Its become tradition that when Manuel Camblor is back in town, Ill find the time to give him a home cooked meal, so last night he, Michel Abood and Keith Levenberg graced Chez Brad for a relatively light summer meal as Im trying to eat a little healthier these days. On the menu was a corn, fennel, zucchini, blistered grape tomato, bacon (light on the bacon) and lobster salad on a bed of wild arugula with a citrus vinaigrette and a flank steak with ratatouille. What goes with food? Wine, of course and luckily, despite threats to shock and horrify me, my guests brought along some very tasty beverages.
2007 Grand Fief de LAudigre- Muscadet, Svre & Maine
Michel brokers this wine and has been keen on having me try it. Its quite pleasant, but to my tastes, not really typical Muscadet. Its very friendly and fruit forward with a tropical fruit character and relatively lowish acidity for a Muscadet. I wish it had a bit more mineral and a little less pineapple, but its quite pleasant and perhaps a good introduction to Muscadet for those that worry French wines are thin and sour. That said, you should all run out and buy it so Michel can start bringing good wines to dinner. B/B+.
2002 Huet- Vouvray Demi-Sec, Le Haut-Lieu
Okay. Im a little perplexed. When exactly are these 02s going to shut down? They should be tight as nails at this stage, but this bottle was belting out arias like the fat lady with the horned helmet. Just explosive on the palate. Quince and mineral still dominate and it has yet to take on any secondary characteristics, but there is so much depth and length to this wine. It was beautiful with the lobster and corn salad and I dont know if it was because I was really thirsty from cooking up a storm, or if the wine was just so scrumptious, but I found myself chugging this wine. A.
2001 Thierry Allemande- Cornas Sans Soufre
Nothing on the label that designates that this is a sans soufre bottling, you just have to know. You may need to know the secret handshake to get this, too. Always a little risky cellaring a sans soufre bottling, but this is showing brilliantly. Its quite expressive on the nose and palate with a little bit of lift from VA, but not to much to get your panties in a bunch about. Just beautiful black olives, sweet black fruit, garrigue, meat and spice with perky, but not too tart acidity. What I like about Allemand is that he always manages to get just what Cornas is, but then presents it in a more suave and polished package, though not in a modernist winemaking way. Its a truly unique trick that, in my book, makes him one of the most exciting winemakers in the world today, though I guess I shouldnt say that too loud as the prices have been getting really steep as of late. Low A.
1994 Nol Verset- Cornas
If Allemand represents the more modern end of the traditional Cornas spectrum, Verset may well represent the other extreme. Its really hard not to smile when you have a Verset. It reminds me of one of my favorite books when I was a kid, Where the Wild Things Are as this is just unrestrained, funky and wild Syrah. Whereas the Allemand had black olives and riper black fruit with round edges, this is a lot more herbal, the olives are green, the fruit is red, theres a bit more animal and the structure is a bit more jarring. I really wish I had some Verset left in my cellar. Drinking really well now. Solid A-.
1989 Gonon- St. Joseph
Theres a bit of bottle variation with this wine. This is the fourth time Ive had it in the past three or so months and two times its been a little lackluster, but last nights showing evened the score up. Right away you could tell it was going to show well by its effusive nose. Theres plenty of sweet cherries, leather, game earth and sweet brown spices. The mouthfeel is gorgeous. Just so silky and elegant, but with weight behind it. Its a little more earth/leather dominated on the palate than on the nose, but theres a vein of sweet fruit thats just really enjoyable. You hear this analogy all the time, but its like curling up on an old, softened leather couch and getting lost in comfort. Drink up. A/A-.
2006 Christano Guttarolo- Primitivo Gioia del Colle Anfora, Puglia
Joe brings this in and I must confess that many of the wines in his Italian portfolio are a little extreme for me. I thought I was in for it when I first tried this wine as it was terribly funky and full of piss and vinegar when we first opened it up. Four hours later, when we had finished our Northern Rhones and were looking for something else to drink, we came back to it and what a transformation! Yeah, there was a little funk left, but in a good way. But what had developed was just a beautiful and pure raspberry preserves character that was intermixed with pomegranate, nettles, fennel and earth. So often one finds Primitivo thats just overripe and limpid, but this was crunchy and bright and not heavy at all. Really quite nice. A-/B+.
Some pics from the evening:
The Fellahs.
Michel tests how far up will it go.
Lobstah and corn salad.
A lovely match.
Manuel cuts the cheese.
Longan fruit.
Manuel gets all artistic.
The lineup.
2007 Grand Fief de LAudigre- Muscadet, Svre & Maine
Michel brokers this wine and has been keen on having me try it. Its quite pleasant, but to my tastes, not really typical Muscadet. Its very friendly and fruit forward with a tropical fruit character and relatively lowish acidity for a Muscadet. I wish it had a bit more mineral and a little less pineapple, but its quite pleasant and perhaps a good introduction to Muscadet for those that worry French wines are thin and sour. That said, you should all run out and buy it so Michel can start bringing good wines to dinner. B/B+.
2002 Huet- Vouvray Demi-Sec, Le Haut-Lieu
Okay. Im a little perplexed. When exactly are these 02s going to shut down? They should be tight as nails at this stage, but this bottle was belting out arias like the fat lady with the horned helmet. Just explosive on the palate. Quince and mineral still dominate and it has yet to take on any secondary characteristics, but there is so much depth and length to this wine. It was beautiful with the lobster and corn salad and I dont know if it was because I was really thirsty from cooking up a storm, or if the wine was just so scrumptious, but I found myself chugging this wine. A.
2001 Thierry Allemande- Cornas Sans Soufre
Nothing on the label that designates that this is a sans soufre bottling, you just have to know. You may need to know the secret handshake to get this, too. Always a little risky cellaring a sans soufre bottling, but this is showing brilliantly. Its quite expressive on the nose and palate with a little bit of lift from VA, but not to much to get your panties in a bunch about. Just beautiful black olives, sweet black fruit, garrigue, meat and spice with perky, but not too tart acidity. What I like about Allemand is that he always manages to get just what Cornas is, but then presents it in a more suave and polished package, though not in a modernist winemaking way. Its a truly unique trick that, in my book, makes him one of the most exciting winemakers in the world today, though I guess I shouldnt say that too loud as the prices have been getting really steep as of late. Low A.
1994 Nol Verset- Cornas
If Allemand represents the more modern end of the traditional Cornas spectrum, Verset may well represent the other extreme. Its really hard not to smile when you have a Verset. It reminds me of one of my favorite books when I was a kid, Where the Wild Things Are as this is just unrestrained, funky and wild Syrah. Whereas the Allemand had black olives and riper black fruit with round edges, this is a lot more herbal, the olives are green, the fruit is red, theres a bit more animal and the structure is a bit more jarring. I really wish I had some Verset left in my cellar. Drinking really well now. Solid A-.
1989 Gonon- St. Joseph
Theres a bit of bottle variation with this wine. This is the fourth time Ive had it in the past three or so months and two times its been a little lackluster, but last nights showing evened the score up. Right away you could tell it was going to show well by its effusive nose. Theres plenty of sweet cherries, leather, game earth and sweet brown spices. The mouthfeel is gorgeous. Just so silky and elegant, but with weight behind it. Its a little more earth/leather dominated on the palate than on the nose, but theres a vein of sweet fruit thats just really enjoyable. You hear this analogy all the time, but its like curling up on an old, softened leather couch and getting lost in comfort. Drink up. A/A-.
2006 Christano Guttarolo- Primitivo Gioia del Colle Anfora, Puglia
Joe brings this in and I must confess that many of the wines in his Italian portfolio are a little extreme for me. I thought I was in for it when I first tried this wine as it was terribly funky and full of piss and vinegar when we first opened it up. Four hours later, when we had finished our Northern Rhones and were looking for something else to drink, we came back to it and what a transformation! Yeah, there was a little funk left, but in a good way. But what had developed was just a beautiful and pure raspberry preserves character that was intermixed with pomegranate, nettles, fennel and earth. So often one finds Primitivo thats just overripe and limpid, but this was crunchy and bright and not heavy at all. Really quite nice. A-/B+.
Some pics from the evening:
The Fellahs.
Michel tests how far up will it go.
Lobstah and corn salad.
A lovely match.
Manuel cuts the cheese.
Longan fruit.
Manuel gets all artistic.
The lineup.