavin: flat nose, but good taste

2008 Domaine François Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 91-93. A striking nose of exceptionally fresh and layered aromas of fennel, green apple and spiced pear complement the round, intense and gorgeously detailed flavors that possess outstanding depth and length on the finish that is like rolling small pebbles around in your mouth. As with a few other wines in the Mikulski range, there is a saline character on the almost painfully intense finish that reminds me vaguely of Chablis.

agavin: cork flake nose? a touch darker? apple on the pallete

2008 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 92. There is still a trace of mild reduction that only marginally detracts from the appeal of the otherwise pretty aromas of acacia blossom, spiced pear and wet stone aromas. The delicious, gorgeously elegant and pure flavors possess a silky palate impression on the concentrated, explosive and stunningly long finish that seems to be composed of liquid rock. This classy example doesn’t quite have the precision of the Charmes though the length is certainly most impressive. We’ll see how this develops but for now, I would rank this just below the Charmes in terms of overall quality.

agavin: very solid

Seafood Risotto. Always a favorite. A very nice risotto, although not cheesy. Last year we had two portions, we could have used that this time!

Flight 4: Corton Charlemagne

2008 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. VH 92-94. An upper register and highly complex nose of green apples, white pear and citrus notes introduces almost painfully intense, pure and impressively powerful big-bodied and overtly muscular flavors that possess an almost aggressive minerality on the palate staining, tension-filled and driving finish. This is really a striking wine that is built to age as there is an abundance of dry extract. Gorgeous.

agavin: nice, with green apple. Quite good for the flight.

2008 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. VH 95. There is a hint of exoticism to the citrus, pear and white peach suffused nose that is presently trimmed in a noticeable, if very slight, touch of sulfur. The rich and extremely fresh middle weight plus flavors possess an impressive amount of dry extract as well as ample mineral influence on the austere and ultra-pure finish that seems to go on and on. This powerful and impeccably well balanced but presently closed effort should live for many years though it will probably come to its peak 10 to 12 years from now. In a word, fabulous.

agavin: pretty big

From my cellar: 2008 Joseph Drouhin Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91-94. Discreet if not invisible wood highlights a ripe white flower and green fruit nose nuanced by spice and wet stone hints where the latter elements are also reflected by the intensely soil-driven flavors brimming with both salinity and minerality on the explosive and strikingly long, palate staining and overtly austere finish. This is a sublimely classic Corton-Charlemagne that offers formidable cellar potential.

agavin: Vanilla, big, a well liked Corton

2008 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 96. This is a classic example of Corton-Charlemagne with its impressively layered floral, green fruit, lime and stone-infused nose that precedes citrusy, precise and powerful mineral-driven flavors that possess real muscle on the almost painfully intense and steely finish that delivers striking length. While it’s not quite as great as the Montrachet, it easily holds its own. A wine to own but note that only the patient will ever see it at its best as this is likely to evolve glacially.

agavin: rich

2008 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. BH 94. A highly complex nose of pain grillé, cool green fruit laced with floral and anise hints leads to rich, powerful, naturally sweet and impressively intense full-bodied flavors that possess an overt muscularity as well as buckets of dry extract that really coats the mouth on the long and distinctly dry finish.

agavin: slightly darker with maybe some advanced notes

2008 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley. BH 91-94. Almost invisible wood allows the lightly spiced and earthy red berry fruit aromas that are admirably pure to merge into relatively supple yet well-detailed broad-shouldered flavors that culminate in a lingering and solidly firm finish. This is unusually approachable but I expect that it will tighten up considerably after it is bottled. If so, this will definitely be a wine for the patient.

agavin: solid

2008 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. BH 96. Hints of oak toast add nuance to the green apple, lime and classic dried white flower aromas that precede the well-muscled, firm and impressively broad-shouldered flavors that are clean, dry and ultra intense with real drive on the penetrating and intensely mineral-suffused finish that delivers stunning length. This beautifully chiseled effort does not deliver quite the same length as the Montrachet but it’s perhaps even more complex. In sum, part of why I like this so much is its sense of completeness.

agavin: a bit weird. caramel notes?

2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne. VH 93-95. A reticent nose of lightly spiced green apple, white peach and white rose petal aromas leads to exceptional pure, detailed, tautly muscular and stony medium weight plus flavors that possess superb intensity and huge length on the mouth coating cuts-like-a-knife finish. This is presently an understated yet powerful wine possessing huge amounts of dry extract and stunning verve. A serious effort that will undoubtedly be long-lived though arrive at its apogee before its 10th birthday.

agavin: nice and fruity, probably my favorite of the flight

Pan roasted Napa quail rapped in pancetta. The bacon added a lot of salty goodness. The meat had a nice gaminess too, although was perhaps a touch over cooked.

A side of ravioli in butter sage sauce. A simple classic prep, and great as always.

Flight  5: Dessert

2004 Turley Roussanne LPR Alban Estate Vineyard. VM 93. Deep orange-gold. Apricot liqueur, golden raisin, maple syrup, vanilla, honey and clove on the nose. Thick, fat and supersweet, with the wine’s ten grams per liter of acidity lost in its sugar. An extremely glyceral wine that winemaker Jordan says is lower in sugar and acidity than the 2005 (which came from grapes harvested two months earlier!), and less “electric.” Notes of honey and nuts on the extremely long and sweet back end.

agavin: very sweet and fruity, with a pink almost cloudy tone. Tasty, but not amazing or anything.

Pear tart tartin with gelato.

Above is the revealed flight list.

And the full array of revealed bottles.

The crew is getting young as a new generation of Chardonnay fiends gets in on the action.

There is a lot to say about this tasting. First of all, Valentino did a good job as usual. The wine service was impeccable, and this is a difficult task (pouring lots of big blind flights). Overall service is absolutely first rate. It’s a large quiet room, and the staff was highly attentive. The food was solid, although not as bright or modern as some places. The decor and food are a tad dated now, very very 90s — and not even as good as I remember back in the 90s. But memory is a funny thing. All the dishes tonight were tasty. Pairing with the Burgundy was spot on (thanks to Don and Ron who worked hard on this aspect).

Wine service was impeccable.

There wasn’t quite enough food and the flights were too large. Really this dinner could use 6 flights, no bigger than 5 wines each and about 6 savory dishes. This was more a planning/budget issue than anything under the restaurant’s control. I wanted to go for awesome porky ramen after, but Tsjuita was closing so we couldn’t quite get mobilized.

2008 as a vintage was quite good. We had no corked bottles and 3-4 advanced bottles. No totally premoxed bottles like with 2005. The vintage character is broad and ripe, with a good amount of acid, but not the unrelenting sourness of 2007. Chablis remains tight. The richer wines, particularly Meursault Perrieres and Corton Charlie were very impressive. Some really nice wines there. The Chablis were good, but very Chablis with that acidic linearity. The MPs were the roundest, but I always like MP.

I also think we should vote on each wine in the flight and then reveal that flight. Keeping them blind until the end seriously reduces the learning aspect of the evening, as you can’t really remember or effectively revisit. Plus, my “voting” is pretty random, consisting of picking my favorites from each flight anyway. I just don’t have it in me to go back and retaste 30 wines or to compare Chablis and Corton Charlie against each other. Just my opinion.

Thanks to Don C again as always for organizing a super fun and education event! It’s an enormous amount of organization and we all really appreciate it.

Speaking of Don, his compiled results and comments from this dinner are as follows. The top five ranked wines of the evening were:

1. 2008 Colin-Morey Meursault Genevrieres Hospice de Beaune, which got nine of fourteen possible first place votes and a pretty astounding 55 total points.
2. 2008 Drouhin Corton Charlemagne
3. 2008 Raveneau Chablis Blanchots
4. 2008 Raveneau Valmur
5. 2008 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne

The Ringer for the evening – De Cherisey Meursault Blagny Genelottes (located above Meursault Perrieres) fit right in with the Meursault Perrieres flight as expected and did quite well finishing tied for 7th overall.

Of 29 wines, we had 0 corked, 0 oxidized but 5 advanced (17.2%). The latter group included only one surprise (Dauvissat Clos) and four of the usual suspects. The pleasant surprises were that Bonneau du Martray was not on the POX list and neither were any of the Henri Boillot wines.

It was a great performance by the Chablis overall – the best vintage of Chablis we’ve had since 2002 and infinitely superior to the disappointing 2007s.

A couple of generalizations – the colors on the wines were all in the gold range, mostly between light and medium gold – generally deeper-colored than the 2007s at the same point. All of the wines showed good acidity. So far, the vintage seems very successful though we ran into a couple of wines where there seemed to have been an underlying rot problem that wasn’t dealt with well.

Other big tasting dinners from this dinner series:

2007 White Burgundy part 1

2007 White Burgundy part 2

2007 White Burgundy part 3

2006 White Burgundy

2004 Red Burgundy

2005 White Burgundy part 1

2005 White Burgundy part 2

2005 White Burgundy part 3

Related posts:

  1. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 1
  2. Valentino – 2006 White Burgundy
  3. Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 2
  4. Valentino – 2004 Red Burgundy
  5. Valentino – 2005 White Burg part 2!
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2008 White Burgundy, Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Meursault, Valentino, Wine

Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 1

Feb06

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd  Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 829-4313

Date: February 3, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fabulous!

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This dinner is the first part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This dinner covers 2007 Chablis, Meursault, and Corton Charlemagne. 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series Part 1 can be found here. You can also read about last year’s 2004 Red Burgundy dinner and 2006 White Burgundy tasting.

2007 was a vintage was cool and acidic, but with promise in reds.

This particular dinner is at Valentino, which has been a mainstay of the LA fine dining scene for decades. I first started coming here in about 1995 and it was a mind blowing change from the usual trattoria and red-sauce style Italians. Valentino is much closer to Michelin 2 star restaurant in Italy, although not as modernist as some of those are in recent years. If food in Italy turns you on, check out my Eating Italy segment.


Our private room. Notice the large table with a lot of space. This is important when you have 29 glasses a person!


Notice the awesome array of glasses in the background. Only about half of them are visible. Few restaurants can handle this sort of thing, as they need over 400 stems of the same type and a dedicated Sommelier with sufficient experience and skill. Ours tonight handled the whole wine service with extreme professionalism and personality.

Tonight’s special menu.

Flight 0: Champagne

1996 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut. IWC 94. Vivid yellow-gold. Kaleidoscopic aromas of citrus fruits, poached pear, mango, lees and licorice, with slow-building florality. Supple, palate-coating orchard and exotic fruit flavors are complicated by notes of herbs and buttered toast, with a smoky quality in the background. Seems younger than it did last year, showing excellent finishing clarity and persistent smoke and spice character. This really won’t let go of the palate, which is fine by me.

agavin: We had two 750ml bottles of this and I only tasted the first. It was a bit oxidized and short, and leaned heavily on the acidity. Supposedly the second bottle was better.


Fresh oysters.


Diamonds of Mushroom Polenta. I’m not a polenta fan.


Arancinette of Seafood. These are very pleasant fried rice balls with a hint of seafood.


Taleggio Flatbread and Black Truffles. This was very nice and cheesy with a bit of an almost blue cheese flavor.


A word about tonight’s format. Every bottle was served blind, except we were aware of what flight it was and what was in the flight, just not of which wine was which. The reveal was held until the end of the entire evening so that we could vote on favorite wines without bias.

Personally, I’d prefer a reveal halfway through each flight for a number of reasons. True, this would compromise the voting a bit, but that’s not super important to me. I’d prefer to be able to taste the wines both not knowing which was which and knowing, so that I can continue to build up my subjective memory for each house style. I also find it very difficult to remember back across multiple flights for “best” comparisons. I took notes and marked my favorites of each flight and compared those, but I’m not even really sure it’s fare to compare a Chablis to a Corton.

Flight 1: Chablis


2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. Burghound 94. It seems that each succeeding wine is more aromatically elegant than the prior wine and again, the nose here is incredibly pure, layered, airy, indeed almost lacy with perfumed notes of dried white roses, salt water, oyster shell and iodine that complement to perfection the classy, refined and textured flavors brimming with both minerality and dry extract that buffers the firm acid spine on the strikingly long finish. This is not as powerful as the Montée de Tonnerre but it’s finer, in fact to the point that the Raveneau Blanchots is a wine of finesse, indeed even delicacy in 2007. In a word, wonderful.

agavin: my favorite of the flight. a little reduced at first, blew off. Then nice nose. lots of minerals and tons of acid on the finish with some real zingy weight.


2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 95. An equally elegant but ever-so-slightly more complex nose that is also ripe, pure and airy complements perfectly the rich, supple and beautifully intense palate staining and mouth coating broad-shouldered flavors brimming with intensity and oyster shell nuances on the penetrating, delineated, austere and gorgeously precise finish. The underlying sense of tension here is palpable and this too has so much dry extract that it will require the better part of a decade to fully mature. A classic Les Clos.

agavin: nose a little less at first, but still nice. Long acid on the finish, a little hotter than the Blanchots.


2007 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 93. This offers a step up in aromatic elegance with acacia blossom, quinine, citrus peel and sea shore aromas that are framed by a gentle touch of wood, which is also reflected by the intense, powerful and quite serious big-bodied flavors that ooze dry extract that confers a silky and sappy mouth feel to the seductive and long finish. Still, this will require at least 6 to 8 years to really be at its best and it should live for years after that.

agavin: white flower on the nose? palette reserved at first. short finish of sour apple.


2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. Burghound 94. An extremely deft dash of wood is barely noticeable and merges seamlessly with highly complex if discreet aromas of limestone, lemon, oyster shell, sea breeze and white flowers. This is a big, powerful and incredibly precise wine with magnificent flavor authority and seemingly endless reserves of sappy extract. Tightly wound and still very youthful but the extract buffers the intense acidity and completely coats and stains the palate on the hugely long and intense finish. A knockout Valmur.

agavin: our only corked bottle. disgusting unfortunately.


2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. Burghound 94. Here the nose is every bit as elegant if not more so but it’s distinctly cooler and somehow more distant yet the strong Chablis character is immediately evident as the nose is a classic combination of green fruit, warm stone, iodine and distilled extract of sea water and this intense saline quality continues onto the equally cool, brilliantly defined and stunningly well balanced flavors that are crystalline in their purity on the driving finish. This does a slow but steady build in intensity from the mid-palate on back and the length is flat out amazing.

agavin:  sulfur and porta potty on the nose at first. reduction on the palette, but not unpleasant with a soft acid finish. Opened up and some of that reduction blew off later.


From my cellar: 2007 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. RJ wine 93. Light medium lemon yellow color; nutty, ripe lemon, light lanolin, tart apple nose; tasty, complex, very tart apple, mineral, almond, light hazelnut palate with medium acidity; could use 3 years yet; medium-plus finish 93+ points.

agavin: darker in color than most of the  flight. reserved minerality and apple juice on the nose. acidic apple on the palette.


2007 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. Burghound 94. Initially this is still restrained but after only 10 minutes or so it becomes quite expressive with a nose that is airy, ripe, elegant and strikingly pure as it combines plenty of Chablis character that includes sea breeze, citrus and green fruit aromas that precede the delineated and equally pure flavors of stunning depth and intensity, all wrapped in a hugely long finish. Like the nose, the minerality seems subdued at first yet arrives in a real rush on the finale. A genuinely great wine that is a study in harmony and grace as well as one that should age effortlessly for many years. I have advanced the suggested drinking window by one year as this can already be drunk with pleasure even though it is still on the way up. In a word, stunning.

agavin: darker color then most in the flight. white flowers or stone fruits on the nose. rich on the palette with a somewhat heavy long finish.


2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 96. I had a chance to retaste this side by side with its 2008 counterpart and the ’07 matches the brilliant quality albeit in a different style due to the vintage characteristics. As such, I am raising my rating slightly. An aggregator is how I would describe this nose as the range of aromas and subtle nuances is genuinely amazing with a purity of expression that is nothing short of riveting with the classic assertive mineral reduction character that suffuses the character of this wine from the incredibly detailed nose to the wonderfully long, palate staining finish. The big, rich, powerful, detail and superbly focused flavors are supported by a very firm acid backbone that confers a bone dry quality to the finish that I could still taste hours later. In brief, at the moment this is more extract of Kimmeridgian stone than wine but it’s breathtakingly good. Don’t miss it.

agavin: very bright color. reduction and rubber on the nose. palette was reduced but pleasant, with a soft acid finish.


From my cellar: 2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. Burghound 95. This is every bit as elegant as the Valmur with nuanced, highly layered, discreet and very pure aromas of understated green fruit and almost pungent tidal pool aromas that are followed by rounded, focused and incredibly complex flavors displaying notes of warm stone and oyster shell. The texture and mouth feel of this are positively seductive as the finish is a liaison of richness and delicacy with that silky yet explosive finish that all the great examples of Preuses seem to possess. A wine of crystalline purity that is pure silk and class. A don’t miss Fèvre ’07.

agavin: completely closed on the nose at first, opened after some time to white flowers and spearmint. Nice green apple taste. Long balanced soft acid apple finish.


Crudo di pesce with salmon, ahi tuna, yellow tail with citrus and colatura. This was a lovely salad with very nice fish and a great sweet and citrus quality to it.

Flight 2: Meursault

This flight included all the Meursaults that were not Perrieres.


2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. Burghound 93. By contrast with the expressiveness of the Goutte d’Or, this is much more reserved and with a different aromatic profile more given to seductive and slightly exotic spices, citrus blossom and orange peel that leads to classy, rich, full and naturally sweet palate coating flavors as the dry extract is every bit as impressive. Like all of the Lafon ’07s, it is the impeccable balance that really sets these wines apart and the Genevrières is a wine of perfect harmony, particularly on the linear and explosive finish.

agavin: detergent on the nose to start. sweet taste with a hint of banana. rice nice finish.


2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots. Burghound 90-92. A mildly rustic green fruit and roasted nut nose slides into big, rich, powerful and robust full-bodied flavors that possess impressive size and volume before culminating in a tautly muscled, mouth coating and palate staining finish. This is no model of elegance but there is no doubting the intensity and flavor authority.

agavin: nose closed at first. Rich palette with searing (good) finish.


2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. Burghound 92. This too is extremely fresh, bright and pure with superb elegance on the restrained nose of acacia blossom, hazelnut and brioche that merges seamlessly into detailed, textured and silky medium-bodied flavors that are not as dense as those of the Poruzots or as refined as those of the Bouchères yet there is more depth and length. In short, overall this is a more complete wine of lovely harmony.

agavin: weird nose at first. Reduction and green apple on the palette. Weird odd finish too.


2007 Coche-Dury Meursault. IWC 92. Bright, pale yellow. Tangy aromas of orange, peach and spices. Broad and lively, with intense fruit lifted by a near-perfect sugar/acid balance. Finishes with excellent cut. This is awfully good for a wine from seven-year-old vines.

agavin: tons of stone fruit on the nose. Rich, reduced taste with strong notes of sour peach. Long soft acid finish. My favorite of the flight.


2007 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. Burghound 92. A beautifully fresh, perfumed and intensely floral nose also speaks of citrus and hazelnut nuances that give way to delicious, round and intense medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent detail on the impressively long and impeccably well-balanced finish. However the aspect that really sets this apart from most villages-level wine is the excellent complexity. Overall, this seductively textured effort is still on the way up and I would be inclined to give it another 3 to 4 years of cellar time first.

agavin: fruit and acid on the nose. A rich balanced palette and a long finish.


2007 Hospices de Beaune Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Cuvée Baudot Jean-Marc Roulot. 91 points. Very pretty but reserved nose. Nice acidity framing a bit of sweet oak. Light and pretty. Quite good.

agavin: more reserved on the nose but with a rich middle.


Pan Seared Scallops with Sweet Pea Sauce and Couscous. The scallop itself was nice but I found the couscous and pea sauce to be fairly flavorless.

Flight 3: Meursault Perrieres


2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A bit of unintegrated SO2 does not impede the expressiveness of the ultra elegant citrus-infused nose of mostly floral notes that merges into spicy, pure and strikingly detailed flavors that possess excellent size and weight plus plenty of dry extract on the punchy, long and serious finish that seems to be constructed of liquid rock. Like the Genevrières, this is an explosive yet fine wine that exhibits a discreet, but unmistakable, sense of class and grace.

agavin: one of my favorites of the flight. reserved on the nose at first. Lots of stone fruits on the palette and a great long finish. Really a zingy wine once opened.


2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. Burghound 94. This is more expressive and a bit riper with ultra pure aromas of peach, apricot, pear and spiced white peach leading to ripe, concentrated and superbly precise flavors that display plenty of mid-palate fat and ample minerality that this part of Charmes always seems to impart to the wines and overall, this is a stunningly harmonious wine of finesse.

agavin: nothing on the nose at first and perhaps a bit advanced on the palette


2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 95. Despite several years of bottle age, this remains backward, tight and not revealing much aromatically beyond wonderfully pure white flower, pear and spice aromas. The rich, full and strikingly powerful flavors possess superb depth of dry extract and huge length on the detailed, focused, beautifully balanced and penetrating finish that seems to be extracted directly from liquid rock. This very classy effort is a potentially great Perrières as everything necessary is here and this should age extremely well. The word Zen comes to mind.

agavin: reduction and peach on the nose. Peach flavor with a medium finish.


2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 94. A very subtle trace of wood frames a green fruit and high-toned spiced floral nose that is still tight and reserved but ultra pure with detailed, stony and gorgeously vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a pungent limestone character and this finishes with a palate staining finale of stunning length. Like the best examples of Roulot’s Perrières, the ’07 is a wine of impeccable balance and perfect harmony of expression.

agavin: voted the wine of the night by most people. Tons of stone fruits on a crazy good nose. A bit of reduction on the palette at first, but tons of weight too and a crazy good finish.


2007 Domaine Matrot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 94. As it almost always is, this is the class of the Matrot cellar with discreet wood framing a reserved but ultra elegant, airy and exceptionally pure white flower and pungent limestone nose that marries seamlessly into fine, precise and intensely stony flavors that finish bone dry and with a vaguely saline quality on the cuts-like-a-knife finale. This is built to age and should provide at least 6 to 8 years of upside development. Highly recommended.

agavin: apple cider, apple cider, apple cider. Smelled and tasted like alcoholic dry Martinellis. Probably a bit advanced. Some sherry notes too after a while.


2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 94. A less expressive but even more complex nose features acacia blossom, pear and citrus aromas nuanced by an almost pungent minerality that continues onto the pure, detailed and almost painfully intense flavors that possess serious delineation on the notably ripe and sappy finish. I was knocked out by this textbook Perrières. Highly recommended.

agavin: reduction and stone fruits.


2007 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 94. Mild reduction initially reduces the expressiveness of the otherwise fresh and impressively complex lemon, stone and acacia blossom-infused nose that leads to equally complex and beautifully delineated middle weight flavors that ooze a fine minerality before culminating in an overtly austere but explosive, linear and compact finish of superb length. While this could of course be drunk now, for my taste it is still much too young. However, if you’re going to try one out of curiosity, I would strongly advise decanting it for at least 30 minutes first as the flavors take their timing opening up. Tasted twice recently with one bottle being a bit more forward than the one described above.

agavin: we all guessed it was the coche MP because there was so much of that characteristic reduction. Potty on the nose at first, but blew off. Reduction on the palette too. Only beginning to shake off 2 hours later. But nice nonetheless.


Maine Lobster Risotto. Always a favorite. A very nice risotto, although not cheesy. Last year we had two portions, we could have used that this time!

Flight 4: Corton Charlemagne


2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 96. A cool, airy, complex and gorgeously elegant nose is more restrained than these Puligny-based grands crus while offering up notes of green apple, pain grillé, stone and very subtle spice notes that merge into rich, full and impressively powerful flavors that possess perhaps the best dry extract levels of any wine in the range as they really stain the palate on the intense, long and bone dry finish that seems to have no end. There isn’t quite as much overall depth here as in the Montrachet but otherwise, this succeeds in going to toe to toe, which is not small feat given how good the prior wine is.

agavin: kinda lot with a long searing finish


2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 94. A barely perceptible touch of SO2 does not overtly mar the airy, ultra fresh and impressively refined nose of white flower, citrus, green apple and wet stone and it is this pungent minerality that is really on display with the intense, detailed and tight big-bodied and well-muscled flavors that positively brim with a distinct salinity that is more in keeping with a classic Chablis than a classic Corton-Charlemagne. Still, this is a brilliant effort by any measure and the finish is like a vinous bomb. In sum, this is a dramatic but balanced wine that should age well for many years to come.

agavin: very reduced on the nose with some weight and a long finish


2007 Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 91-94. Subtle wood sets off more elegant aromas of green apple, floral and wet stone notes that are also reflected by the rich, intense and impressively powerful big-bodied flavors that seem extracted from liquid rock, all wrapped in a palate staining and driving finish. Another aspect worth noting is that this is often a distinctly oaky Corton-Charlemagne but in 2007, thanks to the policy of reducing the wood influence, the oak influence is much more moderate if not invisible.

agavin: reduced at first, with some malo and real weight in the middle, then lingered


2007 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 94. A strikingly complex nose that possess excellent breadth to the ripe, pure and airy aromas of white flower, spice, green apple and subtle pear aromas that complement to perfection the big-bodied, rich and mouth coating flavors built on a base of fine minerality, all wrapped in a sappy and mouth coating finish that oozes dry extract. This is really a lovely effort with a chiseled and driving finale of superb persistence though note that while patience will be required, there is sufficient mid-palate sap that the finishing austerity is not forbidding. A “wow” wine.

agavin: perhaps a little advanced, but drinking nicely now. hot with strong apple qualities.


2007 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 96. Seemingly like all of Boillot’s wines in this vintage, a strikingly pure nose of green apple, white flower and spice aromas complements perfectly the delicious, intense and stony flavors that are among the ripest in the range yet remain wonderfully vibrant and gorgeously detailed on the taut, transparent and bone dry finish that bathes the palate in dry extract. This is beautifully balanced and among the best wines of the vintage from Corton. In a word, brilliant.

agavin: also probably advanced. sherry and apples. Apple brandy? hot on the finish.


2007 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 93. A wonderfully elegant, pure and high-toned nose that is quite floral with a pronounced citrus influence to the green apple and wet stone notes that border on a mineral-reduction character, which continues onto the detailed and equally pure flavors that possess a cuts-like-a-knife linearity on the bone dry and palate staining finish. This is like sucking on pebbles and while the flavors are distinctly austere at present, the balance is impeccable and this should make for a first-rate vintage for this wine in time. Note however that patience will be required.

agavin: very pale color. Long acidic finish.


2007 Simon Bize Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 91-94. A deft touch of wood sets off an even more restrained and more elegant nose that is ultra pure and though reserved, aromas of green fruit and white flower nuanced by hints of spice and orange peel can be found. And the purity and transparency of the nose continues onto the muscular and big-bodied flavors that offer up minerality to burn on the very firm and gorgeously long finish. This is a block of stone and it will require the better part of a decade’s worth of patience for the full potential of this beauty to fully express itself. In a word, brilliant.

agavin: Tropical nose, maybe some advanced notes? tropical fruits on the palette. An oddball in the flight as this was so tropical.


2007 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92-95. A highly complex lemon and orange peel, white flower and green apple nose introduces substantially bigger and richer if less refined broad-shouldered flavors that are quite dense and I like the mouth feel before the flavors slide away into a notably dry, intense, extended and punchy finish. This is a big wine with plenty of extract that really stains the palate.

agavin: great wine. Rich, powerful, long. Extremely Corton Charlie. One you keep coming back to. my (and many others’) favorite of the flight.


Pan Roasted Napa Quail with Pancetta and Sage. The Quail itself was tasty, as was the jus. The asparagus didn’t go with white burgundy and the dish was a bit of work to eat because of the bones.

Flight  5: Dessert


1971 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 97. Served from an ex-chateau bottle. I have always stood by the 1971 Chateau d’Yquem as being one of the most seriously underrated vintages of that decade. I feel completely vindicated in this view as I batted away the 1967 Yquem when tasted at the chateau and entranced its audience. This great Yquem was born during 10 days from October 6, when warm and humid conditions caused an outbreak of botrytis. It was a small crop of just 228 barrels. Slightly deeper in color than the 1982 Yquem tasted alongside, it is blessed with a truly spellbinding nose that has such energy and frisson that you don’t know where to look. You can detect Mirabelle, ripe Satsumas, citrus peel and beeswax. The palate is vibrant, animated and simply electrifies the mouth upon entry. The 1971 has immense concentration, while the almost Tokaji Aszu-like finish is beautifully poised. This is simply an outstanding Yquem that shows absolutely no sign of reaching the end of its drinking plateau.

agavin: awesome! Really all you could expect in a fully mature D’Yquem. Like apricot nectar.


Seasonal Fruit Tart with Gelato. This was a pleasant traditional dessert.


Above is the flight list.


And the full array of revealed bottles.


That’s more or less one person’s glasses!

There is a lot to say about this tasting. First of all, Valentino did a good job as usual. The wine service was impeccable, and this is a difficult task (pouring lots of big blind flights). Overall service is absolutely first rate. It’s a large quiet room, and the staff was highly attentive. The food was solid, although not as good as last year. The decor and food are a tad dated now, very very 90s — and not even as good as I remember back in the 90s.

2007 as a vintage was quite good. We had one corked bottle and 3-4 advanced bottles. No totally premoxed bottles like with 2005. The vintage character is very acidic, with a high frequency of green apple. Chablis remains tight. The richer wines, particularly Meursault Perrieres were very impressive. Some really nice wines there.

The top six wines of the night by group ranking/voting were:

1. Roulot MP
2. Bouchard MP
3. Ringer No. 1 — Coche-Dury Meursault AOC [Chaumes de Perrieres]
4. Colin-Morey MP
5. Coche-Dury Meursault Rougeots
6 (tie). Coche-Dury MP
6 (tie) Faiveley Corton Ch

Don’s reviews of each wine can be found here.

Other big tasting dinners from this dinner series:

2006 White Burgundy

2004 Red Burgundy

2005 White Burgundy part 1

2005 White Burgundy part 2

2005 White Burgundy part 3

Flight  6: Second Dinner

After the main event, a bunch of us were still hungry and so we bought a bottle of Red Burgundy from the Valentino wine list and ubered over to Ramen-ya down the street.



1993 Marc Rougeot-Dupin Richebourg. 90 points agavin. This wine was incredibly reasonable on the Valentino wine list and so we bought a bottle “to go.” Very strange Richebourg, all meaty and funky with a gamey bloody quality. I liked it though, and it was getting better over an hour in the glass. Well worth the price of admission.


Pork potstickers. Yum!


Fried chicken cartilage. That triangle-shaped bit in the chicken breast — fried!


Spicy beef tendon. Tasty!


Miso soup.


Shoyu-Ramen soy sauce soup ramen with roast pork, bean sprouts & bamboo shoots and wontons.


Fried rice.


A shoyu broth.


Fried chicken egg rice.


Kimchee fried rice.


Seafood fried rice.

This all certainly qualified for “late night fatty carbs”!!

Related posts:

  1. Valentino – 2006 White Burgundy
  2. Valentino – 2004 Red Burgundy
  3. Valentino – 2005 White Burg part 2!
  4. Burgundy at Bouchon – Faiveley
  5. Burgundy at Bouchon – Jadot
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2007 White Burgundy, Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Meursault, Valentino, Wine

Wine on the Beach

Jul25

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to a absolutely fabulous wine dinner hosted by Eric Cotsen at his lovely Malibu pad. A number of us Hedonists attended. Eric has these diners regularly and they feature an awesome setting, great company, wonderful food, and amazing wines provided by both him and the guests. All the wines are served blind (more or less).


You can see the ocean is rather close! Like under the house.


The chefs whip up our feast.


Eric has these crazy high tech nitrogen dispensers that preserve (and aerate) the wines. He even has sets of glasses with etched number and letter combos so you can pair to the wines.


2005 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay. Mineral driven, with a touch of oxidation on the palate. Finishes with a huge bright Chablis like burst of acidity, and then a slightly odd finish. I liked it for its uniqueness, and that bracing acidity. I would have guessed it was a Chablis.


2008 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard. IWC 93. Pale, green-tinged yellow. Reticent but pure aromas of crushed stone, flowers and herbal tea. Broad, classically dry and powerful, with primary fruit flavors currently overshadowed by soil-driven minerality. This is chewy-verging-on-thick and seems the least expressive of this set of chardonnays today. Tasted blind, I would have sworn this was a Batard-Montrachet (albeit a slightly hot one).


1988 Chateau Margaux. Parker 89. In a somewhat chunky, full-bodied, rather muscular style, with a dark, almost opaque garnet color and a big, smoky, earthy nose, with hints of compost, melted asphalt, black fruits, mushrooms, and new oak, this wine lacks the elegance one expects from Chateau Margaux, but does have plenty of tough-textured tannin and an almost rustic, corpulent style to it. The wine is mouth-staining as well as mouth-filling, but in a relatively chunky style.


1988 Petrus. Parker 91-94. This wine has become increasingly herbaceous with the tannins pushing through the fruit and becoming more aggressive. The wine started off life impressively deep ruby/purple but is now showing some amber at the edge. It is a medium-bodied, rather elegant style of Petrus with a distinctive cedary, almost celery component intermixed with a hint of caramel and sweet mulberry and black cherry fruit. It has aged far less evenly than I would have thought and is probably best drunk over the next 8-10 years.


1988 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 94. Broodingly backward and in need of considerable bottle age, the 1988 is a classic expression of Lafite. This deeply-colored wine exhibits the tell-tale Lafite bouquet of cedar, subtle herbs, dried pit fruits, minerals, and cassis. Extremely concentrated, with brilliantly focused flavors and huge tannins, this backward, yet impressively endowed Lafite-Rothschild may well turn out to be the wine of the vintage!


1988 Latour. Parker 91. The best showing yet for a wine from this under-rated vintage, the dark garnet-colored 1988 Latour reveals slight amber at the edge. A bouquet of melted tar, plums, black currants, cedar, and underbrush is followed by a sweet entry, with medium to full body, excellent ripeness, and mature tannin. It is a classic, elegant Latour with more meaty, vegetable-like flavors than are found in a riper year, such as 1989 and 1990. The 1988 has just begun to enter its plateau of maturity, where it should remain for 25 years.


1988 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 89. The 1988 has an aroma of exotic spices, minerals, blackcurrants, and oak. In the mouth, it is a much firmer, tougher, more obviously tannic wine than the 1989. It is a beautifully made 1988 that will last 20-30 years, but the astringency of the tannins is slightly troubling. Patience will be a necessity for purchasers of this wine.


1988 Haut Brion. Parker 92. A more firmly structured Haut-Brion, built somewhat along the lines of the 1996, this dark garnet-colored wine is showing notes of licorice, underbrush, compost, truffles, dried herbs, creosote, and sweet black cherries and currants. Medium-bodied, rich, but still structured, this wine unfolds incrementally on the palate, showing superb density and a lot of complex Graves elements. It is just beginning to hit its plateau of full maturity.


A nice cheese plate with a variety of fermented dairy and some excellent truffle honey.


Slightly spicy salmon in little sesame crisps with flying fish roe. Very nice.


Fig on toast with cheese and a bit of mint.


Lamb chops and a dijon sauce. I saw the labradors eyeing these!


A pizza-like quesadilla (or vice versa).


Avocado with a bit of Jalepeno.


Salmon on pizza-like bread with creme-fraiche and capers. Good, although not as good as my version :-).


After a bit we all moved outside to this lovely table with a firepit. The waves were crashing UNDER us!


2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Cote de Bouguerots. Burghound 94.  The subtle hint of wood spice this displayed in its youth has now been completely absorbed which gives full rein to the wonderfully complex nose of minerals, white flowers and a hint of crushed oyster shells that introduces muscular, powerful, deep and broad flavors that are blessed with superb length and terrific vibrancy. Those that may doubt that Bougros merits its grand cru status need only experience this wine to be persuaded. A great effort that is drinking well already though for my taste, it needs another 2 to 4 years in the cellar first. I have tasted this wine many times with consistent notes.


1993 Masson Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Vergelesses. I couldn’t find anything on this wine, and I’m not even sure I tasted it. That’s the trade off with tasting blind, as I would have for sure.


2008 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin. Burghound 93. A pungent mix of wood spice, earth, red berry fruit, game, smoke and an interesting menthol note highlights the moderately animale character of the rich, full, refined and pure broad-shouldered flavors underpinned by ripe and very firm tannins that culminate in a moderately austere and still very backward finish. This will require moderate cellar time to be at its best, which at this early stage I would estimate at 12 to 15 years.


2005 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard. Parker 97. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard comes from the fifth leaf of this estate vineyard and in this vintage contains 4.5% Merlot. The wine was aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak. Opaque purple-colored, its distinctive aromatics leap from the glass. Toasty oak, scorched earth, a hint of truffle, black cherry, black raspberry, and blackberry liqueur aromas are quite mesmerizing. On the palate, this sizable effort is firm, full-bodied, and structured, demanding 6-8 years of cellaring. It falls a bit short of the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of complexity but bear in mind that this is still a very young vineyard.


From my cellar, 1999 Fougeray de Beauclair Bonnes Mares. Burghound 91. Saturated deep ruby color, whiff of new oak to go with the explosive black raspberry fruit and almost liqueur-like flavors with lots of sweet pinot sap, buried tannins and excellent length. It is very ripe and powerful yet not over the top and remains beautifully elegant.

I was disappointed at how this was drinking now. I think it needs a bit more time to open up and gain more secondary notes. There was still a good amount of oak on it, and I like all my oak gone in a burg.


1997 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Vineyard. Parker 87. As long time readers know, I have not been overwhelmed by the winemaking direction taken at Stag’s Leap. That said, this 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Vineyard exhibits a dark ruby/purple color in addition to an attractive nose of minerals, Asian spices, black currants, and earth. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with good acidity, ripe tannin, and a slightly compressed finish. This elegant, but unexciting effort should drink well for 10-12 years.


2000 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. Parker 87-89. The only 2000 I tasted was the Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. It reveals the vintage’s charm, sweet tannin, and lovely ripe fruit, but those characteristics are slightly negated by the fact that it does not have the depth, persistence, layers, or concentration of a great Napa vintage.


Tomato, basil, burrata or mozzarella, and a fried eggplant thingy.


2000 La Mission Haut Brion. Parker 100! One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old.


2003 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Parker 95. The brilliant, opulent, fleshy 2003 Pichon Lalande (65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot) possesses a high pH of 3.8 as well as 13% alcohol. Reminiscent of the 1982 Pichon Lalande (which never shut down and continues to go from strength to strength), the dense plum/purple-colored 2003 offers gorgeous aromas of blackberries, plum liqueur, sweet cherries, smoke, and melted licorice. Fleshy, full-bodied, and intense, displaying a seamless integration of wood, acidity, tannin, and alcohol, this beauty can be drunk now or cellared for 20 years or more.


2003 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Da Capo. Parker 100! For the fourth time, the Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo has been produced, and for the fourth time, it has received a perfect score although I might back off the 2000’s perfect score based on the fact that it seems to be more of an upper-ninety point wine than pure perfection these days. The 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo has distanced itself ever so slightly from the 2003 Cuvee Reservee. Before bottling and immediately after bottling, these two wines’ differences were not as evident. At present the Capo reveals that extra level of flavor, power, complexity and richness. It is a big wine (16.1% alcohol – less than in the 1998, but more than in the 2000 and 2007) boasting a dark plum/garnet color as well as a stunning bouquet of aged beef intermixed with pepper, herbes de Provence, and steak au poivre. This unctuously textured, full-bodied Chateauneuf possesses enormous body, huge flavors and sweet, velvety tannins. Still youthful, it has not yet begun to close down, and I’m not sure it ever will given this unusual vintage. It is a modern day classic that should continue to provide provocative as well as compelling drinking for 20-30+ years.


2006 Arkenstone Cabernet Sauvignon Obsidian. 95 points. This was young and full throttle, still showing a harsh oak treatment on the palate and finish that covered the quite ripe red fruit. Long vanilla cream finish. While the fruit was big enough with the heavy oak, seemed disjointed and overdone in this lineup. Revisit in 5yrs unless you aren’t shy of oak.


From my cellar, 2004 Cantine del Castello Boca Piemonte Conti. I brought this because it’s sneaky, and this was a blind tasting. The 2004 isn’t drinking nearly as well right now as the 2003. It has a lot more structure and needs several years to mellow out.


Conterno Barolo Monfortino Riserva. I couldn’t see what year this was, but it was classic mid aged barolo and full of stiff tannins.


Filet in “special” marinate and sauce with a bit of salad and wasabi mashed potatoes. The sauce was great, close to one of those Kentucky style bourbon type steak sauces.


2001 De Suduiraut. Parker 98. A prodigious effort, possibly the finest Suduiraut since 1959, the medium gold-colored 2001 offers notes of creme brulee, caramelized citrus, Grand Marnier, honeysuckle, and other exotic fruits as well as a pleasant touch of oak. With terrific acidity, a voluptuous/unctuous palate, and sweet, powerful flavors buttressed by crisp acidity, it is a phenomenal Sauternes.


1988 Coutet Cuvee Madame. Parker 99. Tiny quantities are made of Coutet’s Cuvee Madame, a spectacularly rich Barsac that, along with Yquem, is the quintessential example of what heights a great sweet wine can achieve. The 1988, 1989 and 1990 vintages are nearly perfect wines. The 1990 is the richest and most powerful, but the 1988’s extraordinary perfume is other-worldly. All three wines offer a profound bouquet of smoky, toasty new oak combined with honeyed peaches and apricots, as well as coconuts and a touch of creme brulee. With extraordinarily rich, full-bodied, marvelously extracted personalities, as well as wonderful underlying acidity, these are spectacular wines.
As a postscript, many readers may not realize that Coutet’s Cuvee Madame is only released in great vintages. It is produced from the oldest vines and most botrysized grapes.

My favorite of the deserts wines by far. Really fabulous.


Tokaji Aszu Disznoko. Also nice, with that crisp acidity mixed in with the sweet.


Chocolate soufflé. It maybe had a bit of coffee in it and it certainly didn’t suck.


A kind of sticky toffee pudding type cake. Rather lovely.

This was just a great great evening. A wonderful setting with fun company — and the wines! There were some real bruisers here. Although I’m still not a massive fan of the blind and unordered format. I think the wines themselves are best enjoyed 2-4 at a time in pretty strict sequence. You can’t appreciate a great Chardonnay after tasting an 88 Petrus. That part isn’t about the quality, but subtle wines can’t be appreciated side to side with massive ones.

Still, not complaining, as many of the bruisers were really first rate wines. Hehe. The food was great too and I miss the sound of the waves crashing. Several of my old places were on the beach, but now I’m up higher. More view. Less surf.

More crazy Hedonist adventures or

LA dining reviews click here.


I miss my own puppy. But this guy had great ears.

Related posts:

  1. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  2. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
  3. Hedonism at Saddle Peak Lodge
  4. Sam’s by the Beach – Mom’s Annual Dinner
  5. Memorial Day Pig
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bordeaux, Chablis, Chardonnay, Chateau Margaux, cotsen, Eric Cotsen, hedonists, Malibu, Petrus, Wine

Go Go Go Sushi!

May29

Restaurant: Go’s Mart [1, 2]

Location: 22330 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA 91303  818.704.1459

Date: May 28, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Possibly LA’s best sushi!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

The Food Club has been talking about taking a trip to Go’s Mart for months, but we finally got around to organizing it. For those of you who don’t know, Go’s Mart is a tiny strip mall joint in Canoga Park with some of the best sushi in the entire LA area. Go has a unique take on the art, as you will see below. My partner in crime, Erick, has been coming here for over ten years and he called Go (the owner/chef) up and arranged for a “special” omakase for us. For scheduling reasons we decided on a very long Saturday lunch.


So I went down tot he cellar and prepped the above lineup of sushi friendly wines, mostly whites and a couple lighter red Burgundies. Go doesn’t have a liquor license, so there is no corkage!


The storefront is about as unassuming as can be.


The master behind his counter.


Most people sit at the cramped little sushi bar.


Go’s has pretty much NO decor. It started as a Japanese market and they still sell various drinks and products.


Oddly, this includes video tapes — and what appears to be racy Japanese video tapes at that! Who even has a VCR in 2011?


We had the table (about half of it shown).


This unusual Spanish white earn 92 from Parker, “The 2007 Gorvia Blanco was sourced from a single 3 acre vineyard planted exclusively to the indigenous variety Dona Blanca (used in the past mostly for grappa production or as a table grape). Medium straw-colored, it reveals aromas of apple, pear, slate/mineral, citrus, and acacia. Crisp, concentrated, and intense (in the style of top-level unoaked Chablis), in the mouth it is vibrant, complex, and impeccably balanced. It should provide both intellectual and sensual pleasure for another 5-6 years.”


Ginger.


We open with a kind of sunomono. Pickled cucumbers, very orange salmon, shrimp, bonito flakes, flying fish eggs. It had a strong vinegar tang of course.

Then a lovely preparation of Akimo (monkfish liver). Sweet fermented miso sauce, sesame, seaweed, goji berries, gold flakes (Go loves gold flakes). This was wonderful.

Finished off the first wine already.

From my cellar, parker gives this Rhone white 95 points. “The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc is even better. Meriting the same rating as I gave it last year, it is a delicious, beautifully textured, light gold-colored white revealing plenty of white peach, apricot, nectarine, and honeysuckle notes as well as a distinctive florality and minerality. More honeyed and fuller-bodied than its 2008 counterpart, it should drink beautifully for 7-8 years, then go into an oxidative state. It is somewhat of a gamble as to what will happen thereafter. Beaucastel’s limited production luxury cuvee first produced in 1986 is their 100% Roussanne Vieilles Vignes offering. Fifty percent is barrel-fermented in one-year-old barrels, but no new oak is utilized.”


Kani (king crab) with fresh Japanese scallop in an uni (sea urchin) sauce and topped with real caviar. Erick licked his plate. The scallop and the uni were particularly wonderful.


The first round of Go’s unique take on regular sushi. Starting with the pink one on the right, and proceeding clockwise: Kime-Tai (special red snapper), butter fish with kelp, halibut with kelp, and kanpachi (young yellowtail). Everything was dusted with a bit of ancient sea salt, some of the fish had shiso, some yuzu, some the marinated kelp. You can see the little dark sliver of fresh black truffle on all the fish except the kanpachi. Not only was each piece of fish exceptionally fresh, but the additional elements gave them a unique (and complex) flavor profile.


Two of our friends even brought their four year old. She didn’t eat the omakase 🙂 But she did handle the LONG (4-5 hour) meal pretty darn well.


Santa Barbara jumbo prawn, uni, caviar. These were all females, with the roe (the red stuff). This was a succulent bit of prawn, but of course the uni/caviar thing just boosted it.


A fantastic Burgundy, Parker gives it 92, but I’d give it more like a 94. “The 2003 Clos Vougeot explodes from the glass with licorice, dark cherries, and a myriad of spices. A wine of considerable depth, it is packed with suave black fruits immersed in chocolate. Well-structured, ripe, and exceptionally long, it will merit a higher score if its alcoholic warmth is absorbed into the wine with time (something that sometimes occurs with Pinot Noirs). Projected maturity: 2008-2017.”


Oooh Toro, two ways. On top is O-toro (special extra fatty tuna belly) with onions and caviar. On the bottom is kawagishi toro (shredded) with sweet sauce, stronger onions, and gold flakes. Both were amazing, but the o-toro was mind blowing.


Scottish salmon, look how orange this stuff is! The one on top is smoked, the bottom raw. Both have a little bit of onion and are dusted with hibiscus salt. The smoked one tasted like lox sushi.


For a lunch party where half the people are going back to work afterward (Uncharted 3 has a big E3 deadline coming soon and many are Naughty Dogs), we cruised through the wine fast enough. 2003 Vosne-Romanee clos du chateau monopole, domaine du comte liger-belair.


On the left Saba (mackerel) and on the right seki-aji (mackerel from Kyushu, considered the best). The saba had truffle, and the second goji berry, which gave it a bit of a sour and salty taste. Great examples of these fish, and continuing Go’s interesting arrangement of flavors.


“Special albacore roll.” Slightly spicy crab wrapped in avocado and albacore and topped with toasted garlic. I’m not normally a crazy roll fan, but for this I made an exception!


Starting at the right (pink one) and going clockwise: ebi (sweet shrimp) with gold and salt, japanese scallop with yuzu and caviar, geoduck giant clam with shiso, and Santa Barbara abalone (with truffle). Yum!


The ebi heads return in fried form.


The cooking process weakens the molecular bonds in the complex sugar that makes up the shrimp shell, allowing to just be crunched whole. We left a few antennae behind.


Seared toro with gold and sweet ponzu. What can you say, excellent. Although, I do prefer it raw.


Our four year-old got this interesting sushi lollipop.


Blue crab hand roll. These had little sprigs of truffle in them, which took the whole thing to another level.


Starting with the darker fish on the right. Snapper, flounder fin (yuzu and salt), black cod (salt and kelp), and flounder body. Many of these (all but the black cod) had shiso, all were dusted in the hibiscus salt. I’m not a flounder connoisseur, but I was told that the fin (behind soft) was some of the best that can be had. Go’s prep certainly livens up even these “dull” whitefish. Of course the fish itself was impeccable.


Scallops with flying fish eggs and truffle in a truffle sauce. Yummy!

The 2003 Walter J. Oster Riesling Auslese. I got this at the winery in 2005. As we wound down the wine this sweeter take went perfectly.


The “volcano!”


I’m not exactly sure what was inside, but it was some kind of whitefish, real crab and seaweed, along with seaweed, sesame, flying fish eggs, and lots of dynamite. The whole thing was pretty damn tasty!


In the front snow crab, and the back kani (alaskan king crab) with uni and caviar. Well, if top grade crab isn’t good enough: add uni and caviar!


Two kinds of eel. Unagi (freshwater) and Anago (sea). Both in the sweet sauce, with a bit of kelp. Great eel!


Kanpachi (young yellowtail), with shiso, truffle, and yuzo.


And finally another round of Toro because we couldn’t resist!


Go finishes up with a bit of fruit drizzled in sweetened condensed milk. Very nice finisher. There are oranges, rasberries, strawberries, golden-berries, mulberries and blueberries.


Some of the fish in the cabinet. You can see the toros in the middle front.


More fish.

Close up on the toro.


Prawns and scallops.

So I do have to say that Go is some of the best Sushi in the city, and by extension all America. It’s up there with Urwasawa, although more straight sushi oriented (even if with unique flavors). Less traditional than Sushi Sushi, but blows away Sushi Zo and Sasabune (not that they aren’t great too on the scale of things).

And as an extra bonus there was a Chinese foot massage place right next door where we waited out our buzz for only $19.99 an hour!

A second Go Sushi review, here.

For more LA Sushi, click here.

For other Foodie Club meals (all crazy great) see here.

Related posts:

  1. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  2. Sushi Sushi = Yummy Yummy
  3. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  4. Sushi Sushi Sushi
  5. Sushi Zo
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, Chablis, Chateauneuf du Pape, Cooking, Foodie Club, Go's Mart, Hamachi, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Old vine, Omakase, Rhone, Sashimi, Sushi, Wine tasting descriptors

Melisse – How much would a Woodcock…

Dec16

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

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

Date: December 15, 2010

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Awesome. Top of its game!

 

My foodie friend EP wanted to do a final Foodie Club night before he left for year end vacation so we hastily (24 hours) gathered a few like-minded gluttons. It took a bit of calling to find someplace that had space and was willing to allow the mega tasting menu on short notice. This same group had gone to Melisse last March, and we arranged to return. Chef Josiah Citrin promised to mix it up, and do something extreme. We were game! (hint hint)  The result is this modified Carte Blanche Menu ++ special edition.

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

There were four of us, and I had brought 3 bottles of red, but the Sommelier wisely suggested I pick a white off the list to start. Knowing the chef I opted for this Chablis. I love good Chablis. Parker gives this one a 93.  “The Dauvissats’ 2006 Chablis La Forest (a.k.a. “La Foret” a.k.a. “La Forets”) smells effusively of peony, citrus, and peach. It is strikingly bitter-sweet in its alternation of peach and citrus with peach kernel-like cyanic bitterness; displays deep chalkiness; and finishes with amazing grip and length. Past the nose, this is one of the least generous of 2006 Chablis, being remarkably tight and for a young 2006, but very impressively concentrated. The 2005 rendition was almost severe in its concentration, yet also very impressive. It should merit following for 10-12 years, and is probably best rested for a year or two. The 1999 tastes glorious, and youthful today; the still almost sharply-citric 1996, like liquid chalk and white truffle.
Vincent Dauvissat’s 2006s were finished with both alcoholic fermentation and malolactic transformation by January. Overall – and particularly in the Grand Cru range – Dauvissat’s 2005s are marginally less exciting than his 2006s, and in certain instances, surprisingly, more opulent and exotically ripe. In both recent vintages, Dauvissat’s wines (even the generics) are pushing 14% alcohol, although in tasting the 2006s in particular, you’d never guess this.”

And there is perhaps nothing better in the world to pair Chablis with than a bit of oyster. This “Carsbad Del Sol Oyster, Finger Limes and Chives” was as Chef Citrin called it, “essence of oyster.” Dominated by a pleasant brininess, like early morning at the sea side. This is not for everyone, but if you are a seafood lover like me. Oh boy. And the mineral tones of the Chablis just sang with it.

Next up is this “Hokkaido Scallop, Santa Barbara uni, Cauliflower, Lemon.” Pretty isn’t it? The scallop was luscious, but the uni was to die for. Not even a hint of fishy, it had a rich nutty tone. I was temped to lick the dish.

Because this is such a delightfully elaborate (aka EPIC) meal, I’m going to show the sequential presentation of many dishes. This “Artichoke soup, Parmesan Fritters, white truffle” begins with the solid ingredients. There is a bit of relish underneath the fritter.

Then the soup is added. The soup itself was the perfect infusion of cream and artichoke. Every spoonful counjured up the vegetable. The fritter was a little cheese explosion. Bravo!

No trip to Melisse would be complete without the classic, “Egg Caviar, Lemon Creme Fraiche, American Osetra Caviar.” It’s a classic for a reason. The Creme Fraiche is so good, and there is raw egg yolk at the bottom. Amazing combo, particularly with the little toast stick.

We killed the Chablis during that round of “starters” and it was time to move onto this bad boy. The 1991 Hermitage La Pavillon! 100 points of perfection. “This is a Le Pavilion of mythical proportions. Produced from extremely old vines, some dating from the mid-nineteenth century, with yields averaging under 15 hectoliters per hectare, this is the richest, most concentrated and profound wine made in Hermitage. The 1991 Ermitage Le Pavilion follows the pattern of the 1989 and 1990-it is another perfect wine. The saturated black/purple color is followed by a compelling bouquet of spices, roasted meats, and black and red fruits. Enormously concentrated yet with brilliant focus and delineation to its awesomely endowed personality, this extraordinary wine should age effortlessly for three plus decades. Very powerful and full, yet displaying silky tannin, this is a seamless beauty! Anticipated maturity: 2001-2035.”

And the bread arrives. I went for a piece of bacon, and a  basil brioche.

“Seared Foie Gras & Pheasant Consomme, Foie Gras Agnolotti, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Shiso Infused Pheasant Consomme.”

The soup is added. The ingredients themselves were great. But it was the broth that was mind boggling. Combining the rich taste of pheasant, with the bits of fat melted off the fois in the consomme, with the bright tones of the Shiso (a leaf I adore, in the mint family). Oh my. It was incredible. It reminded me of the broth from the Urwasawa meal we had 10 months ago.

And the hits keep on rolling. “Santa Barbara Ridge back Prawn, Pummelo, Shellfish Jus.” The sweet meat of this puppy meshed perfectly with the citrus butter tang of the sauce. I  had to use the remains of my bread to mop it all up.

What is an epic French meal during truffle season without some fresh white truffles!

“White Truffle Risotto, Carnaroli Rice, Mascarpone, Shaved White Truffles.” There is a little Risotto under that sea of truffle foam. It had a nice soft cheesiness to offset the delicate Umami flavors of the truffles.

Now we’ve killed half a bottle each and it’s time to go bordeaux. Parker gives this 96 points. “What sumptuous pleasures await those who purchase either the 1996 or 1995 Pichon-Lalande. It is hard to choose a favorite, although the 1995 is a smoother, more immediately sexy and accessible wine. It is an exquisite example of Pichon-Lalande with the Merlot component giving the wine a coffee/chocolatey/cherry component to go along with the Cabernet Sauvignon’s and Cabernet Franc’s complex blackberry/cassis fruit. The wine possesses an opaque black/ruby/purple color, and sexy, flamboyant aromatics of pain grille, black fruits, and cedar. Exquisite on the palate, this full-bodied, layered, multidimensional wine should prove to be one of the vintage’s most extraordinary success stories. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2020. The 1995/1996 vintages are two of the greatest back to back efforts Pichon-Lalande has ever produced, including the 1982/1983 vintages.”

Erick and Simon are starting to show the wear and tear of the evening’s pleasures.

“Eastern Tile Fish ‘Amadai’, Kohlrabi, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Carrots, Cucumber Infused Consomme.”

As the consomme went down the sensuous summer smell of cucumber wafted back at us. The fish was perfectly done, but it was the consomme that I really found marvelous here.

And now for the main event. Two roasted Scottish Woodcocks!

“Scottish Woodcock, Truffled Brioche, Navet, Sauce Perigourdine.”

After saucing. In the front is a bit of breast on the brioche, at the back half the head and beak, and on the right the thigh and leg (and claw). First of all, the sauce had this rich truffle quality that was just outstanding. Then the breast was a perfect medium rare example of poultry at its finest. Chef Citrin informed us that these puppies had been aging for 3 or 4 weeks! It was wonderfully gamey. Seriously gamey. Intensely gamey. The thigh had a rare almost bloody quality. But oh so good.

Chef Citrin shows us off an example of the bird (he’s the white sleeved arms). Wild caught in Scotland. He personally plucked the feathers on ours.

I have to show off the remains because you can see the bird brain a bit better. That long sticky thing by the knife is the beak, and there the skull with half the brain. We were pressured into sucking on the brain, some of us with more gusto than others (Erick!). It had a rich taste, not unlike bone marrow.

The game goes into overtime with the final savory, “Venison Loin, Juniper-Praline Yam, Chanterelles, Chickory, Poivrade Sauce.”

Sauced. This venison was perfect, incredibly tender and flavorful. The Yam was like a desert, incredible, almost like pecan and pumpkin pie together.

Les Fromages.

Spiced pears and candied cumquats.

One of my favorite cheese in the world, Eppoisses. Strong, gooey, stinky!

Lower left: Pont-l’Eveque

Orange center: 18 month aged Gouda

Lower right: Fourme d’Ambert

Right center: Bourgogne (i think)

Upper right: Epoisses de Bourgogne

Upper left: Selsurcheres (sic, couldn’t spell well enough to find on google), goat cheese

“Vanilla Yoghurt, Strawberry Compote, Strawberry Sorbet.” I’ve had this before, but I didn’t mind. Basically strawberries and cream. Yum!

After warming up with the 1995, we rolled back to the 1989 Lalande. Incredible! “Speaking of superior vintages, Pichon-Lalande’s 1989, although not as profound as the 1995, 1994, 1986, 1983, or 1982, is a beautifully made wine. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, and a sweet, roasted nose of rich cassis fruit, herbs, and vanilla. Lush and round, this medium to full-bodied, nicely-textured, layered Pichon-Lalande possesses low acidity, outstanding ripeness, and beautiful purity and balance. It is already drinking surprisingly well, so owners should not hesitate to pull a cork. It should continue to offer rich, seductive drinking for another 15+ years.”

Another dessert repeat — but again we didn’t mind. “Chocolate, Chocolate, Coffee, Chocolate Souffle, Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch, Coffee and Mascarpone.” The souffle gets its little injection. All are great, but the coffee and the crunch are my faves.

I’ve had passion fruit desserts at Melisse before, but this was a slightly new take. “Passion Fruit Parfait, Lemongrass and Coconut.” There is tapioca in the “soup” beneath. Very interesting complement. Very south east Asian in flavor profile, and refreshing.

The petite fours. I’m not a huge cannelle fan. The fruit with Creme Fraiche was great though. I’d have preferred the classic marshmallows and pate de fruits myself, but this is about my only “complaint” with the entire meal, so I think I’ll survive.

Our special custom menu.

Reuben and I before the meal. I neglected to get a photo of how we looked 4.5 hours later!!

Chef Josiah Citrin pulled out all the stops for this meal, and it showed. Hands down spectacular! The restaurant has two Michelin stars, and it deserves every ounce of them. Personally, I’d put this meal up against any I’ve had in France at a three-star. The service is amazing too. The setting is not as fully formal as some French three-stars, or the service quite so orchestrated (that level is more amusement than actually pleasant), and there are no zany carts for teas and sugars, but the food and creativity demonstrate Melisse’s deserved position as one of America’s top kitchens. Not only were the ingredients worthy of a Roman Consul’s plate, but  the masterful command of flavors were in full view.

Bravo!

For another Melisse meal, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Melisse
  2. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
  3. Food as Art: Ortolan
  4. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
  5. Food as Art: Saddle Peak Lodge
By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chablis, Cheese, Cooking, Creme Fraiche, Cru (wine), Dessert, Egg, Epoisses, Food, Foodie Club, France, Fromage, Hermitage, Melisse, Michelin, Oyster, poultry, Prawn, Restaurant, reviews, Risotto, scallop, side dishes, Truffles, two-star, Wine, woodcock
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