David Dyroff, Mike Powers, Tyler Burklow, and I got together at Truffles in St. Louis last night, sadly Mike Kelly and Salil B couldn’t make it. David organized the dinner and told me just to bring bubbles. After all the bottles were on the table, he had me guessing what the theme of the dinner was.
At first I was thinking all ABV below 14%, but then it was revealed the wines (except for the Mount Eden) were all on my I HAVE NEVER list, posted about a year ago.
Every bottle showed quite well last night, with no slouches in the lineup. Thank you David for sparing us the corked bottle
But First, Champagne: 2015 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or
Tons of orchard fruit on the nose with some hints of fresh-baked bread and chalk. Crisp on the palate with predominantly red apple and pear notes, with well-integrated acidity. This didn’t have the depth or breadth of complexity as I typically find with the Coeur de Cuvée bottling from Vilmart, not sure if this is due to the vintage or typical of the cuvée in comparison to the CdC.
Something Different: 2008 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve Santa Cruz Mountains
Purchased at Truffles and decanted about 30-45 minutes, but still needed time to open. I’m not big on CA chardonnay but this was quite lovely. Cream and Meyer lemon, with hints of butterscotch dominate on the nose. On the palate there is initially lemon curd, cream, quince, and butterscotch notes, but with more orchard fruit notes coming out as the wine warms up in the glass. There is great breadth of flavors and vivacity on the palate, which I attribute to its bright acidity (even as a riesling geek I was impressed) and undertones of chalky minerals, both which I think balanced the richness quite nicely. Might make me rethink CA chardonnay a little…
A 100-Point Wine (by any reviewer): 2001 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction
Rated 100 points by Mosel Fine Wines, and well deserved. Complex aromas of lightly honeyed yellow apple, honeydew melon, saffron, and lemon curd with wisps of petrol. With more air the wine turns to more citrus and tropical notes, including fresh-picked orange, marmalade, key lime, and underripe mango. Perfect concentration of flavors and great dry extract, without being too rich, the wine is nimble on the palate and supported by refreshing acidity and some undertones of wet slate minerals over a long finish. This was spectacular.
Bordeaux First Growth: 2004 Chateau Margaux
Decanted for about an hour I believe. Lovely perfume of baking spices, cassis, and dried violet petals, with some smoke and cigar box overtones. This gave way to flavors of black currant, dried black cherries, cedar, and leather on the palate. This wine was elegant and more polished than I was expecting, with silky tannins and great finesse. Worth checking in on now but I think could be even better in 5-10 years.
Grand Cru Burgundy: 2014 Gérard Mugneret Echezeaux
Since my original post I have had a couple bottles of Grand Cru burgundy, but this nice to see in youth. Perfumed nose of black pepper, dried blackberry and boysenberry, licorice, mocha, and wet earth. Mostly dried black fruit and black cherries on the palate with earth and spice tones. Has grippy tannins and zesty acidity providing lots of structure at the moment. I really appreciated the depth of this wine.
Dry Wine Older Than 1971: 1964 Fratelli Barale Barolo
Mike picked this up from Lopa recently, and it was decanting at the restaurant about 3-4 hours prior to serving. Lovely balsamic and grilled nut aromas at first, leading into notes of dried red fruit (raspberry, black cherry), saddle leather, and chestnut on the palate. With more time in the glass, the balsamic notes recede and the wine takes on a complexity of herbal/medicinal/amari-like aromas which I find quite pleasing. Despite its age, this wine has the energy of an adolescent, supported by grippy tannins (moreso than the Burgundy in my opinion) and fresh acidity in its structure.
We didn’t have any sweet wine older than 1976 or sherry/madeira brought to the dinner, but finished the night with some NV Rare Wine Co. Boston Boal on the list which is delicious.