This weekend we opened some very nice wines with dinner to celebrate the completion of a $2.4M grant proposal to the NIH. Last night, with an impromptu hash of smoked andouille, red pepper, onion, potato and green beans, I opened a bottle of:
1999 Dom. de la Tourade Gigondas nose: bright cherry, some funk, gamey notes, a hint of pepper palate: lively acidity, still pretty primary, good depth of fruit
This was the non-Parkerized cuveé from Tourade, an import of J et R in MI. Thoroughly enjoyable, though without as much Gigondas character as some other producers, and still tasting quite young. It'll be fun to see where this one goes, but it'll take a while to get there. It actually stood up quite well to the smoked andouille, which in turn made the wine seem rounder and fuller than it seemed on its own.
Tonight, with a dinner of lapin à la moutarde and mashed potato/sweet potato:
1990 Leroy Volnay-Clos des Chênes n: CORKED!!! p: not tasted
This was one of the most severely corked bottles we've experienced in a long while. Since this was our only bottle (a bin-end from an auction lot), we decided to put to the test a device I'd received last Christmas: a TCA filter for wine called the Dream-Taste. One hour in the Dream-Taste and the wine _was_ noticeably less corked, but still with some cork taint evident. Another 30 minutes and it seemed almost TCA-free. It was put away for the night, but we'll try it again in a day or two.
In its place, another bottle from the same lot:
1988 Comte Lafon Volnay-Champans n: reticent at first, with hints of graphite; after decanting, it opens up to reveal truffle, raspberry and graphite smells p: acidic entry, deep raspberry fruit, slightly spicy finish
Because this was our backup bottle, it didn't get any time to air before dinner. Nonetheless, a bit of quick aeration helped it immensely. This wine also seemed quite primary still, but delicious. As the meal progressed, the wine got a stronger and stronger truffle note in the nose. This is a wine that'll probably get even better in a year or two (thankfully, I have another bottle of it)l. With the rabbit, the wine seemed rounder and fruitier -- a 4 on the Hoare scale of food/wine pairing.
Mark Lipton