Luncheon (double N) by spirited, active branch of a venerable gastronomic group, Sunday at a member's home in pleasant setting, to check out some Burgundies.
With snails in puff pastry and steak tartare with oyster, NV Louis Bouillot Crémant du Bourgogne Perle Noir. Finely yeasty, long-flavored sparkler in a more than usually Champagne style. Opening toast saluted the people of Burgundy. Heirloom-tomato gazpacho followed.
With shellfish and avocado in a lobster mousseline sauce (retro! Escoffier!), 97 Ch. Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet "La Romanée." Oaty-walnut nose with signature acid and hints of oily pit fruits like cherries. Rich, nutty wine. (The sauce was richer though, a little heavy.) Granité au Marc followed.
With quails stuffed with forcemeat, pistachios, truffle bits; green (basil) potato purée; shredded vegetables: 96 Dom. Ponsot Clos de la Roche "Vielles Vignes." Classic sassafras and orange peel in smell, hints of "tutti-fruiti" (That Pineapple Ester, one of the salicylates, ubiquitous in synthetic fruit flavors, one of you chemists please help me out here). Flavor was seriously closed, hints of good fruit but some question of its future. (Many 96 Nuits hibernate now, by the way, in my own and reported samplings. Hope this one will wake up.)
With cheeses and figs, 96 Dom. Daniel Rion Vosne-Romanée Beaux-Monts. Now we are cooking. Rich, meaty, raisiny nose. Also somewhat closed but much more structure and fruit than the other red.
"Soupe de melon au mélange de fruits" (called fruit cocktail in the US until the canned version clouded that name) followed, and NV Louis Bouillot Crémant du Bourgogne Brut Rosé. Pleasant tart strawberry sparkler.
Group's cavalier style showed in demonstration by our host (originally from Europe) of technique from the Topless Champagne Club at Saint Moritz. He held a bottle of Champagne, placed a sword blade flat along the bottle, perpendicular to its length; held the bottle safely away from anyone, ran the blade in a swift stroke along the bottle so as to catch the flange and knock off the top of the bottle neck, with the cork. (Done right, I was assured, any bits of glass fly off in the same direction.) A little of the wine was lost (as often with popped corks) but the topless bottle was served.
Those Crémants, by the way, are excellent value wines. They have much of the charm of Champagnes without the market cachet.