2007 Pierre Peters Chetillons - I have not had a lot of 2007s but seem to like those I have had. First bottle of this. This is quite dense and has ripping acidity. Classic Mesnil. I buy this bottling pretty much every year. If the 2005 is the fattest, then this might be the leanest and closer in style to the 2004. As the glass sat this opened up much more and seems to have a great future. I use to drink a lot of these early after release and this reminded why now I don’t. Really excellent though.
2004 Cedric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs La Parcelle - There is a fair amount of hype on this producer and from everything I have had (maybe 15 bottles of various years and vineyards) it is well deserved. This is actually an “older” bottling so I was curious to see how it had aged. From a tiny vineyard, all Pinot Noir and I believe no dosage. Yellow fruits and some minty herbal element, deep on the plate and long on the finish. Excellent balance and seems like it has 10 more years easy. Very fine.
Steve- good to hear on the 07 PP Chetillons. I bought a 6 pack without tasting. Loved the 06.
I also really like the 06 Roederer Staark- super bone dry
it was perfectly resolved. for me they can be a bit aggressive when young…this was far more pleasurable. no fear of decline and not even a hint of oxidative character. super floral aromatics and perhaps a richer fruit profile on the palate. one of the top bottles of rose i have tasted.
Been drinking up my Champagnes from the 60’s lately. Many are starting to get long in the tooth and definitely won’t improve with any more bottle age other than the late disgorged versions.
Here’s the partial line-up for tonight, Wed and Thurs.
1996 Pol Roger Winston Churchill. - Fully integrated, dominant nose and taste of Apple, some ginger which I liked. One of the group smelled herbs. I did not. Finish added some light pear, it beautifully paired with some great cured meats. Don’t see much new development ahead, but not going away soon.
I wish I could take credit for the window dressings, but they are unfortunately not mine. A friend of mine offered up the use of his camp on the river for my party, so it’s the previous owner who should probably get the credit.
I was traveling on the West Coast this past weekend, so took advantage of some of the local wine shops to pickup some Champers that are not in my cellar. I brought a '06 Comtes to dinner on Friday at Quince in SF. I have gone through a case of this already and have none left in the cellar at the moment, so figured a good choice. I think this is better than '96/'02/'04 and equal to the '95 in my mind (I am not a huge acid fan). Worked great with the white courses, especially the caviar course. I also picked up a '90 Pichon Baron for the same dinner that was also great - but could have benefited from more decanting. I highly recommend Quince and they have a $50 corkage policy.
We had dinner at Morimoto on Saturday so drank sake and beer. Food was just ok, nothing special. Wanted to go to Hog Island, but they were closed by the time we were ready for dinner.
Had a picnic lunch on Sunday with friends of ours who have started another Napa winery, this time on Mr. Veeder. I locally sourced a bottle of '96 DP (with an Acker auction label) and a '95 Comtes. We had the '96 DP with the winery tour and the '95 Comtes with cheese and both were outstanding, ready to drink and not showing any sign of declining.
I also bought an early disgorgement of '95 Heidsieck BdM that we never had a chance to drink. Brought it back home with us and will probably open tomorrow. This wine has been a real crowd pleaser for a mature Champagne, but will be interesting to see if this early disgorgement is still drinking or over the hill.
Had bottles of '64 Dom Perignon and '88 Krug at Cagen last night.
At first I was thinking I would need to open up my back-up bottle of '64 DP since the cork can out rather easily and without any noticeable pressure.
However, once poured I was much more hopeful since the color was good and there was a bit of effervescence. Once I smelled it I knew it was good and on the palate it was even better. Fully mature with caramel and coffee flavors, but still a bit of structure and acidity on the finish. Chef usually doesn’t drink while he’s working, but since it was also his birth year, he had a glass as well. Starting to get low on '64 DP, but I don’t plan on back filling even once my remaining bottles are consumed.
The '88 Krug, as expected, was quite a contrast to the '64 DP. Big and robust, with tons of fruit and bracing acidity, this is still an adolescent at nearly 30 years of age. Hopefully i will get to drink this in 20+ years so I can sample a mature version of this Champagne.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Cagen was absolutely fantastic once again.
