As I was leaving work, Jean told me that she'd be home for dinner by 8, and requested a meal of duck breasts, potatoes and spinach. I obliged by searing and broiling the duck breasts, roasting the fingerling potatoes in olive oil with garlic and sauteing the spinach in EVOO with garlic, black pepper and a dash of lemon. She'd also requested a "great wine" with this meal, so I went down to the cellar and brought back:
1993 Louis Jadot Pommard 1er Grands Èpenots color: ruby red, going brick at the rim nose: pencil lead! herbaceous, cherries, cedar, minerals palate: medium body, good spine of acidity, black cherry fruit, pencil lead
Purchased at Sam's at a Warehouse Sale during their relocation for $35 or so, this was one of my first serious Burgundy purchases. Tonight, this wine illustrated the old adage that Burgundy and Bordeaux converge with age: it had a very Bordelaise nose, and could easily have passed for a claret with 20+ years of age on it. The fruit was shaded to the black side of the Pinot Nor spectrum, too, adding to the impression. It went well with the duck and got better as the meal went on. Although ready now, it'll probably last another 3-5 years, especially if your cellar is colder than our passively cooled one.
Mark Lipton