Early Chinese New Year Dinner with family and the Fu’ster at Elite Restaurant in LA
Dinner consisted of: roast suckling pig, roast squab, 6 lb pacific lobster with rice cake and sausage, steamed rock cod, roasted crispy chicken, sauteed veal cubes, sauteed pea shoots.
Comte Liger Belair Vosne Colombiere was amazing with squab. The 95 Damoy Beze was also a nice match but the younger Comte Liger Belair was probably a better pairing (ie. elevated both wine and food).
2002 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chevalier-Montrachet- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru (2/15/2015)
Medium yellow in color with a tint of green. White floral nose, honey, grapefruit. Good length on the palate. With time though showed mild notes of oxidation. Darkest hued of my 3 bottles. Hopefully the other two show better.
2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (2/15/2015)
Impressive rich fruit and honey initially. But it is also so focused with it’s acid and minerality. This is such a wonderful wine. I think I may be falling in love with Roulot and Raveneau these days!
2006 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée La Colombiere- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée (2/14/2015)
Opened 24 hours prior.
Initially, delicious bright red fruit and wonderful vosne spice. Forward but with such balance, no harshness from oak. Quite elegant. Light but not lacking on the palate.
24 hours later, adds a layer of depth and complexity. Punches at a 1er cru Dujac level. Delicious. Wonderful with roast squab.
1995 Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru (2/15/2015)
Opened 6 hours prior. Nice gamey meatiness to start with a touch of spice. Red/dark fruit on the palate, some earthiness, and autumnal leaves. With time acidity and fruit balance out and some black tea emerges. This is in a perfect drinking window for my tastes.
2006 Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru (2/15/2015)
Lots of vanilla and oak on the nose.
Rich dark fruit, earth. Dark and deep wine. Impressive length. Needs some time to resolve. Tasted next to the 95. Gives us a nice idea of what a bright future this holds.
Thank you friend for inviting my wife and I to your family’s chinese new year dinner! Fantastic food at our local spot Elite. No better Chinese restaurant for a wine dinner in LA, service is spot on and the food goes great with burgundy. I don’t care what anyone says, there’s plenty of chinese food that goes well with burgundy
Loved the roulot, fantastic wine, so much energy and depth.
I thought the Pillot was really heavily advanced and just got worse over time
06 Damoy I thought was showing too much wood, it’s still showing too much wood as I type the note right now 24 hours later (I opened it yesterday at 2pm). Picked up a lot of acidity, but that bitter wood on the backend is kinda off putting to me
95 Damoy I thought was showing a bit more advanced than the vintage would dictate, far more tertiary flavors than I thought there would be without the stuffing of a wine of its age. I think if I was blinded I would have guessed ten years older. It was nice and easy drinking but just not what I expected from a 95.
06 Liger was really nice, pure sweet fruit. Slightly clipped on the back end (expected based on the youth) but seeing how vibrant the fruit is on this wine compared to the damoy is just night and day.