Dinner with 06`Ruinart,C Heidsieck Rose,3 white Burgs,8 Italian wines incl La Gerla,Valdicava,Le Ripi Lupi,2 Ruffino++

Our dinner group enjoyed another fine evening, this time at Ca Dario Montecito with a wine theme of Brunello and Chianti Classico Riservas in addition to the usual request for champagne and white Burgundy.

While consuming an assortment of appetizers, main courses and dessert, 9 of us tasted through 14 wines starting with:

2006 DOM RUINART BLANC de BLANC BRUT- disgorged 12/ 16 with 4.5 gpl dosage; comprised of Chardonnay Grands Crus: 63% from the Côte des Blancs (predominantly Chouilly, Le Mesnil and Avize) and 37% from the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims (predominantly Sillery and Puisieulx); my last bottle of a 6 pack and all have been stellar and different; this bottle was more about finesse, grace and charm as it presented a pretty mellow profile that was highlighted by its frothy, lemon meringue like notes that exuded class and royalty; a revisit later on in the evening showed that it seemed to gain more of what I have experienced in previous bottles, complexity and richness, while still maintaining its wondrous elegance.


NV CHARLES HEIDSIECK ROSE RESERVE- here’s an old friend that was at one time, part of our house bubbly lineup and I was happy to revisit a more recent release; this one is based on 2015 and has 20% white and red reserves with 5-6% still red wines added; it was disgorged in 2019; following the elegance of the Dom Ruinart, this was the perfect compliment in that it also had a graceful, lovely, frothy mousse that in this case carried fresh, mildly sweetened strawberry fruit all the way through. Strawberry cotton candy in liquid form.


And then on to 3 fine white selections:

2018 PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY AU BOUT DU MONDE BOUGOGNE HAUTES-COTES de BEAUNE- and here comes another gem from one of our favorite producers for white Burgs; this bottle had the requisite flint and mineral accents to the ripe citrus fruit that with lemon most prominent; it was tangy, zingy acidic and finished surprisingly with a little tart bitterness.


2018 MOREY-COFFFINET LES FRIONNES ST. AUBIN 1er Cru- I`m a big fan of this producer and this wine fell right in line with so many stellar previous samplings; yes, it had its typical flint and minerals in spades as well as lemon, lime and apple notes; it’s viscous texture added to the sensory perceptions and it all came together for a fine experience drawing raves around the table.


But something happened next. We had an even better wine:

2019 PAUL PERNOT FOLATIERES PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 1er Cru- the first sip is all it took to get it, this is extra special; following its lemon yellow color came aromas apple and ripe citrus fruit which on the palate translated into lemon, orange and lime with some honeydew melon and passion fruit coming in late; what got my attention even more was its amazing balance all the way through plus its incredible mouthfeel that was so easy and graceful on the palate; I tracked this over the entire evening and it just held a steady course giving up its treasures consistently. When it was time to vote for the WOTN, this was so good, we voted for a white AND a red and this was the hands down white wine winner, a new abbreviation, WWW.


Moving on to 8 reds, poured in flights of 2:

2004 LA GERLA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- this shined from the outset with an inviting nose of ripe black raspberry and currant fruit which continued on while being delivered in a soft and smooth medium all the way to the back end where a touch of mint came in to finish it off; this had lots of energy and yet lots of finesse and just reeked of being a high class wine. When it was all over and the time came to vote for the red WOTN, I had this as a co-favorite.


2016 CAPARZO LA CASA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- pretty serious Sangiovese here first observed by its inky dark color and then a strong whiff of aromas of milk chocolate laden black fruit which once tasted was more specifically black raspberry, black currant and plum plus a hit of sandalwood and talc to compliment its super soft and smooth mouthfeel; this wine had loads of power and yet enough finesse to balance it out and make it more approachable.


1979 RUFFINO RISERVA DUCALE CHIANTI CLASSICO- when I first saw this bottle, it took me back to the 1980s when this Gold Label wine dominated most of the wine shelves and I would occasionally pop for a few and always enjoy them; and now after 30+ years since the last sampling, I get to see how one has matured; well, maybe this is not such a good representation as this bottle had Bretty funk and a bit of TCA that sat on top of an oxidized wine that has now taken on the persona of a Port. Note the $13.79 price tag. This bottle was overpriced.


2003 RUFFINO RISERVA DUCALE CHIANTI CLASSICO- these 2 bottles were brought from the same source and much appreciated, more so since this one was a bit more attractive and drinkable; it was youthful, vibrant, highly energetic and fully loaded, but obviously needing a lot more time to integrate; the nose had some menthol and serious dark fruit that became blackberry and black raspberry once tasted; it had depth and complexity and just needs time to evolve and mature.

2013 PODERE LE RIPI LUPI e SIRENE RISERVA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- nice Sangio here with a lot going on from the nose through the tail; mint chocolate accented red and black fruit dominated the nose and continued on to be joined by a touch of tobacco and licorice; it was full bodied but soft and easy on the palate; this seemed to already have achieved some semblance of balance holding a steady course throughout. Narrowly voted the red WOTN.


2004 VALDICAVA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- decanted for 3+ hours; it’d been 7 years since opening my last bottle, so it was a treat to discover how this has aged from its previous sweet spot; it’s marvelous; the color is a dark, inky purple which perfectly compliments the seriousness of the aromatics that are laden with an abundance of coffee, cigar box and mocha infused blackberry, plum and blueberry; it is full bodied with a huge underlying tannic structure that used to dominate, but is now integrating; this is still a big wine that needs more time which is what I expected and why I went for a long decant; even then, I considered this bottle and the other 2004, La Gerla, as the 2 best reds on the night.

2018 MONTEVERTINE ROSSO di TOSCANA- 90% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo, 5% Colorino; this wine was very robust and very dark fruit forward as well as being highly energetic as it showed off its youthfulness; this is a Rosenthal Wine Merchant distributed wine and the back label has a message from Neal touting its pedigree and makeup, but it is a review from Somm Select that really describes the wine and how it is made plus a strong suggestion to decant which this was not and would have been much better from. {SommSelect - Wine Shop - Montevertine, Rosso di Toscana Tuscany, Italy 2018}


2009 ROCCA di FRASSINELLO MAREMMA TOSCANA- a Super Tuscan, this bottle had milk chocolate laced dark fruit that included blackberry and black currant with a touch of red cherry; it was full bodied and had some layered depth and a long finish that ended with a bit of heat; again, here is a wine that can benefit immensely from a decant; it was the last red on the night and I did not have time to allow for it to really open up, but what I experienced was decent and suggestive of holding on to this for many more years before retrying and DECANT.


We finished with a fine dessert wine:

2008 ROYAL TOKAJI ESSENCIA- 750ml; 4% abv; following its amber gold color came aromas of tangerine and honey dew melon which were also in the taste profile along with a touch of ginger, vanilla and spice accented apricot; it had a viscous texture, was super rich and sticky. A Hungarian beauty.


When I wrote up these notes, I realized how many times i referred to or thought most the wines needed to be decanted; that is especially true for the red wines with this dinner group as we tend to have way more wines than people and not enough time to allow for each wine to open up and evolve in the glass over the course of an evening; as most of us know, wines change and they change dramatically even in just an hour or so. For that reason, I`m loving our small Monday night group; we hang with all wines during the 2-3 hour dinner time and most are decanted in advance.

Cheers,
Blake