Lunch notes for August:
Managed a less than dignified journey to the restaurant this time when a tire let go and I had to change it at the side of the road. Lady passenger looked on and (apparently) timing me for the change!
Started off with a couple of whites with a lovely seafood starter:
2002 Alice & Olivier De Moor St. Bris - a very hard one to guess as it is the only area which allows sauvignon blanc in Burgundy. An interesting tropical fruit nose was followed by a crisp wine that paradoxically finished with a lingering sweetness, or at least the impression of sweetness as the wine seemed quite dry.
1998 Artesa Chardonnay Carneros Reserve - showing and amazing amount of colour, this well made chard was obviously nearing the end of its life. It had an almost oily caramel nose, which it lost with air time, leaving nothing much to replace it, and a full bodied impression with good follow-through and a nuttiness at the end. I got the impression that the wine was just about to collapse in on itself like a black dwarf star, but that we were getting a last brief glimpse of what it used to be.
We switched over to reds with the bottle I had brought; I was pretty sure no one would get very close on this one.
1995 Best's Great Western Pinot Meunier - made from vines planted in the 1860s, and a varietal normally not seen outside of sparkling wine production. The nose was fairly intense and had a medicinal aspect to it that melded with the tar and mintiness to present an unusual and not easily forgotten (I mean that in a good way) whole. Soft and ready to drink, the wine did not offer itself as obviously Australian.
We had a couple of what turned out to be Pinot Noirs around a local tomato salad:
1998 Blue Mountain Pinot Noir - from one of the small but very good BC producers and arguably the best vintage we have had so far. We knew this was pinot but there was also some dirt in the nose and the supple wine was bright in the mouth. We were split dead evenly as to whether this was a modest but tasty Burgundy or a North American pinot - praise indeed, I think.
1999 Michel Lafarge Volnay Vendages Selectionee - a great way to retroactively place the BC pinot in context - we instantly figured Burgundy here. Bright colour, with quite intense fruit in the nose, although I felt that the nose was a bit simple at this point and the fruit not quite typical of a pinot. Lots of acidity in good balance left an impression of austerity and elegance. This one needs more time.
We headed into a main course of duck breast and duck confit with:
1984 Pequera Crianza - the 84, 85, 86 trio were excellent vintages for Pesquera, though the 85 has aged more quickly. This wine had a great fruit driven nose that sure didn't steer us toward Tempranillo right off the bat. The wine is very harmonious with good length, soft and sweet. No rush, but drinks as well now as it ever will.
2001 Fairview Cellars Cabernet Reserve - a BC winery that has been making itself known lately. Purple colour, softness in the nose with varietally correct notes and some soft tannins in the mouth, but I think this smooth textured wine is ready to drink. Very nice BC cab.
1995 Ch. La Couspaude - this little St. Emilion really had the whole lot of us going. The main thing that was throwing us was the colour - it was positively brown, the sort of colour that normally comes only with considerable age, or with heat damage. The nose seemed to have a lot of development and there was very good length. We figured that it could be early 80s, but when the perpetrator of this wine denied that, we kept examining earlier and earlier decades to see if they could possibly be the source for the wine. We were even considering late 40s when she let us off the hook and told us what it was, and no one could believe it! I have to assume that the fruit in the wine probably suffered with the heat damage, but it was at such a good level that it must have been a juice monster before it happened. It was just lucky that there was no serious damage that would have clued us in to the problem. Great intellectual exercise, not to mention an exercise in humility in blind tasting.
1996 Brero Poderi Roset Barolo - this wine was also showing a fairly advanced colour, which put some of us on our guard, but when we quickly identified it as Italian, and Nebbiolo based, we realized this was normal and we weren't confronted with another enigmatic wine. There was some very nice spicy tar and bitter cherry aromas, and it was supple and will be long lived despite the bricky colour - in fact I think I'll keep mine in the cellar a few more years before opening one.
With cheese:
1983 Dow Port - we picked up on this one pretty quick, trying to make up for the past disgrace - decided it was either an 85 or 83. Dark, the nose fairly ripe. sweet but not Graham sweet, and of good length. I'm not sure if this one had been opened ahead, but I noted definite improvement in complexity as it sat in the glass.
The bringer of the Port had brought a couple of other bottles for people he had thought would be attending, one of whom was absent. He VERY kindly offered to open the missing person's bottle and we accepted with alacrity - except for a couple of people who opined that they had had a sufficiency of wine, but I didn't notice them any the less willing to give the next one a taste.
1970 Taylor Port - a better more refined and developed nose with some surprising berry notes, and with the flavours now melded into an harmonious whole, with all the instruments playing the same song. Very smooth in the mouth, silky almost, and with great length. I haven't had this for awhile, but I'd have to say it is probably my favourite 1970, although the Fonseca gives it a very close run. What a grand way to finish a lunch. I only wonder if he will tell the person that would have been given this bottle that he was our much-appreciated benefactor. And I made it all the way back to the office without having to change any more tires!