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.
NV EGLY-OURIET V.P. GRAND CRU EXTRA BRUT- Iāve 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, Iāve seen the blend reported to be close to 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.
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 Iāve had, it just had to be extra stellar.
Next up, 6 white Burgs:
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.
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.
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.
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 ācorkedā 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.
2016 DOMAINE HENRI BOILLOT CLOS de la MOUCHERIE 1er Cru PULIGNY-MONTRACHET- thanks to a couple of folks in this group, Iāve 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.
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.
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.
Weāve 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 Iām 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.
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 itās 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.
2014 ROTEM & MOUNIR SAOUMA OMNIA CHATEAUNEUF du PAPE- I`m a big fan of the white wine this producer makes and now Iām 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.
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.
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.
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
1999 PJ VALCKENBERG MADDONA BEERENAUSLESE RHEINHESSEN
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