TN: Tale of 2 Villages (Cote de Nuits-Villages, actually)

Feb 05, 2005 5 Replies

Betsy got back Wednesday, and in short order got her version of comfort food (beef stroganoff) on the dinner table. I served the 2002 Sylvie Esmonin Cote de Nuits-Villages . Big ripe kirsch fruit, a touch of earth and some light vanilla. Quite tasty, if not forcefully Burgundian. The next night I had a glass after coming in from a late meeting, a bit of a mushroom/damp earth note rounded out the package nicely, showing a bit better than before. B/B+



Friday I had a speech at a synagogue, came home for a late dinner. Duck breast and pasta with peppers and a bechamel sauce. The wine was the 2000 Domaine Bachelet Cote de Nuits-Villages. Much lighter in body than the '02 Esmonin, but a graceful wine with lively acidity, clear cherry fruit, and a nice finish. Clean and pretty, but just a tad lacking in concentration. B



Both nice wines. As far as matches, if I had to do it over again, I would have served the lighter 2000 with the stroganoff, and the more robust 2002 with the duck.



Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.   Dale



Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply


Have you tried good white burgundy with stroganoff - its a revelation about the normally alleged 'rules' about red and white wines?

Only an idea but I had my prejudices shattered a few years ago when drinking Ch. Dassault 1989 with lobster braised in the same wine.

Anyway what does it matter what you are drinking (almost) when your wife comes back from a few days away? OT are there are one or two things in life even more important than wine or is that just the influence of February 14th getting a bit close?

Timothy Hartley

Well Tim, maybe it is just to heighten the "Vorfreude", but I would like to mention a similar situation I had. I had to be away from my partner for a year or so. Everytime we would be coming together, I used to think long and hard about which wine would be drunk together. Partly because of the reunion and partly because of the most careful choice of the wines, I recall every single bottle even after several years.

Cheers

Timothy, I actually have tried white Burgundy with stroganoff, and liked it. White Burgundy (or any non-flabby Chardonnay) works well with most dishes with a creamy sauce. In this case, I went with a red Burg because (1) Betsy makes 2 different stroganoff recipes, this one is heavy on the mushrooms & (2) I asked her if she felt like red or white, she preferred red. But the ripe Esmonin '02 was a bit much for the dish, the lighter '00 would have been better.

There are indeed more important things in life than wine or food. But the care that Betsy puts into every meal is one of the things I love about her, and I strive hard to come up with wines that deserve to share the table with her meals. I also do the dishes :)

Sounds to me like you're _both_ getting the better end of that arrangement! :^)

Tom S

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