An amazing Burgundy dinner that was a long time coming

Did a great Burgundy dinner last night at Triomphe that was in the planning for many months and finally it happened. It was one of those rare confluences of great wine, great people and great service. The private room at Triomphe rocks as it is truly private and not one of those "private" rooms that is just some semi-alcove of the restaurant. Service was attentive and not invasive at all. The goal of this dinner was for me to educate and and spread the Burgundy love to some rookies and one very seasoned veteran. The theme that I tried to stick to was wines that were the most expressive and accurate of their individual terroirs. I had been sourcing the wines since February mining for good deals with industry connections and what not. The dinner was a hassle to put together (busy people, conflicting schedules) but Jacques did a phenomenal job handling all the logistics and the big night finally came last night. For all the anticipation coming in this exceeded my expectations and I think everybody there was pleased. The wines all showed absolutely brilliantly. There were two Champagnes, two White Burgundies, six Red Burgundies & two excellent ports.


We started off with the 1988 Pol Roger "Cuvee Winston Churchill" and this was fantastic as usual. I have not had this bottling in a long time . . .maybe three years . . .and it showed brilliantly. Elegant would be the perfect word to describe this wine. It floated across your palate and deposits saline, apples and concentrated high-toned citrus fruits that seem to go all the way to the back of your throat. Really cuts deep. Gets very sappy with air but still retains its profound elegance. Haunting ethereal stuff and really has improved dramatically since I have had it last time. Still got loads of time before this is peaking.


Then moved onto the Egly-Ouriet NV Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru "Les Crayeres" which was good but ultimately stood in the tall shadow cast by Mr. Churchill. It was very bready, very yeasty with a nice very pale rose color. The palate was a touch out of balance but there was nice concentrated fruit and wonderful delicate mousse but this definetly was in the typical powerful Egly style. Not that refined. Drink with steak. Expensive too for what it is. The Pinot Meunier (Les Vignes de Vrigny) is way better and a much better value.


Now the main show started as we moved onto the first duo of white burgundies. The first wine was the 2002 Dauvissat Chablis "Les Preuses" which was extremely young and tightly wound but oh so promising. Nose of powdered rocks, oyster shells, slight green apple and some old wood aromas. Very pure and mineral nose. Palate was a little out of whack in the beginning but soon integrated with fierce swirling. The acidity was intense and crunchy along with a very high-toned citrus fruit vibe and a finish that would not quit....did I say a finish that would not quit . . .did I say a finish that would not quit. Absolutely astounding finish that livelied up your mouth (apologies to Bob Marley.)This just lingered and lingered. This is an infant and was easily the youngest tasting wine of the night. I would not open another bottle for ten years minimum. This will last easily another thirty years. A monument to the vintage.


Something young and now something old. The 1985 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne was poured and this was also brilliant. It is nice drinking white burgundy at its peak. This wine was just oozing with class and had a wonderful texture. Yellow fruits along with a waxey like flavor and texture. Like the softest pillow ever on your palate. Long detailed finish. Mature slightly baked fruit flavors and a nutty like palate impression and zingy minerality. Acidity was not high but also not super low . . .it was just right and perfectly integrated with the rest of the components. Balance is the key word here. Although this was was great cellaring white burgs is still a crapshoot due to oxidation issues.


The red parade started now with the 2002 Drouhin Musigny and this wine was suprisingly open. Not just open but ethereally open. This had hauntingly beautiful aromas of tiny berry red fruits, perfume, incense, sous-bois and intense stony minerality. The nose was layered and extremely complex. The palate was soft and perfectly integrated with a wonderful supple texture. Surprisingly big for a Drouhin Musigny as this was medium to full bodied and had some major structure. The fruit was perfectly ripe and almost flamboyant but still had wonderful restraint. This was an absolutely lovely wine that was wide open but surely will improve for many more years.


Next was the 2001 DRC Romanee St. Vivant which was wonderful albeit a bit oaky. Rich and structured with loads of sweet oak and tons of ripe tannins. The nose had mashed flowers, sous bois, dirty soil, stony minerality and ripe red fruits. The structure was massive and this had enough fruit to suck up all the oak but that will be way down the road. The balance was ethereal and the length was astounding. The finish pumped out the fruit. This needs many many years to come around but has amazing fruit and stucture and will be profound once it enters its drinking window.


The 1999 Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru "Les St. Georges" is a meaty, wild, dense concentrated animalistic wine. Still though it had that fantastic Chevillon elegance. Does anybody make more elegant Nuits? The fruit was on the darker side of the spectrum and very concentrated. This was evil, brooding wine with style, flair and sap. One problem was that it was showed up with all of the other Grand Cru's. Probably should have left this out and added another Grand Cru . . .although it was educational and really showed the difference in refinement and class between 1er Cru and Grand Cru. A lovely wine that is drinking very well now but could use 5-10 more years in the cellar. The 1993 Les St. Georges is still my all time favorite Chevillon.


Next was a wine that was an absolute revelation to me . . .the 1999 Simon Bize Latricieres-Chambertin. The nose was like Beaucastel meets Burgundy. Horsey, bretty, barnyard right out of the gates. But soon with some aeration the funk integrated and it became much more civilized with some nice red fruit tones intermingled with a wet earth minerality. The palate was huge with sweet, ripe fruit and massive tannins. With all this weight though the wine remained elegant. Just an incredible balancing act on the palate with astounding length. There was a lingering taste of wet earth on the palate. This wine as Jacques said truly smells and tastes like an agricultural product. The purity was top-notch and this was many people's favorite wine of the night.


Up next was the 2002 Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin which was maybe my wine of the night. I absolutely love Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin as it truly is the best example from this vineyard (sorry jacky). This had incredible power and depth of fruit with unreal levels of concentration. A great fruit soak on the palate. Explosive tiny red berries on a bed of stony minerality. The inner mouth energy of this wine was unbelieavable. The finish was long, juicy and vibrant. After some aeration a wonderful floral (rose?) emerged. This was absolutely compelling juice and the best I have tasted of the vintage besides La Tache. Profound wine that was a long life ahead of it.


This was a wine I was skeptical about as I have read some negative notes about this from some famous wine critics and around the wine internet. But on this night the most bi-polar producer in Burgundy had a good day as the 2001 Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes was stunning. The nose offered up great aromatic complexity of olives, tree bark, red fruits, deep minerality, high-toned florals and wet earth. Just an amazing array of aromas that kept changing and changing. Easily the nose of the night. Even edged out the Musigny on aromatic complexity. Wow! The palate was pure silk and all elegance. One of the most feminine Clos de la Roche's I have ever had. The palate had a slight grainy texture which added a wonderful crunch. The flavors were all red and the mid-palate was clearly defined as this wine was way open for business. This had the most lacey texture of all the wines tonight. Better than the 2002 I had a couple months ago at Blue Hill.


The last Burgundy of the night was from the already legendary 2005 vintage. It was the 2005 Chateau de la Tour Clos Vougeot. Painfully young but oh so much fruit and classic Clos Vougeot. Stunning, piercing minerality of the stone kind with a bit of oak but this wine is massive . . .almost cabernet-like structure. Wow this needs time. Wonderful, pure and very concentrated witha finish that lasts a while. We did not give this enough time but if we did this woild have stopped many many shows. The Vieilles Vignes is crazy and one of the monuments of the vintage. I would love to taste some old wines from this storied domaine.

This post is already too long so I will leave the ports for my next post . ..Paolo I promise I will post on the ports this weekend although my vocabulary is somewhat limited when it comes to port.