Egly-Ouriet VP, 88` Piper-Heidsieck Rare, 6 white Burgs, a Riesling, 5 CdPs, 2 dessert wines

Our dinner group enjoyed another wonderful evening out, this time at the stellar venue of Caruso`s, a fine restaurant located within the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort.

Five of us were served royally by their Wine Director and top wait staff while seated next to the beach with the rolling surf of the Pacific tumbling just a few feet away.

With everything set up in perfect order, we ordered off the pre fix menu and opened some really good wines with a red wine theme of Southern Rhone.

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NV EGLY-OURIET V.P. GRAND CRU EXTRA BRUT- Iā€™ve been a fan of this house for some time now, but have not had this release and thanks to the encouragement of some fellow WineBerserkers and one in particular, I went for some of this and the rose and am super delighted I did; this was full bodied and very rich with loads of honeyed white peach, red cherry, yellow apple and citrus notes delivered in a creamy, lush texture all the way through; it had layers of complexity and yet this had lots of finesse and charm and wonderful balance; VP stands for Viellissement ProlongĆ© or extended aging and it is a blend of fruit from vineyards in Bouzy, Ambonnay and Verzenay, all Grand Cru villages; it sees 84 months of extended time on the lees which explains the depth and complexity we experienced; although not noted on the back label, Iā€™ve seen the blend reported to be close to 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.

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1988 PIPER HEIDSIECK RARE BRUT MILLESIME- great bring; the golden color was followed by a nose full of nutty almonds, honeysuckle and caramel that continued on to be joined by orange marmalade and butterscotch; there was an unexpected hit of saline at the finish which was enhanced and extended by the creamy, feel good texture; what was interesting for me was to try to reverse the maturation process and figure out where this was at its apogee and how many years ago did it reach that place?; from all of the other wonderful vintages Iā€™ve had, it just had to be extra stellar.
Next up, 6 white Burgs:

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2014 LOUIS LATOUR CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU- this was up for the task of getting us off righteously for the flight as it was ready to share lots of its treasures by giving up generous notes of honeyed baked apple, pear and lemon with accents of chalk and wood spices; it had a medium plus body and enough weight to enhance the feel all the way to the back end.

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2019 SAMUEL BILLAUD les GRANDS TERROIR CHABLIS- this is made from fruit sourced from 3 highly regarded village vineyards, Bas de Chapelot, Pargues and Cartes, all of which are adjacent to 1er Crus; the nose offered lovely mineral infused apple, pear and a bit of citrus which all continued on with accents of flint and chalk joining in about mid palate; it was light to medium bodied and very easy on the palate.

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2019 MOREY-COFFINET les HOUILLERES CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET- I`ve been a fan of this producer for quite a few years now and found every bottle to be consistently wondrous; this youngster was the first of a few I bought and obviously will benefit with more time, but it had enough stuff to shine brightly on this occasion; the nose was so inviting with mineral laced citrus notes that once tasted revealed lemon and orange zest plus a touch of green apple; mild undertones of flint are also evidenced, but the main attribute was its perfect balance.

This producer originated in the late 1970s with Michael Morey, son of Marc, and his wife, Fabienne, who is a Pillot. Their son Thibaut, came on the late 1990s and has been credited with taking it to another level, especially with biodynamic farming practices. Currently their estate is certified Organic Agriculture.

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2015 DOMAINE MARIUS DELARCHE CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU- this bottle had been open for a few days and initially experienced to be muted and minimally expressive; so, it was brought as a 2nd trial to see if it had anything to offer and what we got was a mild amount of mineral infused citrus fruit with a light to medium body and an abrupt finish; best guess is that this was an off bottle and perhaps in the vein of what some of my super informed Somm friends call ā€œcorkedā€ as in that area in the bell shaped curve where the power and fruit has been sapped, but it`s devoid of the wet cardboard taint.

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2016 DOMAINE HENRI BOILLOT CLOS de la MOUCHERIE 1er Cru PULIGNY-MONTRACHET- thanks to a couple of folks in this group, Iā€™ve been blessed to have had quite a few bottles of this marvelous wine from numerous vintages, the earliest being 2008, and this one was as great as another recent 2016; initially, it gave nice mineral infused citrus fruit while being delivered in a medium bodied texture all the way to the back end; the flavors kept unfolding with apple, pear, lemon and lime darting in and out, but always retaining some minerality; its very food friendly and has all of the stuffing to be enjoyed on its own as an aperitif.

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2018 DOMAINE HENRI CLERC PULIGNY-MONTRACHET- this is a fine lovely village wine that held its own against all of the others on this night as it gave really pleasant pear, apple and tropical fruit notes from the nose through the tail while being delivered in a oily medium and possessing bright acidity; its hallmark was its wonderful balance and staying power as evidenced from repeated tastings throughout the evening.

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Before we moved on to the reds, here came one more white:

2007 FRITZ HAAG BRAUNEBERGER JUFFER-SONNENUHR RIESLING AUSLESE MOSEL- this had sweet honeyed mango, papaya, pineapple and melon delivered in a creamy textured medium; it certainly served as a deviation from the white Burgs and a break before transitioning into the reds.

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Weā€™ve already had a pretty good evening and yet there`s more to come from our theme of the night, red Southern Rhone:

1990 DOMAINE du PEGAU CUVEE RESERVE CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- this was a real treat; first the color was still a vibrant, pure dark purple and then aromas of violets and spicy blueberry waft out of the glass and Iā€™m forming a smile on may face; the taste profile had more of the same and the soft mouthfeel added to the allure plus an elongated finish that sealed the deal.

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1995 DOMAINE du VIEUX TELEGRAPHE LA CRAY CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- there was lots of Brett in the nose, the 4-ethylphenol type that gives off band-aid, barnyard, horse stable character; then there`s another aberration as a big hit of black pepper comes on and itā€™s more like a Northern Rhone and had I not been very familiar with this wine, I would have checked the label to be certain it was a CdP; we got a lot of redeeming qualities from the delicious red and blue fruit that came through, namely red cherry, blueberry, plum and black raspberry which were almost enough to get past the other issues.

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2014 ROTEM & MOUNIR SAOUMA OMNIA CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- I`m a big fan of the white wine this producer makes and now Iā€™m loving the red as it is ridiculously good as I have now had a few bottles from 2 different vintages; it is comprised of 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10% MourvĆØdre; this is a big heavily extracted wine that needs some time to mature and come together and our bottle was loaded and strongly suggestive of greater things to come in about 10-15+ years; it had aromas that suggested this to be a serious fruit laden wine; the taste included red cherry, red and black raspberry and blueberry; it had layered complexity, was full bodied and yet had so much finesse and charm that should be more the norm once aged and balanced out.

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2016 ROGER SABON LES OLIVETS CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and 10% Cinsault; this was even more youthful than the 14` Omnia and yet had lots of gifts to offer now for our drinking pleasure; its pleasant aromas and tasty fruit profile consisted of licorice accented black raspberry, black currant and plum with a hint of pepper; it was soft and easy on the palate and had nice elegance and sophistication in this early phase.

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2007 DOMAINE de FERRAND CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- grace and charm are the hallmarks of this fine CdP which is made from 80 to 85Ā±year-old vines from 2 of the great parcels in Chateauneuf du Pape, La Gardiole and Cabrieres; it is comprised of 90% Grenache plus Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault; the nose had pleasant inviting aromas of talc and spice laden red fruit which on the palate translated into raspberry and cherry; it was medium bodied, had a soft mouthfeel and a finish that showcased its entire profile at its best.

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We also had 2 dessert wines, both in 375 ml formats and one coming from the restaurant`s wine director who frequented out table throughout the evening and tasted our wines; I just had a small sip of each before packing up glasses and bottles and entering a rehydration stage. Both were honeyed apricot nectar delivered in a creamy texture:

1999 ALOIS KRACHER NUMBER 6 GRANDE CUVEE TBA NOUVELLE VAGUE

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1999 PJ VALCKENBERG MADDONA BEERENAUSLESE RHEINHESSEN

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Five folks, 16 wines, fabulous cuisine and professional wine and food service while sitting just off the sand on the West Coast made for a grand evening.

Cheers,
Blake

Surprising to see a Pegau and a VT with the VT being the bretty one!

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Iā€™ve only had a few Pegau over the years and all have been good and not Bretty. I assume you have had a different experience Doug.

I really appreciate the ā€˜88 Piper Rare note, as I still have a 1990 lurking downstairs.

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Iā€™d check the color unless you like very mature champagne David. Itā€™s difficult for me to think it will get better with more time.

Will do. Maybe this weekend. But yes, I like very mature Champagne. champagne.gif

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Iā€™d be interested in how you find it- thanks

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Nice work Blake.

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It was all fun Jeremy.

Very different, after more than a few. Itā€™s one of the only wines I have ever identified by producer in a blind tasting, partially because of how much brett was there (in an old school style of CdP that seems uncommon these days). Iā€™m glad your experience is different, though.

VT, on the other hand, almost always seems quite clean to me. I do remember a particularly bretty bottle, I believe a 2000, that really stood out in a vertical because none of the others showed even a hint of brett.

Wine so often surprises. I guess thatā€™s part of what makes it interesting.

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I totally agree with your last statement. The Beaucastels of the late 1980s and early 90s were my blind tasting IDs for the same reason you cite re the Pegaus.

Iā€™m usually pretty brett averse, but I just love the Beaucastels of that era (and every era Iā€™ve tried).

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Another awesome night, looks like, Blake. Thanks for all the notes. I have a 2018 of the Houilleres which is tabbed for the Morey-Colin Empire table at my wine event in June, so Iā€™m pleased to read this positive note. Chuckled a bit at your description of the VTā€”the fact that it presents kind of like a Northern Rhone is the reason that aged VT, along with (any) Rayas and Beaucastel are my exceptions to my no-fly zone on Grenache and CdP.

A pure curiosity question. The settingā€“right against the oceanā€¦do you and/or the group find that it impacts your tasting in a good, bad or different way? Would love to know.

Keep well, my friend. And, of courseā€¦Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.

Mike

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Hey Mike, thanks for your remarks. As to the oceanfront setting, it was so relaxing as the surf was just the soft and easy steady rolling in kind and it served to provide almost a mesmerizing, tranquil ambience in the background similar to what Iā€™ve heard on meditation playlists. Even the air seemed a bit fresher and not interfering with the wines as some outdoor settings can do.
Iā€™ve totally spaced any college hoops thread going on this season and your Rock Chalk reminded me to check it out. A great season this year.

Loved seeing the note on the Rotem & Mounir wine. I too am a fan of the white and have been lucky to grab a few of the whites from a number of different vintages. They always show brilliantly and are fun to blind on wine geeks. A great young wine importer here in town and I were blinding the white next to each other at a party. He got down the path of white burgundy. I correctly got to white rhone, but thatā€™s as close as I got and missed on varietal. Gave him my theory of why it wasnā€™t white burg and was smiling on the reveal. Then, three months later, Iā€™m at another party and the same damn wine is blinded. I go through my theory and guess warm vintage white burg, just like the importer had. Canā€™t win em all. At least the wine was delicious both times!

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Love it. Great share- many thanks

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