Some Champagne and red Burgundy with Peking duck, braised pork belly, sweet and sour fish, egg yolk baos, and other sundry Chinese treats.
Champagne
‘08 Eric Rodez Empreinte Blanche Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: A little bruised apple on opening, but with air, the champagne becomes leaner, more precise, and more mineral in the glass. While there are some subtle oxidative notes, it’s balanced with a sense of freshness, nice acidity and a lovely fine bead. I had the NV Cuvee de Crayeres a couple of months ago (I think a ‘22 disgorgement) and what struck me about both wines was how both had a similar evolution with air: a little underwhelming on opening, but evolving into pure, lean, precise, mineral-driven wines. I wonder what this wine will taste like 5-10 years from now.
NV Olivier Horiot Seve Rose de Saignee: Deep and rich with bright red fruit that has a very intense, sweet and medicinal finish that kind of reminds me of Robitussin. Very intriguing, grabs your attention, but I don’t really think I like it. Bummer, since I have a bottle of this not to look forward to anymore.
Red Burgundy
‘13 Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Roncieres: Beautiful bright red fruit, gentle tannins, and a delicate and lovely palate presence. The most ready of the red wines tonight and an instructive contrast with the burlier Gouges. Not as complex or as spicy as the Gouges, but just a pure pleasure to drink.
‘10 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers: Dark red fruit that is luminescent and vibrant, held together with bright acidity and drying tannins. Finishes long with a hint of warm, baking spices. Beautiful tension, lovely complexity, and the most complete wine for me tonight. I decanted this right before the dinner, and this was ready from the get go, but I can see this improving with more time as the tannins continue to resolve.
‘99 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers: It’s fascinating to taste a wine that is 11 years older with much firmer tannins defining an imposing structure. There is impressive stuffing here with a beautiful nose, but I mainly got a wall of tannin throughout most of the night. Others who revisited later on said it was opening up a bit, but this needs a lot more time.
‘12 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: This was popped and poured at the dinner, and it was initially quite closed on the nose and the palate. But, texturally, it was very elegant with a weightless presence on the palate. It took about an hour or two for it to open up, showcasing some dark fruit and meatiness on the palate and a spicy finish. Lovely, but could have benefited from a longer decant.
‘09 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: Definitely the ripest of the wines, with the darkest fruit profile of the night that seemed a little dull compared to the vibrant ‘10 and the ‘12 Gouges. Quite drying and spicy on the finish (perhaps even a little hot), with good acidity, but lacking the tension of the ‘10 and ‘12. This benefited from a long decant, and trying it the next night, the texture felt more elegant and silkier. Perhaps this just needs more time to come together? After this experience, I plan to sit on my ‘09 Gouges Les Saint Georges for some time.
‘10 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: Corked. Bummer.
Dessert
Egg Yolk Baos: Hopefully this will put a smile on your face. It did on mine.
Champagne
‘08 Eric Rodez Empreinte Blanche Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: A little bruised apple on opening, but with air, the champagne becomes leaner, more precise, and more mineral in the glass. While there are some subtle oxidative notes, it’s balanced with a sense of freshness, nice acidity and a lovely fine bead. I had the NV Cuvee de Crayeres a couple of months ago (I think a ‘22 disgorgement) and what struck me about both wines was how both had a similar evolution with air: a little underwhelming on opening, but evolving into pure, lean, precise, mineral-driven wines. I wonder what this wine will taste like 5-10 years from now.
NV Olivier Horiot Seve Rose de Saignee: Deep and rich with bright red fruit that has a very intense, sweet and medicinal finish that kind of reminds me of Robitussin. Very intriguing, grabs your attention, but I don’t really think I like it. Bummer, since I have a bottle of this not to look forward to anymore.
Red Burgundy
‘13 Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Roncieres: Beautiful bright red fruit, gentle tannins, and a delicate and lovely palate presence. The most ready of the red wines tonight and an instructive contrast with the burlier Gouges. Not as complex or as spicy as the Gouges, but just a pure pleasure to drink.
‘10 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers: Dark red fruit that is luminescent and vibrant, held together with bright acidity and drying tannins. Finishes long with a hint of warm, baking spices. Beautiful tension, lovely complexity, and the most complete wine for me tonight. I decanted this right before the dinner, and this was ready from the get go, but I can see this improving with more time as the tannins continue to resolve.
‘99 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers: It’s fascinating to taste a wine that is 11 years older with much firmer tannins defining an imposing structure. There is impressive stuffing here with a beautiful nose, but I mainly got a wall of tannin throughout most of the night. Others who revisited later on said it was opening up a bit, but this needs a lot more time.
‘12 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: This was popped and poured at the dinner, and it was initially quite closed on the nose and the palate. But, texturally, it was very elegant with a weightless presence on the palate. It took about an hour or two for it to open up, showcasing some dark fruit and meatiness on the palate and a spicy finish. Lovely, but could have benefited from a longer decant.
‘09 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: Definitely the ripest of the wines, with the darkest fruit profile of the night that seemed a little dull compared to the vibrant ‘10 and the ‘12 Gouges. Quite drying and spicy on the finish (perhaps even a little hot), with good acidity, but lacking the tension of the ‘10 and ‘12. This benefited from a long decant, and trying it the next night, the texture felt more elegant and silkier. Perhaps this just needs more time to come together? After this experience, I plan to sit on my ‘09 Gouges Les Saint Georges for some time.
‘10 Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains: Corked. Bummer.
Dessert
Egg Yolk Baos: Hopefully this will put a smile on your face. It did on mine.
