2005 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant

This delicious, absolutely hedonistic chenin blanc is truly worthy of having it's own AOC within Savennières.  This wine is magnificent (and it's been open for several hours, long before my first glass).  I'm buying a case.

Sweet aromas of honey with an essence of quince. Finishes dry with great balance.  Lovely sweet notes move into fruit and then finish dry;a monumentally long finish, 2+ min.

Stay tuned for a review of an older vintage of this.

Also tasted that night was 2006 Auxy-Duresses White Burgundy, Deux Montille; and 2001 W. Gisselbrecht Gewurztraminer VT.

Rare bottle tasting notes.

A wonderful source for tasting notes of rare and great bottles comes from the full auction catalog (large pdf) for an upcoming auction of a consignment from the Aubrey McClendon Collection and held by Spectrum Wine Auctions. Think Lafite, Latour, Le Pin, Mouton, Lafleur, DRC, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Petrus, Cheval Blanc, d'Yquem, and Shafer.

On 1959 Château Lafite Rothschild:

"The 1959 is unquestionably the greatest Lafite-Rothschild...The super-aromatic bouquet of flowers, black truffles, cedar, lead pencil, and red fruits is followed by one of the most powerful and concentrated Lafites I have tasted..." [Score: 99] Wine Advocate # 95, Oct 1994

On 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild:

"...with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth..." [Score: 97+] Wine Advocate # 183, Jun 2009

On 1945 Château Latour:

“This is a great - perhaps one of the greatest vintages. Spicy nose, eucalyptus, still full-bodied in the mouth with fruit and richness. Long finish and wonderful aftertaste.” Chateau Latour cellar notes

On 1961 Château Latour:

"...liquid perfection, exhibiting fragrant, cedary, truffle, leather, mineral, and sweet, jammy aromatics, full-bodied, voluptuous textures, exquisite purity and concentration... the essence of compellingly great wine." [Score: 100] Wine Advocate # 129, Jun 2000

On 1995 Château Latour:

"...dense purple-colored 1995 exhibits jammy cassis, vanillin, and minerals in its fragrant but still youthful aromatics... with exceptional purity, superb concentration, and a long, intense, ripe, 40-second finish, this is a magnificent example of Latour." [Score: 96] Wine Advocate # 129, Jun 2000

On Château Margaux:

Château Margaux has in its possession some of the
earliest known documents from Bordeaux describing in great detail the study of terroir and its implication in making great wine. Under the Mentzelopoulos family ownership, this modern era of Château Margaux honors the great traditions of its past while continuing to make modern Bordeaux with the same classic refined finesse and elegance.

1959 Château Margaux:

“Even before the beginning of the harvest, this vintage was acclaimed as "vintage of the century". Château Margaux 1959 is really a great wine, with a powerful, complex, very fine and elegant bouquet. On the palate, it is very concentrated, powerful...Without any question, it is a very great bottle...” Château Margaux cellar notes, September 2002

1996 Château Margaux:

"...combining measured power, extraordinary elegance, and admirable complexity... it's a beauty! The color is opaque purple. The wine offers extraordinarily pure notes of blackberries, cassis, pain grille, and flowers, gorgeous sweetness, a seamless personality..." [Score: 99] Wine Advocate # 122, Apr 1999

On 1966 Château Mouton Rothschild:

"...dark garnet color and classic sweet, spicy, tobacco, coffee, and black currant aromas are enticing..." [Score: 90] Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition # B1, Jan 1998

On 1982 Château Haut-Brion:

"...another perfect wine and one of the all-time great Haut-Brions...Complex aromatics of scorched earth, smoked herbs, and sweet red and black currants are followed by a full-bodied, silky-textured wine..." [Score: 95] Wine Advocate # 183, Jun 2009

On 1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion:

"..massive richness as well as abundant notes of black fruits, truffles, creosote, scorched earth, smoke, and camphor, a colossal mouthfeel, a layered texture, incredible depth of fruit..."[Score: 100] Wine Advocate # 183, Jun 2009

On 2000 Château Le Pin:

"...explosive, virtually perfect example of this estate. Dense purple-colored, with luxurious levels of extract and richness, this intense, unctuously-textured, black fruit-filled..." [Score: 98] Wine Advocate # 146, Apr 2003

On 1982 Château Cheval Blanc:

"...gorgeously sweet entry displays flavors of caramel, roasted coffee, jammy red and black fruits, coconut, and smoke. It is fat and full-bodied, with considerable tannin, structure, and muscle in the finish." [Score: 92] Wine Advocate # 129, Jun 2000

On 1990 Château d'Yquem:

"...gold color is accompanied by an exceptionally sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits, peaches, coconut, and
apricots...massive on the palate, with layers of intensely ripe botrytis-tinged, exceptionally sweet fruit...one of the richest Yquems..." [Score: 99] Wine Advocate # 122, Apr 1999

On 1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche:

"...Stylistically, this borrows elements from both the '97 and the '96 as it combines moderate floral notes with most of the spice, soy and hoisin of the '96 plus the densest flavors of any vintage to this point..." [Score: 94] Allen Meadows, May 2008

1962 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche:

"...the purity and detail are mind boggling. Silky, refined and altogether classy with a finish that goes on and on. This is a wine of drama and emotion - in short, quintessential La Tâche that is knee-bending in its brilliance..." [Score: 99] Allen Meadows, Jan 2008

1971 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti:

"...perfumed mix of spiced tea, smoked beef jerky and abundant earth followed by incredibly rich, dense, round and velvety full-bodied, beautifully nuanced flavors that completely coat the palate and deliver a stunningly long finish that simply goes on and on..." [Score: 98] Allen Meadows, May 2008

On 1997 Harlan Estate:

"...proves that American producers can create wine as impeccable and full-bodied from start to finish as their European associates."

On 2002 Screaming Eagle:

"...sweet, intense bouquet of black currant liqueur interwoven with lilac, vanillin, and subtle oak scents is followed by a majestic...extraordinary palate presence and stature. A wine of great aromatic and flavor intensity with a long, 60-second finish..." [Score: 99] Wine Advocate # 150, Dec 2003

On 2000 Marcassin Chardonnay:

"...gorgeously perfumed, light green/gold-colored effort revealing tremendous power as well as notes of hazelnuts intermixed with white peaches, citrus oils, and other exotic fruits..." [Score: 98] Wine Advocate # 150, Dec 2003

ADDENDUM: the pdf file is no longer available from Spectrum Wine.

Foie gras interlude

A quick thought, I found myself describing what exactly foie gras was tonight and the many ways it can be prepared...which led to a current yearning for a SDLT burger stuffed with foie gras, aioli on the side, rosemary pomme frites.

I wonder how that'd be with an egg worked in somewhere too...

Araujo Estate

Located on an alluvial fan on the northern part of the Napa Valley, east of Calistoga, think...Chateau Montelena...mmmmm...Bottle Shock.

The first cabernet vine was planted their in 1964. Some are, hopefully, almost 50 years old! They also make a lovely Syrah. About themselves, they say this:

Protected by the Palisades Mountains to the north and cooled by westerly breezes from the Chalk Hill Gap, this 38-acre vineyard is planted on well-drained cobbly soils that produce a low yielding crop of exceptionally concentrated fruit. The wines produced in this remarkable place have a rare combination of forthright character with precisely defined flavors and fine textures, deep concentration without any sense of heaviness, and the capacity to develop profound complexity with age.

Altagracia was first bottled the year of my graduation, that's one for the memory. And an outstanding Syrah is on their hands, a grape I hold dear, here's evidence.

The most recent Syrah rated by Wine Spectator was the 1995, unfortunate there's not more 1995 Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard Syrah tasting notes, printed 4/30/99:

Smooth, rich and elegant, with polished currant, leather, anise, earth and mineral flavors that are complex and concentrated, sophisticated and long. Best from 2000 through 2008. 340 cases made. –JL

The 2006 Syrah was co-fermented with 4% Viognier--think Côte-Rôtie style--with 21 months in French oak. If you've ever seen A Good Year with Russell Crowe, I believe it's based in the Rhone. The restaurant is also pretty good.

Hey want to see something cool? View video on a wine auction at Daniel in New York City, click on this link to a Wine Spectator video on auctions. I'm going to one of those, sooner than later...because I'm all for enjoying the things on my wish list.

Can you say "productivity booster"?

What a great addition this would be to my office, the plumbed version is worth it. Coffee...an aroma that is often found in red wines...any of them come to your mind? Here's a helpful link.

Le Bernardin

A guest review on Wine me, Dine me and a personal shout out to Patrick of L'Espalier fame, one of Le Bernardin's newest talent acquisitions.

The dining room is beautiful and understated – clean lines, lit candles, light wood. The floral arrangements set all around are seasonal and stunning. We did not have to wait a single moment for our table even though we were early. The service is cordial. No one fawns over you – they do not have to. It is a privilege to be there. The food is the star of the show, not them, and certainly not you. As long as you go into the place knowing that, you will not get offended (some people need their proverbial asses kissed at all times. We’re totally not like that.). The service was unbelievably precise. A chair was pulled away from the table the moment you wanted to use the restroom. Your plate was cleared the moment you finished your last bite. The tablecloth was crumbed, wine was poured, glasses refilled. If you needed to walk back to your table, the staff would part like the Red Sea so you could make your way through.
[...]
The only disappointing portion of the meal (and by “disappointing” I mean “I didn’t have an orgasm when I ate it”) was dessert. Mike got a dark chocolate, caramel and peanut butter tart with praline ice cream and I got a hazelnut cream with homemade brown butter ice cream. Both were tasty but not extraordinary, but that was okay by me. By this point we were so thrilled with the food they could have given me an ice cream sandwich and I’d have been happy. We did order an after dinner drink. I had an armangnac and Mike got a cognac. That was probably a bad idea because they were expensive, but whatever, they were amazing and a perfect finish to our night of extravagance. We also got an amazing little set of petit fours at the very end of the meal which we ate with gusto despite being full. One of the main complaints about the restaurant is that the portions are too small. I say that people eat too much. The portions were perfect.

The bill was…well…it was big. Very big. Bigger than one ought to ever spend on dinner. But this wasn’t just dinner – it was an experience and one that neither of us will ever forget. We returned home broke, a little drunk, and unbelievably happy. If I were a millionaire, I’d eat there every week. As it stands, once a year will have to do. If you are ever in NYC and have some cash handy, please, go to Le Bernardin. Lunch is a bit cheaper (four courses for $68 – a steal!), so that’s a good option too. But if you love fish and you love food, you must experience Eric Ripert’s genius at least once. You won’t regret it.

Stay tuned for a recap of today's tastings

You can expect an upcoming summary of a day full of tastings in the outskirts outside of Boston in couple of days:

Grand Tasting at Gordon's Fine Wine & Liquors in Waltham

Fall Tasting at Spirited Gourmet in Winchester

Followed by an evening at the restaurant where I learned about a neighbor of Peter Michael who makes less than 100 cases of lovely sauvignon blanc, Knight's Bridge, which also has an awesome website, with recipes, maps, and excellent food pairings with their wine--I'm feeling a trend of only 100 cases of each. Here's one of the pairings:

2006 Knights Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon: Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard:

Herb-crusted lamb loin with terrine of potatoes and local radish/haricot vert salad. For dessert, couple with chocolate soufflé cake with crème anglaise and fresh blackberries.

P.S. The Spirited Gourmet in Belmont has a series of magnums like Grgich Hills 02 Cabernet Sauvignon on clearance, ones that I bet are close to peaking and in some rare cases, getting ready for the long haul of 10 years, maybe more. I've been tempted, but have yet to succumb.

Also, Gordon's hosts awesomes events, like the Sommelier Smackdown, 4 courses, 2 sommeliers, 8 different glasses of wine, you choose the winner, hosted by Sel De La Terre duo: Ian Grossman and Louis DiBicarri.

$1 Million dollar wine book

Kraken Opus CEO Karl Fowler makes a bold claim in saying "this is not a book", but it's backed up by the inclusion of a six-bottle case from 100 wineries to be selected in March at a gathering of top sommeliers in London. I wonder who'll be in attendance at this exclusive tasting to be known as "The United Nations of Wine".

Rachel Solar reports for Stuff@Night that only 100 books will be published. This makes 60,000 bottles, 600 bottles from each winery. CBC News has a more accurate price tag: £640,000 or $1.12 million with a weight over 30 kg and a size of 1.5 square meters. So what wines do you think will be selected?

I certainly hope Joly's Clos de la Coulée de Serrant makes the list because it's an exceptional chenin blanc--think seductive--so exceptional, in fact, to have its very own AOC (think Romanée-Conti and Château-Grillet).

Want your own cask of scotch?

Glenglassaugh gives scotch drinkers something to enjoy on a more personable touch. Made by men who distinguished themselves at places like Highland Park, Scapa, Glenmorangie, and Balvenie (I attended a tasting of Balvenie a few months back). From UrbanDaddy.com's email newsletter:

Introducing Glenglassaugh's Cask Ordering Service, a radical new concept that lets you order up a full cask of scotch now and drink it down in the future, available now.

Essentially, it's something you've always wanted: an epic amount of scotch, all for you. The brand sets you up with an octave—basically, a 50-liter cask—of hooch, and then lets it age for at least seven years. (You can let it go as long as you want—and you can even fill it up with the raw stuff yourself, if you happen to be in the Scottish neighborhood.) The price tag is a little more than 800 big ones, though it averages out to about 16 bucks a bottle—think of it as a blue-chip investment.

After that, just sit back and wait. Every year, they'll send you some samples just so you know how things are coming along. Then, when time is up, they'll bottle it for you and ship it your way—so in seven, maybe 12 years, you'll get a knock on the door from whatever hybrid of FedEx-DHL-UPS is still around, ready to drop off nearly 50 bottles of your very own, ready-to-drink scotch.

UrbanDaddy Boston also gave me the inside scoop for The Macallan's recent tasting at Cyclo-Rama.