We were back at it in full swing last Friday with many terrific bottles opened on the tables and even better company to match them. We opened a bottle of the 2011 Kumeu River Coddington Vineyard Chardonnay for members as they came in from the heat. Crisp but with good texture, lively aromatics and flavors of pink grapefruit, white peach, lime blossoms and a touch of almond skin; the wine becomes more complex in the mid with notes of fresh ginger and river rock minerality. I highly recommend this New Zealand stunner for any white Burgundy fan and even for those who claims their detestation for Chardonnay- you will be shocked with how amazing this Chardonnay shows.
The wine of the night was the 1986 Domaine Mongeard Mugneret Grand Cru Echezeaux Vieille Vigne and it was showing at a fantastic stage for the vintage. Red and black cherries were ripe and beautifully preserved with incredible layers of dried herbs, dried soil and toasted spice. It was such a beautiful wine, rich and round on the palate with great depth and complexity; not to mention a finish that was warm and almost never ending.
The impressive obscure wine of the night (but fantastically amazing!) was a bottle of 1991 Sekt Reserve by Peter Lauer. This is a sparkling Riesling from the Mosel Saar Ruwer and made in the traditional ‘champagne’ method. Aged on its lees until 2013, Peter Lauer is a huge hit in NY and up and down the east coast; so I am very excited to see that his Sekt has finally made its way to Texas! Zingy, crunchy green apples, fresh apricot, quince and bright minerals are all jam-packed into each of the extremely tiny bubbles. I have a few bottles of this at home which I have been holding on to, but knowing I can get more of this terrific sparkling wine in Texas, I am very excited for my near future.
We had the pleasure of experiencing a horizontal tasting of Loring Wine Company’s 2007 vintage of three single vineyard Pinot Noirs: Gary’s Vineyard, Rosella’s Vineyard and Durell Vineyard. Each Pinot was intensely extracted with dark red and black cherry and cola, but the Durell Vineyard stood out to me as the broadest shouldered Pinot with expansive flavors and depth. The Rosella’s was the most feminine in style leaning towards tarter, juicy red berries, raspberries and elegant spice.
The 1990 Palmer was my favorite of the night! Sexy, seamless and seductive, this beauty had the perfect amount of concentrated black and blue fruit, deep earth tones and dense spice. All the flavors were intricately compacted together with heaps of herbs, purple petals and cedar leading into a haunting finish.
We went out strong with the last bottle of the night being the 2004 Vega Sicilia Unico. Loads of ripe, jammy red and black fruit with flavors of wild herbs, rosemary, oregano, tarragon, blood orange zest, tomato vines, leather and dense clay all beautifully integrated in the palate while sweet vanilla, clove and fresh dill hovered well into the finish. There were many more fantastic bottles opened throughout the night as shown on the list below:
2006 Moet et Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Champagne
2002 Dom Ruinart Brut Champagne
NV Gonet Medeville Rose Champagne
2014 Azur Rose 3 Liter
2007 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
2010 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape
2006 Pontet Canet
1990 Les Forts de Latour
2004 Juslyn Cabernet
2012 Robert Craig Affinity
1991 Camille Giroud Pommard Clos Blanc
2002 Cos d’Estournell
2002 Nicolas Potel Volnay
2009 Croix de Labrie
1997 Nicolas Potel Santaney