Our No IPNC Salmon Bake

For the second year, COVID killed the International Pinot Noir Celebration (it will be back next year). In lieu of the traditional Saturday evening Salmon Bake, we staged our own. Fourteen of us, including a number of Berserkers, gathered in our back yard to celebrate. Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon did an excellent job of queueing up the wines and extracting corks (not a small feat with some of these older wines!). Erica, Melissa Mills, and the Passos contributed dishes to the feast to fill in around what we had prepared. All in all, it was a great evening!

We started with some champagne,
1996 Salon Blanc de Blanc - I found this a little closed, though others who tried it later said that it opened up and was terrific.
1996 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne - I loved this. Mature in a very good way, with bready, yeasty notes in great structure.
1996 Krug - This got squirreled away and I didn’t get a chance to try it. Perhaps someone else can fill in…

We then moved on to Chardonnay,
1994 Thomas Chardonnay - This is the third time I’ve had this wine, and I thought this was the best bottle of the three. John thought so little of this wine that he took a chainsaw to the vines. Whatever was wrong with the wine then isn’t evident now. Good concentration, and still has a good acid base.
2003 Brick House Cascadia Chardonnay - Still alive and very good, but I think its best days were behind it.
2010 Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet “Clavoillon” - Similar to the Brick House.
2012 Eyrie Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay - For me, one of the stars of the whites. Sappy, concentrated, a complete wine.
2014 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet - Very good. Definitely had the Ramonet mint thing going on.
2016 Roulot Meursault “Clos de Haut Tesson” - This was my other star of the whites. Excellent concentration, great length.
2016 Walter Scott X-Novo Chardonnay - I didn’t get a chance to try this. I think it ended getting drained at the other end of the table…
2019 Goodfellow Temperance Hill Chardonnay - Marcus brought what was left over from an earlier tasting. Young but very tasty.

We got to the Pinot Noir with dinner,
1993 Bethel Heights Southeast Block Reserve - Excellent. Still showing lots of fruit, with a number of tertiary notes as well. Well balanced. Probably could go another 10 years, but why wait?
1993 Beaux Freres - If I tried this, it didn’t stand out. I think I was still drinking the Roulet when this came by…
2001 Hamacher - Very good.
2002 Eyrie Reserve - This started out a little off, but eventually opened up and was quite good.
2006 Barthod Chambolle-Musigny “Les Cras” - This was the star of the reds for me. The aroma from this wine just jumped out of the glass. Excellent wine with great concentration and a long life ahead.
2007 Cameron Abbey Ridge - A good wine, but lacked the concentration of the other bottles on the table. The difficulties of the 2007 vintage were evident in this company.
2016 D’Angerville Volnay “Champans” - Tight and not showing much. In Kramer’s Burgundy book he mentions a vaguely “iron-like” quality to this wine, and it was evident to me in this bottle.

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Sounds like a great time, Rick - Rich Trimpi has been trying to get me to come out for IPNC for years, and hearing about the Salmon bake has always been a highlight.

If anyone else who attended remembers the ‘93 Beaux Freres, please post your thoughts - I still have two mags in the cellar :wine_glass:

Saw a short video of the festivities as part of Kevin’s Bottleworks Instagram Stories takeover. Looked like a great lineup, and the company you have at Casa Allen is always a good time.

Really wish I’d bought a few more of those ‘94 Thomas Chardonnays when I had the chance.

A totally fantastic evening.

Rick, thanks so much for you and Jan hosting (and cooking)!

I still have 1 more Thomas Chard remaining…

The '93 Beaux Frères was not labeled Beaux Freres Vineyard. To my palate it still had plenty of fruit; if anything it was a bit “stewed”. Not among my favorites of the evening.

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Thanks Rick and Jan for a fabulous night. The Krug was mature and had a hint of sherry, with apple and spice tones, while balanced with acid and excellent cut. Didn’t knock it out of the park, but definitely good. I agree the Comte was fabulous from the get go and the Salon opened up a shy but citrus bonanza.
Once I had the 93 Bethel Heights, the 93 Beaux Freres just seemed kind of mute. Good but lacking the aromatics and velvet texture of the Bethel Heights. A mag with some air might just shake it up. I tried the 2016 Roulot and X Novo and thought both had great length and concentration. Loved both, thought the difference in cost made it an easy choice of next purchase. The 94 Thomas was still quite balanced and alive, and had touch of butterscotch. Tasted new world for sure but a tribute to John. Thanks for making me not miss the IPNC Salmon Bake too much.

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Very jealous. Thanks for sharing. Definitely miss the very fine hosting and hospitality at the Allen house.

RT

Rick, thank you again for hosting! It was a great group of people, wines , and food.

The 96 Salon and 96 Tattinger Comptes were absolutely lovely. I missed the Krug early and it showed a fair amount of VA when I tried a bit after dinner.

Highlights for Chardonnays were definitely the 2016s. The Roulot “Clos du Haut Tesson” was fabulous. Hints of fireworks and flinty aromas, with poise and balamce in the mouth. Lovely acidity behind the seashell and smoke. The Walter Scott Ex-Novo was 2-4 years from ready, but had tremendous potential(and I enjoyed the heck out of the coiled energy and tautness it showed). Reduction was in a perfect place for evolution, and the palate balamce was phenomenal. Fine boned, long, mineral, and refreshing.

I also really enjoyed the 2003 Brickhouse Chardonnay. For a boiler of a vintage, it had no real signs of oxidation, an intriguing nose, and excellent balance. Perhaps not a profound wine, but I think a region’s overall quality is often best judged by it’s most challenging vintages. And if this wine is a sign of how Doug’s vineyard handles heat, then it was a very good sign.

2014 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet was too rich for me. Nice wine, very impressive, just not my style. The tension and energy of the Roulot was far more attractive.

For Pinot Noirs:

2002 Eyrie Reserve showed well, and was layered, complex, and elegant for the vintage. Very composed and with the stuffing to last a few more years. **

2001 Hamacher was lovely. It showed more new world fruit and oak, but was fresh, delicious, and should easily last another decade.

1998 Lewman Vineyard-corked…

2007 Cameron, I liked this more than Rick. It was less concentrated, but started off smokey and intriguing, then really showed elegant red fruit, excellent acidity, the supple textures of the Dundee Hills, and a delicate nature with just enough funk and fruit to get lost in on a summer evening.

1993 Bethel Heights SE Block was my red wotn. Elegant, hint of Brettanomyces, great dark structure, silky all day long(even with a bit of Brett!), expressive, expressive, expressive. Almost 28 years old and so vibrant. There was nothing tired about this.

2012 Walter Scott Clos des Oiseaux was entirely consumed by the other end of the table!

This was a lovely dinner, and most of all it was great to see friends.

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