John Tomasso was in from the West Coast and with no time for a dinner, I was able to corral him for a quickie lunch (some of us had to get back to work) with Suzanne Camhi, Christine Huang and Michel Abood. Always great to see John and even better when good wines and Peking duck are involved!
2004 Domaine William Fèvre- Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Quite pleasant with plenty of green apple, yellow citrus, saline and smoke flavors and aromas. Good weight and acidity, but I find the finish a little diffuse with the alcohol sticking out a tiny bit. Solid B+.
1996 François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord)- Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles Cuvée Renaissance - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Cour-Cheverny
Showing like gangbusters. Just stunning stuff. Great depth and length with demi-sec sweetness, but balanced perfectly by riveting acidity. The usual quince, yellow citrus, mineral and raspberry profile is there and singing in perfect harmony, but with gusto. Still extremely fresh on the palate with this bottle showing no petrol notes. This stuff literally makes me giggle with glee and continues to be one of my favorite white wines of all time. A.
2005 Dönnhoff- Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
Deep gold in color and it seems like it's well on its way to moving into the bronze realm given how a recent '01 Oberhäuser Brücke showed. Starting to show advanced dessicated stone fruit flavors, with some tropical fruit and mineral. It shows a little listless and flabby in the middle and could definitely benefit from some more acidity. I'd start to drink up as I have doubts about it's future. A-/B+.
2009 De Forville- Barbera d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Black fruity with bark, spice and licorice. Decent enough acidity with very low tannin structure. The fruit is nice enough, but there's really nothing here to get excited about. A perfectly pleasant pizza wine that allows you to think about the pizza. B+/B.
2007 Thierry Allemand- Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Decanted and it could've certainly used a lot more time in the decanter as it exhibited some pretty firm tannins. It shows a very pretty floral nose with a lot of black pepper. There's that as well as sweet black brambly fruit and licorice on the palate. Allemand's wines are always a joy to drink because of their purity and suaveness, though I do detect some of the vintages roasted character here and while his wines always show a level of polish, this one seems more polished than just about any other of tried. That said, this was a lovely drop. A-.
Some pics, with apologies, as I was working today and took these with my phone as I didn't want to schlep my camera around town.
The group.
The wine.
The duck.
2004 Domaine William Fèvre- Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Quite pleasant with plenty of green apple, yellow citrus, saline and smoke flavors and aromas. Good weight and acidity, but I find the finish a little diffuse with the alcohol sticking out a tiny bit. Solid B+.
1996 François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord)- Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles Cuvée Renaissance - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Cour-Cheverny
Showing like gangbusters. Just stunning stuff. Great depth and length with demi-sec sweetness, but balanced perfectly by riveting acidity. The usual quince, yellow citrus, mineral and raspberry profile is there and singing in perfect harmony, but with gusto. Still extremely fresh on the palate with this bottle showing no petrol notes. This stuff literally makes me giggle with glee and continues to be one of my favorite white wines of all time. A.
2005 Dönnhoff- Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
Deep gold in color and it seems like it's well on its way to moving into the bronze realm given how a recent '01 Oberhäuser Brücke showed. Starting to show advanced dessicated stone fruit flavors, with some tropical fruit and mineral. It shows a little listless and flabby in the middle and could definitely benefit from some more acidity. I'd start to drink up as I have doubts about it's future. A-/B+.
2009 De Forville- Barbera d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Black fruity with bark, spice and licorice. Decent enough acidity with very low tannin structure. The fruit is nice enough, but there's really nothing here to get excited about. A perfectly pleasant pizza wine that allows you to think about the pizza. B+/B.
2007 Thierry Allemand- Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Decanted and it could've certainly used a lot more time in the decanter as it exhibited some pretty firm tannins. It shows a very pretty floral nose with a lot of black pepper. There's that as well as sweet black brambly fruit and licorice on the palate. Allemand's wines are always a joy to drink because of their purity and suaveness, though I do detect some of the vintages roasted character here and while his wines always show a level of polish, this one seems more polished than just about any other of tried. That said, this was a lovely drop. A-.
Some pics, with apologies, as I was working today and took these with my phone as I didn't want to schlep my camera around town.
The group.