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Drouhin il Pastaio

Nov25

Restaurant: Il Pastaio [1, 2, 3]

Location: 400 N.Canon Drive. Bevery Hills, CA 90210. Phone: 310.205.5444

Date: May 1, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Superb

Il Pastaio has a nice private room — or maybe it was a section of the restaurant that can be closed off for special events.

Fried Zucchini Flower filled with Ricotta Cheese.

Crispy Rice Cake with Salmon.

The special menu.

Bread.

Langoustine Carpaccio with Yuzu Jello. Very nice, but of salt too.

Olive Oil-Poached Branzino with Celery Root Puree.

Breast of Duck in Orange Sauce with Potato Napoleon.

Pan-Roasted Ribeye Cap with Salsa Verde Grilled Mushrooms.

Short Ribs Agnolotti with Truffle Sauce. Really nice.

Cheese Course.

My notes.

This was a great evening with lots of really good wine. For such (on average) young Burg it showed really well.

The lineup.

As always from Liz and Sage Society an impeccable dinner. Lovely setting, and great classic LA Italian!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Chef Celestino won the left and Paolo De Marchi in the middle.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Celestino Drago, Il Pastaio, Italian cuisine, Liz Lee, Maison Joseph Drouhin, Sage Society

Sushi Sonagi

Oct20

Restaurant: Sushi Sonagi

Location: 1425 Artesia Blvd UNIT 27, Gardena, CA 90248.

Date: March 2, 2024

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (Omakase)

Rating: Awesome

Situated inside of a historic South Bay strip mall, Sushi Sonagi is Daniel Son’s 8 seat Omakase sushi restaurant that serves to highlight and celebrate the rich sushi culture of Japan, Korea, and California summed up in an omakase.

Sushi Sonagi is a call to honor the spirit of sushi by utilizing the highest quality local ingredients as much as possible. Chef Daniel Son comes as a second generation sushi chef, trained at some of the best Michelin graced restaurants around the world, and is now venturing beyond to bring his journey and heart to his hometown of Gardena, California. The vision at Sushi Sonagi is a culmination of a menu inspired by Japanese and Korean cuisine, techniques, and hospitality that reflects the rich and diverse history of its region, South Bay, California.

With his humble and jovial nature, he continues to strive to hone his craft’s pursuit of perfection, and dreams that guests will enjoy a heartwarming meal at his counter. As such, Sushi Sonagi wishes to create a relaxed and intimate ambience for you and your dining partners.

Artesia strip mall location. Near several In-and-Outs.

Classic sushi bar.

Our menu.

Fish hanging out.

Very attractive room. Reminded me of Yamakase 1.0.

Chawanmush. Lion’s Mane, SB Uni, Gamtae.

Ankimo Tart. Astrea Kaluga Caviar.

Seki Saba Sando. Mackerel Sandwich. Inspired by Gion Rohan, Kyoto.

Madai. Sea Bream. Oita.

Shima Aji. Striped Jack. Kagoshima.

Shiro Ebi. Baby White Shrimp. Toyama.

Seki Aji. Horse Mackerel. Oita.

Katsuura Kinmedai. Golden Eye Snapper. Chiba.

Sawara. King Mackerel. Fukuoka.

Aorika. Big Reef Squid. Kagoshima.

Mirugai. Giant Clam. Canada.

Sumagatsuo. Winter Skipjack. Nagasaki.

Kohada. Gizzard Shad. Kumamoto.

Akagai. Ark Shell Clam. Korea.

Carabineros. Scarlet Shrimp. Spain.

Uni. Sea Urchin. Hokkaido.

Ganjang Gejang. Soy Fermented Crab. Korea.

Anago. Sea Eel. Nagasaki.

Dolsot Kuroawabi. Abalone Stone Pot Rice. Aomori.

Dungeness Crab Soup. Shingiku, Citrus. Oregon.

Miso Butter Atsuyaki Tamago. Miso Butter Omelet. Pretty amazing salty/sweet taste.

Sake Kasu Ice Cream. Miso Caramel, Bubu Arare. Hyogo.

Great wines.
Fun and fabulous dinner. Really on point sushi with exceptional balance by a local southland chef.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Gardena, Japanese cuisine, Liz Lee, Nigiri, Sage Society, Southbay, Sushi, Sushi Sonagi, Wine

Pure Lafleur

Oct05

Restaurant: The Aster

Location: 1717 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 962-1717

Date: February 25, 2023

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Great food, amazing wines

Sage Society always do some of the most incredible wine dinners. Tonight’s was a rare treat: Chateau Lafleur!

It was located at the Aster, a hotel and private club in Hollywood. Above is the bar.

The club’s view of the city.

Getting a short tour before the dinner, I check out the club caberet.

A sky bridge between the buildings.

Another of its 5 bars.

The lounge.

The pool courtyard — soggy night!

Finally, back to the bar, we retire into our private room.

The intimate table for this Lafleur winemaker dinner, hosted by Sage Society.

The big wines have been decanted.

More wines getting ready.

The menu for the night. The club chef is Marcel Vigneron who cooked at my house in 2015.

2005 Gonet-Médeville Cuvée Theophile Extra Brut.

Amuses.

Hamachi Sashimi. A lovely bite of yellowtail with cucumber and a rice chip. There was a nice textural interplay between the soft cool fish, the crunchy chip, and the firm cucumber. The flavor was unique for this kind of bite and reminded me a bit of sunomono, so presumably there was rice wine, sugar, and vinegar.

Squash Blossom Fritter. The texture was great, very crispy and fried. The ricotta inside was nice and soft but perhaps this could have used some counter balance (to the fry) like a romesco.

Kumiai Oyster. With foam. Marcel is famous for foam!

Sage Society president Liz Lee introduces the guests.

A rather ill-cropped and out-of-focus photo of Omri Ram, the winemaker for Lafleur.

Center left is owner of Martine’s Wines, Gregory Castells. I met him previously at this amazing Otium dinner years ago

Chef Marcel Vigneron on the left.

All Sauvignon Blanc (cuttings from the Loire) with lovely acidity.

A rich depth.

Striped Bass. Crunchy skin. Clams with “Tom Yum” foam. Very nice complement and I particularly enjoyed the clams and their tasty foam.

2019 Les Perrières de Lafleur. VM 90+. The 2019 Les Perrières de Lafleur is too oaky on the nose and this masks the terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, graphite infused black fruit with a strict and structured finish redeemed by satisfying freshness. A bit “serious” for a Pomerol at this level, but it may surprise with bottle age. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Drink between 2026-2043)

2017 Guinaudeau “G” Acte 9. VM 92. The 2017 Acte 9 is fabulous. Rich, dense and expansive, Acte 9 possesses terrific textural resonance and volume. Ripe red cherry/plum fruit, mint, tobacco and a whole range of mineral inflections race out of the glass in a vibrant, racy wine loaded with personality. I won’t be surprised if the 2017 turns out even better than this note suggests. The 2017 Acte 9 emerges from a brutal year that took with it 90% of the production during the late April frost. All of the Cabernet Franc was lost, which means that Acte 9 is 100% Merlot. The 2017 is the last vintage of this wine under the Acte moniker. (Drink between 2020-2032)

Crispy Pork Belly. A big cube of pig with a delightfully crunchy skin atop a bed of cabbage and some kind of slightly tangy emulsion sauce. Great dish as I’m a cabbage fan and especially a porky cabbage fan.

2019 Château Lafleur Les Pensées. VM 94. The 2019 Pensées de Lafleur is composed and focused on the nose. An old school Pomerol in the positive sense, with truffle and ash scents emerging over time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine acidity, pencil lead and black pepper towards its cohesive and persistent finish. This is a class act. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Drink between 2026-2050)

2017 Pensées de Lafleur. VM 94. The 2017 Pensées de Lafleur is simply stunning. Tasting it today, I can only conclude that Pensées is obviously more complete and enthralling than many Grand Vins in this vintage. Explosive, deep and beautifully resonant, the Pensées shows tremendous depth and energy, not to mention so much character. What else can I say, except that I absolutely loved it. (Drink between 2022-2037)

Duck Confit. With crispy skin atop a bed of lentils. Classic French pairing and quite delicious.

2014 Château Lafleur. VM 95. The 2014 Lafleur has a tightly wound bouquet with earthy, truffle tinged black fruit, hints of dried blood and black truffle developing with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin encasing a sweet core of candied red fruit. The Merlot is very expressive here and offers more brightness than many of its Pomerol peers, which is unusual for a Pomerol so saturnine in its youth. Just beautiful. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. (Drink between 2024-2050)

2013 Château Lafleur. VM 90. The 2013 Lafleur, from the infamously maligned growing season, was picked entirely in October. It has a light and slightly monotone bouquet with mulberry and blackberry scents, a touch of briary and floral scents. The aromatics are nothing to be ashamed of. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, more Merlot than Cabernet Franc-driven, balanced if missing the complexity of most vintages from this esteemed Pomerol growth. Not bad, however it is not a long-term prospect and lacks the cerebral element that Lafleur often brings to the table. Tasted at the Christies’ Lafleur masterclass in London. (Drink between 2020-2032)

2011 Château Lafleur. VM 94. The 2011 Lafleur has an almost Left Bank-like bouquet, well-defined and poised, quite fresh with tobacco and cigar box scents emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins with a fine bead of acidity. Quite fresh and lightly spiced with white pepper and tobacco emerging towards the finish. This is a deeply impressive Pomerol in context of the growing season. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. (Drink between 2022-2045)

Ancho Braised Short Ribs. Ancho is a smoky pepper, and while this beef had lots of flavor it didn’t really have any heat. But it was a delicious shredable bit of braised beef with a delicate bed of polenta and a nice salty reduction. The tomatoes provided just enough sweet acidity to balance the richness of the dish.

2007 Château Lafleur. VM 92. The 2007 Lafleur has a straightforward bouquet with mulberry and strawberry pastilles, touches of scorched earth and game coming through courtesy of the Cabernet Franc. I admire the definition and poise on display here. The palate is medium-bodied with quite bold tannin and satisfying ripeness considering the growing season, a mixture of red and black fruit laced with black pepper, truffle and clove, that lead towards a solid, firm finish. Though this is an off vintage, this showing suggests it will benefit from another couple of years in bottle. Tasted at the Christies’ Lafleur masterclass in London. (Drink between 2020-2038)

2006 Château Lafleur. VM 93+. Good red-ruby. Pungent aromas of kirsch, violet, black olive, menthol and mint. Rich, sweet and suave, with a slightly medicinal cast to the seriously concentrated dark fruit flavors. This vibrant wine coats the entire mouth and builds impressively on the back half, where the big, broad tannins are nicely buffered by fruit. A splendid showing today.

1986 Château Lafleur. 94 points. Probably worth more points, but a perfect aged Pomerol for the duck course. Evolved and showed best after an hour and a half. Plum, bit of funk, hints of sweet spice and red fruits. Balanced and great length. Not “old world” Lafleur but solid.

1983 Château Lafleur. VM 96. The 1983 Lafleur is the vintage that alerted me to the pedigree of this Pomerol growth back in 2004, so I have a sentimental attachment to it. A recent encounter served blind in Hong Kong confirms that the Lafleur ranks alongside the 1983 Cheval Blanc as the best Right Bank of the vintage. It is quite precocious and generous on the nose with sorbet-like red fruit tinged with peppermint and truffle oil. It has lost a little cohesion in recent years but offers more secondary scents of leather and sage. The palate has wondrous balance and poise: hints of iron infusing the supple red fruit with a complex and detailed finish. Well-stored bottles will continue giving immense pleasure. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux. (Drink between 2018-2035)

Venison Wellington. Quite dense and an excellent pairing with the peerless Lafleur. Probably my least favorite savory, but excellent nonetheless.

NV Niepoort Porto 20 Year Old Tawny.

2015 Niepoort Porto Vintage.

3 Cheeses with Toasted Bread.

My thoughts.

Les vins.

This bottle was off and replaced.

Overall, an amazing dinner. It’s smaller, more intimate size, plus the great food, wine, and company, really helped elevate it to the very highest level.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bordeaux, club, Gregory Castells, Lafleur, Liz Lee, Marcel Vigneron, Martine's Wines, Omri Ram, Sage Society, Wine

Mr. T doesn’t Pity the Fool that drinks Pierre Peters

Jun14

Restaurant: Mr. T [1, 2]

Location: 953 N Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (310) 953-4934

Date: November 3, 2022

Cuisine: Modern French Bistro

Rating: Really tasty — and awesome Champagne

This was the first Sage Society wine dinner “post pandemic” and it was great to get back to this impeccable series that Liz Lee puts on where she showcases the wines of a particular wine maker, with great food, and the wine maker themselves.

Mr.T is a contemporary French cuisine inspired by upscale street food dishes featuring fresh ingredients and masterful preparation by our head Chef Alisa Vannah. Indulge in unique flavors using local ingredients to create an authentic dining experience. Mr.T carries a variety of handcrafted cocktails and a uniquely selected wine list offering a tasteful array of wines from some of the greatest producers in the world. We look forward to serving you!

“For Mr. T’s Los Angeles location, Guedj and Miyazaki have tapped Chi Spacca, Tsubaki, and République alum Alisa Vannah to head up the kitchen. Vannah, a Los Angeles native, trained with Miyazaki in Paris and collaborated with him on several dishes that will only appear on the Los Angeles menu, such as a riff on a chicken pot pie made with caramelized onion and tare chicken jus, as well as a big eye tuna crudo inspired by Vannah’s trips to Redondo Beach with her family as a kid.”

The have a cute “patio.”

A sleek modern interior.

Spotless open kitchen.

And this really cool “recording industry” themed private room.

Champagne at the ready.

Rodolphe Péters took over the reins of this venerable estate in the southern Côte des Blancs in 2008, becoming the fourth generation to lead since the estate was founded in 1919, under the name Camille Péters. Today, Rodolphe holds 18 hectares of vineyards, predominantly in the grand cru of Les Mesnil-sur-Oger. Péters owns small holdings in several other grand crus (Oger, Avize and Cramant) but Les Mesnil-sur-Oger is where 45 of the 63 parcels he farms are located.

The menu was totally custom and only thematically linked to the normal Mr T. menu — which I will show at some future meals/posts.

Table setting.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. JG 91. Blanc de Blancs Brut NV (Mesnil-sur-Oger)) The current release of Rodolphe Péters’ “Cuvée de Réserve” Blanc de Blancs is from the base year of 2018. It includes reserve wines in the blend all the way back to 1988! Seventy-five percent of the vins clairs go through malo for this bottling, with the wines raised in a combination of stainless steel, cask and concrete. It was disgorged in December of 2021 after aging sur latte two years. The bouquet is deep and refined, wafting from the glass in a mix of apple, pear, fresh almond, brioche, chalky soil tones and a topnote of white flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and still quite youthful, with a good spine of acidity, fine depth at the core, good mineral drive, pinpoint bubbles and a long, still fairly brisk and promising finish. I love the expressiveness of this wine on the nose, but it is lagging behind on the palate and could do with a year or two in the cellar to blossom more properly from behind its acids and start to drink with generosity. It is going to be a lovely non-vintage bottling of Blanc de Blancs. (Drink between 2024-2040)

NOTE: the magnum is actually a different cuvee, in this case with all 2017 vintage wine.

Potato Pancake with Creme Fraiche and Caviar. Great pancake with a lot of onion and flavor. Very high quality caviar. Super delicious version of “carbs + creme + caviar.”

Skikoku Oyster with Salmon Roe and Micro Greens. Very nice deliciate small oyster.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. A 750ml for comparison.

2017 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Réserve Oubliée Blanc de Blancs. 93 points.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru L’Etonnant Monsieur Victor MK14.

Scallops with tomato, cucumber, and lime. This was a stunning dish. The raw scallops were amazingly tender, the tomatoes very sweet, and the cucumber/pickle bits crunchy. But it was the sauce below, which was slightly thick and had this cucumber lime vibe going that was frankly amazing. We all drank the sauce. Very refreshing summer dish (in November).

NV Fleur de Miraval Champagne ER2.

NV Fleur de Miraval Champagne ER3.

Chawanmushi egg custard with Santa Barbara Uni and summer vegetables. Certainly the best Chawanmushi I’ve had at a non Japanese resteraunt. Very light and lovely with a nice textural interplay between the soft custard and the crunchy vegetables.

2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Montjolys. VM 96. Here in its first release, the 2012 Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Spéciale Les Montjolys takes all of Pierre Péters signatures and gives them an extra kick of intensity that comes from the higher percentage of clay and generally heavier soils in this parcel, which sits just below Les Chétillons. Ample and explosive, with tremendous backing energy, the Montjolys has so much going on. Orange marmalade, spice, butter, hazelnut and lemon confit are front and center. More than anything else, the Les Montjolys possesses tons of breadth and resonance, not to mention considerable character. The Péters family owns three hectares across seven parcels in Montjolys, that form the backbone of the Cuvée de Réserve. This is the first release of pure Montjolys from Pierre Péters, and it is fabulous. Dosage is 3.5 grams per liter. Disgorged: November, 2018. (Drink between 2022-2037)

2013 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Montjolys. VM 98. As good as the Chétillons is in 2013, the 2013 Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Spéciale Les Montjolys is even better. In fact, it is the single most impressive Champagne I have ever tasted from Rodolphe Péters. Deep, rich and pliant, the 2013 possesses tremendous depth to play off the searing, bright acids of this late ripening harvest. Light tropical accents add gorgeous nuance to a core of apricot, marzipan and lemon confit. Next to the Chétillons, the Montjolys is richer and creamier. It will be a matter of personal preference as to which wine readers prefer. The Chétillons is taut and focused, while the Montjolys is broader and more vinous. In two separate tastings, I slightly preferred the Montjolys. Both are moving, profound Champagnes. Dosage is 3.5-4.5 grams per liter. Disgorged: March, 2020. (Drink between 2023-2038)

2014 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Montjolys. VM 94+. The 2014 Brut Cuvée Spéciale Montjolys shows just how compelling this vintage is. It offers a gorgeous mix of energy from this late-ripening year along with the natural radiance of this site. Lemon confit, white pepper, apricot, white flowers and chamomile are all finely delineated throughout. There is a bit of youthful austerity, though, so I would cellar the 2014 for at least a year or two. (Drink between 2024-2035)

Salmon Wellington. Really spectacular pastry, perfectly moist salmon, savory mushroom layer, and lovely Salmon Roe accented Beurre Blanc. Perfect version of this dish.

2004 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons.

2007 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons.

2015 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons.

Liberty Duck breast with mushroom. A classic French duck prep with that heavy (but not crispy) skin. It was cooked perfectly medium rare but had no funk. The darker paste was a lovely mushroom paste and the nutty mushroom on the left was extremely dense and chewy, but also really fabulous. A bit more Beurre Blanc drew it all together. Great duck dish.

Cheeses. Rich Brillat-Savarin, Comte, and Tomme de Savoie.

Bread for the cheese.

My notes.

Some of the lineup.

This was a fabulous dinner.

First of all, the food was off the charts good. I was really impressed and have been back twice since to sample the normal menu (which is also very good). This is French modern bistro style, very fresh and crispy. Really tasty.

The wines were of course epic. I ended up buying quite a bit more (and I’ve been to previous Pierre Peters dinners and own quite a bit). Really high quality grower champ. I particularly love the Montjolys, very sexy.

As always, Liz Lee of Sage Society puts on an impeccable event.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bistro, Champagne, French Cuisine, Liz Lee, Mr. T, Pierre Peters, Rodolphe Péters, Sage Society, Wine

Borgese’s go Bille Boo

May14

Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: Santa Monica

Date: September 30, 2022

Cuisine: Italian influenced gourmet home cooking

Rating: Awesome

Dinner at the Borgese’s is a special house dinner in Santa Monica cooked by the stunning pro-level home chef Borgese couple. Tonight’s dinner is a “Double Team” as it’s not only at Rocco’s, but is a Billecart-Salmon winemaker dinner hosted by Liz Lee of Sage Society. This is actually the second Billecart dinner I’ve been to, the previous being at Republique some years back.

Billecart-Salmon is a highly respected Champagne house that was founded in 1818 in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, France, by Nicolas François Billecart and his wife Elisabeth Salmon. Over the course of two centuries, the family-owned and managed company has stayed true to its roots, maintaining its dedication to quality and tradition. Billecart-Salmon is famous for its refined and elegant style, characterized by its finesse, complexity, and consistency. The house has achieved worldwide acclaim for its remarkable Brut Rosé, but also produces a variety of other styles, including Brut Reserve, Brut Sous Bois, and various vintage and cuvée champagnes. Through its commitment to excellence, Billecart-Salmon has secured its reputation as one of the most prestigious brands in the Champagne region.

The Borgese’s LOVE Halloween and so their house was already decorated for the spook season in epic style!

The dynamic Borgese team consists of Rocco, his lovely wife (and the main kitchen chef), and his daughter (helping out with service).

Plus all this incredible wood fired oven set up.The wine lineup. Not too shabby.

Our lovely patio table.

Tonight’s menu and wine list.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. JG 92. Drinking very well when opened this past spring. The excellent nose wafts from the glass in a mélange of apple, peach, warm bread, a touch of ginger, a lovely base of soil and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bdoied, complex and still rock solid at the core, with fine mousse, bright acids and lovely length and grip on the wide open, complex and classy finish.

Fresh Oysters with Caviar.

Caviar on Toasted Brioche with Bordier Butter. You can really taste the great and distinctive butter.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Nature. 90 points. Rich for the style. Lemon tinges, biscuit, mild but not without intensity .

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs. JG 92+. The non-vintage Blanc de Blancs is not a large production item for Billecart-Salmon, and one does not cross paths with it regularly. The current release is all 2007 vintage and was aged nearly five years on the lees prior to disgorgement. Billecart produces their Blanc de Blancs bottlings from fruit sourced in only three villages in the Côte des Blancs- Chouilly, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant. The new release offers up a deep and lovely aromatic blend of pear, apple, stony minerality, bread dough, a hint of the pastry cream to come with bottle age and orange zest. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant, with a lovely core of fruit, refined mousse and excellent length and grip on the well-balanced, youthful and classy finish. This is a very fine bottle of Blanc de Blancs that will only improve as it blossoms a bit more structurally with further bottle age. (Drink between 2013-2025)

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Sous Bois. VM 92. Bright yellow. Pungent orchard fruit and lemon curd scents are complemented by suggestions of vanilla, anise and smoky minerals. Toasty and silky in texture, offering juicy pear and tangerine flavors plus a deeper suggestion of candied fig on the back half. Closes sappy, focused and long, with repeating smokiness and strong mineral cut.

Hokaido Scallops with Caviar. Maybe could have used a bit of lemon/lime/yuzu juice.

2009 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Millésimé. VM 93. The 2009 Vintage is another stellar wine in this range from Billecart-Salmon. This is the first time the Vintage includes Meunier in the blend. That approach has worked out so well here. Resonant and generous, the 2009 is so expressive today. The low dosage of two grams per liter is expertly judged. The 2009 is rich, but not heavy, while offering all of the natural generosity of the year. (Originally published in May 2021) (Drink between 2022-2034)

2008 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Louis Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs. VM 95. The 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs Louis Salmon (formerly the vintage Blanc de Blancs) and named after the maison’s first cellar master, is fabulous. Rich and ample, the 2008 is beautifully resonant in the glass. It offers up an enticing mélange of lemon confit, marzipan, dried flowers and spice. It’s a terrific 2008, especially for readers looking for a relatively affordable option to some of the super high-flyers in this celebrated vintage. The blend is 40% Chouilly, 33% Cramant, 20% Mesnil and 7% Avize, done 1/3rd in oak and 2/3rds in steel. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: October, 2020. (Drink between 2024-2038)

Grilled Spot Prawns with Caviar. Great dish. Chewed it up at the expense of my flesh like Daryl Hannah in Splash. With the caviar two kinds of eggs! Nice char flavor.

2007 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François. VM 97. The 2007 Brut Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is positively stellar. Elegant, polished and sophisticated, the 2007 dazzles with effusive aromatics and gorgeous balance. It”s not an obvious wine, though, but rather a Champagne built for long, patient cellaring. The 2007 is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay taken from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Ambonnay, Verzenay and Verzy for the Pinots and Chouilly, Avize, Cramant and Mesnil for the Chardonnays. In other words, as good as it gets for villages. The wine was done mostly in tank with about 15% of the lots vinified in oak. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. (Originally published in May 2021) (Drink between 2027-2047)

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 96. The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is outrageously beautiful. The ripeness of the Chardonnay is front and center in a Champagne that delivers the goods, big-time. An infusion of apricot, orange peel, crème brûlée, chamomile, hazelnut and honey give the 2002 its racy, exotic personality. I enjoy it most with bottle age, but the 2002 is undeniably beautiful right now. The 2002 is a stunning NFB. The blend is 60% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne and 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs, done partially in oak (20%). Dosage is 4 grams per liter. (Drink between 2020-2030)

1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 96. Fabulous nose combines lemon, orange zest, quinine and steely minerality with suggestions of toffee and brown spices. Wonderfully precise and vivid on the palate, delivering an impression of outstanding concentration and grip with a light touch. Extremely fine-grained Champagne with strong but integrated acidity. As young as this is, it’s harmonious from the outset. The building finish is pristine, chewy and extremely long. (Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York NY

Crab and Caviar Linguine. Very light and salty (and delicious) pasta.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. We started with a demi-bouteille of Billecart-Salmon Rosé: a safe option, but it does the job, even though I would say that a full bottle is better. (Drink between 2018-2025)

2008 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon. VM 97+. The 2008 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon explodes from the glass with a mesmerizing array of aromas, flavors and textures. Blood orange, cinnamon, mint and dried flowers. The 2008 is incredibly young, but it is also incredibly tempting. Patience will be rewarded. In the meantime, readers might enjoy adding a few bottles of the stellar 2007 to their cellars, as the nervy, taut 2008 needs time. The 2008 is 55% Pinot Noir (from Aÿ, Verzy, Verzenay and Mareuil) and 45% Chardonnay (from Chouilly, Avize and Cramant), with 9% still wine from Mareuil. It is the first vintage that includes a portion of wines (17%) done in barrel and the first vintage in which the magnums were aged on the cork rather than on crown seal. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. (Originally published in May 2021) (Drink between 2028-2043)

Branzino and Clams. Perfectly cooked juicy branzino and lovely clam flavor. The broth was fabulous (could have used some bread for it) and there was a distinct parsely flavor.

2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. VM 98. The 2006 Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is fabulous. In this radiant year, the Clos Saint-Hilaire has a touch more mid-palate sweetness and generosity, but that’s a good thing, as it balances some of the more austere leanings that can make young vintages hard to appreciate upon release. Apricot, lemon confit, ginger, graphite, spice and crushed rocks are strands in a gorgeous, captivating tapestry that dazzles right out of the gate. The precision here is just mind-blowing. Billecart’s 2006 Clos Saint-Hilaire is a very special Champagne, that much is very clear. (Drink between 2024-2036)

Fried Rosemary Quail. Perfect “fried chicken”. Super savory and delicious with a great crispy texture.

Roast carrots.

Roast eggplant.

Cheeses (all Italian). The truffle one was particularly tangy and delicious.

Truffle cheese.

The wine lineup.

Overall, this was an amazing dinner, and the Borgese’s just keep amping up the quality.

First of all, the Borgese hospitality was awesome, the house lovely, and the food absolutely incredible. One of the best “home cooked” meals I’ve had. Maybe ever if you restrict it to chefs cooking in their own home kitchen. Just amazing. Every dish was great. Rustic but extremely delicious style. Superb homemade pastas.

Service was handled by the youngest Borgese (teen daughter) and was better than most restaurant staff. Super friendly and you can tell they do this a lot.

Wines were, as you can, pretty darn impressive! Billecart is a fabulous champagne house with both great whites and reds. I buy a range of their wines all the time as they have both reasonable NVs and fabulous Tete de Cuvees — in both colors.

This meal has a different skew, being customized for Champagne, so there was more seafood and no big steaks — this is fine with me, I’ve had plenty of steaks. They did a wonderful job with the grilled prawns too. The quail is a classic of theirs but never grows old.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Billecart-Salmon, BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Italian Cusine, Liz Lee, Rocco Borgese, Sage Society, Santa Monica, Steak, Tomohawk, Wine

Banging Bicyclette

Mar25

Restaurant: Bicyclette

Location: 9575 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035. (424) 500-9575

Date: August 25, 2021

Cuisine: Modern French Bistro

Rating: Bar-like space, great food

Walter Manzke is a fixture of the LA dining scene and the chef/owner of iconic Republique (which I’ve been to countless times). This dinner was organized by Liz Lee of Sage Society and features epic Burgundies.

So it was exciting when he took over the former Picca and Sotto spaces (much missed) to open a new modern Bistro.

At the time of this visit Bicyclette was just downstairs in the old Sotto space.

It’s bustling. Certainly one of the densest indoor crowds I was in during 2021.

Modern open kitchen.

Full bar.

The menu is small and focused.

Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines. VM 95. The NV (2016) Extra-Brut Les Beguines is endowed with all the tension, energy and resonance readers have come to expect from these highly singular Champagnes. Lemon confit, mint, white flowers and crushed rocks all race out of the glass in an explosive, beautifully expressive Champagne that dazzles from the very first taste. In fact, 2016 is a rare vintage where I prefer the Blanc to the Rosé. In 2016, Jérôme Prévost blended in 10-15% reserve wines from 2015 along with drops of still red Meunier. More importantly, the 2016 is a Champagne readers will not want to miss, as it is absolutely compelling. (Drink between 2020-2031)

1988 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 97. After the lackluster 1990, things get back on track quickly with the 1988 Salon, a wine that is absolutely peaking today. From one of the all-time great vintages in Champagne the 1988 Salon exudes power and explosive intensity, with superb balance and pulsating acidity that gives the wine its drive. A host of candied lemon peel, hazelnut, smoke, licorice and anise overtones meld into the super-expressive finish. Disgorged à la volée, with no dosage. (Drink between 2016-2026)

Soft Egg in the Shell. Smoked Sturgeon, Kaluga Caviar. Versions of this dish are always awesome and this was no exception. Lots of caviar too.

Iced Kushi Oysters. Barrel-aged sauce mignotte.
2005 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. VM 93+. Explosive aromas of soft citrus fruits, white peach, spices and minerals. At once muscular and fine, combining superb spicy power with great purity of fruits and minerals. This very intense young Meursault boasts an element of lift shown by too few 2005s today. Finishes with terrific length and mineral spine; really ricochets around the retronasal passage. This was aged in 40% new oak.

2006 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. VM 91. The 2006 Meursault Les Rougeots has a thrilling bouquet with a ton of reduction, yet somehow there is marvellous delineation and penetration. The palate is powerful, spicy and dense with a waxy mouthfeel and impressive density. It feels tangy in the mouth and yet it does not convey the same detail as the 1999 tasted alongside, on the finish. Still, this is a fine Meursault considering the vintage. Tasted at La Paulée in Beaune. (Drink between 2019-2030)

Preserved Vintage 2015 Sardines. Awesome looking and tasting.

Baguette with Rodolphe le Meunier Normandy Butter. People always joke that this is the best dish at Republique — it is great.

Yellowfin Tuna “Steak” Tartare with potato chips. Very steaky actually.

Caramelized Onion Tarte Tartin. Drake’s Family Farm Goat Cheese. This was DOTN for me. It’s cooked upside down in a (usually cast iron) pan to caramelize the onions. They were perfectly tender and sweet and paired fabulously with the goat cheese.

Mediterranean Black Mussels a la Marinieres. White wine, Strauss creamery butter. Solid Moulles.

French Fries. Tarragon Aioli.

From my cellar: 2001 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. BH 93. Knockout aromas of wonderfully intense black and red cherry fruit loaded with cassis and a touch of new oak introduce medium-bodied, sweet, harmonious, very expressive and long flavors all underpinned by racy minerality and firm structure. The tannins are prominent but ripe and the density of extract is impressive and this both coats and stains the palate. As it always does, this delivers finesse with real mid-palate punch with near perfect grace. For my taste, I would hold this for another 1 to 3 years but it would be no vinous crime to be drinking this now. Note to be sure to serve this cool as the alcohol becomes noticeable if it becomes a bit too warm. (Drink starting 2013)

2014 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne. VM 94. Healthy medium red Sexy, complex aromas of strawberry, crushed stone and rose petal convey a captivating combe coolness Wonderfully concentrated and bright, combining classic 2014 salty minerality with superb fruit intensity Boasts the kind of restrained generosity of fruit that reminds me of the ’99s in the early going A compelling, saline vin de terroir but not a powerhouse The long, rising finish features very suave tannins (Drink between 2023-2034)

Burgundy Escargots en Croute. Garlic Parsley Butter. Classic. Crispy pastry and lots of butter and garlic. If anything needed more interior.

Bouillabaisse. Rock cod, clams, mussels, prawns. Very nice broth (could have used more) and lots of seafood.

Liberty Farms Duck Breast. Tenerelli Orchards Plums, Baby Beets, Barley. Good, but not as exciting.

2002 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche. VM 94. The 2002 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a very detailed bouquet with ebullient red berry fruit, sous-bois, bay leaf and a very subtle hint of liquorice. This is a very “involving” nose, one that you easily lose yourself within. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, notes of tea leaves, bay leaf and just a splash of balsamic infusing the red fruit. It leads to a nicely grippy, earthy finish that lingers in the mouth. Excellent. Tasted at Sarah Marsh MW’s 2002 Red Burgundy tasting. (Drink between 2018-2032)

2002 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. VM 96+. Good deep red-ruby. Superripe aromas of black raspberry, wild blackberry, blueberry syrup, mocha and licorice. Large-scaled, dense and broad, but more broodingly backward today than the Bonnes-Mares. But this stunning wine shows uncanny energy and sappiness in the mouth and great breadth, solidity and lift on the finish, with explosive flavors of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and menthol.

Beef Short Rib a la Bourguignon. Meaty.

Tarts on the offering at the beginning of the night. Half of a couple of these were still around when we were leaving (and we were the only people left in the restaurant). I asked the server to buy some to take home to my wife. The “curse” of the Republique desserts continued because the staff stole them out from under my nose (taking them home themselves) and I never got my to-go — all gone!
Cheese on the offer too.

Chocolate Tart. Creamy and decadent.

Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Not as good as mine :-).
Fig tart.

Mango sorbetto. Again, not as good as mine.

This was a great night full of great company, food and wines. I thought all the appetizers were really very very good. The mains (like the duck and beef) were good, but not that exciting. The space is fun, but loud and very crowded which is a little worrying with a pandemic raging. I look forward to returning when things are a bit calmer.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bicyclette, Burgundy, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Walter Manzke, Wine

Jadot at Petrossian

Mar20

Restaurant: Petrossian Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 321 Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. (310) 271-6300

Date: February 4, 2020

Cuisine: Caviar +

Rating: Amazing night!

Tonight’s dinner chronicles yet another masterly winemaker dinner hosted by Liz Lee of Sage Society. This time around it celebrates the diverse and excellent wines of Louis Jadot with winemaker Frédéric Barnier. This is actually at least the third time I’ve dined with Frédéric, the first being years ago at Bouchon and the second (also a Sage event) at Republique.

This time around we are back at another favorite Liz haunt, the awesome Petrossian Beverly Hills.

Petrossian has been importing caviar for a long time and has a high end restaurant — surprisingly excellent — tucked away inside their Beverly Hills location.

They are located on Robertson.

We begin with a Champagne I have been opening a lot of myself:

2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 96. Taittinger’s 2007 Comtes de Champagne will be nearly impossible to resist upon release. Soaring aromatics, mid-weight structure and soft contours give the 2007 its alluring personality. Lemon oil, white flowers, mint, chamomile and green pear add brightness and freshness throughout, with a persistent, clean finish that makes it impossible to resist a second taste. Today, the 2007 comes across as a slightly more open version of the 2004, with freshness that makes that wine so appealing, and a touch of textural richness that recalls the 2002. Although the 2007 does not have the explosive energy or verticality of the profound 2006, it will drink better earlier. The 2007 has been positively brilliant on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. (Drink between 2018-2047)

Caviar with crème fraiche on blinis — had about 5 of these.

Smoked salmon and tuna with crème fraiche on toast.

Our hostess Liz Lee in the center and Jadot master winemaker Frédéric Barnier on the left.

Flight 0a: 2018 Barrel Whites

2018 J.A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Clos des Prouges Tête de Cru. BH 90-92. Subtle wood influence frames pungent citrus and petrol-suffused aromas. The dense, powerful and palate coating broad-shouldered flavors possess impressive volume on the more complex and persistent if slightly warm finish. (Drink starting 2024)

2018 Louis Jadot Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume. 89 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Ripe and fleshy for Chablis. Plenty of apple character start-to-finish. Good density for its level. Should drink well young. 88-89 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. 89 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Also lots of ripe orchard fruit, less classic start, then firmer and more tart middle through finish. Very good length. Needs time to fully harmonize. 89-92 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. agavin 91. Very tropical and different. Lovely right now, but wonder how it will age.

2018 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Clos de la Chapelle Domaine du Duc de Magenta. 91 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots of apple throughout, some lemon and lemon curd. Intriguing combination of ripe and tart, with a long, leaner, minerally finish. Very good length. 89-91 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 92 points. Walk around tasting. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Dense and rich but with so much coiled energy in reserve. Very good density and length. 92-93 point potential.

Flight 0b: 2018 Barrel Reds

2018 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 91 points. Walk around tasting. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. More red vs black fruit coming across as ripe, but with just enough elegant tannins and acidity in the background for harmony already. Another very successful vintage for this cuvee, with 91-93 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Barre. agavin 93. Very elegant and ripe.

2018 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. 95 points. Year in, year out, a favourite from the Jadot stable. This seems to be the hypothetical blend of the Estournelles and Lavaux but by only taking the good elements of each. There’s a balance of rich fruit and tart-red-fruited-acidity here, as well as a convincing dose of rusty earthiness. The palate is more layered, silky, and complex. Very delicious already.

2018 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 93 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots here with combination of ripe red and black cherry and a meatiness that I enjoy, but makes it seem background. But that’s young Corton.

2018 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. 92 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots here but very tannic and angular, so impossible to fairly assess this young, this quickly.

2018 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. 91-94 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. A complex array of red cherry and berry on nose and palate with good power, but elegant textures already emerging. Good+ length. 91-94 point potential.

The lineup of 2018s.

Then we moved over into the dining room.

Liz likes to make sure there is a unique (labeled) glass for every wine.

The gang of us around the table.

Our special menu.

Flight 1: 2017 whites

2017 Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 90-93. An expressive, ripe and fresh nose of white peach, pear and lavender displays discreet hints of wood and a trace of the exotic. There is good richness to the delicious and generously proportioned middle weight flavors that possess plenty of palate coating dry extract before terminating in a saline and mineral-suffused finish. This is really quite good and more classic than it usually is. (Drink starting 2025)

2017 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 90-92. The 2017 Meursault Les Genevrières 1er Cru comes from a single parcel of 50-year-old vines that tends to suffer a lot of millerandage and is often one of the first plots picked. It has quite a powerful bouquet of citrus fruit infused with touches of licorice, maybe just missing the precision of the best wines that I have tasted from this vineyard by Jadot in the past. The voluminous palate is well balanced with crisp acidity and touches of tropical fruit such as passion fruit and guava, and creamy-textured toward the finish. There is a lot of pleasure to be found in this Meursault, if not the intellect of the Charmes this year. (DIAM GC closure) (Drink between 2020-2030)

2017 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 92-95. A less elegant and slightly more wood-influenced nose offers up restrained aromas of essence of white flowers that includes rose petal, lavender and acacia blossom as well as discreet citrus nuances. There is both more volume and richness to the large-scaled, intense and powerful flavors that evidence seriously good punch and power on the muscular and wonderfully long finish. This is an impressive built-to-age Bâtard. (Drink starting 2029)

Lobster Salad w/ Truffle Mache. Lots of lobster. Nice bright flavors and interesting textural components. We had crunch from the crisp like thing (texture similar to a spring-roll shell), differing crunch from the radish, soft lobster and stringy greens.

Flight 2: Old Whites

1990 Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières.

1991 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or. JG 90. It has been quite a while since I last tasted a 1991 white Burgundy, but the ’91 Goutte d’Or from Maison Jadot was drinking very well indeed and was impressive enough that I may keep an eye out for other white options from this vintage. The deep, complex and mature nose offers up scents of almond, citrus blossoms, apple, passion fruit, a touch of honey, incipient notes of nutskin and a beautifully complex base of soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still beautifully balanced, with a fine core of fruit, gentle, framing acids, superb soil signature and lovely length and grip on the complex and classy finish. Fine juice and a total surprise for a 1991 Meursault! (Drink between 2012-2020)

1994 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. VM 96. The 1994 Corton-Charlemagne surprises for its richness, density and power. Butter, dried apricots, tangerine and mango are alive in the glass. The presence of botrytis, which is high in 1994, is very much felt in the wine’s viscosity and pure textural richness. With time in the glass, though, the wine freshens up considerably as mineral notes become vivid. The 1994 remains bright, focused and quite youthful. Today, it is simply magnificent. Frankly, the 1994 is simply magnificent. (Drink between 2013-2024)

1986 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. 95 points. This bottle was in pristine condition and the color was spot on deep yellow (not deep gold). The nose offered apples, hazelnuts, and macaroons.

Scallop w/ Trout Roe & Pine Nuts

Flight 3: 2012-2014 Reds

2014 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. BH 92. A highly restrained if not mute nose grudgingly displays notes of spice and brooding dark berries, earth and floral hints. There is by contrast excellent richness and volume to the velvety and supple yet serious middle weight plus flavors that display strikingly good persistence on the sappy and beautifully well-balanced if moderately austere finish. This has tightened up considerably since I last reviewed it from barrel and it seems relatively clear that this is going to require at least a modicum of patience but when it arrives at its peak, it should be lovely. Recommended. (Drink starting 2026)

2014 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. VM 93.5. Good bright medium red Aromas of raspberry, rose petal, minerals and crushed stone convey a very sexy, slightly high-toned liqueur-like quality Dense, fine-grained and taut, displaying piquant mineral energy and mouthwatering acidity to its flavors of raspberry, cherry and blood orange Really compelling inner-mouth tension here This firmly tannic, classic 2014 finishes with lovely rising floral length I would not be at all surprised if a decade of cellaring brought an even higher score (Drink between 2025-2037)

2014 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin. VM 95. Bright, dark red Ineffable floral and pepper topnotes to the aromas of black raspberry, tart cherry, licorice, menthol and spices At once savory and sweet; incredibly dense, refined wine with uncommon creaminess and concentration to its flavors of red and black fruits, minerals and herbs Superb old-vines thickness and silky depth here, but also with terrific definition, spine and energy Finishes with outstanding rising length A treat to taste today but this almost liqueur-like wine should go on for 20+ years A great performance in this cooler vintage (Drink between 2025-2040)

2012 Louis Jadot Clos St. Denis. BH 93-95. Here the nose is quite similar to that of the Clos de la Roche save for the fact that it’s spicier. There is a silky texture to the detailed and sleekly muscular medium-bodied flavors that are not as powerful though the refinement of a classic Clos St. Denis is explicitly in evidence on the hugely long finish. In a word, this is terrific. (Drink starting 2030)

Black Truffle Pasta with Parmesan Foam. Amazing dish. I could have eaten several of these. Just a really lovely creamy truffle pasta.

The glasses multiply like bunnies.

Flight 4: 80s Reds

1985 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. BH 90. Just a bit of bricking in evidence. The expressive, pretty and solidly complex nose has now gone completely secondary (though not tertiary as there is no sous bois) and complements the precise, intense and lightly mineral-suffused middle weight flavors that possess good length and depth. This is drinking perfectly now and about the only nit is a touch of gas so be sure to decant for 15 minutes or so to allow it to dissipate. (Drink starting 2009)

1989 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots.

1985 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. JG 94. The 1985 Clos St. Jacques from Maison Jadot is a beautiful example of the vintage that has just now begun to truly blossom and is drinking very well indeed. The deep and beautiful nose offers up scents of cherries, red plums, woodsmoke, summer truffles, a beautifully complex base of soil, fresh herbs, a touch of sweet nutskin and just a bit of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and beautifully delineated, with a fine core of fruit, lovely complexity and very good acidity for the vintage. The finish is very long, shows just a bit of melting tannin and is beautifully balanced and classy. It is interesting to see how this wine has evolved, as it was quite black fruity for much of the first twenty-odd years of its life, but is now blossoming into a beautifully red fruity example of Clos St. Jacques. Lovely juice. (Drink between 2012-2050)

Quail w/ Potato Nest. I was initially skeptical about this dish. Not as to pairing, Liz always gets that perfect, but to the the idea of this “ball of quail.” It turned out to be amazing. Sort of like a western shrimp ball, but with quail, sauce, and offset by the nice crunchy nest.

Flight 5: Special Old Reds

1988 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. BH 91. Mix of primary and secondary fruit aromas plus strong notes of earth and underbrush are followed by nicely complex, slightly edgy, medium weight flavors that offer good length. This is still firm on the backend but not hard and it’s drinking very well now though it will easily hold for another decade or more.

agavin: this bottle was fabulous, more like 96 points.

1978 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. agavin 94. Very nice as well.

Duck Consomme w/ Duck Confit. Okay, I didn’t know what to expect. But here we have a lovely pressed square of duck with a consommé added tableside.

The finished dish. Lovely and delicious.

Drinking Continues

Cheeses. Papillon Basque & Beaufort.

The white lineup.

The red lineup.

When Liz sets up a dinner, she really endeavors to get everything right.

Food was some of the best in town for wine tastings. Really light, fresh, and delectable.

Wines were just off the chart good at this dinner. Just blockbusters and nothing flawed at all. This offered a great perspective on Jadot as it traveled the gamut of ages, giving a glimpse of 2018, showing off recent vintages like 2017 and 2014, and then delving into mature wines of both colors.

Service was great. Having our own Somm ensured that — and we had unique stems for everything. Petrossian really took care of us too.

Amazing night.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Caviar, Frédéric Barnier, Frederick Barnier, Jadot, Liz Lee, Maison Louis Jadot, Red Burgundy, Sage Society, White Burgundy, winemaker dinner

Loosen at Spago

Jan08

Restaurant: Spago [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

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

Date: November 20, 2019

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Still great

As you can see from the links above I’ve done a lot of wine dinners at Spago — and for good reason because with the right person planning they do a spectacular job. Tonight’s was organized and hosted by Liz Lee of Sage Society and she is the best wine dinner organizer in the city. It features wines by Dr Loosen and the Dr himself, Ernst Loosen. This is my second Sage/Loosen dinner, the first being several years ago at Republique.

Spago has been an LA institution for over 30 years!

We are in this side private room again — been there for a lot of dinners.

2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. 90 points. A powerful Champagne, large scaled and luxurious, prominent yeast, buttered multigrain toast, preserved and grilled lemon, golden apple, chalk dust, grainy texture, firm acid backbone, didn’t last long enough for it to unfurl a bit; delicious.

Tomato & Goat Cheese Arancini. Ricey cheese balls.

New Potatoes, Creme Fraiche, Caviar. A bit too potatoey.

Parmesan Cheese “Marshmallow”, Olive oil. Neat marshmallow texture — tastes like Parm and Olive Oil.

Have a few glasses!

Wines chilling.

Our hostess, Liz Lee of Sage Society.

Ernst Loosen of Dr. Loosen — generations of Riesling.

Chef Wolfgang Puck greets Ernst in German.

Our special menu for the night.

Bread to fill up on.

2016 Dr. Loosen Graacher Domprobst Riesling Großes Gewächs. VM 90-91. Tasted in late July 2017 and slated for bottling around the end of September, this delivers a brash amalgam of chewy, seed-tinged apple and zesty grapefruit. The palate is firm and substantial, the finish blazingly bright and mouthwateringly salt-tinged – a Grosses Gewächs conveying real energy as well as refreshment.

2016 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Alte Reben Großes Gewächs.

2016 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. VM 91-92. Tasted in late July 2017 and slated for late September bottling, this delivers a fascinating combination of coolness and incisiveness by way of greenhouse-like scents of foliage and flowers, seedy kiwi, zesty lime and cress. Glycerol-rich but with underlying firmness, the palate is not at all weighed down by its 12.5% alcohol. This finishes with penetrating, refreshingly juicy persistence and admirable animation, salinity and impingements of cress and crushed offering saliva-inducement and invigoration.

Crudo of Japanese Red Snapper, Osetra Caviar, Lemon, Olive Oil. Nice bright lemon / olive flavors.

2014 Dr. Loosen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben. VM 90. Pungent lemon and grapefruit peel with a dusty crushed stone overlay in the nose lead into a firm, brightly juicy but also sizzlingly piquant palate performance. Full in feel and impressively gripping, this brings along considerable apple and citrus seed bitterness that I don’t envisage moderating with bottle age. The result is one of those many GGs that are more formidable than fun.

2014 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Alte Reben Großes Gewächs.

2014 Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Großes Gewächs. Alte Reben Reserve. VM 90. A site-typical mélange of apple and cherry displays satisfying juiciness and fullness without heaviness. Basil and cress add a sense of coolness and cherry pit lends invigorating piquancy to the seriously sustained, slate-lined finish. This texturally polished performance avoids austerity or overt bitterness and may well reveal further nuances with time in bottle.

Maine Lobster “salad”. Vanilla vinaigrette, sorrel. Huge chunk of perfectly cooked lobster — although the strong vanilla was a touch sweet and distracting.

A non lobster version for the shellfish adverse.

2013 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben Reserve. VM 93. Bottled soon after the 2015 harvest, this leads with intriguingly mossy and stony scents along with narcissus-like, musky floral perfume and a vaguely spirituous intimation of site-typical apple and vanilla. The silken-textured palate delivers enough primary apple and lemon juiciness to refresh, while the long finish reprises the mossy, stony notes familiar from the nose and adds invigorating black tea smokiness as well as mouthwatering, maritime mineral salts. There is still a subtle, efficacious spritz here, incidentally, so evidently CO2 did not dissipate significantly during the wine’s two years in cask, and the effect adds to an overall impression of dynamism and finesse.

2013 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben Reserve. VM 92. Fresh lime, basil, strawberry eau de vie and wet stone introduce a satiny palate satisfyingly juicy in its evocation of fresh strawberry and cooling in its green herbal aspect. Hints of cress and lime zest lend incisive, zesty invigoration to a lingering, mouthwateringly saline finish. The corresponding Wehlener is more intriguingly nuanced but this Würzgarten is more winsome. I suspect that both will outlast their “regular” Grosses Gewächs counterparts, which were not nearly as interesting, charming or indeed juicy and mouthwatering when I last tasted them soon after their mid-2014 bottling.

2013 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Großes Gewächs Alte Reben Reserve. VM 89. As with the corresponding 2011 and 2012 – but more emphatically – I find this Prälat reserve less convincing than its two siblings. The pungency and piquancy of kumquat on the nose as well as on a substantial and subtly oily palate, when reinforced by underlying nuttiness, generate a sense of opacity and borderline bitterness at odds with the refreshment and transparency to mineral nuances displayed by the corresponding Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Ürziger Würzgarten. That having been noted, this bottling’s austerity is certainly coupled with impressive sheer persistence and smoky, stony intrigue. It’s too early to hazard a guess as to whether Prälat is inherently less amenable to longer élevage, or perhaps even whether it simply needs more than two years. But Loosen has additional Grosses Gewächs material still in cask to test the latter hypothesis.

Austrian Cheese “Knodel” Dumplings, white truffle. Delicate poofy cheese balls with butter and truffle. Lovely.

2015 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben Reserve. VM 90. Lily and heliotrope garland cidery apple on the enticing nose, while the palate impression is snappy, tart-edged, and even a bit spare. I like the tang, invigoration and refreshment of the finish, though, which predictably features fresh lime and apple over a bed of wet stone. As with the corresponding Lay, it could be that screwcap closure is playing a significant role here.

2015 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Alte Reben Reserve. VM 91. Fresh strawberry and lime laced with cress offer a bracing aromatic and palate impression, and bright, infectious juiciness carries into an invigoratingly zesty and mouthwateringly salt-tinged finish. As befits Riesling of Mosel origins, wet stone runs like a cantus firmus through this entire delightful performance, whose supportive sweetness knows when to back off in the interest of clarity and refreshment.

2008 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Alte Reben Reserve.

Loup de Mer En Croute. Scallop Mousseline, Sauce Beurre Blanc.

A delicious and very rich fish dish with the pastry and the buttery sauce. Now here is a whitefish I can get down with!

A simpler version with no pastry and no scallop.

2005 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett. VM 89+. Pale yellow. Stately aromas of quince, honeysuckle and nut oil.With its rich papaya fruit and subdued minerality, this is the most aristocratic of these ’05 kabinetts and the one that is most clearly a spatlese in character. At the same time, it’s the most closed and in need of patience.

2011 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett. 90 points. Superb Riesling with lots of tropical fruit. Creamy texture and great acid who balance well with the fruit. If you like the style you like the wine. Works wonderfully on its own as well.

2017 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett.

Slow Roasted Pork. Cardamon, star anis, savory glaze.

Rich almost “bbq” style pork.

Eggplant instead.

Savory Consommé.

A different version.

1983 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese.

1989 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese. 92 points. A rounded style, complete. Very nice though.

1997 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese. VM 93. Strawberry chiffon nose. Again, a rather delicate, easy wine, but there is extract underneath, plus a distinct note of slate.

2002 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel Auction.

Kaiserschmarren. Basically super fluffy pancake with strawberry sauce. I was blown away by how delicious this dish was. The strawberries were super intense and the cake ultra fluffy.

1976 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel.

1985 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. 95 points. One of the best bottles from this old stash of rising I bought about ten years ago. The wine was harmonious, complex and very long. It offered s prism of golden orchard fruit, mineral and savory notes.

1993 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel.

2011 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel Auction. 97 points.

1959 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel.

Cheese Course. Brabander Gouda, Robbiolo Bosino, Manchego 1605.

And some cheese / cherry toast — very Austrian.

And a special birthday layered pastry and creme!

This was just an epic procession of epic riesling. So many wines! 25 distinct wines, ranging from 1959 to 2016 and from bone dry to ultra sweet. Most of these were special Alte Reben Reserves or Goldkapsels, all very rare. A stunning tour-de-force of this under-appreciated grape.

Food, as usual for a Sage Society dinner, was perfectly paired. Spago really does a good job at these special dinners when care is taken with the menu — and service was perfect as always. I enjoyed the slightly German/Austrian vibe to some of the dishes. We had labeled glasses for every wine — which is always the best way.

Great night!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Dr Loosen, Ernst Loosen, Liz Lee, Riesling, Sage Society, Spago, Wolfgang Puck

Rayas Auburn

Dec18

Restaurant: Auburn [1, 2]

Location: 6703 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 486-6703

Date: November 6, 2019

Cuisine: Modern California

Rating: Really good fine dining

Auburn is a much anticipated recent opening in LA’s often bankrupt fine dining space. I went back in May but now I’m returning for a special Sage Society dinner featuring the wines of the illustrious Chateau Rayas.

The rarest and most spectacular of all the Southern Rhone producers.

The restaurant occupies the space formerly belonging to the legendary Citrus, then Alex, then Hatfields (all of which I enjoyed).

They’ve partially roofed over, divided and modernized the space, removing the 80s-90s LA garden feel (which I kind of liked, but it’s certainly still very attractive).

The kitchen is large, open, and bustling!

Chef Eric Bost’s (back center) debut restaurant Auburn juxtaposes the higher echelon of traditional fine dining with an emphasis on guest exploration and conviviality while paying homage to Los Angeles’ uninhibited culinary identity in a space designed with honest materials by local makers.

Chef Eric Bost grew up in North Carolina, running around his grandparents’ restaurants at an early age. Upon graduation from business school, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. After an externship at Le Cirque in NYC, Bost traveled across Europe, where he met his future wife, Elodie, and made Paris his home. During their time in France, Bost worked his way through some of the world’s best restaurants, including Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée and Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel de Crillon. His experience led him to be chosen by Guy Savoy for his opening team in Las Vegas in 2006. Two years later, the restaurant received 2 Michelin Stars with Bost as Chef de Cuisine. Within months, he was appointed Executive Chef and maintained their prestigious rating, garnering numerous accolades along the way. With the opening of Guy Savoy Singapore in 2010, Bost established a restaurant consistently voted amongst the best in the country. Most recently, Bost was the Executive Chef at Los Angeles’ beloved République. Now, after nearly a decade at the helm of revered restaurants, Bost ventures on his own with auburn.

Our special dinner was in the private room near the entrance.

NV Saint-Chamant Champagne Cuvée Royále (from mag). Rare but lovely Champagne.

An intro snack. Tartlet of some sort. Lots of herbs.

2009 Gonet-Médeville Cuvée Théophile Grand Cru Rosé. 96 points. Another rare and spectacular bubbly. This rose was fabulous.

The box!

Basically chicharróns (aka fried pork rinds). They have a ton of crunch and a bit of vinegar and salt flavor, not unlike salt and vinegar potato chips.

President of Martine’s Wines, Greg Castells introduces the wines. All the wines tonight are imported by Martine’s and came either from Rayas itself, their collection, or Liz’s. Martines has a really spectacular lineup with some of the best wines in the world.

Liz Lee is our hostess — and she always organizes an amazing evening.

Our special menu “produced” by Liz.

Bread and butter.

Zone on this rather spectacular bread. It’s some kind of (pretty) country loaf made in house. Served warm and amazing.

The butter is avocado butter and infused with herbs. Really nice match with the bread.

2012 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône La Pialade. 93 points. Pours light and transparent with clear flecks of orange. It opens up to a strong and singular navel orange nose on the nose. Over time it becomes accented with a touch of Christmas spice, game, and mossy undergrowth. The palate has high acid, low tannin, and has elevated but not obtrusive alcohol. Nice long finish replaying the orange, light spice and game. Called it bang on… ’12 Pialade.

We open with the lightest of the major Rayas wines.

2013 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône La Pialade. 92 points. Drinking a full bottle, p & p, light red, strawberries, flowers, roses, tea leaves, sweet core, still fairly tannic and picked up weight so I don’t think it’s at peak drinking.

Abalone Mushrooms. Roasted over embers, eggplant, Aleppo chili, watercress, almonds, burnt onion essence. First dish up was amazing, particularly for being vegetarian. The fabulous reduction sauce really sold it, but so did the nice meaty mushroom.

2007 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette Reserve. VM 93. Bright red. Black raspberry and floral aromas are complemented by Asian spices, anise and white pepper. Racy, finely etched red berry and cherry flavors stain the palate and become deeper and sweeter with air. Shows no rough edges and finishes with superb focus and sweet, sappy persistence. This puts most Chateauneufs in the shade.

2009 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette Reserve. VM 92. Bright red. Intriguing aromas of black raspberry, cherry-cola, Indian spices and lavender. Suave, gently sweet and focused, with very good mid-palate power and intense, spice-accented red fruit flavors. Finishes with dusty tannins that add focus and gentle grip to the very long, sappy finish.

Lamb Tartare. Charred persimmons, pickled marigolds, grains of paradise. Very unusual tartare presentation.

2008 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve. VM 91. Bright red. High-pitched aromas of redcurrant, raspberry, rose petal, and Asian spices, lifted by a mineral quality. Suave, silky and alluringly sweet, offering penetrating red fruit flavors and slow-mounting florality. This refined, focused wine stains the palate with perfumed flavors of raspberry and garrigue. This has the juicy acidity and spine to reward cellaring but I find it awfully delicious now.

2009 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve. VM 94. Vivid red. Intensely fragrant nose displays an exotic array of red fruit, incense and floral scents. Sweet raspberry and cherry flavors offer both depth and impressive energy, with silky tannins adding support. Spiciness and florality build on the long, juicy finish, which emphasizes raspberry and candied licorice. This Chateauneuf gains weight with air, but maintains freshness and clarity.

Quail. Treviso glazed with blackberries, crushed juniper, lardo. This bird had a nice char note and a smoky richness from the lardo. Another great reduction too.

Now into the bad boys:

2008 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. 95 points. Vivid red. Pure, expressive aromas of red and dark berries, potpourri, licorice and rose. Juicy, spicy and fresh, with sexy raspberry and cherry flavors accentuated by smoky minerality. Intense and light on its feet, finishing very long and aromatic, augmented by firm mineral cut and very impressive clarity.

2009 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. VM 96. Deep red with a bright rim. A kaleidoscopic bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, blood orange and lavender, with deeper cherry pit and licorice qualities adding power. Sweet, expansive and pure, offering intense raspberry, bitter cherry and floral pastille flavors supported by a firm spine of acidity. Shows excellent clarity and power on the finish, which is given shape by fine-grained, sweet tannins. I underestimated this wine from barrel last year.

Duck. Koji aged pan-roasted kohlrabi, young mustard leaves, roasted duck-mustard jus. Lovely.

2006 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. VM 94. Medium red. Vibrant strawberry, raspberry, anise and floral aromas could fill a room. Juicy and sharply delineated, offering sweet red berry and cherry preserve flavors with compelling accents of licorice, sassafras, lavender and smoky minerals. Extremely elegant wine with outstanding finishing cut and persistence. Not many grand cru Burgundies could match this for finesse.

Veal Sweetbreads, pig’s trotter and celery root ragout, matsutake mushrooms, chicken skin, roasted veal jus. I’m not usually a trotter or a sweetbreads fan, but this was a great dish. Rich and meaty. Fabulous reduction again.

1995 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. JG 94. The 1995 Châteauneuf du Pape from Château Rayas is an outstanding wine that is just about into its plateau of peak maturity, but could still do with at least a couple more years in the cellar to allow everything to fall precisely into place. The bouquet is a classic Rayas mélange of cherries, raspberries, coffee, ground pepper, garrigue, roasted venison and woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is ripe, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with moderate tannins, fine grip and a very long, blossoming and nascently complex finish. This still has a bit of chunky, muscle-bound adolescence to shake off and a few more years in the cellar should do this nicely, allowing the wine to snap into focus and start to show more of the inherent elegance of this great terroir. It is a ripe vintage for Rayas, but handles this very nicely indeed. (Drink between 2020-2050)

1997 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. VM 90+. Full red. Spicy aromas of framboise, leather and pepper; very rich but fresher than the Pignan. Thick but lively on the palate; very suave and rich. Not nearly as open today as the above. Peppery finish displays excellent persistence. This is very strong for the vintage.

1998 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. VM 92+. Medium red. Deep, smoky aromas of strawberry, roasted plum, raspberry and roasted meat. Big, sweet and peppery in the middle palate, but not yet expansive. Larger-scaled and more roasted than the Pignan but today it not showing the sheer concentration or sappy, primary red berry sweetness of the great Rayas vintages of recent decades. Still, this opens out very nicely on the long finish, which features dusty, fine tannins.

Dry Aged Ribeye. Red wine braised oxtail, red flame grapes, roasted and raw turnips, soy-cured daikon. More reduction! Very nice bit of meat.

1997 Château Gilette Crème de Tête. 93 points. Lovely. A bit like cream soda.

Apple. Chantilly (cream). The cream was almost tart (like a cream fraiche). Rather delicious for being so minimalist. One of the senior employees did tell me that in the future my gelato was welcome :-).

Mignardise of candied rhubarb. Like little funny sour fruit rollups.

The wine lineup.

The wines were spectacular. It was very interesting — and perhaps unique — to try the progression of the Rayas wines like this all in one evening. I’ve had them all at one time or another, but never in series. This is a very unique winemaker with it’s own peculiar and wonderful style.

Overall, food was fabulous Audacious for LA fine dining, very interesting style that blends foraged seasonal ingredients, a love of great reductions, more than a bit of wood-fire, and a real respect for getting the most out of vegetables. This is certainly the best new fine dining place I’ve tried recently in LA.

Service was great.

The overall evening, like all Sage Society events, was fabulous and meticulously arranged.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Auburn, Chateauneuf du Pape, Greg Castells, Liz Lee, Martine's Wines, rayas, Sage Society

House of Krug 2019

Dec02

Restaurant: House of Krug

Location: You wish you knew

Date: October 21, 2019

Cuisine: Modern

Rating: Great food, great champagnes

Sage Society organizes some of the best wine maker dinners around and they’ve done quite a number with everyone’s favorite Champagne house…

Krug! This one, organized as usual by Liz Lee, featured a rare appearance by Krug family scion Olivier Krug.

They really know how to do up a place.

Krug greats you as you enter (and everywhere).

The main room of the rented “House of Krug”.

Even the closets have been Krug-a-fied.

We start out with:

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 167eme. JG 96. The new release of Krug Grande Cuvée “167eme Édition” is stellar. The wine is from the base year of 2011 and utterly transcends that vintage, but, of course, it includes nearly two hundred different wines in the blend, with the oldest reserves dating all the way back to the 1995 vintage. Fully forty-two percent of the cuvée this year is made up of reserve wines. The cépages for the 167eme Édition is forty-seven percent pinot noir, thirty-six percent chardonnay and seventeen percent pinot meunier. The wine shows its lovely preponderance of pinot noir on the nose, wafting from the glass in a beautifully complex blend of apple, white peach, a touch of patissière, very complex soil tones, caraway seed and a gently floral contribution in the upper register from the pinot meunier in the blend. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and nicely broad-shouldered, with great depth at the core, refined mousse, bright, seamless acids and outstanding focus and grip on the very long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. This is simply outstanding and should age effortlessly for fifty to seventy-five years! (Drink between 2019-2090)

Scallop and caviar.

Caviar. The good stuff!

I can’t remember but they were really good.

“Chicken” liver truffles. Delicious.

The crowd gathers to begin the learning part of the evening.

The amazing Liz Lee starts off and introduces…

Olivier Krug!

Then we move into a side room to do a side by side tasting.

There is a place for everyone with their own Krug comparison placemats.

2006 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. 94 points. Seems to live in a league of its own. This is way too young and I’m sure we baby killed, but it was fun to get to try. So complex. Some annise, some coriander, some more herbal notes. It’s got a lot less toast than I usually associate with the house. Served in a burg glass which worked well for it. Very nice wine.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 162eme. 95 points. This is Jungian archetypal Krug. Rich and concentrated, with a balance of oxidative nutty tones and plenty of bright acidity-driven freshness. It’s really a complete package. These older GCs are really some of the best champagnes out there (I’m thinking of an older 2005 disgorgement that I drank recently, too).

Our special mats.

The kitchen.

And the dinner table.

Crowd gathering to sit.

The menu.

Nice place settings.

Caviar, crab gelee, braised onion, yuzu, parsley. This dish was light and airy as a fluffy cloud to “support” the caviar.

Housemade linguine, celeriac puree, leeks, lemon, truffle. Very light lemon truffle pasta. Quite lovely.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé Edition 23eme. VM 94. The NV Rosé 23ème Edition is wonderfully nuanced and layered, with lovely richness to play off a core of bright red berry fruit. Although not especially complex in this release, the Rosé offers lovely immediacy and tons of pure pleasure. Crushed berries, chalk, mint and white flowers are nicely softened in this super-expressive, beautifully persistent Rosé. A few more years in bottle will only help. The 23ème is a Champagne of pure and total pleasure. This release is based on 2011, with reserve wines back to 2000. (Drink between 2021-2041)

Grilled duck breast, foie emulsion, pomme mousseline, truffle. A nice rare piece of duck and perfect with the incomparable Krug rose.

Brie d’affinois, tomme brulee, leonora, Parmesan Reggiano.

Mignardises. I particularly liked the white iced (almond?) cake.

The chef (right with the hat) and one of the Krug organizers.

Overall, another amazing evening. Krug really does an incredible job setting the scene and this was a unique evening. Food was very good but not quite the number of courses that Foodie Club beast Erick and I are used to — we like at least 10-15 — so we had to go out with some new friends to Korea Town for “second dinner.” Really, any excuse for second dinner is a good excuse!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Hollywood, Krug, Liz Lee, Olivier Krug, Sage Society

Billecart Republique

Nov13

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

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

Date: October 4, 2019

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

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

This Sage Society dinner is like a return an old favorite as in the “old days” (a few years ago) they did most of their dinners here at Republique. Tonight is a special custom dinner featuring the wines of Champagne house Billecart-Salmon and a custom Walter Manzke menu designed by Walter and Sage Society chief Liz Lee. Additionally, Antoine Roland-Billecart is in the house to guide us through the epic wine tasting!

Still doing great even after 5 or so years.

We are, of course, in the private room. Way better than downstairs at this very loud but very good restaurant.

The somm for the evening gives some introductions…

The name speaks for itself.

Our starter wine was NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. JG 92. This particular bottle of Brut Réserve had been in my cellar since 2008, and it has aged beautifully and was drinking very well when opened this past spring. The excellent nose wafts from the glass in a mélange of apple, peach, warm bread, a touch of ginger, a lovely base of soil and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bdoied, complex and still rock solid at the core, with fine mousse, bright acids and lovely length and grip on the wide open, complex and classy finish. This particular release of Brut Réserve had been particularly steely out of the blocks, which is why I tucked some away to see how it evolved with bottle age. Yet again, a pretty strong argument for treating non-vintage Brut bottlings like other fine wines and cellar them for some time before starting to drink them! (Drink between 2014-2025).

Our special menu tonight.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Extra Brut. JG 92+. Billecart-Salmon has been producing their Millésime bottlings as Extra Brut since the 2000 vintage. The 2006, which is comprised of a blend of seventy-five percent pinot noir and twenty-five percent chardonnay was twenty percent barrel fermented in this vintage, and received a very modest dosage of three grams per liter. The wine is very fine, offering up a bright and classy bouquet of baked peaches and apples, pain grillé, almonds, a touch of citrus peel, lovely minerality and a nice dollop of fresh-baked bread in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and rock solid at the core, with refined mousse, bright acids and fine length and grip on the wide open and classy finish. Fine juice, and like a lot of 2006s, it is already drinking very well indeed. (Drink between 2014-2035)

2007 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Extra Brut. 91 points. Fine bubbles, light yellow, this is pretty good, ultra elegant & finesse.

2008 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Extra Brut.

agavin: to my taste, the extra brut is a little “too brut”.

Caviar Flight.

Here paired with the champagne.

And the descriptions of the individual caviar.

Antoine Roland-Billecart of Billecart-Salmon gives an impassioned speech.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. JG 92. This particular bottle of Brut Réserve had been in my cellar since 2008, and it has aged beautifully and was drinking very well when opened this past spring. The excellent nose wafts from the glass in a mélange of apple, peach, warm bread, a touch of ginger, a lovely base of soil and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bdoied, complex and still rock solid at the core, with fine mousse, bright acids and lovely length and grip on the wide open, complex and classy finish. This particular release of Brut Réserve had been particularly steely out of the blocks, which is why I tucked some away to see how it evolved with bottle age. Yet again, a pretty strong argument for treating non-vintage Brut bottlings like other fine wines and cellar them for some time before starting to drink them! (Drink between 2014-2025)

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Sous Bois. VM 92. Bright yellow. Pungent orchard fruit and lemon curd scents are complemented by suggestions of vanilla, anise and smoky minerals. Toasty and silky in texture, offering juicy pear and tangerine flavors plus a deeper suggestion of candied fig on the back half. Closes sappy, focused and long, with repeating smokiness and strong mineral cut.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Sous Bois (disgorged 2014). I loved this one.
Mushroom Tarte Flambe. Delicious. Crispy cracker like base covered in flame broiled cheese and mushrooms. Like an oversized passing hors d’oeuvre.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. 92 points. Very good. Nice nose showing citrus and good richness, with some vanilla and a touch of pastry cream. On the palate, lovely acidity, fine mousse, more citrus and some chalk. Clean finish.

2007 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Louis Brut Blanc de Blancs. 94 points. Light straw, refined bubbles. Crisp, with lemon and lemon curd, some creaminess paired with a nice chalkiness. (Would be easy to drink all day).

2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Louis Brut Blanc de Blancs. 93 points. Incredible balance on this bubbly. Sweeter mature and ripe yellow fruit, creme brulee, nuttiness, yet also a lemon tart and herbal character. Quite impressed. Medium sized bubbles on the mouthfeel. This is a solid champers, rather youthful with a very long and large history ahead.

1999 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Louis Brut Blanc de Blancs. 97 points.

Spot Prawns (with roe). Perfectly cooked and juicy. Only problem was that I impaled the sensitive area under my tongue with a crispy leg and had to extract it from my flesh with my fingers! Still worth it!

Margarita’s Baguette and Normandy Butter. The reason many of us go to Republique, this is some serious temptation to the low carb diet!

2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. 93 points. Pinot Noir dominant flavors and aromas, as the house style dictates, but also showing a linear Chardonnay brightness. Very good now.

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 94. The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart comes across as rich, powerful and opulent. This latest release of the 2002 was disgorged in July 2015 and finished with a Chardonnay-based liqueur whereas the previous release, disgorged in May 2014, was finished with a Pinot Noir-based liqueur. This is a distinctly vinous, almost shockingly raw, visceral Champagne from Billecart-Salmon. There is no shortage of volume or intensity, that is for sure. Stylistically, this year’s release inhabits a whole other world relative to last year’s release. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. (Drink between 2018-2042)

1999 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 93. Bright yellow-gold. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes fresh pear, iodine, white flowers and toasted brioche, with gingery spice and mineral notes adding vibrancy. Rich and weighty but quite lithe and focused, offering sappy orchard and citrus fruit flavors and a chalky mineral nuance on the back half. Closes on a smoky note, with excellent focus and lingering floral character. L422345 16273.

Dover Sole.

Filleted with a cauliflower mash. This is a “simple” fish prep but in Walter’s very capable hands is scrumptious.

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. 96 points. Great.

1999 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. VM 96. Billecart’s 1999 Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is exotic and beguiling. Constantly changing in the glass, the 1999 offers exquisite aromatics, silky and a real sense of underlying phenolic structure. Crushed rose petals, licorice, smoke, game and tobacco add nuance as the wine opens up. With time in the glass, the personality of these Pinot vines becomes more and more expressive. The 1999 was bottled with no dosage, but that would be impossible to ascertain in a blind tasting. (Drink between 2016-2024)

Pork Belly Caviar. This dish apparently won on some kind of cooking show that Walter was on. It was rich, rich beyond belief. A cube of fatty steamed pork bellow, butter, some kind of puree, more butter, and caviar. Woah! Delicious too but I had to sit quietly for a few minutes to let my arteries recover.

1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. BH 95. An absolutely sensational nose that is floral, spicy, yeasty and citrusy with exceptionally subtle hints of red berries that can also be found on the wonderfully fresh and still beautifully youthful flavors that are crisp, precise and layered. If there is a nit, the finish is perhaps not quite as long as one might hope for but as this ages and “relaxes”, the length will come. A potentially great wine and all it needs is a bit more time in bottle.

1998 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 94. The 1998 Cuveé Nicolas François Billecart (60% Pinot, 40% Chardonnay) is another beautiful wine. The aromas are especially captivating and highly suggestive of Pinot, but the Chardonnay seems to take center stage on the palate, where the fruit is highly expressive. Like the Bland de Blancs, the wine saw 50% malolactic fermentation and only 5% of the wine was aged in oak as the estate was in its early days of using oak and wisely chose a moderate approach. (Drink between 2013-2018)

1990 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Grande Cuvée. VM 95. Pale amber color. Extraordinary, ineffable nose of baked bread, oatmeal, toast, game, quinine, roasted nuts and ginger ale. Full-bodied, thick and utterly seamless, with superb, integrated acidity giving it great verve. Conveys a sensation of palate-gripping extract. Extremely long, slowly expanding finish throws off notes of pepper, ginger and nutmeg. Every time I returned to this wonderful Champagne I liked it more. (Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY)

agavin: this might have been my WOTN. Amazing bottle.

White Truffle Risotto. Simple and perfect. Stunning creamy risotto with real fresh in season white truffles.

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

2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon. VM 94+. The 2006 Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is powerful, intense and also classically austere in its make up. Crushed flowers, mint, red berries and cranberries are all finely sketched. The 2006 finishes with striking mineral-driven precision, and while it doesn’t have the opulence or exuberance of the 2002, it is still a very pretty and appealing Champagne. The Elisabeth Salmon is 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, with about 8% still Pinot Noir. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. (Drink between 2018-2031)

2007 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon. 92 points. Pink, slightly orange. Delicate bubbles. Hints of rose petal, and a touch of strawberry. Medium body, well balanced.

Chicken. That over simplifies the matter. There are mushrooms and reduction here. Delicious bird.

Cheese. The one course that was a let down. Actually rather lame — but we can forgive them after 7 perfect courses above.

My notes.

And the wine lineup.

Another amazing Sage Society dinner. Many of Sage’s wine maker dinners, all those that Liz puts together herself, are like this one, pulling out all the stops. This was a LOT of food — even for me — and the dishes were all custom for the wine and spectacular. And there was so much great champagne, really showing off both the house style and the very varied objectives of each cuvee. Quite educational too.

Too bad Erick handed me his cold that night (via the loaf of bread we shared) because I was sick the whole next week :-).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antoine Roland-Billecart, Billecart-Salmon, Champagne, Liz Lee, pork, République, Sage Society, Walter Manzke, Wine, winemaker dinner

Second Kass

Sep13

Restaurant: Kass Restaurant – Wine & Bar [1, 2]

Location: 320 South La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 413-2299

Date: July 30, 2019

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Fabulous

Years ago I enjoyed Chef Christophe Emé’s Ortolan and have had attended private dinners he’s prepared.

So it was exciting that he opened a new place on La Brea — supposedly a bit more casual this time (as is in vogue). The Foodie Club went in June and the meal was so fabulous we are back (with a slightly different mix of people) just a few weeks later.

I think the sign was completed in 2018, I believe the restaurant itself opened in 2019 :-).

This is the inside after dinner when we outlasted everyone. Clean and cosy.

The kitchen was small and neat and you can see Chef Christophe Emé in the center, carefully managing every detail.

Liz brought the newly released 2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2. VM 97+. The 2002 Dom Pérignon P2 is surprisingly, almost shockingly, austere and tightly wound. That almost surely bodes well for the future. Today, though, the 2002 is very hard to taste. Stylistically, it is also much less available than the original release. Readers lucky enough to own the 2002 should plan on being patient.

Cheese and sorbet with kaluga caviar. A light and elegant pairing that showcased the caviar — and of course we were drinking champagne!

2002 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin. VM 92. Enticing redcurrant and strawberry scents are precise and impressively perfumed, with pungent floral lift and exotic Asian spice accents. Clean and brisk but tightly wound, with red fruit and bitter cherry flavors firmed by dusty tannins and zesty minerality. At once highly concentrated and elegant, showing a youthfully tangy tone to the impressively long finish. Hold this for another five years, at least.

Tartar with mushrooms and potato chips. Really fabulous. I do love tartar and this was a superlative one. We opened the Griotte-Chambertin (above) to have some red with this.

From my cellar: 1985 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 96. The 1985 Dom Pérignon is still several years away from its peak of drinkability, and while it is certainly quite approachable at this stage in its evolution, this wine will continue to improve with further bottle age. The bouquet is deep, complex and still a tad adolescent, as it offers up scents of tart apples, pink grapefruit, gentle herbal tones, a touch of limepeel, stony minerality and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite young, with a rock solid core of fruit, bright acids, fine focus and balance, tiny bubbles and superb length and grip on the racy finish. While some tasters around the table thought this wine was drinking beautifully, for my palate it remains still a bit bound up in its minerally adolescence and will offer up significantly more opulence and toasty charm with another five to ten years of bottle age. It should prove to be an absolutely classic vintage of Dom Pérignon.

agavin: this bottle was a bit oxidized and not nearly as good as the one we opened at Angelini — that being said it was still good.

Scrambled Eggs. White truffle. Simple but incredible dish. Perfect texture and soft delicate flavor. Also perfect with the “mature” notes of the 1985 Dom.

2002 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. VM 94. The 2002 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche was almost as impressive, although stylistically it was quite a bit more honeyed, voluptuous and creamy.

Cold Cucumber soup. Super cool and refreshing. Lovely.

Liz brought: 1986 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune. JG 91. I drank up a couple of cases of the 1986 Clos Ste. Hune from the mid-1990s through around 2005 or so, but I should have held onto some of cellar cache of this vintage, as the wine has continued to age very gracefully and is probably drinking better today than any point in its past. The beautiful nose is a blend of apple, grapefruit, chalky, stony soil tones, tart orange, petrol, a whisper of leesiness and a touch of corn kernel. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and crisp, with superb focus and complexity, a good core and lovely length and grip on the well-balanced finish that closes with a distinct note of sea salt. A lovely, middleweight vintage of Clos Ste. Hune that continues to cruise along beautifully.

Tile fish with chanterelles and a butter sauce. Fabulous buttery mushroom thing. High mercury levels yeah, but delicious!

From my cellar: 1981 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. VM 92. Yellow-gold. Yellow plum, peach and orange rind on the nose, with complicating notes of cinnamon, mace and allspice. The equally complex palate offers sweet pit fruit and citrus flavors and touches of smoky oak and marzipan. Gains weight and nuttiness with air without loss of energy and finishes with clinging honey and orange marmalade qualities. This would be great with a rich poultry or shellfish dish.

Scallop with parmesan and tomato.

Kirk brought: 1998 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage. VM 94+. Full ruby. Subtle, extremely complex nose melds cassis, bitter cherry, licorice, menthol and gunflint. Great purity and class in the middle palate, though extremely young and not currently showing the texture of the unfinished ’99. But this is utterly compelling syrah, finishing with superb length and extremely fine tannins for the vintage. The ’99 may be more pliant in the early going thanks to its sweeter tannins, but I’m not yet convinced it will surpass this brilliant ’98.

Lamb with tortellini and peas. Another great dish, livened up by the fresh peas.

Cheese selection.

Tarte aux Pommes. Vanilla ice cream.

And of course gelato by me:

Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

Overall, this was an amazing meal. Our wines were nice, and service was really spot on, but it’s the cooking that really showed everything else up. We had no repeat dishes from our epic meal previously and all the new ones were great too. The kitchen was a touch more distracted which perhaps slowed the pacing down a bit. The dishes we had were just as good, but for whatever reason we had one less savory and only one dessert instead of 4. Not that I left hungry. So if the first meal was a 10/10 this was maybe a 9/10, but still awesome.

And it should be noted, that as of late August chef Christophe Emé has moved on to new projects, and as such this place represents another ephemeral snapshot into past dining experiences no longer available.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Cheese, Christophe Emé, Dessert, Foodie Club, Gelato, Hollywood, Kass, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Wine

Petrossian Party

Mar06

Restaurant: Petrossian Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 321 Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. (310) 271-6300

Date: February 8, 2019

Cuisine: Caviar +

Rating: Amazing night!

The birthdays of my good friends Erick and Liz fall on the same day, and so have seen some seriously epic dinners over the years like this and this.

For this year’s extravaganza, Liz organized things at Petrossian, which has incredible food, and very wine friendly. She’s friends with the manager.

Petrossian has been importing caviar for a long time.

They are located on Robertson.

And they gave us a good chunk of the dining room to ourselves.

We got a special menu, of course. Ordering off the menu here just isn’t the same, particularly with wines of THIS quality.

Liz even brought in our own Somm (standing at the far end of the table).

1971 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Oenothèque. VM 97. One of the most pleasant surprises of the evening the 1971 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque (disgorged 2006) is superb. Powerful and vibrant on the palate, with tremendous freshness, the 1971 Œno exudes class. Lemon oil, almond and wild flowers give the wine its bright flavor profile, but it is the wine’s tension, energy and balance that are most remarkable on this evening.

agavin: OMG!

1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut (special 2016 release). VM 97. The 1988 Krug makes for a fabulous start. Tasted from a perfect bottle, the 1988 remains bright and focused, with all of the energy of this great vintage very much on display. Time has naturally softened some of the contours and added a good bit of nuance, but the 1988 Krug remains a Champagne of crystalline precision. I loved it.

1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque. BH 97. This remains one of my favorite all-time vintages of the Oenothèque series. An elegant if highly restrained nose displays cool nuances of green apple, a variety of citrus elements and discreet floral hints along with plenty of yeast character. There is superb precision to the equally cool and restrained middle weight flavors that dance across the palate thanks to the incredibly fine mousse that is at once firm but not aggressive on the notably dry but not really austere finale. I very much like the ’96 Oenothèque as it’s a wonderfully graceful effort that possesses impeccable balance and a refinement that it doesn’t always achieve. In terms of where it is in its evolution, ’96 is going to be one of those timeless vintages that will still be with us 30 years hence as I believe that it will continue to age effortlessly. For my taste this gorgeous effort has arrived at its peak though it should continue to hold here for years to come. In sum, this is flat out great and one of the greatest Champagnes of the modern era.

Caviar flight. To go with the Champagne, 10 different ultra premium caviars! An incomparable tasting.

Here is the list of caviars in case you are curious.

In the back, standing, Chris the manager explains the caviars.

I could have eaten about 6 “flights” :-).

2008 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 96. A strikingly complex nose that is ripe, pure and airy speaks elegantly of white flower, spice and subtle pear aromas that complement to perfection the rich and mouth coating flavors built on a base of fine minerality, all wrapped in a sappy and explosive finish that oozes dry extract. This is really a stunning effort in what has become a very long line of them for the 76 year old Michel Niellon.

2008 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence. Rare and delicious.

2000 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 95. Surprisingly, this is much more open, expressive and accessible than the Bienvenues and the sheer scale and wet mineral quality is dramatic and imposing. The focused, detailed, almost razor-sharp flavors possess astonishing levels of sappy extract and this both coats and stains the palate and the intensity is borderline painful. This is reference standard quality.

2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 95. Very Puligny in style with discreet white flower, pear and apple aromas with flavors that are so powerful that the palate experiences them in waves as they roll from the mid-palate to a thundering, top grand cru finish. Yet this is by no means monolithic as there is detail and subtle gradations of wet rocks, minerals, earth and an indefinable crystalline essence. I literally had to pause for a minute due to palate fatigue as this both stains and saturates the palate yet it remains perfectly balanced. For a premier cru, this is a veritable tour de force! A brilliant wine.

agavin: OMG this was killer. Blasted out of the glass. MZ had brought this to Maude years ago and we couldn’t open it so he promised to bring it back another time — this was the time.

Langoustine Carpaccio. Blood orange, hazelnut, caviar. Another lovely dish — lobster AND caviar!

1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé P2. 95 points. Mostly berry, some apple and pear with textures that demand attention. Nuanced spice and energy on very long finish. So great now, with upside.

1993 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé Oenothèque. VM 96. One of the many surprises in this tasting, the 1993 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque Rosé is truly spectacular. Explosive, voluptuous and also quite tannic on the palate, the 1993 boasts superb density to match its powerful personality. Readers lucky enough to own the 1993 are in for a real treat. Unlike the 1995 or 1996 – both far more celebrated vintages – the 1993 has the balance to continue to improve in bottle. What a gorgeous wine this is. Disgorged 2011.

For the rose, Diver scallop en Croute. Bernaise, asparagus, black truffle. Sort of like lobster Wellington!

From my cellar: 1993 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg. 95 points. I had always been under the impression that the 1987 vintage was the last truly great vintage for Jean Gros’ Richebourg, but the 1991, 1992 and 1993 all showed magnificently well (in the context of their respective vintages) at this tasting. The nose on the 1993 is delightful, and classic Jean Gros, soaring from the glass in a mélange of bacon fat, ripe plums, raspberry, grilled nuts, some meaty tones, earth and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, urgent and focused, with outstanding intensity of flavor, a fine core of fruit, and a long, complex peacock’s tail of a finish. The tannins are ripe and well-integrated here, and the vintage’s tangy acids beautifully frame the wine. This is eminently drinkable already, but clearly more nuance and complexity will emerge as the wine ages further. This is a dynamite Richebourg in the making.

1971 Camille Giroud Charmes-Chambertin. BH 92. Warm, rich, complex and fully mature aromas lead to big, dense, still firmly tannic flavors that display incredible vibrancy and vigor for a 30+ year old Burgundy and the finish is long a satisfying. This is a very impressive effort and while it is no model of finesse, the density and freshness this exhibits is nothing short of remarkable. First rate and this has another 20 years of life, even though I would not expect it to improve from here. Consistent notes.

1990 Domaine Leroy Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes. 94 points. Leroy spice superimposed on Gevrey earth and mineral tones. This is a spectacular bottle. The fruit from the 90 vintage is still deep and persistent. Secondary notes of leather, smoke and salted plum is present. A bit of black tea and menthol notes. Pairs shockingly well with smoked pork shoulder. Still quite young and still improving.

Black truffle pasta. Parmesan, mushroom jus. Small but amazing. Perfect with red burg.

1996 Maison Leroy Charmes-Chambertin. 94 points. The aromas were very tight at first, with some reductive notes, but this opened up and got quite fresh. Some asperagus stems and slightly herbal. After two hours I swear I briefly smelled hamburger. Overall though, the aromas were elegant and soft, with all I can describe as an impressive presence in the glass. Very exuberant fruit on the palate! Impressive, really amazing and lushously fresh. Grippy tannins begin after 10 seconds in the mouth and it couldn’t be held on the tongue for much longer. This really does have a WOW palate that’s very pretty and so herbal. Really impressive fruit on the finish as well, with incredible length. Even a minute later I’m getting more evolving red berry fruits that are different. So sexy on the finish. Acid, minerality, bright and very grippy and tart. I think this was drinking nearly as good, if quite a bit differently, from the Latricières. This is an overall prettier wine, if not quite as deep. After two hours this thing got so grippy and tight, losing the fruit and becoming all structure.

1996 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot. 94 points. Red-ruby color. Highly aromatic nose of black cherry, herbs and licorice. Wonderful sweetness for young Clos Vougeot, and not at all hard. As expressive in the mouth as on the nose. Offers terrific snap and a firm structure; currently hiding considerable power under its fruit. Finishes with firm but ripe tannins. Much easier to taste than the ’95 was a year ago.

1996 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny. BH 94. This is quite deeply colored for a ’96 and evidences no bricking after 13 years. Perhaps the best part of this wine is the nose, which is warm, inviting, seductive and gorgeously complex with abundant spice notes and really lovely elegance though there is also much to be said for the rich and phenolically ripe flavors that coat the palate with velvet on the broad and surprisingly round finish. I say surprisingly because there was none of the typical ’96 edginess or green acidity and while this will certainly continue to hold, I would be drinking this now and over the next ten years. An excellent wine in the context of a variable vintage.

A5 Wagyu Tenderloin. Bone marrow, charred pickled onion, beef tendon croquette.

From my cellar: 1989 Château d’Yquem. VM 97. Laid-back, extremely young aromas of honey, creme caramel, smoke and earth; essence of semillon. Rich, large-scaled and powerful; really expands in the mouth. Lovely harmonious acidity and bright notes of orange peel and minerals give this very youthful wine great clarity of flavor. Classy and impeccably balanced. The subtle, oak-spicy, nutty finish goes on and on. Conveys an almost saline impression of extract. This should approach peak drinkability within the next eight to ten years and last for decades.

agavin: perfect paring with…

Seared Foie Gras. Kumquat, st Germain Gastrique. The forbidden fruit is twice as sweet! This was one of my favorite foie preps as of late. Really great textural interplay.

Cheese selection with nut brittle.

Bread and crackers for the cheese.

Another new flavor, but continuing my Sicilian theme — Pistachio Almond Lemon Gelato — base made with a 50/50 blend of Pistachios from Bronte Sicily and Noto Almonds, plus Sicilian candied lemon! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #Almond #lemon #sicily

By special Liz’s birthday request — Gorgonzola Fig Walnut Gelato — Gorgonzola Dulce base with Fig Jam and Candied Walnuts! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #gorgonzola #fig #walnut #SavorySweet

The wine lineup.

Dressed to impress and below a rare MZ sighting!

When Liz sets up a dinner, she really endeavors to get everything right.

Food was some of the best in town for wine tastings. Really light, fresh, and delectable.

Wines were just off the chart good at this dinner. Just blockbusters and nothing really flawed. For a moment, Kirk thought his 2008 Chevy was, but it blew off. Winners for me were the ’71 Dom ,the 2000 d’auvennary, the 93 Riche, and the 89 Y’quem (sweet tooth!). But so many great wines.

Service was great. Having our own Somm ensured that — and we had unique stems for everything. Petrossian really took care of us too.

Plus, this being a friends only dinner, as opposed to a winemaker dinner with a broader attendance base, meant the company was extra extra fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Foodie Club dinners, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Caviar, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Liz Lee, Petrossian, Red Burgundy, Sage Society, White Burgundy

Isole e Olena il Pastaio

Feb19

Restaurant: Il Pastaio [1, 2]

Location: 400 N.Canon Drive. Bevery Hills, CA 90210. Phone: 310.205.5444

Date: January 24, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Superb

Liz Lee of Sage Society always puts on fabulous winemaker dinners. She focuses on making every element perfect from the location, food, wines and has some of the best winemakers in the world.

For Isole e Olena — one of Tuscany’s greatest producers — she selected il Pastaio, one of the many Drago restaurants. Normally, Giacomino Drago (one of the several chef brothers) helms il Pastaio — a Beverly Hills mainstay — but tonight Celestino was supervising this special dinner. Celestino and I have been friends for nearly twenty years since we met when he catered the dinner the night before our wedding!

Il Pastaio has a nice private room — or maybe it was a section of the restaurant that can be closed off for special events.

But it was decorated with illuminated trees and ceramics from Caltagirone Sicily (the Drago’s are Sicilian).

There is a cute wine room too.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. 92 points.

Crispy Shrimps, Fennel Marmalade. Like a little spring spring roll, but the combination with the fennel jelly was fabulous. Sweet and interesting.

Foie Gras Crostino, Caramelized Onions, Aged Balsamic. Great combination of rich foie, sweet onions, and savory crostino.

Scrambled Eggs and Truffles. Simple but perfect.

Close up of the table.

And my spot.

Liz Lee introduces our winemaking guests.

In the center is Paolo De Marchi, legendary owner and winemaker of Isole e Olena. His family originally hails from Northern Italy but in the 1950s they bought the Isole e Olena and through lots of hard work and innovation brought it to the peak of Tuscan wineries.

The lady in red is the highly selective importer.

Our special menu.

Drago bakery bread.

2016 Isole e Olena Chardonnay Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. 90 points. Very well made Chardonnay in a modern style, ripe fruit, rich but fresh, lovely complexity, lots of savoury oak, especially on the slightly resinous finish, very good length.

2012 Isole e Olena Chardonnay Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. VM 93. Another super-impressive wine, the 2012 Chardonnay Collezione Privata races across the palate with gorgeous nuance and pure texture. Apricot, white flowers, spices, butter and French oak all meld together in a Chardonnay that stands out for its texture and balance. Today, the French oak is quite evident, but that should be less of an issue over time. I have seen Isole’s Chardonnay age well in the past, and expect to see the same here. The textured, impeccable finish makes it impossible to resist a second taste. I am typically not a fan of Italian Chardonnay. This is about as good as it gets.

2011 Isole e Olena Chardonnay Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. VM 89. Almonds, butter, pastry and juicy yellow stone fruits emerge from Isole e Olena’s 2011 Chardonnay. Paolo De Marchi has done a remarkable job with this wine considering how difficult the vintage was for whites. The 2011 shows the ripeness and breadth of the year in its volume, yet all the elements are beautifully balanced. This is about as good as it gets in 2011.

Sea Food, Sea Urchin Panna Cotta. This is the second sea urchin custard I’ve had recently! There was a lot of it too, and it had that interesting sweet/rich/briny quality. The seafood was impeccable as well. Lovely dish, and actually a great pairing with the more mature Chardonnays.

2015 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico. VM 87-89. Tasted from tank just prior to bottling, the 2015 Chianti Classico is very pretty. Surprisingly medium in body, especially for the year, it is a model of total sophistication. It will be interesting to see if the 2015 gains a bit more flesh. Today, it is on the lighter side, even by the estate’s historical standards.

agavin: this is IEO’s basic Chianti. It’s a pretty blend, very much a great Italian table wine.

Scallops Saltimbocca, Cream of Forbidden Black Rice. I’ve never had the forbidden cream before! Great scallop nicely offset with the pancetta.

2016 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. no reviews at all.

agavin: Cepparello is IEO’s “Super Tuscan” being basically a pure Sangiovese.

2015 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. 93 points. dark red, dark ripe cherries, masculine, lovely style of Sangiovese, rich & round
2014 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. VM 97. The 2014 Cepparello is one of the truly great wines of the vintage. Vivid and intense in all of its dimensions, it exudes purity from start to finish. Silky tannins, expressive aromatics and beautifully delineated, bright, layered Sangiovese fruit are some of the signatures. In 2014, Paolo De Marchi produced an epic Cepparello for the ages. Don’t miss it.

2013 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. VM 96. The 2013 Cepparello is superb. Polished, silky nuanced and exceptionally beautiful, the 2013 exudes freshness and energy from start to finish. Succulent red cherry, plum, lavender and rose petal are some of the signatures. Aging in French oak shapes the wine nicely without marking it excessively. The purity of the flavors is striking. This is an especially cool, savory Cepparello built on finesse and persistence rather than power. Rain during harvest robbed the wine of some of its breadth. Otherwise, this is a striking Cepparello. I can’t wait to see how it ages.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio, Pickle Mushrooms, Truffle Pecorino, Truffles. Fabulous Carpaccio. In fact, probably one of the best I’ve ever had. Great beefiness, olive oil, and truffle notes.

2013 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. 95-96+ points. Tasted after the outstanding 2015 Cepparello, this also is an absolutely stunning wine. A little more restrained on the nose maybe showing dark fruit, spices, tobacco, floral notes. Lots of fruit, powerful tannins, wonderful acidity in near perfect balance on the palate. Big, dense and concentrated, but not heavy. Like Cepparello, quite elegant in fact with lots of finesse. Super persistence to the finish. Keep. 95-96+.

agavin: Gran Selezione is even pricer (and rarer) than the Cepparello and is like the ultimate Chianti. Generally Paolo blends the Sangiovese with a bit of French wine like Syrah or Cabernet depending on the year. Selection is fierce and he uses only the best sections of the vineyards meticulously sorted.

2010 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. VM 98-99. The 2010 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione is extraordinary. A wine of pedigree and class, the 2010 boasts magnificent intensity and depth yet never comes across as heavy. The flavors are layered, nuanced and beautifully delineated in the glass. Plum, black cherry, spice, menthol and sweet spices are laced into the exquisite finish. The 2010 is a stunner today, but also has plenty of upside for the future. A reduction of time in barrel vis-a-vis the 2006 has paid off handsomely. The 2010 is going to be expensive, but it is worth every penny. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot round out the blend.

Cavatelli Wild Boar Ragout. I couldn’t help think of how Paolo told us that he hates the cinghiale (the Tuscan white boar) because they mess with the vines — so he enjoys the revenge of eating them. This pasta was amazing, as Celestino’s hearty ragus always are. It was rich and porky. The cavatelli had that awesome thick chew.

2006 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. VM 93. Isole e Olena’s 2006 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, a wine that was originally produced for home consumption, turned out to be the drawing board for the Gran Selezione. Cherry jam, earthiness, spices, mocha, sweet herbs and French oak all meld together in the glass. The 2006 is marked by a slightly oxidative note in its aromatics it has always shown – the result of having spent three and a half years in oak. Otherwise, the 2006 is exceptional.

agavin: interesting that this was my favorite and the professional reviewers liked the younger wines.

2006 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. VM 96. The 2006 Cepparello is a super classic wine. It brings together the best elements of the house style in its breathtaking aromatics, delineated fruit and striking overall balance. All of the elements are in the right place for the 2006 to develop into a spectacular wine. The 2006 stands apart for its nuance, depth and overall detail. Juicy red cherries, raspberries, rose petals and licorice build to the huge, dramatic finish. The 2006 is one of the all-time great Cepparellos. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the stunning 1988. The 2006 has blossomed beautifully in bottle over the last few years, and it is now clear I underestimated its potential.

2005 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. VM 94. The 2005 Cepparello is glorious. A dark, mysterious wine, the 2005 has put on considerable weight in bottle, while the flavors have turned quite somber, with plenty of espresso, dried flowers, mocha, tar and licorice overtones woven throughout. The 2005 can be enjoyed today, but it also has more than enough stuffing to last for another 10-15 years. It is one of the real triumphs of the vintage. Specifically, the 2005 exudes a strong, assertive personality that simply can’t be denied. In 2005, proprietor Paolo De Marchi blended in a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon to add structure.

agavin: again I liked this less structured, less “big” wine.

2004 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. VM 95. The 2004 Cepparello has fleshed out beautifully since I last tasted it. Dark raspberries, flowers, licorice and spices blossom from the glass as the wine opens up over time. When it was young the 2004 was a much more linear wine, but since then it has put on a lot of weight. Today, the 2004 comes across as a modern day 1982 because of its balance of aromatics, fruit and structure.

Rabbit Cannellone, Squash Puree. This was a novel (and very Italian) dish. The rabbit was like a pink meat filling — not unlike dumpling filling. It was rolled into the pasta and than the unusual sweet squash sauce.

2014 Isole e Olena Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. 92 points. Paolo has some pure Cab and Syrah cuvees too.

2013 Isole e Olena Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. VM 96. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione Privata is superb. A delicate, nuanced wine in this vintage, the Cabernet Sauvignon speaks in hushed tones. Silky tannins and highly expressive aromatics add to an impression of total finesse. In many vintages, the Cabernet can be quite big, but not in 2013. This is a brilliant showing from Isole and proprietor Paolo De Marchi.

2015 Isole e Olena Syrah Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. 92 points.

2011 Isole e Olena Syrah Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. VM 94. The 2011 Syrah Collezione Privata is a big, powerful wine. Dark cherry, smoke, plum, pipe tobacco, cedar, leather and menthol notes make a strong opening statement. Plush and deep on the palate, the 2011 is super-inviting. A dollop of Viognier rounds out the blend. This is one of the most intriguing Syrahs being made in Italy today.

Pan Roasted Lamb Loin, Eggplant, Apple Fritters. Yum, lamb.

2000 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT. 91 points. Red berries and rose hip tea in the nose, all a bit high toned. Much personality, elegance, consistence right from the start but playing all cards only for so. with some patience: clearly best sip on day 3 from remaining small tasting glas. Good length, great robustness, sweet fruit expression. Great wine.

1998 Isole e Olena Cabernet Sauvignon Collezione Privata Toscana IGT.

1997 Isole e Olena Syrah Collezione Privata Toscana IGT. 90 points.

Wagyu New York Steak, Potato Gnocchi, Parmesan Cheese Cream, Pea Tendrils, Balsamic Sabayon. Boy was I getting full — and this was some great beef!

2008 Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico. Sticky!

Italian Cheeses. Liz normally doesn’t like sweets at the end of red wine meals as to not conflict with the wines but I twisted her arm and brought some of this:

Another new flavor — Orange Cinnamon Gelato — I steeped the milk with blood orange rind, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #orange #cinnamon #vanilla #nutmeg

Have a few wines!

My cryptic notes.

And some glasses.

As always from Liz and Sage Society an impeccable dinner. Lovely setting, Drago food at its best (and a rare and excellent showing these days with Celistino helming the kitchen), individual labeled stems for every wine (and there were A LOT) and perfect wine service!

Plus Paolo talked and was available all night we really got an insight into the creativity and energy that has made him one of Tuscany’s best winemakers. He engaged in all sorts of experiments with various clones, sites, variants, and techniques in the vineyard, individually pressing and separating small batches of differing grapes. In this way he was able to isolate his best plots and some variations and techniques that really enabled him to push his winemaking forward.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Chef Celestino won the left and Paolo De Marchi in the middle.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Celestino Drago, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Drago, Gelato, Il Pastaio, Italian Cusine, Liz Lee, Paolo De Marchi, pasta, Sage Society, Seafood, Tuscany, Uni, Wine

Nothing Boring about Bavel

Jan21

Restaurant: Bavel

Location: 500 Mateo St, Los Angeles, CA 90013. (213) 232-4966

Date: November 26, 2018

Cuisine: Modern Middle Eastern

Rating: One of the best tasting new places in town

Bavel is a new Modern Middle Eastern place from the Bestia people — and like that place it’s hip and crowded. It’s own webpage describes it as a Middle Eastern restaurant from Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. With family roots in Israel, Morocco, Turkey, and Egypt, Ori and Genevieve have always wanted to open a restaurant that showcases the cuisines of their family lineages, bringing together the flavors and dishes they grew up with.

Ori and Genevieve were both born in the Los Angeles area – Genevieve was raised in Southern California, while Ori and his family moved to Israel where he spent his formative years.

Ori grew up traveling with his family and was exposed to fine dining across the globe, but it wasn’t until his year-long stay in South America, where he realized his passion for cooking. Genevieve is a self-taught pastry chef who started baking out of necessity to satisfy her sweet tooth. At the time, she was studying to be a classical French horn player.

In 2001, Ori returned to Los Angeles. He landed his first kitchen job at an Israeli cafe, before working at La Terza—the restaurant where Ori and Genevieve, who was a hostess, met for the first time. From there, Ori spent time in the kitchens of Pizzeria Mozza, All’ Angelo, and under chef Gino Angelini at Angelini Osteria, where he worked for four years as chef de cuisine.

In 2012, Ori and Genevieve pursued their dream of opening their first restaurant, Bestia and in 2018 their second restaurant, Bavel. With a background in the field of interior design, Genevieve played a key role in the design of both restaurants. When not in the kitchen, Ori and Genevieve can be found spending time with their daughter, Saffron.

It’s also located in the DTLA Arts District, which would be cool except for being so darn far for me.

The interior is large, stylish, not particularly Middle Eastern (on purpose) and very very loud (unfortunately).

We ate out on the patio — which wasn’t nearly as attractive and had worse chairs but was much much quieter (which is actually more important). I wish restauranteurs would get off their louder is better horse. It’s really annoying.

The menu — we ordered most of it.

Kirk brought some fake Chard. 2015 Alheit Vineyards Chenin Blanc Magnetic North Mountain Makstok Skurfberg. VM 91. Restrained aromas of citrus fruits and flowers, plus a whiff of crushed stone. Offers noteworthy texture and sweetness in a still-reserved package. There’s minerality here and a positive dryness to the wine’s stone fruit and citrus flavors. The firm, spicy finish is not at all harsh. Quite strong on the back end. I suspect this will blossom in bottle.

FARM CHEESE. rose petal za’atar, olive oil, maldon, buckwheat loaf. This was standing in for Lebneh — or is a lebneh variant. The bread was amazing. Tons of flavor and nicely grilled. Loved the yogurt-like cheese and olive oil too — I always do.

Close up of the cheese.

FOIE GRAS HALVA. creamy paté, date puree, black sesame, buckwheat loaf. Same bread. Kind of sweet. One of those foie and sweet preps. I liked it a lot though.

DUCK ‘NDUJA HUMMUS. creamy garbanzo beans, jerusalem mix spice, herbs, pita. This might be the bavel signature dish. The “original” in Lebanon would be beef, pine nuts, and onions on top of the hummus. This variant was superb and the pita was also top notch.

A close up of the hummus, of course.

Two vintages of the same fake pinot. One was okay, the other kind of middling.

I wish these American winemakers wouldn’t stick the vineyard and vintage info in such small type on the side, but they do. Better than the ones that put it on the back (hate that) but still couldn’t read it. I think one was 09, the other very recent. Can’t remember. I don’t buy fake pinot.

GRILLED PRAWNS. harissa marinade, cured zucchini tzatziki, herbs, lime. These were superb. Really really great. The prawns were juicy, full of briney flavor, and a certain sweet char. It paired perfectly with the tangy tzatziki.

GREEN LIP MUSSELS. makrut lime, coconut milk, ginger sofrito, white wine, citrus, serrano chile. This didn’t feel Middle Eastern at all (more Thai) but it did taste amazing. Really fabulous mussel prep. Coconut curry-like.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER. hawaij chile sauce, lime leaf, crème fraiche serrano dip, pistachios, dried flowers. I’m not a vegetable person but this was one of the best dishes of the night! A more fried variant is a Lebanese staple but this was just incredible cauliflower packed with flavor.

And the creamy dip really knocked it up.

Kirk also brought this overpriced fake pinot. 2005 Sine Qua Non Pinot Noir Over & Out. VM 92. Ruby-red. Exotically perfumed nose features energetic raspberry and blackberry scents complicated by cinnamon, mace and fresh rose. Plush and sweet, offering powerful red and dark berry flavors, suave tannins and impressively chewy finishing grip. Less a pinot than a Sine Qua Non wine, and that’s not a bad thing.

agavin: I didn’t like it at all. Doesn’t taste like pinot at all, more like Syrah.

LAMB TARTARE. burnt onion crème fraiche, pickled chive blossom, mint, cinnamon, toasted sesame, laffa. Good stuff, very tangy.

The laffa? Not to be confused with luffa?

FRIED QUAIL. cardamom date sauce, pickled celery, smoked yogurt, fresh herbs. Awesome. The sauce was quiet sweet. Like fried chicken with some interesting Middle Eastern dessert reduction.

David brought: 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 93+ points. I have always been a fan of the 1989 Château Beaucastel, which I rank just behind the superb 1981 at this fine estate. The most recent bottle I tasted of this wine was still just a touch youthful, but offered up fine complexity on both the nose and palate and shows excellent promise. The bouquet is a blend of roasted fruitcake, cherries, new leather, venison, incipient notes of sous bois, woodsmoke and hot stones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and rock solid at the core, with a bit of tannin still to resolve, fine focus and grip and a very long, classy and slightly chewy finish. I would be tempted to give this wine a few more years to really resolve, as it will be a superb wine and it would be most enjoyable to drink it at the same plateau that the 1981 has been enjoying for a good decade already.

LAMB FLATBREAD. Spicy fermented sausage, grated tomato, red onion, parsley, pine nuts, nigella seed, mint, sumac.

Marinated Tomato. Whipped feta, smoked eggplant powder, savory, sea salt, olive oil. People didn’t love this dish. The feta was very salty and I think people expected a sweet/creamy vibe like with burrata. I’m not a tomato fan, so it was hard for me to tell.

GRILLED DORADE. herb-stuffed, red chermoula, preserved orange, smoked anchovy. For a fish, it was very good as the paste on top was spicy and had a lot of flavor.

From my cellar: 2006 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia Sassicaia. VM 95. Bright red-ruby. Complex nose melds red cherry, blackcurrant, minerals, dried herbs and a delicate oaky vanillin nuance; the fruit aromas show an almost roasted quality without going over the top. Sweet, concentrated and nicely fresh, with an impression of strong extract and a hint of exotic fruits to the flavors of ripe red and dark berries, chocolate, plum and wild herbs. The candied fruit quality carries through on the long, smooth finish, where there’s a trace of heat and hints of menthol and minerals. A very successful Sassicaia but, in my notebook, just a little below the lofty heights of the 2001 or 2004. But given the quality of this wine, that’s quibbling.

AGED HALF DUCK. breast kebab, confit leg, duck bone broth, green amba, chicory salad. If this was half a duck, it was a VERY small duck! It did taste good, a bit like peking duck.

duck bone broth.

2002 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. 93 points. Such a great wine. Italian merlot. Loads of blueberries, black cherries and such a rich and voluptuous wine. Awesome texture. Supple and generous. But balanced and so well made. Plenty of life left in this bottle. Really enjoyable.

SLOW ROASTED LAMB NECK SHAWARMA. tahini, amba, pickled vegetables, laffa. Yum!

tahini, amba, pickled vegetables.

The tagine before opening.

BRAISED PORK TAGINE. prunes, serrano chile, cous cous, cashews.

cous cous, cashews and the usual tagine “sauce.”

The dessert menu — oops I mean dessert menu.

Yarom had this ice wine in his bag.

LICORICE ROOT ICE CREAM BON BON. sour licorice caramel, muscovado cake, caramelized white chocolate, maldon.

CARDAMOM APPLE PRUNE CAKE. date toffee sauce, cream

STRAWBERRY SUMAC & SWEET CHEESE PASTRY. pistachio ice cream, labneh cream, cured sumac

PAGLAVA. rolled walnut & apricot filled pastry, farm cheese, honey, dried borage flower

COCONUT TAPIOCA. passion fruit, basil syrup, lime zest, coconut tuile

Desserts were excellent too!

The red wine lineup.

We also ran into Liz Lee and a friend — what a coincidence!

Bavel is a really great new addition to the LA scene. The only similar spot food-wise I’ve been to in LA is Mizlala — which is also fabulous (if more casual). While LA has lots of Israeli, Lebanese, and Moroccan places, Bavel (and Mizlala) really notch the cuisine up with their bright flavors, fun fusions, and attractive plating. Service was fine. The place is too loud. The food is amazing. Unlike Bestia, Bavel is fairly liberal in allowing you to open wine bottles — but they do charge a medium-high corkage. It’s tres LA and would be great for out of town guests if it weren’t so far and hard to get into.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bavel, hedonists, Hummus, Italian wine, lamb, Liz Lee, Middle Eastern, Wine

Veuve Clicquot at Spago

Dec26

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

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

Date: November 12, 2018

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Still great

Spago is always fun but it’s especially good when it’s a Sage Society arranged Veuve Clicquot dinner. I love great Champagne and this sort of dinner is a fun way to learn more about different houses.

Spago has been an LA institution for over 30 years!

Tonight Veuve Clicquot has taken over the private dinner area.

We have this lovely long table.

And they take it seriously, as does this guy who has way more gear than even I do!

Lots of “displays.”

Etc.
Tonight’s special menu.

Tonight is partially about introducing a new NV blend cuvee:

NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Extra Brut Extra Old. 93 points. At least 6 years old, only reserve wines, dosage 3 gr. a champagne with a great character, very classic, also in its bitters, firm, but not severe and a long aftertaste.

Caviar Blini with creme fraiche.

Cheese (and maybe foie) Gougeres.

Spicy Tuna Tartare, Sesame-Miso Tuille Cone. I’ve had it a million times but it’s still great. The counter play between the crunchy-sweet cone and the soft-spicy interior.

Crab and uni and flowers in a crispy/chewy sesame ball.

Jewish pizza. Smoked salmon with creme fraiche and ikura (salmon roe). I love this too. I even make it at home.

Place settings.

Various folk from Veuve get up to talk.

This is Dominique Demarville, the wine maker! He told us all about each cuvee and a lot about the history of the house — really fascinating.

Wild Hamachi. Beet Ponzu, ginger oil, sea grass. Great fish quality. Very bright strong vibrant flavors. Super delicious.

2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 93. Vivid gold. Heady aromas of orange, white peach and smoky minerals, with a note of buttered toast adding depth. Densely packed citrus and pit fruit flavors show chewy texture and a bright mineral quality that adds vivacity. Rich but lively and precise, finishing very long, with notes of candied fig and toasty lees.

2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. JG 94+. The final blending of the 2006 La Grande Dame was completed prior to Dominique Demarville joining the team at Veuve Clicquot, so we will have to wait for the release of the 2008 version to see his impact on this bottling. The 2006 Grande Dame is a blend of fifty-three percent pinot noir and forty-seven percent chardonnay and was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter. The wine is excellent, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of apple, pear, wheat toast, fine minerality, a touch of smokiness and a nice note of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, deep and complex, with elegant mousse, fine focus and grip and a very long, vibrant and zesty finish. This is drinking beautifully, but has the balance to age long and gracefully as well. High class juice.

2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. 92 points. Tasting, brief note. A new age for Grande Dame – 92% Pinot Noir. Berries really come through with some toasted almond and toasted rye bread. Rounded textures, very good length.

Spago always has great bread.

Main Diver Scallops. Matsutake Mushrooms, Sea Grass, Yuzu Emulsion.

The non shellfish version.

2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 94. Vivid orange-pink. Seductively perfumed aromas of ripe red berries, Asian spices, rose and smoky minerals. Densely packed and palate-staining, offering vibrant red and dark berry flavors, along with floral pastille and buttered toast qualities. The strikingly long finish repeats the red fruit and mineral notes and lingers with serious tenacity.

The Madame Clicquot invented the technique of mixing red pinot noir into Champagne to make rose and so these (like many rose Champagnes) use that technique as opposed to leaving the pinot on the skins.

2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. JG 95. For both the vintage-dated and the Grande Dame Rosé bottlings, Veuve Clicquot uses their parcel of Clos Colin in the village of Bouzy for the still red wine that is used to add color to the final blend. The ’06 Grande Dame Rosé is comprised entirely of chardonnay and pinot noir, with thirty-three percent of the blend the former and sixty-seven percent of the blend the latter (with fourteen percent still pinot noir). The dosage is eight grams per liter and the wine is outstanding, offering up a pure and complex bouquet of tangerine, desiccated cherries, chalky minerality, orange peel and plenty of smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and complex, with a superb core, lovely focus and grip, elegant mousse and a very long, zesty and wide open finish. This is drinking beautifully right now, but will age very gracefully as well.

2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. CW 95-97. This is perhaps the best young Rose Champagne I can remember. Very fresh, frozen-berry nose, and on the palage this shows rich citrus and red fruits, and the characteristic ’08 electricity and density, dialed up to 11. Notwithstanding the massive concentration of raw material, this is pretty drinkable due to the excellent balance, saline freshness, and beautiful fruit. A real wow wine. Expensive but, dare I say, worth it.

The giant double mag of 1990 rose!

1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 92. Salmon-orange with a pale rim. Deep, smoky aromas of strawberry, pear cider, cinnamon, earth and maple syrup. Very rich in the mouth, but also shows excellent verve for a wine with such volume; superripe flavors of strawberry, rose petal, iron and earth. In texture and size, this comes across more like a red wine than a rose Champagne. Spicy finish is long and gripping.

Marcho Farm’s Veal Loin. Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pancetta, Creme Sauce. Not usually a veal fan, but I know Wolfgang is, being Austrian — still this was fabulous.

Pasta for my wife who doesn’t eat veal.

1989 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. VM 92. Almonds, pastry and brioche are some of the notes that open up in 1989 Brut Cave Privée. The warm, resonant style is hugely appealing. Hints of toast and spice add complexity in a Champagne of pure texture and breadth. This is another terrific showing from Veuve Clicquot.

1982 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. 95 points. Wonderful expressions of toast and bread. Slight oxidation, dark hay color, lasting taste on the palate, went down smoothly. Drink.

House Made Seaweed Tamale. Main Lobster, Aonori Beurre Blanc. I wonder if this was developed at Rogue as it reminded me of the stuff from our visit to Wolfgang’s kitchen lab. Really great.

My wife got another pasta (gnocchi) where they emulated meat with mushrooms. I ate a few and quite excellent.

1979 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Rosé Cave Privée. 96 points. Delicately floral start with strawberry with ripe apple on nose and palate. Lots of power and textures start-to-finish with an incredibly persistent, long finish. Wow.

Chef’s Selection of Artisanal Cheese. Bandaged Bismark from Raw Sheep Milk. 3 Year Aged Gouda Beemster from Pasteurized Cow Milk. Saint Gil d’Albio from Pasteurized Goat Milk.

This was a great night and lots of fun. Set wine dinner meals are tough on restaurants, particularly with restrictive wine themes like “all champagne” but Spago did a fabulous job. I think they are actually one of the best at this kind of dinner. Liz Lee of Sage Society always arranges an impeccable affair. Plus our service was impeccable and our wines amazing — I left with a new appreciation for Veuve Clicquot!

The old Veuves like the giant 90, 82, 79 etc were just crazy good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Dominique Demarville, Liz Lee, Lobster, pasta, Sage Society, Spago, Veuve Clicquot, Wolfgang Puck

Krug Providence

Nov30

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

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

Date: October 4, 2018

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food & Amazing Champ

Providence is always good but it’s especially good when it’s a Sage Society arranged Krug dinner. I love Krug. Anyone who doesn’t is fairly suspect :-).

While the colors are different, Providence still looks a lot like Patina to me — as the layout is basically the same.

The bar has this blue and gold thing going on.
This is my first time in the private room, despite many visits here.

Our reception champ is of course Grand Cuvee.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 166eme. VM 94. The MV Grande Cuvée 166ème, based on the 2010 vintage, offers good depth, but it also comes across as a bit angular and in need of time in bottle to soften. Certainly, next to the 2008 and 2009 editions, the 2010 is a touch rough around the edges. Even so, there is good freshness and verve to the bright citrus, mineral and floral flavors.

The special menu for tonight.

The amuses consist of smoked trout or something. Delicious as I love smoked fish like any good Jewish boy should.

Toro tartar on endives.

And uni crisps.

In the center is Richard Beaumont, Krug Brand Director.

And, of course, Liz Lee, our incomparable hostess.

Next up:

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 163eme (in Magnum). VM 95. The NV Grand Cuvée 163 Edition is wonderfully open-knit and giving, qualities that make it a terrific choice for drinking now and over the next 30 or so years. Pastry, apricot, lemon confit, chamomile and white flowers, along with soft contours, give the wine its inviting, alluring personality. There is more than enough energy and overall freshness to support several decades of fine drinking. Even so, the 163 is virtually impossible to resist at this early stage.

Mussel. A bunch of acid here.

Foie puff, I think. Can’t remember but it was delicious.

A mini tart of some sort which was also delicious.

And a bit of fall seasonal soup (presumably with cream). May have been corn or butternut squash.

The big gun:

2004 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil. VM 98+. The 2004 Clos du Mesnil captures all the pedigree of this epic Blanc des Blancs vintage. A soaring, majestic Champagne, the 2004 dazzles from the very first taste with its crystalline purity and brightness. In two tastings so far, the 2004 has been nothing less than a total showstopper. The vertical structure and pure, tightly-coiled power are the stuff dreams are made of. There is little doubt the 2004 is one of the very finest Clos du Mesnils in recent memory. Will it join the 1979, 1988 and 1996 as one of the all-time greats? Now, that is a tasting I would love to do!

2004 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 97+. Krug’s 2004 Vintage is absolutely mesmerizing. Layers of bright, chiseled fruit open up effortlessly as the wine fleshes out with time in the glass. Persistent and beautifully focused, with a translucent sense of energy, the 2004 captures all the best qualities of the year. Moreover, the 2004 is clearly superior to the consistently underwhelming 2002 and the best Krug Vintage since 1996. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is a magical bottle.

Yellowtail Sashimi with pumpkin seeds and California Yuzu and Caviar. Delicious and perfect with great champagne.

Special bread.

The bread came with it’s own manifesto — letting us get to know the baker personally — lol.

Special butter from France and salt.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 160eme. JG 94. The Krug Grand Cuvée “160ème Édition” is from the base year of 2004 and is now starting to really drink well today. It was disgorged in the spring of 2014 and the oldest reserve wines used in this iteration being chardonnays from the villages of Avize and Oger dating back to the 1990 vintage. The final cépages ending up forty-four percent pinot noir, thirty-three percent chardonnay and twenty-three percent pinot meunier. I had not tasted this bottling in a year and it was every bit as beautiful at the estate as I remember it when it was paired with the 2004 vintage during its inaugural showing in New York last autumn. The wine offers up a classic and blossoming bouquet of apple, pear, almond, fresh-baked bread, a superb base of soil tones, a touch of upper register smokiness and an exotic topnote of fleur de sel. On the palate the wine is pure, focused and refined, with a full-bodied format, lovely focus and grip, elegant mousse, a lovely core and a long, vibrant and seamless finish. I love this version of Grande Cuvée and would love to have a case waiting in the cellar to start drinking ten years from now, as that is when it is really going to start firing on all cylinders!

Santa Barbara Spot Prawns with Chanterelle. Loved everything about this dish. Fresh prawn, butter, chanterelle — all perfect.

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

Grilled John Dory with Fennel & Roasted Tomato.

Avec le jus. Nice piece of white fish. Tres Francais.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé Edition 21eme. JG 95+. The Krug Brut Rosé “21ème Édition” is from the beautiful base year of 2008, with the oldest reserve wine in the blend going back to 2000. The wine was disgorged in the spring of 2015 and is a blend of fifty-one percent pinot noir, forty-one percent chardonnay and eight percent pinot meunier. Ten percent of the pinot noir in the blend is still red wine from Krug’s own parcels of vines in the village of Aÿ. The blend is a slight departure from many releases of Krug Rosé, as hail in the village of Ste. Ghemme in 2008 dramatically cut back the quality of pinot meunier from this vintage, so that Chef de Caves Eric Lebel opted to use all reserve wines for the pinot meunier portion of the blend. The very complex wine offers up the characteristically refined and gently exotic bouquet that this cuvée is cherished for, wafting from the glass in a blend of cherries, a touch of pomegranate, orange peel, beautiful, savory spice elements, rye bread, a complex base of soil tones , dried rose petals and incipient smokiness. On the palate the wine is full, complex and still quite youthful in terms of structure, with vibrant acids, a lovely core, elegant mousse and a very long, perfectly balanced and seamless finish. This is already beautifully complex, but I would love to revisit it five to ten years down the road and see what the passage of time does to this beautiful constellation of aromas and flavors.

Liberty Farms Duck with Apple & Daikon. The rose was more than a match for this lovely duck dish.

1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut Collection. VM 97+. Krug’s just-released 1990 Collection is magnificent. Remarkably fresh for a 26 year-old wine, the 1990 Collection captures the Krug house style at its very best. Floral notes meld into hints of apricot, chamomile, orchard fruit, vanillin and sweet spices. On the palate, the 1990 is creamy, vivid and super-expressive, but what is most intriguing is how fresh the Collection is relative to Vintage Champagne, which has always been a heavier, more oxidative wine. Readers who can find the 1990 should not hesitate, as it is stellar.

agavin: Love the 90 champagnes in general. Love this one in particular.

Comte, Roasted Grapes, Fresh Macadamia Nut. I love cheese — but I do miss having a real dessert at these wine dinners. Yeah, it doesn’t go perfectly with the wine, and cheese does, but I’d just do both.

At least there were petit fours. And for some reason people left most of them on the table so I had enough for about 6 people, glutton that I am.

The impressive line up.

And there was the little gift to go (some kind of muffin).

This was a great night and lots of fun. Set wine dinner meals are tough on restaurants, particularly with restrictive wine themes like “all champagne” but Providence did a fabulous job. The meal wasn’t quite as good as my last free-for-all here, but it was quite excellent. Tonight’s dishes were delicious and memorable. Plus our service was impeccable and our wines amazing — and all I had to do was buy a bunch of Krug!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Krug, Liz Lee, Providence, Sage Society

Art and Ruinart

May31

Food: Petrossian Beverly Hills

Location: Gallery on Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048.

Date: April 23, 2018

Cuisine: Caviar +

Rating: Great food

Liz Lee of Sage Society organizes some of the best wine maker dinners. Tonight’s showcases Ruinart Champagne.

While the food is from Petroissian down the street (yay caviar), the actually event location is actually at LeClaireur, a private gallery space.

We wind upstairs through the chic and elegant gallery to find this lovely spot.

And the impeccably set table.

A wider view.

It’s about 2 seconds before our first glass of Ruinart — poor us.

Photos so well in these surrounds.

And whoever uses these artsy glasses must have a very careful dishwasher — we didn’t dare.

Love the colors.

The evening even included some lovely modern violin.

Our menu for tonight.

Reception was covered by NV Ruinart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut (which I subsequently bought a bunch of). VM 92. Pale yellow. Complex, high-pitched aromas of orange zest, lemon pith, iodine, smoky minerals, anise and jasmine. Sappy and tactile on the palate, offering impressive volume to its ripe citrus and orchard fruit flavors accented by smoke and minerals. Finishes tangy and long, with lingering smokiness and an echo of anise.

Smoked salmon with crème fraiche on cucumber.

Caviar with crème fraiche on blinis — had about 10 of these.

Read to sit.

Even smells great.

The incomparable Liz Lee, owner of Sage Society gives a bit of an introduction. She really knows how to put together an event where all the details are perfect.

This lovely woman is Julia Fitzroy, Western Regional Director of Ruinart/Dom Perignon.

And here is Ruinart Chef de Cave, Frédéric Panaiotis. He filled us in on all sorts of interesting details about Ruinart winemaking. I find these dinners are a great opportunity to explore the diverse individual house styles in Champagne.

And organizing the wine service is my friend Jeridan, who is now the brand ambassador for Ruinart!

The crew at the table.

Can’t resist another flower photo.

2006 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. VM 96+. One of the highlights among this year’s new tête de cuvée releases, 2006 the Brut Blanc de Blancs Dom Ruinart is a powerful, almost tannic Champagne built on structure and intensity. Then again, much of the Chardonnay here comes from the Montagne de Reims, where wines tend to naturally be quite broad. Even though it’s now ten years old, the 2006 is much less expressive than either the 2002 or 2004 at a similar stage. I expect it will be quite a few years before the 2006 is truly ready to drink. Over the years I have been fortunate to taste Dom Ruinart back to the 1970s, and while I don’t think the 2006 will need decades to be at its best, it certainly does look like a long distance runner. There is plenty of citrus and floral driven intensity, although the bouquet is less toasty and open than it often is. In short, the 2006 Dom Ruinart is a wine for those who can be patient. It will be a fine investment for those looking for a wine to cellar to commemorate special occasions.

Petrossian Caviar Tasting Flight!

I wish I had written down the 6 varieties of caviar. The strongest, briniest was my favorite — but I like full flavor.

All were great though, and of course a perfect pairing with the champagne.

2004 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. VM 94. Vivid yellow. Pungent, heady aromas of ripe pear, orange pith, brioche and toasty lees, with a stony nuance adding lift and urgency. Smooth and expansive on the palate, offering intense citrus and orchard fruit flavors that pick up minerality and smokiness with air. Finishes sappy, penetrating and very long, with slow-building sweetness and a note of buttered toast.

Blue Crab, avocado, grapefruit, tarragon. Wow, what a dish. Look at that giant pile of the best Petrossian caviar.

And a bunch of blue crab below. This was killer!

2004 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 95. A wine of exquisite beauty, the 2004 Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé has the pedigree to drink well for several decades. The 2004 is an especially vinous, textured Rosé. The berry, floral, spice and mineral-drenched flavors are finely sketched in this dramatic, strikingly beautiful Rosé from Ruinart.

Raviolo. Morels, English Pea Puree, Parmesan. The only bad thing about this dish was that there was only one raviolo! Otherwise, it was pretty much perfect.

NV Ruinart Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Light orange. Sharply focused red berry and tangerine scents are complicated by suggestions of allspice and cinnamon, with a hint of smokiness in the background. Sappy and minerally on the palate, offering fresh strawberry and blood orange flavors lifted by juicy acidity. Packs a serious punch but carries no excess weight and finishes stony and very long, with echoing red berry character.

Scallops, lobster sauce, roasted fennel. Another amazing dish.

1998 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 94. (85% chardonnay from grand crus in the Cotes des Blancs and Montagne de Reims and 15% grand cru pinot noir from Sillery and Verzenay that was made as still wine and blended into the final cuvee ; Lot AGBEA0): Orange-pink. Pungent aromas of dried red berries, orange zest and buttered toast, with a suave floral overtone. The palate offers smoky, expansive strawberry and candied citrus fruit flavors, plus suggestions of rose pastille, brioche and iodine. Finishes smoky, spicy and very long, with excellent clarity and an echo of juicy red berries.

So good I actually bought a magnum!

1988 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 91. The 1988 Dom Ruinart Rosé is totally surprising,. Sweet tobacco, worn-in leather, earthiness, bramble and dried cherries meld together in the glass. The aromas and flavors are fully developed, yet the wine retains incredible density and pure power. Readers who enjoy fully mature Champagnes will adore the 1988 Dom Ruinart Rosé. The 1988 needs to be drunk sooner rather than later, as there is no upside from keeping bottles further. This is a rare vintage in which acidity was higher than alcohol!

Salmon, roasted rainbow carrots, carrot orange beurre blanc. A lovely butter poached salmon.

Speaking of salmon, look at the color of these champagnes.

Tete de Moine. Special “head of the monk” cheese. I’d never had this particular one of France’s 500+ cheeses. I liked it a lot and the texture was very interesting.

I even got a second chunk by having Frédéric show me “how” the flower-like shape is made.

Running out of steam and a lot of Champagne later.

The full lineup.

Another stellar dinner from Liz and Sage Society! Very educational with Frédéric Panaiotis there and the way in which Liz has arranged the wines. The gallery setting tonight was extra lovely and really took the whole event to the next level.

And Liz does an absolutely amazing job with the food pairings. Petrossian’s food was amazing tonigt. Particularly the crab dish which was incredible. I’ll have to go back with a smaller group to Petrossian proper.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Caviar, Champagne, crab, Liz Lee, Petrossian, Ruinart, Sage Society

Taittinger in Bel Air

Mar13

Restaurant: Hotel Bel-Air

Location: 701 Stone Canyon Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90077

Date: January 19, 2018

Cuisine: Continental

Rating: Great food, great wine

Liz Lee of Sage Society puts on some of the best Winemaker dinners in town and tonight was no exception. An all Taittinger dinner featuring Vitalie Taittinger, lots of great Champagne, and located at the unique…

Hotel Bel-Air.

We considered this place for our wedding and it’s always been gorgeous.

Almost park like.
Wolfgang Puck runs the restaurant at the hotel.

Here is the main dining room but we had a private room off to the side.

Our special menu for tonight.

Here is our spacious room.

NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française (magnum). BH 89. Notes of yeast, baked bread, petrol and citrus serve as a slightly muted introduction to the rounded, delicious and reasonably complex flavors where the citrus elements telegraphed by the nose reappear on the moderately dry finish. This is perfectly good but it lacks a bit of overall complexity; that said, it is certainly inviting and easy-to-like.

Blini with caviar and creme fraiche.

Truffle bone marrow puff pastries.

Artsy butter photo.

Sitting down to dinner.

Vitalie Taittinger is in the shiny blue in the center.

Yummy bread.

Flight 1.

NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française. BH 89. Notes of yeast, baked bread, petrol and citrus serve as a slightly muted introduction to the rounded, delicious and reasonably complex flavors where the citrus elements telegraphed by the nose reappear on the moderately dry finish. This is perfectly good but it lacks a bit of overall complexity; that said, it is certainly inviting and easy-to-like.

NV Taittinger Prelude. VM 91. Pale gold. Vibrant, mineral-laced citrus and orchard fruit aromas are complemented by suggestions of buttered toast and honey. Toasty orange and pear flavors are braced by juicy acidity, picking up a suggestion of chamomile with air. Finishes dry and precise, with repeating mineral and toast notes.

NV Taittinger Champagne Les Folies de la Marquetterie. VM 92. Pale gold. Red berries, rose and orange peel on the fragrant, floral-accented nose and in the mouth. Sappy and broad, with very good depth and an energizing note of chalky minerals. Gains weight with air and finishes with excellent breadth, clarity and lingering mineral and honeysuckle notes.

Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna, Hamachi & Alaskan King Salmon. Very nice, if salty and a bit heavy on the yuzu-kushu.

Flight 2.

2012 Taittinger Champagne Brut Millésimé. BH 92. The understated nose is presently quite discreet though not completely inexpressive with its array of floral, brioche, Meyer lemon and plenty of yeast influence. The clean and very crisp medium weight flavors possess excellent punch thanks to the very firm and relatively fine supporting mousse, all wrapped in a markedly dry but not really austere finale. This is a wine of refinement yet it doesn’t lack for verve and even power though it does need some bottle age to better develop the level of overall depth.

2009 Taittinger Champagne Brut Millésimé. BH 89. A ripe but fresh nose is comprised by notes of baked apple, yeast, brioche and a hint of rose petal. The round, rich, pliant and quite forward medium-bodied flavors are almost soft because while the supporting effervescence is relatively fine it’s not particularly dense and as such I found the overall effect to lack a touch of vibrancy on the otherwise reasonably dry and clean finish. This would better suit those who prefer less aggressive examples of Champagne when it comes to the mousse. In sum, this is perfectly good but I much preferred its 2008 counterpart.

Seared Main Diver Scallops “In the Shell.” Well scallop anyway. Lovely dish and a great pairing with the Champy.

Flight 3 — getting into the Comtes.

2004 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 96. I am thrilled with the way the 2004 Comtes de Champagne continues to evolve in bottle. A few years ago, the 2004 was quite focused and linear, in the style of the vintage, but more recently, the wine has begun to fill out beautifully. The 2004 remains bright, with a full range of citrus, white flower and mineral nuances that dance on the palate. A brisk, saline-infused finish rounds things out beautifully in a Comtes that impresses for its crystalline purity. I expect the 2004 will always remain a bit cool next to the more opulent 2002, but it is still drop-dead gorgeous.

2005 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 94. Bright yellow. Vibrant pear and melon aromas are complicated by suggestions of ginger, brioche and smoky minerals. Dry, smoky and precise, offering intense orchard and pit fruit flavors that gain weight with aeration. A dusty mineral quality adds focus and lift to the long, penetrating, floral finish. There’s a Burgundian thing going on here that’s quite intriguing.

2006 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97.5. The 2006 Comtes de Champagne is striking, especially in the way it brings together elements of ripeness and freshness in a hypothetical blend of the 2002 and 2004. Smooth and creamy on the palate, the 2006 is all about texture. There is a real feeling of density and weight in the 2006, qualities I expect to see grow with time in the bottle. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. The 2006 has been nothing short of magnificent both times I have tasted it. Comtes de Champagne remains the single best value (in relative terms) in tête de cuvée Champagne. I suggest buying a case and following it over the next 20-30 years, which is exactly what I intend to do. There is little doubt the 2006 Comtes de Champagne is a magical Champagne in the making.

Main Lobster & Black Truffle Garganelli Pasta. Great pasta.

The big Flight 4.

1996 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97. Taittinger’s 1996 Comtes de Champagne is another highlight. The flavors are only now beginning to show elements of complexity, a great sign for aging. Gently spiced and buttery notes suggest the 1996 is about to enter the early part of its maturity, where it is likely to stay for another decade or so.

1995 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 96. A total turn-on, the 1995 Comtes de Champagne is utterly magnificent. Orange marmalade, mint, smoke, hazelnuts, white truffles and honey blossom come to life in an exquisite, resonant Champagne that delivers the goods, big time. Opulent and exotic yet miraculously fresh for a 20 year-old wine, the 1995 Comtes is in a beautiful spot to deliver maximum drinking pleasure. With time in the glass, the 1995 becomes even more finessed. Readers who own the 1995 or can find it are in for a real treat. Let’s leave it at that.

Bonus! 1990 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 96. The 1990 Comtes de Champagne captures a stylistic middle ground between the 1988 and 1990. Slightly advancing tones of orange peel and roasted nuts are beautifully contrasted by a streak of minerality that gives the wine its freshness and verve. Bright floral and mineral notes reappear on the finish, adding focus. Rich in its texture yet effortless, the 1990 offers exceptional balance and tons of class. It should continue to drink well for another 15 years.

1990 Taittinger Champagne Artist Collection. Over the hills sadly.

1989 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 91. The 1989 Comtes de Champagne is darker in color than the 1988 and also quite a bit more forward. Candied orange peel, spices and caramel suggest it is on a fairly quick path. Today the 1989 is most impressive for its generous texture and complete, developed personality. This won’t make old bones, but it is delicious today.

1985 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. JG 95. I reviewed this wine in the last article on Champagne, but having just had a stupendous bottle that was even better than my review in Issue 3, I felt it was necessary to include this note in the current report. The bouquet on this particular bottle is stellar, as it offers up beautiful mélange of pear, wheat toast, almond skins, a touch of custard, chalky soil tones and a quite pronounced note of orange zest. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and racy, with pinpoint bubbles, great acids, beautiful resolution, and a very, very long, focused and snappy finish. Much like the 1990, the 1985 Comtes de Champagne has years and years of life ahead of it, but is fully at its apogee. Glorious juice.

Whole Roasted Carpenter Ranch Squab.

Flight 5.

NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Prestige Rosé. VM 90. Light orange-pink. Cherry, orange zest and fresh rose aromas show very good clarity and energy. Sappy red fruit flavors display a spicy quality, picking up energy and a floral nuance with air. Concentrated, vibrant and precise, finishing on a zesty mineral note, with lingering spiciness and firm grip.

2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 95. Taittinger’s 2006 Comtes de Champagne Rosé has come along nicely over the last six months. Intensely perfumed, Pinot-inflected aromatics carry through the mid-palate and finish as the 2006 shows off its depth and pure energy. Veins of chalky minerality give the red berry and cranberry flavors an extra kick of energy. The 2006 is both powerful and delicate at the same, with crystalline precision and fabulous depth. Hints of orange peel, mint, cinnamon and cranberry add further shades of nuance on the complete, beautifully articulated finish.

2004 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 94. Vivid pink. Red berries, orange peel, cinnamon and fresh flowers on the high-pitched nose. Juicy, precise and very pure, offering intense, spice-accented red fruit flavors with hints of exotic spices and candied rose. Aeration brings out notes of cherry and rhubarb, which add depth and a bitter touch to the very long, juicy, fruit-dominated finish. Looks to be built for a graceful evolution but this Champagne is delicious now.

Out comes the rack of pork!

Whole Roasted Rack of Kurabuta Pork Chop.

Stems for everything!

Flight 6 – slightly sweet.

NV Taittinger Champagne Nocturne Rosé Sec. VM 89. Dark orange-pink. Pungent red berry and cherry pit aromas are enlivened by suggestions of white pepper and ginger. Surprisingly taut and linear given its level of residual sugar, offering juicy raspberry and tangerine flavors that pick up a toasty nuance on the back half. Finishes with repeating spiciness as well as a hint of bitterness, leaving a sweet berry note behind.

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

Brillat Savarin, Robiola Cheese, Aged Comte.

The whole wine lineup.

Have a few glasses.

Liz Lee on the left, Vitalie Taittinger on the right.

Another stellar dinner from Liz and Sage Society! Very educational with Vitalie Taittinger there and the way in which Liz has arranged the wines. Different flights explored different aspects of the Taittinger style. We wandered across the decades as well and the older vintage wines showed particularly well.

Plus Liz does an absolutely amazing job with the food pairings. The food here reminds me a lot of that at Spago — I wonder why?

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bel Air, Champagne, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Taittinger, Wolfgang Puck

Vega Sicilia – Hearth and Hound

Dec10

Restaurant: Hearth & Hound

Location: 6530 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 320-4022

Date: November 18, 2017

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Amazing wine and really good food

Liz Lee at Sage Society organizes some of the most amazing wine maker dinners and this night of Vega Sicilia is no exception.

The dinner took place at Hearth and Hound which is opening in the old Cat & Fiddle space in Hollywood — but it wasn’t even open yet. Still, the chef and crew beta tested (superbly) on us.

There is a gorgeous patio here that I failed to photograph well.

We have a few stems for the night — one for each wine and all individually labeled.

The inside has been completely redone.

Everyone is jumping on the “Asador” (wood fire grill) bandwagon these days.

Lamb legs spinning in front of the fire.

Octopus legs.

Mushrooms ready to cook.

And other prep.
Including cauliflower.

Tonight’s special menu.

All the wines are from Vega Sicilia except for this intro Champagne (they don’t make champ).

NV Petit & Bajan Champagne Grand Cru Ambrosie Brut.

Parmesan Beignet. Chickpea flower I think, as I was told they were gluten free.
Whipped Cod Toast. This was my favorite amuse. A nice briney quality.

Shigoku Oyster. Garlic.

We were situated in the private room — of course we had the whole restaurant so that didn’t matter tonight. The room was fairly open though and connected to the kitchen and as such the white noise drone of the hood was fairly loud.

Liz stands and presents our honored guests.

Pablo Álvarez, owner of Spain’s greatest estate, Vega Sicilia.

On the right is Taylor Parsons, former wine director at Republique and a friend of Liz. He coordinated the wine service for the evening. Behind him is some of Liz’s staff and the restaurant managers. Apparently Make D of the Beastie Boys helps with the wine list too! Whacky.

Brit April Bloomfield of New York’s the Spotted Pig is a partner and helms the kitchen here at Hearth & Hound. She is partnered with Ken Friedman.

2012 Bodegas Pintia Toro Pintia. VM 93. Bright violet. Suave oak-spiced black and blue fruit, pipe tobacco and floral pastille aromas are complicated by mocha and vanilla flourishes. Plush and broad on the palate, offering sweet cassis and blackberry flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. Rich yet surprisingly energetic in style, finishing sweet, sappy and impressively long; youthful tannins add framework and grip.

agavin: very fresh and fruity. 300k bottles made. Tinto del toro (which is a kind of tempranillo). Mixed American and French oak for 10 months.

2013 Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero. JG 91. I routinely bought a case of Alion for my cellar each vintage for the first several years after Vega Sicilia started this project, but as the years rolled by, I somehow lost track of this wine and was delighted when the team at Vega sent the new vintage in my box of samples. The 2013 Alion is comprised entirely of tempranillo and raised in new French wood. The wine is ripe at 14.5 percent octane, but also refined and beautifully balanced. The bouquet offers up a classy blend of black cherries, plums, cocoa powder, cigar wrapper, a fine base of soil and smoky, nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely transparent in profile, with a good core, fine focus and grip, ripe tannins and good length and grip on the well-balanced finish. This wine is beautifully made in its style, with the new wood very well done and the ripeness level managed with dexterity.

agavin: French oak for 12-14 months.

2012 Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero. VM 93. Opaque ruby. An explosively perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, violet, licorice, pipe tobacco and toasty oak, and a suave mineral flourish adds vivacity. Sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering powerful cassis, cherry-vanilla and floral pastille flavors that become livelier and more spicy as the wine opens up. Distinctly rich but graceful as well, showing zero excess fat and no rough edges. Closes impressively long and sappy, with sneaky tannins adding gentle grip. This bodega, which is owned by the Vega Sicilia group, has been on a serious quality roll in recent vintages.

Wood-Roasted Cauliflower. Marinated with romesco. Very Spanish, and in some ways very much influenced by the asador style. Crisp and yet lightly pickled it was quite delicious. Very bright flavors.

2012 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 93. Opaque ruby. Primary dark berry and cherry scents are complemented by suggestions of vanilla, coconut, cured tobacco and cedary oak and accented by a suave floral topnote. Sappy, concentrated and expansive in the mouth, offering sweet black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and candied licorice flavors that are supported by a spine of juicy acidity. Unfolds slowly with air, picking up a spicy quality that carries through the very long, gently tannic finish, which echoes the cherry and coconut notes. Hands off this one for at least a few more years.

2011 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 94. Inky ruby. Sexy, high-pitched dark berry and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of oak spices and smoky minerals. Shows a surprisingly light touch on the palate, offering sharply focused blackberry, bitter cherry, licorice candy and floral pastille flavors that deepen and become sweeter with air. Harmonious tannins add grip to the extremely long, sappy finish, which leaves behind notes of dark berry preserves and candied lavender.

2010 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 95. Opaque ruby. Powerful, deeply pitched red and dark berry preserve, incense and floral pastille scents are enlivened by an intense mineral quality. Concentrated yet strikingly vibrant and focused on the palate, showing bitter cherry, black raspberry and vanilla flavors that spread out with air while maintaining urgency. An extremely long, sweet, penetrating finish features velvety, harmonious tannins that provide gentle grip to the wine’s sappy berry fruit and candied lavender qualities. This stunning wine was aged for 18 months in new oak, half of it American and half of it French. I can’t recall a better version of this bottling at this stage of its development and I hesitate to apply an arbitrary drinking window here as I’m sure that it will outlive me.

2009 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 94. Opaque ruby. Spice- and mineral-accented aromas of dark berries, cherry pit and potpourri, with a toasty topnote. Minerally, incisive and sweet on the palate, offering smoky cherry and blackcurrant flavors complicated by vanilla, mocha and licorice. Shows impressive power and vivacity on the youthfully tannic finish, with the smoke and spice notes strongly repeating.

Grilled octopus with puree and basil oil. Super tender. Very nice tentacle.

2008 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 94. Vega Sicilia’s 2008 Tinto Valbuena 5 Anos is compelling. A young, intense wine, the 2008 is going to need significant time to fully come together, but it boasts superb depth, persistence and a total sense of harmony. Hints of cedar, tobacco and sweet spices wrap around an intense core of dark fruit.

agavin: these “older” Valbuenas have more Merlot and Malbec in them.

2007 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 93. Ruby-red. Aromas of dried cherry, raspberry, vanilla, mocha and Cuban tobacco, with smoke and potpourri accents. Supple and expansive, offering sweet, spice-accented red and dark berry and floral pastille flavors that stain the palate. Dusty tannins add shape and grip to the very long, smooth, penetrating finish. I find this wine quite approachable now but it has the balance to age. Not the weightiest Valbuena but very impressive for the vintage.

2006 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 94. Deep ruby. Heady, exotic bouquet evokes candied cherry, cassis, sassafras, vanilla and potpourri, plus a smoky overtone. Sappy and expansive but energetic, offering sweet cherry and floral pastille flavors lifted by spice and mineral notes. Gains sweetness with air and finishes with superb clarity and spicy persistence. This benefits enormously from aeration but really should be stashed away for at least another five years.

Seared duck breast with pumpkin. Rather delicious and gamey.

2008 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 96. Opaque ruby. Powerful, expansive aromas of cherry liqueur, cassis, pipe tobacco, incense and pungent flowers show outstanding clarity and pick up a smoky mineral quality with air. Stains the palate with concentrated dark berry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors that are complicated by notes of mocha, cola and Indian spices. Distinctly generous in style but there’s outstanding energy here as well. The gently tannic, dark-fruit-dominated finish emphatically echoes the spice and floral notes and lingers with striking persistence. Production for this bottling was cut by over half in this challenging vintage and the result shows what can happen when severe selection is applied in the vineyard and cellar. Speaking of tough years, the 2002 version of this iconic wine, from a vintage that has been ignored at best and vilified at worst, is drinking beautifully right now. In fact, it appears to have just entered its drinking window: its fruit is still a bit on the youthful side while its tannins have begun to recede. Like this 2008, it’s a textbook example of what great vineyards, diligent farming and serious winemaking can accomplish under difficult circumstances.

agavin: Unico is released very late, only in good years, and is 85% tinto (Tempranillo) and some Cabernet.

2007 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 93. Vivid ruby-red. Spice- and mineral-accented redcurrant, cherry, cured tobacco and candied rose on the highly perfumed nose. A juicy, sharply focused midweight offering lively red fruit and floral pastille flavors and earthy suggestions of chewing tobacco and succulent herbs. In a graceful, energetic style (due to the cool vintage, no doubt), with strong finishing cut, resonating floral character and velvety tannins coming in late to add shape and grip. A successful wine for the vintage, no question.

2005 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 97. Saturated ruby. Explosively perfumed aromas of fresh ripe red fruits, floral oils, pipe tobacco and incense take on sexy vanilla and woodsmoke nuances as the wine opens up. Densely packed yet shockingly lithe on the palate, offering intense cherry liqueur, red currant and spicecake flavors given spine by a core of juicy acidity. Shows superb energy and clarity, finishing sweet, smoky and extremely long; velvety tannins add gentle grip.

2003 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors with smoke and floral accents. Rich and full but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and sweet, harmonious tannins adding grip. Shows the ripeness of the vintage to good effect; this is a somewhat approachable and exotic Unico, especially with some air, but it has the concentration to age slowly.

2002 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 92. Bright ruby. Smoky, floral-accented aromas of redcurrant, cherry pit and plum, with a peppery topnote. Sweet and open-knit, offering musky red fruit and floral pastille flavors and notes of mocha and succulent herbs. Shows very good depth and power for the vintage, finishing smooth, sweet and long. Not the greatest Vega by any means but highly successful for 2002, and you can actually enjoy it right now.

Dry aged beef ribeye. Definitely could taste the age. Nice mushrooms with it too.

The glasses keep adding up.

And the piece de resistance: lamb.

Plus potatoes bravos.

The whole team worked to assemble this dish.

NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 2003, 2004, 2006 (2017 Release). VM 96. Vivid ruby-red. Ripe cherry, dark berries, cigar box, vanilla bean and incense on the deeply perfumed, expansive nose. Shows impressive weight and breadth on the palate, offering sappy blackberry, candied cherry and spicecake flavors complicated by hints of rose pastille, vanilla and licorice. The smooth, strikingly long finish shows a seamless quality and repeating floral and dark berry notes that build as the wine opens up. While this wine has plenty going on right now, I’ve no doubt that it will enjoy a long, positive evolution as well.

agavin: next to the “regular” unicos you can taste how much more powerful and broad the blended reservas are — they are amazing.

NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 1994, 1995, 2000 (2014 Release). 95 points. Extremely concentrated with aromas of leather, blackberry, vanilla, butter. One of the best oaked young wines iv’e tasted. Outstanding quality with high potential for agening, 95p at least, higher score for the future.

NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 1994, 1999, 2000 (2013 Release). 95 points. Nose of plumbs, chocolate, vanilla and tobacco. Rich complex palate. Lovely.

NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 1991, 1994, 1999 (2012 Release). 93 points. Savory nose of umami, freshly plucked seaweed, and a beguiling mix of coffee bean, dark spices and blackberry juice. Medium toward full-bodied at first, this adds weight but also elegance with each successive glass, thanks to abundant acidity and seamlessly layered fruits. A joy to drink now, with great upside as well. Ideally, I would/will try again in 5 years, if possible. Still scratching my head at just how approachable this is today, yet with obvious structure for the long run as well.

Lamb leg a la Ficelle. Potatoes bravos. Apparently Ficelle is wood fire cooked while spinning. Super delicious lump of lamb. There was a lot left over and I could have eaten 3 of these.

1982 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 98. Even better than the 1990, the 1982 Unico is simply one of the very best wines I have tasted in some time. Powerful, fleshy and full of energy, the 1982 Unico is another wine that is almost overwhelmingly beautiful. A striking mélange of savory herbs, smoke and tobacco add complexity, but the 1982 is about the total package. And the 1982 has it all going on. In a word: Magnificent.

agavin: our bottle unfortunately wasn’t drinking at its best. It wasn’t bad or anything, but just a little flat.

1970 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 94. The 1970 is the most subtle of these Unicos, although I have tasted fresher examples. Delicate and perfumed throughout, the 1970 is laced with the essence of crushed flowers, tobacco, dried cherries and mint.

agavin: our bottle was amazing. Fresh, young, tight even, but massively powerful and delicious.

Ossau-Iraty cheese and roll.

2007 Oremus Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos. 94 points. The bouquet was deep and rich with notes of ripe peach, mango, plum, dried flowers and hints sweet herbs. On the palate a velvety wave of textures was offset by stunning acidity, ripe tropical fruits, sweet inner florals and spiced apple. It finished unbelievably long with a contrast of rich textures, tart citrus and zesty acidity.

agavin: tons of acidity and hence really delicious

Rush Creek Reserve cheese. Not too far off from a vaucheron. Like cultured butter.

My cryptic notes.

The wine lineup.

Taylor tastes all the bottles and puts out a glass of each for the staff.

The final glass count.
They didn’t use this for our meal, but they have the same Carpigiani batch freezer (for making gelato/ice cream) that I have in my basement for my experiments on Sweet Milk.

Overall, the food was great. I’m not sure what’s on the menu normally, as this was a very Spanish inflected meal — which worked perfectly with all that Vega Sicilia, of course. And the wines were amazing, particularly the Reserva’s.

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