For our 15th Anniversary this past summer, Christina and I were in Seattle and kid-free, so we decided to celebrate at a wonderful restaurant in downtown Seattle called Mistral Kitchen. We have been long time fans of William Belickis, the Chef and Owner, and have been visiting his restaurant since he opened up the original Mistral restaurant almost two decades ago.
We love French food and I have always enjoyed pairing it with our love for the French wines. With this evening being a big anniversary, I knew I wanted to have something special. I have always loved surprising Christina with a glass of nice mature older Bordeaux or Chateauneuf du Pape and not telling her what it is, just letting her take it in and trying to solve the riddle, “what am I?” Christina is a very good sport with this little game I like to play.
Celebrating fifteen amazing years of marriage. Time has flown by!
For this evening, we had the eight course Chef’s table experience and I brought in some wine to go with it. It was great to see William again, as he got us settled in at the table, he assured us that he had a wonderful evening in store for us. We started things off with a bottle of the 2002 Krug Brut vintage Champagne. Krug is my absolute favorite Champagne producer above everyone else, and they are also very singular in style. The 2002 Krug was just released about three months prior and my mouth was watering in anticipation to see what the Masters at Krug had created. Krug releases their Champagnes when they feel they are ready, so in this case the 2003 was released before the 2002.
The 2002 Krug vintage Champagne is expressive on the nose with grilled nuts, bread crumbs, white fruit, nutmeg and lemon zest. The color was a slightly golden yellow color, which is a little darker than I expected, but I could not sense anything amiss. In the mouth, the white pears, toasted whole wheat bread, grilled nuts, slight baking spices and lemon peel have a playful dance together in this full bodied package. There is a refreshing streak of acidity that keeps everything in check and lively throughout. The 2002 Krug has a very nice long white fruit, toasted bread and lemony finish. This is an excellent Champagne and an excellent Krug, a definite step up from the 2003. The 2002 Krug Champagne will have a long life ahead of it and I look forward to following its evolution. (95+pts.)
Of course, we not only celebrated with the incredible 2002 Krug, I had to throw in a little jewelry to commemorate the occasion, courtesy of my company, Exact Gems.
The wine highlight of the evening was a bottle of 1990 Chateau Margaux. I was excited to taste this wine, as I had never had it before. I bought this wine on release and have been holding it, so that it would mature and we could have it for a special occasion. This particular wine has been written up many times by various critics as one of the perfect 100 point wines of the 1990 vintage and on this night it did not disappoint. The wine is still a dark red color and has a glorious nose of black plums, ripe red cherries and brown baking spices. As Christina said, the nose was so captivating that we would have been totally happy just smelling it. This is the reason why I (we) love mature Bordeaux wines. It is the reason why we are willing to buy a bottle and hold it for 24 years before opening it.
In the mouth the wine was like a fine tapestry of different flavors all interwoven together, ripe plums, red Bing cherries, some black currants, a little damp earth, brown baking spices and with lively acidity. The tannins are mostly resolved, but this wine has a long life ahead of it, as it is only at the beginning of the maturity plateau. The long rich spicy dark fruit finish lasts for a minute after it is gone. This is truly a beautiful wine and well worth the wait. I just loved smelling the wine as it evolved and we enjoyed it over a three hour period. (100pts.)
Wish this bottle of 1990 Chateau Margaux was bottom-less!
There isn’t anyone on this planet that I would rather share/experience a wonderful wine with than my beautiful wife. So to Christina, Thank you for being my partner, the love of my life and soulmate for 15 wonderful years. I so appreciate you and I look forward to creating/sharing many more experiences with you in the world of wine and beyond. I wonder what we will have for our 20th?
As we head into the new year, we were stunned to realize that it’s almost time for one of our favorite wine events! Having made our New Year’s resolution to post more, we’ll start by catching up with an update from last year’s Fete du Bordeaux.
The Fete du Bordeaux always comes around in January just after the holidays. It is not just a chance to taste the new releases from Bordeaux, but a chance to visit with the people who represent and/or own the Chateaux, many of whom we have gotten to know over the past ten years. It is always good to catch up with them and hear about what is going on in Bordeaux.
Bob Watt, Christina Watt and Jean-Charles Cazes from Lynch Bages…our annual photo. Will be fun to look back on all of these one day!
There have been so many amazing changes that have taken place in the wineries throughout Bordeaux over the last 5 to 6 years and their wines are the better for it. While there were many great wines produced in Bordeaux through the 80’s and 90’s, they pale in some respects to the quality that is being produced in Bordeaux today. Today’s technology, like optical sorters and satellite imagery, were only dreams of the past. Combine this with more rigorous vineyard management and stricter quality standards, and the end result for consumers and collectors is consistently better wines – even in less than outstanding vintages.
This year’s Fete du Bordeaux was again held at the restaurant One Market in San Francisco and was a tasting of the new 2013 releases:
2013 Chateau Langoa Barton, St. Julien
2013 Chateau Leoville Barton, St. Julien
2013 Chateau Lynch Bages, Pauillac
2013 Chateau Ormes de Pez, St. Estephe
2013 Chateau Figeac, St. Emilion
2013 Petit Figeac, St. Emilion
2013 Chateau La Conseillante, Pomerol
One Market Restaurant in San Francisco.
Christina and I visited Bordeaux in 2013 during the harvest. I can tell you that it was not ideal weather for the end of the growing season or harvest, with fairly frequent rain showers throughout the region. Unfortunately, the wines of 2013 also show the difficulty of the growing season that the winemakers had to work with. While the growing season of 2013 may have produced poor wines if they had been made in the 70’s or 80’s, today’s improved vineyard technology and winemaking practices produced some very pleasant wines. The 2013’s are not the big blockbuster wines of 2005, 2009 or 2010, but you won’t have to wait as long for them to mature either.
Getting started!
The wine of the flight for the 2013’s was the newcomer to the group, Chateau La Conseillante. Michel Rolland is the consulting winemaker for Chateau La Conseillante and the wine is made from 80% Merlot and 20% Cab. Franc. This is a very nice wine for the vintage, medium bodied, with elegant dark fruit and fairly fine tannins on the medium long finish. (92 pts.)
As we moved into the main dining room of the restaurant, we had a nice glass of Champagne from Franck Bonville – Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs NV. I have had this particular Champagne on several occasions and I have always enjoyed it. It reminds me of Salon in style, but slightly smaller in stature. It is creamy in texture with good acidity, white fruit, green apple, lemon and a chalky mineral streak running right through the medium-long finish. This is definitely a great QPR champagne at $35. (90 pts.)
To start the dinner off we tasted the 2014 Blanc de Lynch Bages white Bordeaux, which is produced in small batches. I have always enjoyed this wine throughout the years, and it is one of my wife’s favorite whites. It is very crisp with honey dew melon, green apples, lemon and a slight stoniness on the nice clean finish. It is a perfect wine for summer if you can find it. (92 pts.)
To go with our grilled calamari salad and roasted duck dinner, we had two flights of four wines:
2005 Chateau Figeac, St. Emilion – Dark red/black fruit with a slight green pepper nose. Nice dark fruit with good acidity, a hint of spice, medium bodied and a medium long dark fruit finish. (92 pts.)
2005 Chateau La Conseillante, Pomerol – Very dark bing cherry and blackberry fruit nose. Very dark fruit in the mouth, lively acidity, and very fine tannins. Nice long dark cherry fruit finish. This wine is already very elegant and still on the young side, with upside potential. This wine has a long life ahead of it. (95+ pts.)
2005 Chateau Langoa Barton, St. Julien – Ripe red cherries and some black fruit on the nose. In the mouth, red cherries and black currant, decent acidity, but a little monolithic at this point on the medium long cherry fruit finish. Maybe this just needs more time in the bottle. (90 pts.)
2005 Chateau Lynch Bages, Pauillac – Dark fruit and a little autumn leaves on the nose. Nice dark bing cherry, some blackberry and a little walnut in the mouth. Very nice acidity keeps this lively in the mouth, while the dark fruit continues on to a nice medium-long finish. While there is still a fair amount of tannin here to work out, the wine is still young and should be good for the long haul. (94+ pts.)
2000 Chateau Figeac, St. Emilion – Ripe dark red fruit on the nose. In the mouth, red currants and cherries, with slightly grainy tannins and not quite as concentrated as the 2005. Finishes with nice red cherry fruit of medium length. (92 pts.)
2000 Chateau La Conseillante, Pomerol – Black currants and blackberries on the nose. In the mouth a mixture of black currants and dark bing cherry/blackberry pie. Good acidity and some spice notes starting to show up. Again the elegance comes through on the medium-long dark fruit finish. Still young, but this wine is starting to show a little of what it has in store for the patient collector. (94 pts.)
1995 Chateau Lynch Bages, Pauillac – Ripe dark red fruit and a little forest floor on the nose. In the mouth, black cherries and red currants combine with roasted nuts and some spice. Soft in the mouth with a little tannin still present. Nice acidity and sweet dark fruit carry through to the medium-long finish. (93 pts.)
1995 Chateau Leoville Barton, St. Juilen – Nose of the night, with red and black fruit, forest floor and baking spices. In the mouth, nice sweet dark cherries, red currants and some blackberry combine with grilled nuts and forest floor. This has good acidity and is very silky in the mouth. Very nice sweet dark fruit on the long finish. (95 pts.)
For dessert, we had a pear brown butter tart and a wine to go with:
2007 Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes – Nice and light melon, tangerine and a touch of honey on the nose. Good fruit in the mouth, melon, pears and some bees wax. Decent acidity with a hint of spice on the medium-long sweet honey finish. (92 pts.)
It was another wonderful evening spent with friends from afar. While I may not be buying a large quantity of wine from the 2013 vintage, there were some good wines made that you could enjoy while you are waiting for the 05’s, 09’s and 10’s to come to maturity.
Next year, the wines of 2014 should be a noticeable step up over the 13’s. We look forward to the next tasting in just a few short weeks!
It’s hard to believe we’ve been throwing our Champagne Party for 19 years now. It’s morphed and changed a bit through the years, but one thing has remained the same – we’ve always hosted the Champagne Party in November. We feel like it’s such a fitting kick-off to the holidays – it gets everyone into a festive spirit and as it falls just before Thanksgiving, everyone has time to find a great sparkling wine they want to bring to their holiday gatherings.
This year was a bit different for us though – we decided not to travel back to Seattle during the busy Thanksgiving season, so we threw the party for a whole new group in California. It was bittersweet, for sure – we missed our die-hard Seattle Champagne Party fans – but it was really interesting to introduce a new set of people to this tradition – and see how the more things change…the more they stay the same.
Got so busy with our guests, forgot to take a picture until the candles had nearly burnt out!
This year the tasting consisted of 12 different Champagnes (technically 10 Champagnes and 2 domestic sparkling wines), ranging in price from $20 – $325. As always, the wines are served double-blind to everyone, not even my wife knows what we are going to taste ahead of time. By way of explanation, single-blind is when you know what all the wines are ahead of time, but not the order that they will be served in. Double-blind is when you don’t have any idea what the wines are ahead of time. To get a true opinion of what wines people like, I think it is important to serve them at least blind if not double-blind. I have found that when you have single-blind tastings, sometimes people spend more time on trying to figure out which wines are which versus trying to figure out which wines they like the most.
Where the action took place – the day after.
We had a great group of people and more than a few were shocked at the results of tasting the wines blind. Here are the Champagnes in the order that we tasted them in:
Roederer Estate – L’Ermitage 2007 ($50)
Laurent Perrier – Grand Siecle MV ($125)
Argyle – Brut 2012 ($25)
Ariston Aspasie – Carte Blanche NV ($35)
Dom Perignon 2004 ($170)
Armand de Brignac – Ace of Spades, Gold NV ($325)
Charles Heidisieck – Brut NV ($55)
Roederer Cristal 2006 ($250+)
Krug 2000 ($250+)
Costco – Brut NV ($20)
Franck Bonville – Blanc de Blanc NV ($45)
Veuve Clicquot – La Grand Dame 2004 ($145)
The full-line up.
This is how the group as a whole ranked the Champagnes from best to worst:
#1 – Charles Heidsieck – Brut NV ($55)
#2 – Laurent Perrier – Grand Siecle MV ($125)
#3 – Roederer Cristal 2006 ($250+)
#4 – Ariston Aspasie – Carte Blanche NV ($35)
#5 – Armand de Brignac – Ace of Spades, Gold NV ($325)
#6 – Roederer Estate – L’Ermitage 2007 ($50)
#7 – Veuve Clicquot – La Grand Dame 2004 ($145)
#8 – Franck Bonville – Blanc de Blanc NV ($45)
#9 – Krug 2000 ($250+)
#10 – Argyle – Brut 2012 ($25)
#11 – Costco – Brut NV ($20)
#12 – Dom Perignon 2004 ($170)
Before everyone voted on the wines, I told the story of our very first Champagne party 19 years ago, when 26 out of 27 people voted the 1990 Dom Perignon as the worst Champagne in the lineup. In that first year, we also had a bottle of the Charles Heidsieck Brut NV ($25 back then) and a bottle of the Argyle Brut 1992 ($15 back then). The Charles Heidsieck Brut NV tied for 2nd place that first year, along with the 1990 Roederer Cristal.
In an interesting twist, our group of 22 this year also voted Dom Perignon as their least favorite. And the Charles Heidsieck Brut NV was once again in top place – taking first place this time as an overwhelming favorite. It was truly astonishing to see the results show up like this all over again – while Dom has traditionally placed lower in the line-ups, this was a whole new group of tasters, and again, it just wasn’t the preferred style of Champagne. (I can assure you the bottles were all sound.)
My own personal rankings are different than how the group voted, as I really have a strong preference for big masculine style Champagnes, but I can also appreciate the finesse and minerality of some feminine style Champagnes as well. Here is how I ranked the Champagnes in order from best to worst:
#1 – Krug 2000 ($250+): Very nice toasty nose of fresh baked bread. Fine bubbles, full bodied and slightly yeasty, subtle lemony yellow fruit, very lively with great acidity. This is very complex in the mouth, but everything is a little more subtle than I expected. Very nice long lemony mineral toasty fruit finish. I think this just needs some more time in the bottle to really blossom, but it is going to be a very good Krug, be patient. (96+ pts.)
#2 – Veuve Clicquot – La Grand Dame 2004 ($145): Nice toasty yeasty nose. Fine bubbles and nicely complex, full bodied strong tasting yellow fruit flavors, with a stony minerality streak running through it. There are some bright lemony citrus fruit flavors and bright acidity that keep the Champagne dancing in your mouth. Nice long stony lemon fruit finish. (95 pts.)
#3 – Charles Heidsieck – Brut NV ($55): Big toasty wheat bread nose (strongest nose of the lineup). Medium-fine bubbles and full bodied, yeasty yellow fruit with whole wheat bread and good acid. Long toasty fruit finish. This was the most masculine styled Champagne of the evening and is a great value for the money. (94 pts.)
#4 – Franck Bonville – Blanc de Blanc NV ($45): Very floral nose. Fine bubbles and very nice lemony white and yellow fruit, with a nice distinct chalky minerality running through it. This Champagne screams Grand Cru Chardonnay, as it should. Very nice acidity on the long lemony chalk mineral infused white fruit finish. This is an absolutely wonderful Champagne for the money and more feminine in style than I generally prefer, but the quality is excellent. (93 pts.)
#5 – Roederer Cristal 2006 ($250+): Very subtle nose of citrus fruits. Small bubbles combine with white and yellow fruits that have a slight stony minerality to them. Good acidity on the long citrus mineral finish. I think this Champagne will show better with a few more years in the bottle. Right now, I prefer the Franck Bonville Blanc de Blanc NV over the Roederer Cristal 2006, especially given the 5/1 price ratio. Five to ten years from now the Cristal may win. (93 pts.)
#6 – Argyle – Brut 2012 ($25): Very nice lemony fruit nose. Silky small bubbles and very nice white Chardonnay fruit in the mouth. There is a noticeable chalky minerality and zippy acidity that combine with the sweet fruit on the long finish. This is a very nice domestic sparkling wine. Over the last 19 years, Argyle from Oregon, has done better than any other domestic producer. For $25, I think Argyle is really hard to beat. (92 pts.)
#7 – Dom Perignon 2004 ($170): Subtle fruit and a strong burnt match (sulfur) nose, off-putting for a lot of people. Fine bubbles combine with slightly chalky lemony fruit. Nice long lemony mineral finish. Burnt match nose never blew off, still present after 24 hours. Over the last 19 years, Dom Perignon has not done very well, but with age they can be very nice Champagnes. The 1996 Dom Perignon is an absolute rockstar and still young. (92 pts.)
#8 – Ariston Aspasie – Carte Blanche NV ($35): Slight toast and fruit on the nose. In the mouth, fine bubbles and lemony yellow fruit, with a touch of chalky minerality. Good acidity on the medium yellow fruit finish. This is another nice Champagne for the money. (91 pts.)
#9 – Laurent Perrier – Grand Siecle MV ($125): Slight toasty nose. Fine bubbles, good acidity combine with lemony white and yellow fruit in the mouth. Nice medium-long mineral white fruit finish. The Grand Siecle Champagnes are a blend of 3 different years and generally improve with further aging (3-5 years) in the cellar. (90+ pts.)
#10 – Armand de Brignac – Ace of Spades, Gold NV ($325): Slight lemony nose. Medium bubbles combine with yellow fruit and decent acidity, but rather monolithic and unexciting. Medium lemony yellow fruit finish. If this had been a truly blind tasting for me, I would have guessed that it was a no-name $50-ish French Champagne, never a $325 prestige Champagne. I would gladly take 2 of the Veuve Clicquot – La Grand Dames or 6 bottles of the Charles Heidsieck NV for the money. (90 pts.)
#11 – Roederer Estate – L’Ermitage 2007 ($50): Slight toast and yellow fruit nose. Largest bubbles of the evening, combine with yellow fruit and bread crumbs. Decent acidity on the medium length yellow fruit finish. Nice but not exciting. (89 pts.)
#12 – Costco – Brut NV ($20): Slightly fruity nose. Medium-large bubbles combine with slightly sweeter fruit, decent acidity on a medium length lemony fruit finish. This Costco wine is actually from the Champagne region of France and it isn’t bad for the money. I placed this in last place because it came across as slightly sweeter than all of the other Champagnes, something I generally don’t prefer. (86 pts.)
It was really fun to try this party out with an enthusiastic new group – will be interesting to see how the 20th year comes together!
It has been a busy year! We are so far behind in our blog, but have every intention of making up for lost time.
To start, here’s the recap we have to add from last January’s (gasp!) Annual Bordeaux Fete. We need to get this down for the record before next year rolls around in a few short months!
Bob Watt, Christina Watt, Jean-Charles Cazes from Lynch Bages and Nancy Rugas from Chateau Suduiraut.
I was very happy to be able to go this year, as I missed last year. This year, Christina and I attended the one put on by K & L Wine Merchants and the participating Chateaux in San Francisco, since we had just moved to the Bay area. The Bordeaux Fete was at One Market Restaurant and we tasted the new 2012 releases from:
Ch. Langoa Barton, St. Julien
Ch. Leoville Barton, St. Julien
Ch. Ormes de Pez, St. Estephe
Ch. Lynch Bages, Pauillac
Petit Figeac, St. Emilion
Ch. Figeac, St. Emilion
The 2012’s while not in the same league (or price) as the 2009’s or 2010’s, they are good in their own right. The 2012’s are medium bodied with good fruit/acid/structure and will be good to drink while you are waiting for your 2010’s to mature in your cellar. These wines will be a pleasure to drink in the near-mid term, particularly with food.
This is always a fun event to taste the new wines and talk with the Chateaux proprietors that we have gotten to know over the years. This year in addition to Jean-Charles Cazes from Ch. Lynch Bages and Lilian Barton-Sartorius from Ch. Leoville Barton, the event included Chateau Figeac, with proprietor Hortense Odoine Manoncourt. We had spent some time with Hortense at Chateau Figeac on our trip to Bordeaux and it was great to see her again.
The tasting format in San Francisco is a little different than what they do in Seattle. In San Francisco, they set up three tables with all of the new release wines being poured by the proprietors and you get to taste them over an hour time period. After tasting the new releases, we were given a glass of non-vintage Thienot Brut Champagne as we made our way to the dinner tables. Once at the dinner tables, the older wines were poured to enjoy with the food courses. Here are the other wines that we tasted with the meal:
2013 Blanc de Lynch Bages – Tangerine, lemon mineral nose. Very nice bright clean lemony white fruit, with a little stone mixed in. Lively acidity, smooth mouth feel, medium-light body. Nice long lemony energetic fruit finish. This is a very nice white Bordeaux wine that is only produced in smaller quantities, so it may not be easy to find, but is worth the effort. I will have to track some down for the cellar. 93 pts.
2009 Figeac – Ripe black/red berry fruit nose. This wine is lush with sweet black/red fruit, some spice and a little forest floor. There is good acidity to the wine, medium-full bodied with lots of very fine ripe tannins (iron fist in velvet glove). It is nice to taste a right bank right wine if a field of left banks, just for comparison. This is a very nice wine from a great vintage. 93 pts.
2005 Langoa Barton – Subtle nose of red / black fruit. In the mouth crunchy dark red and black berries, hints of forest floor and tobacco, with bright acidity. Nice medium – long dark fruit finish. 91 pts.
2005 Lynch Bages – This wine has a suave nose of spicy dark cherry fruit. In the mouth, the rich sweet dark black/red cherry fruit combines with baking spices and just a hint of leather. The wine has very nice acidity and very fine ripe tannins. The wine has great balance to it and a very long sweet spicy dark fruit finish. This wine is still very young, but is just starting to show what it has in store for a very long future. The 2005 Lynch Bages can be enjoyed now with air time, but will reward further cellaring. It wine will gain even more complexity as it is still on the uphill climb to maturity. Drink now or over the next three decades. 95+ pts.
2003 Figeac – Very ripe red and black fruit nose. In the mouth, very ripe dark red bing cherry and black berries, decent acidity, with a very tannic fine grained structure. Medium – long very ripe dark fruit finish. Over the course of the evening, the wine seemed to lose some of it’s acidity that supported the very ripe fruit. I would drink the 2003 sooner rather than later, over the next 10 years or so. 91 pts.
1995 Lynch Bages – Rich dark cherry fruit nose. In the mouth, plush sweet dark red / black fruit combine with forest floor and baking spices. This wine has good acidity, soft mostly resolved tannins and a long beautiful dark spicy fruit finish. The wine is drinking really well now and will continue to do so over the next 10-15 years. If you have some of the ’95 in the cellar, open one now and enjoy it. 94+ pts.
1999 Leoville Barton – Black cherry fruit and spice nose. In the mouth, very concentrated dark black cherries, spices and a little forest floor. Nice acidity, with some very fine grained ripe tannins still present. The wine has a very nice sense of balance, with a very long dark sweet black fruit finish. This wine is drinking really well right now, but I think it will continue to improve. 94+ pts.
2004 Suduiraut – Orangey-yellow in color, nose of very ripe fruit and butterscotch. In the mouth, again very ripe tropical fruit, over ripe melon, honey and butterscotch. This wine is too ripe for my taste, it doesn’t have the acid to back up the sweetness, so it comes across as heavy. Medium length very sweet finish. 82 pts.
It just so happened that the same day as the dinner, the Seattle Seahawks made the finals for the SuperBowl. Since Seattle was the next stop on the tour for our winemaker friends, we zipped into the city early to buy them a little something so they could show their support at their next dinner.
Jean-Charles Cazes of Ch. Lynch Bages, Christina Watt, and Lilian Barton-Sartorius from Ch. Leoville Barton. They were very good sports about showing their Seahawks support!
Too bad the Seahawks didn’t pull through this year – but perhaps those hats will come in handy again next year! It will certainly be here before we know it…
It’s truly hard to believe this was our 18th year doing the Champagne Party! Unbelievable how time flies. We are grateful to Jeanne and Will Hartmann, who offered up their beautiful home in Seattle to host the party this year. Jeanne and Will have been long time Champagne Party-goers, and when they heard that we were moving to San Francisco, they said, “We’re really sorry to see you go, but what are we going to do about the Champagne Party??” Fortunately for us, they offered to host in their house this year, so that the tradition could live on.
Champagne Party Invite, hand painted by Jeanne McKay Hartmann of idreamof.com. (Check out her blog for more pics of the party!)
The Champagne party is a double-blind tasting of generally 10 Champagnes, with a few sparkling wines from other regions of the world thrown in for comparison’s sake. The Champagnes will range from the low-end around $15 – $20, up to the high-end of $250 – $450 per bottle. After everyone has tasted through – and re-tasted to be sure of their choices – we take votes for the favorite and the least favorite wines of the night. I always enjoy seeing what people like.
The beautiful table. I can never get enough of the food – I’m behind the bar all night!But I do slave away in the kitchen (well, a little bit anyway) – though admittedly, the girls did most of the work!
Here is the order that we tasted the Champagnes:
Gosset – Brut Excellence NV ($40)
Frank Bonville – Prestige Blanc de Blanc NV ($55)
Pol Roger – Brut 2004 ($110)
Ariston Aspasie – Brut 2008 ($50)
Krug – Brut 2003 ($250)
Roederer – Cristal Brut 2004 ($240)
Billecart Salmon – Cuvee Nicolas Francois Brut 1999 ($120)
Launois – Cuvee Reserve Blanc de Blanc NV ($40)
Gloria Ferrer – Sonoma Brut NV ($20)
Charles Heidsieck – Brut 2000 ($110)
I found it much more difficult than normal year to pick out the best and rank them in order, as did the group. Usually, there is a clear winner or two that stand out above the crowd, or something that is completely polarizing, but that was not the case this year. This year almost all of the wines showed well, but some (Launois, Ariston & Pol Roger) could definitely use some more bottle age to show what they have to offer.
We generally don’t repeat an exact same Champagne in multiple tastings, but we had the 2004 Roederer Cristal in the lineup last year and I included it this year as well, to test a theory. Last year, the group put the 2004 Roederer Cristal in 9th place and I ranked it dead last in 10th place. The Champagne was just totally out of balance, too sweet, not enough acidity with a very short unremarkable finish. It was exactly what you don’t want for a Champagne, especially for the price. I felt the Champagne just didn’t show well, but I really thought it should have fared better, so I decided to give it another go around. It’s amazing what an extra year did for the wine. The proof is in the votes, first place for the group and 3rd place for me.
If you know me, you know I’m a Krug lover, and while I did single it out as my favorite, I was still very surprised at how the 2003 Krug showed this year. The group ranked the 2003 Krug tied for last place, so we had a run off and it barely beat the Launois. Neither the Krug Vintage or the Multi-Vintage has ever placed below 4th position in the 18 years that we have done this tasting, so to be ranked tied for last place is unusual for this wonderful Champagne house. I personally liked the 2003 Krug as a Champagne, but I have to say, I don’t think it will go down in history as a great Krug. I think the 2003 Krug is the weakest vintage Krug going back through the 1985 vintage. Even the 1998 Krug is better and neither compare to the 2000 Krug, which is, or will be, a great Krug.
You may ask why I ranked this Champagne in 1st place? Bottle bias? Perhaps, but in my opinion, the 2003 Krug has all of the telltale signs of what Krug is, which I absolutely love, but is just much more restrained and subdued. Only myself and two other die-hard Krug fans picked the 2003 Krug for 1st place. Even my wife, Christina, went a different direction, picking the 2000 Charles Heidsieck as her favorite, and she usually can pick out a Krug Champagne in the lineup if there is one. I will be very curious to see how the MV Krug Champagne that is based on the 2003 vintage tastes in comparison to the 2003 Krug. Being a blend of multiple vintages could be a plus in this case and give the Champagne more of the Krug character that I love.
For the record, here is how I ranked the Champagnes:
The Champagne party is always a great way to kick off the Holiday season. As many know, Champagne is a passion for me, but too many people think of Champagne as just for celebrations and special events. It is first and foremost wine (with bubbles), that pairs great with food and is an absolute must in any cellar. Life is too short not to drink Champagne on a regular basis!
Now, what to have for our 19th Annual Champagne Party…stay tuned!
P.S. “Like” this post? Let us know! If you were at the party, tell us what you thought of the Champagnes…
It’s been a long time – about four months since we’ve last officially posted. In that time we spent a month in Europe and moved to California and basically re-invented our lives as we knew them. It’s been an exhausting and exhilarating few months – we admit to being glad that things are slowing a bit from frantic to a dull roar. We have so many great wine moments to share over this time – it’ll be a while before we get through the highlights, but thought we start out a little more simply.
When the kids were born over 10 years ago, my wife gave me a case of Bordeaux wine, three bottles each of 1996 Pichon Baron, 1996 Leoville Barton, 2001 Brane Cantenac and 2001 d’Issan. The idea was to open a bottle every year for the kids birthday. This year we had a bottle of the 2001 Brane Cantenac from the Margaux rejoin of Bordaux. While we are still exploring and discovering things in the area where we have moved to, we found a nice little “French style” restaurant called Left Bank. How fitting that we just happen to have brought a left bank bottle of Bordeaux with us for dinner, the 2001 Brane Cantenac. Most of the 2001 Bordeaux wines that I have had have been open for business and this was no different.
2001 Brane Cantenac, Margaux – Very nice red/black berry fruit on the nose combined with forest floor and a little leather. In the mouth, dark red bing cherry fruit with a little black berry, spice box, dried leaves, forest floor, slight bit of leather and a hint of dried herbs. This wine has good acid and a nice smooth mouth feel. The wine is medium-full bodied. It has presence and persistence in the mouth, without the weight that you normally find in a new world cab/merlot blend wine. The wine finishes with a long persistent dark cherry, spice and forest floor finish, with nice finely grained subsiding tannins. This wine is drinking well today and will continue to do so over the next decade, enjoy them if you have them. (93pts.)
For those of you looking for a nice Bordeaux wine to drink now, check out the 2001 vintage. Many of the wines are drinking really well right now and can be had for a song compared to the 2000, 2003 or 2005 counterparts. The 2001 vintage was really overlooked after the great 2000 vintage, but there are some really wonderful wines to be had – Lynch Bages, Montrose and Leoville Barton just to name a few.
Birthday dinner at the Village Pub.
In other great wine moments, for my birthday this year in September, Christina and I wound up at the Village Pub in Woodside California, just north of where we live. Don’t let the name fool you, they have a REALLY nice wine list and the food is excellent. The Sommelier at the Village Pub is a very nice and knowledgeable guy by the name of Michael Acheson. The Village Pub’s wine program was awarded the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award under Michael’s direction. Michael has a great passion for wine and loves to help patrons explore the world of wine at the restaurant. We had an excellent meal, unfortunately, the wine I brought for the occasion (2003 Domaine Pegau Cuvee Reserve) was corked. Maybe I have been lucky, but I bring wine to restaurants all of the time and I honestly don’t remember the last time one of the bottles was corked, maybe 5-6 years ago. Anyway, Michael was able to guide me through the wine list and offer nice suggestions once we had picked out main courses. We ultimately had some very nice red Burgundy and Cornas wines with our meal.
During the course of the evening, we talked with Michael about all things wine related and mentioned that we loved Champagne. Michael said there was going to be a great vertical Champagne tasting of Philipponnat Clos des Goisses, going back to the 1952 vintage from magnum at the Village Pub this October. This Tuesday night (10/14) is the Champagne tasting and I am really looking forward to it. Philipponnat is a great Champagne house and their Clos des Goisses is an absolutely wonderful Champagne. If you like Champagnes that are on the masculine side like from Krug, Bollinger, Pol Roger or Vueve Clicquot then you should try the Champagnes of Philipponnat, and the Clos des Goisses in particular. Champagne can age really well, but it’s fragile and has to be well-stored. The oldest bottle of Champagne that I have in the cellar is from the 1975 vintage and it is drinking great (we had a bottle of it not too long ago). I look forward to seeing what a 1952 will taste like – stay tuned for more…
It’s particularly fun to write up this post, because the winemaker is quite literally our next-door neighbor. Christina tells the story of when we moved into our house in 2003 – Ben Smith and Gaye McNutt came over to welcome us to the neighborhood, and brought a bottle of Cadence wine. Christina promptly thanked them and put it on the fireplace mantle while they talked. A few minutes later, I came up from downstairs to say hello. I saw the bottle and I thanked them as well – I told them I had heard great things about the wine and that I looked forward to trying it. Imagine our surprise when they said they were glad to hear it, because it was their wine! Over the years, we’ve bought and poured a lot of their wine, and I have always enjoyed the Bordeaux style blends that Ben produces.
Ben Smith of Cadence Winery, winemaker and neighbor extraordinaire – hope we get as lucky in California!
We loved seeing Ben at Taste Washington this year – he had quite the line-up going. Here’s what he poured:
2011 Cadence – Coda (34% Merlot, 32% Cabernet, 20% Cab. Franc, 14% Petit Verdot) – Nice sweet red/black fruit nose. In the mouth, sweet dark red plums and blackberries. This wine has a good mouth feel and decent acidity. There is nice balance here and the wine has a rich sweet dark fruit medium length finish. This wine is an excellent value for quality at $25/bottle. (89 pts.)
2010 Cadence – Ciel du Cheval (39% Cab. Franc, 33% Cab. Sauvignon, 17% Petit Verdot, 11% Merlot) – Dark red/black fruit nose. In the mouth, dark plums, blackberries and black currants. This wine has good acidity and a strong tannic structure that is built for the long haul, but the tannins are fine grained. This wine has a long rich dark fruit finish where the tannins kick in again. This is a very nice wine that just needs a little more time in bottle to really shine. (91 pts.)
2010 Cadence – Tapteil (64% Cab. Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 14% Cab. Franc) – Dark red/black fruit and chocolate nose, with a little bit of spice. In the mouth, rich dark blackberries, black cherries and a little red currant. This wine has very good acidity, some spice, chocolate and a lot of very fine grained tannins that kick in on the long dark fruit finish. This is a beautiful wine that has great balance and can be enjoyed now, but will continue to improve with additional years in the bottle. (93 pts.)
The Tapteil bottling has always been one of my favorites from Cadence and they age beautifully. As a side note, the 2001 Tapteil is drinking really well right now and there is no rush to pull the cork.
2010 Cadence – Camerata (76% Cab. Sauvignon, 8% Cab. Franc, 8% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot) – Sweet dark red/black fruit and spice on the nose. In the mouth, rich dark plum, blackberry and black currants. This wine has very good acidity, some baking spices and a lot of very fine tannins. The wine has a long rich spicy dark fruit finish. This is another excellent reserve wine from Cadence. You can enjoy the wine now, but this wine will continue to improve for another 5 years or so and drink well 10+ years after that. (93+ pts.)
2010 Cadence – Bel Canto (77% Cab. Franc, 15% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot) – Sweet spicy red and black fruit on the nose. In the mouth, rich spicy black berries, black currants and a little red cherry combine with a little damp black earth (in a good way). This wine has very good juicy acidity, really fine grained velvety tannins and a great mouth feel. The wine has a nice balance and a long spicy black fruit finish. This is a wonderful Bel Canto and Ben has made a lot of good ones over the years. The 2010 Bel Canto will age very well over the next two decades and continue to improve over the next 5-7 years. (94+ pts.)
2001 Cadence – Ciel du Cheval – Red cherry, blackberry and baking spices on the nose. In the mouth, sweet dark red cherries, blackberries, black plum, baking spices and a little dark earth. This wine has very nice balance, good acidity and is smooth in the mouth. The wine has a nice long sweet dark fruit and spice finish. Most of the ripe tannins are resolved and this wine is drinking very well right now. This wine is on the maturity plateau, but there is plenty of fruit to age gracefully. The wine may improve slightly with more age, but there really isn’t a reason to wait. If you have some of the 2001 Ciel du Cheval, open a bottle and enjoy it. (93 pts.)
Just for another reference point on Cadence wines, both the 2001 Tapteil and 2001 Camerata are drinking very well right now, but both come across as a little younger than the 2001 Ciel du Cheval does. The 2004 Ciel du Cheval is drinking beautifully right now and is a slightly bigger, darker version of the 2001. Ben and Gaye are really making some great wines and they keep getting better. Cadence is well worth checking out if you have not tasted any of their wines before – definitely one to watch out for!
Exact Wines 