04`Cristal and L-P Alexandra Rose, 69` Leroy Meursault, 03` Laurent Clos Vougeot, 12` Gros Clos Vougeot,94` Ramos Pintos

Along with 2 other couples, we recently enjoyed a fabulous gourmet dinner at one of LA`s best, Providence. We were ideally situated in a private room off of the main dining room and treated to exquisite food and wine service while enjoying the company of our group.

Providence is located at the former site of a precious fav, Patina, on Melrose and features Co-Owner and Chef Michael Cimarusti, Chef de Cuisine, Tristan Aitchison, and pastry chef Mac Daniel Dimla in the kitchen. Michael`s co-owner is his wife, a talented pastry chef, Cristina Echiverri.

Prior to founding Providence in 2005, Cimarusti was the Executive Chef at the downtown LA restaurant and also seafood centric, Water Grill, for 6 years, and prior to that, had stints at Spago in LA, Osteria del Circo and Le Cirque in NY where he worked with renown chefs, Chefs Paul Bocuse, Roger VergĆ©, and GĆ©rard Boyer and also at ArpĆØge with Chef Alain Passard in Paris.

Providence has a knowledgeable d dedicated anwine staff headed by Wine Director David Osenbach who personally attended to our table while being assisted by 2 other somms. Osenbach previously worked at Josie in Santa Monica for 10 years.

Osenbach is severly challenged in so far as wine sales are concerned in that the bulk of the wines they sell are all wine pairings for the menu, and there are 3 tasting menus. The 8 course prefix menu is priced at $225 with $105 added for the general wine pairing and $250 added for premium wines {see menu}. They use Riedel Extreme wine glasses that are machine made, lead-free crystal and dishwasher safe glasses. We took 6 Sophienwald Grand Cru Champagne stems for our 2 fine champagnes.

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We started off with:

2004 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- we visited this restaurant last year and I took an 02 Cristal that was superlative; since itā€™s been almost 2 years since Ive opened an 04, I chose this evening to re-visit it suspecting it still needs more time to evolve, but trusting it has improved to the extent of being worthy of occupying a space on our table; it turned out to be an asset as this bottle had lost a lot of the greenness I recall and is now in a stage of coming together and offering some very nice treasures while still climbing toward its apogee; there is a disclosure issue with the 04 in that the back label does not contain the code that provides details as to disgorgement, etc. as more recent vintages do; once tasted, this bottle had generous amounts of honeyed peach, apricot, mango, citrus and pear with a nice streak of brioche all the way through; it was full bodied with a creamy mousse, had bright acidity, amazing richness, layered complexity and nice balance; this shows how much more of everything is gained with more time and there is still more to be gained, but thereā€™s lots to enjoy now; 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay.

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Next up, a wondrous mag of rose:

2004 LAURENT-PERRIER CUVEE ALEXANDRA BRUT ROSE in magnum- this is the 8th release of the cuvee since itā€™s first introduction in 1982; it has only been made in years when both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reach maturity simultaneously and is comprised of 100% Grand Cru fruit with 80% Pinot Noir, and 20% Chardonnay added during the Pinot Noir maceration; the fruit is sourced from some of the most prestigious Crus such as Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay for the Pinot Noir and Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger for the Chardonnay; itā€™s released from the cellars after 10 years of aging; the color was a dark red salmon and the nose and taste included nice fresh strawberry and red cherry with a bit of citrus, minerals, earth and spice; it was light and easy on the palate with a frothy feel good mousse and yet rich and full bodied providing enough substance and weight to enhance the experience.

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And now for the star of the show:

1969 DOMAINE LEROY MEURSAULT- the cork, labels and fill were incredibly pristine; the color had a dark yellow amber hue; the nose had amazing and so inviting honeyed citrus and stone fruit that continued on to be joined by ginger, honeysuckle, golden delicious apple and peach once tasted; it had a viscous texture, was super rich and full bodied and was in perfect balance; it was just in an ideal place and so ready to give and rest on its laurels while we entered nirvana after the first sip; this was a truly amazing wine at age 52 and the WOTN.

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We had some good competition for the 69` from these 2 reds:

2003 DOMINIQUE LAURENT CLOS VOUGEOT GRAND CRU- although this bottle did not come from my cellar, Iā€™ve had a few of this gem and was happy to see it fell right in line with the previous stellar bottles; itā€™s ready to give now and the aromas boast wood spiced ripe red and black raspberry which are also found in the taste profile along with a touch of ripe red and black cherry that came in late; this is full bodied with lots of complexity and yet is very easy on the palate and overall a very enjoyable wine; 80% of the fruit is sourced from the prime Grand Maupertuis section of the vineyard and was harvested on 9/6/03; 14.2% abv and no acidification.

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2012 GROS FRERE et SEUR CLOS VOUGEOT MUSIGNI GRAND CRU- I loved this from the nose through the tail; oak spices are seriously present throughout but nicely blended in with all the other nuances; red and black raspberry are most prevalent with some nice blueberry and sandalwood showing up toward the finish; it is medium + in body and weight, has a lovely mouthfeel and finishes on an upbeat exuding degrees of elegance while also possessing subtle power; though drinking beautifully and very enjoyable now, it has the structure and acidity to evolve and mature into something extra special.

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1994 RAMOS PINTOS PORTO- 375 ml; 19.4% abv; owned since 1990 by the Roederer Group, this fine port house has made some good ones and the 94` merits similar status; it has wondrous aromas of mocha, black strap molasses and dark chocolate laden blackberry which make up a good portion of the taste profile along with super ripe black cherry; it is very rich and full bodied and seriously concentrated and as such, requires easing in to with small taste samples; perhaps it should have come with a dropper or a wine thief.

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Great night. Life is good.

Cheers,
Blake
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Terrific notes, Blake. Providence is a special place and Iā€™m glad to see that theyā€™ve reopened to at least some amount of indoor dining. The wines look great as well. Iā€™ve never had the 69 Leroy village Meursault but have had a few 69 Leroy Meursault Perrieres and Charmes from a late (late 90s?) release. Those wines were stunning.

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Interesting that Ramos Pinto is a sample bottle. Where did you get it?

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Thanks Joel. That village wine was one of the best Iā€™ve had with lots of age on it. No way does anyone pick that out to be what it is in a blind tasting.

That bottle came from one of the others who is a HUGE Port collector and has BIG connections so Iā€™m assuming that he got this bottle from the house or through his wholesale connections. Iā€™ll get back if I can get an answer re that.

I think I know who that would be, lol. Iā€™m shocked it showed so well. A lot of VP cask samples sealed with t-corks donā€™t hold up all that well over that long of a time span. But it is a very good and under appreciated Port.

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Good pickup on your part Andy. I have a birth year Port from this house, a gift from the same person during this visit.

Oh, I missed this when you posted two days ago. Hahaha, thatā€™s an incredible '69. Itā€™s just absurd :slight_smile:. Incredible to have it in a perfect state.

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Nick, the amazing thing is the one who brought this also had 2 other ā€œolderā€ white Burgundy and gave us a choice to pick. Somehow, my other friend and I selected this one even though itā€™s only a village wine and the others were 1er Crus also from reputable wineries. Obviously, I donā€™t know what we missed, but was sure happy with what we got.

Oh the capabilities of Village Burgundyā€¦

If William Kelley sees this, one thesis of his that I agree with wholeheartedly is that with a focus on agriculture and wine-making there are so many Sleeping Giants just waiting to be awakened in the form of beautiful, truly special wines from ā€˜villageā€™ terroir. These old wines from decades and decades ago are just additional proof, like roman mosaics unearthed in a parkā€¦

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Beautiful notes Blake. Those older Leroy wines came from very special places. Not surprised. Sounds perfect.

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Well stated my friend. I totally agree.

Thanks Don. BTW, Stephen sent me the lineup of your recent stellar tasting. I looked for but have not found any notes. Did you or someone post any?