TN: Jay's Blind Wine Dinner (Dec. 6, 2016)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Due to an excess of chairs Jayson and I were invited to join Jay Miller's blind wine dinner. The event was held at North End Grill, a Danny Meyer restaurant, so excellent service was both expected and received.

Jay chose the menu and provided all the wines. (Jay's listing and my notes:)

STARTER

Gusbourne 2010 Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine - Chardonnay, not decanted - A typique BdB nose, mid-palate a little weird but it's pretty good and we're all guessing Champagne... until we're told it's not Champagne. We hunt around for another wine-making region well-known for sparkling chardonnay, and we guess England somewhere after Borneo but before The Pitcairns. I don't know about QPR but it drinks well.

FLIGHT 1 - with oysters on the half shell

M. Ollivier 2014 Clos des Briords Muscadet - Melon de Bourgogne, not decanted - This shows very soft and I have no idea what it is. The shrewd guess, given the pairing, is muscadet but some people claim they identified it by taste.

Clos du Tue-Boeuf 2014 Brin de Chevre - Menu Pineau, not decanted - This thing has a distinctive, wacky, viognier-ish nose. I remembered the smell of it but could not name it. (I don't drink Tue-Boeuf.)

Francois Pinon 2014 Trois Argiles Vouvray - Chenin Blanc, decanted 2 hours at 1:15 - Hellfire and brimstone soar from the glass! Eventually, the sulfur storm abates and it's minerally, young, and tight. Shutting down?

FLIGHT 2 - with sable and potato latkes

Clos Roche Blanche 2014 Touraine Rose - Pineau d'Aunis, decanted 1 hour at 1:40 - I did not catch any distinctive pd'a character. It was meh pink wine.

Brooks 2012 Rose - Pinot Noir, not decanted - Much deeper color, lively and dense. New World, in retrospect, but I did not make the jump to Oregon.

Francois Cotat 2010 Chavignol Rose - Pinot Noir, decanted 3 hours at 11:55 - Class showed... I think everyone picked this as their favorite in the flight. It was bracing, but not astringent, ripe but not frooty, a real pleasure. Certainly WOTN among the pale wines.

FLIGHT 3 - with charcuterie

Chevillon 1998 Nuits St. Georges 'Vaucrains', decanted 1 hour at 2:55 - Corked.

Gouges 1997 Nuits St. Georges 'Vaucrains', double decanted for sediment - Vivid and delicious, I picked this out as NSG.

Lucien Boillot 1991 Nuits St. Georges 'Pruliers', double decanted for sediment - Elegant, mature, complex, really good. I called it for Vosne.

FLIGHT 4 - with duck breast

Eric Texier 1999 Cote Rotie, double decanted for sediment - Everyone could tell this wasn't like the other two; many called Cote-Rotie right away. This was also very pretty, rather red-fruited compared to its neighbors, and also a bit more delicate.

Noel Verset 1999 Cornas, double decanted for sediment - Darker, more intense syrah-ness, and free of brett. We're all very happy campers.

Thierry Allemand 1999 Cornas 'Chaillot', decanted 1.5 hours at 2:45 - OK, now we're really happy campers. People picked this out as Allemand. And it is the finest of the three: it has the role of the Boillot in the last flight... weightless as silk and yet full of flavor.

FLIGHT 5 - a bit of sweet

Chateau Climens 1988 Sauternes, decanted .5 hours at 3:25 - Very light color for a wine so old. Make that: for an excellent wine so old. Typique sweetness, roundness, oakiness, and yet attractive.

Trimbach 2000 SGN Gewurtztraminer 'Hors Choix', not decanted - Absolutely arresting nose. Bears little resemblance to any common gewurtztraminer that I can recall: instead of an odorous assault of lychee and furniture polish this wine offers a sweet core of very ripe fruit and flowers loosely packed in sachet.

An outstanding evening. Thank you, Jay.
 
My last 3 bottles of CRB Pinot d'aunis Rose Have been tired and off, even with extended air, so the above note is (sadly) unsurprising.
 
Otherwise, sounds as though you had some drinkables. Nice notes!

How was the food?

Also, you really should get on the Tue-Boeuf train. Thierry's Menu Pineau is the shiz.
 
My notes, such as they are:

A special shout out to the wonderful people at North End Grill whose exemplary service made the evening go like clockwork. Food was great too.

2010 Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs - everyone guessed Champagne and honestly I would have also. My first English sparkling wine this had bright fruit, a touch of lemon citrus, a lovely chalky finish and a smooth mousse. Hand carried back from London I'd buy again if it was a little easier to source. Easily competes with NV Champagnes at the same price point (app. $45)

Next up was a flight of Loire whites from the superb 2014 vintage.

2014 M. Ollivier Clos des Briords Muscadet - minerally, intense, delicious. A surprisingly bad match with the oysters. At least half the table guessed Muscadet.
2014 Tue Boeuf Brin de Chevre - surprisingly, no one guessed menu pineau [shrug.gif] . Delicious wine with an intense exotic nose.
2014 Francois Pinon Vouvray 'Trois Argiles' - even after a 2 hour decant this showed noticeable sulphur on the nose which gradually lifted in the glass displaying the usual off dry delightful fruit. Showed a bit sweeter than I remember the last bottle and I think it's starting to shut down a bit. Still a favorite for several people.

I can now take credit for being the first person to serve a still rose flight at one of these dinners. I had tried to source a Valentini for this but no luck.

2014 Clos Roche Blanche Rose - I loved this wine (as I always do) though I think I was almost alone in this adoration. No one guessed pineau d'aunis
2012 Brooks Rose - Tasty wine but it isn't developing in the direction I had hoped when I first bought it. It's lost its initial firm minerality and is displaying softer fruit. Time to drink up.
2010 Francois Cotat Rose - decanted for 3 hours it was still opening in the glass over the course of the evening. Universal favorite of the flight and for several of us one of the top wines of the night.

1998 Chevillon NSG 'Vaucrains' - corked. One of many 1998s that I picked up for a song when the 1999s were released. Which means I paid for storage on this corked bottle for about 15 years. While most of us felt there was something off about the bottle it wasn't until the end of the evening that the TCA became really apparent.
1997 Gouges NSG 'Vaucrains' - still tannic but still one of those rare Gouges which is ready to drink
1991 Lucien Boillot NSG 'Pruliers' - delicious, complex, layered, fully mature Nuits.

1999 Texier Cote Rotie - beautiful floral aromatics, delicious sweetish fruit. Suffered by being followed by the
1999 Verset Cornas - Wonderful, complex, amazing wine. WOTN for most
1999 Allemand Cornas 'Chaillots' - following closely behind this was more tightly knit and pure.

1988 Chateau Climens - showing remarkably youthful, it's was an archetype of the Climens style of elegant sweetness. Half hour decant had it in a perfect place.
2000 Trimbach Gewurtztraminer SGN "Hors Choix" - this has lost the gewurtz typicity that it had in its youth but had the most remarkable tropical fruit nose and a flamboyant palate that was a rich delight.
 
's' fixed. Thank you.

The food was simple and good:
- East Coast oysters, kinda small but with the low-brine-high-creaminess that is typical for Eastern oysters; nice mignonette, too
- Sable is yummy, of course, but is also way too rich and smoky to serve with wine; this was not a pairing so much as an alternation; the latkes were thin and crispy (which is good)
- Charcuterie was served family-style on wooden palettes and consisted of slices of various pates surrounded by various kinds of giardiniera, mustards, and pickles; a nice extra were the duck confit cakes (=>think quacky crab cakes); bread was crusty and hearty and plenty of butter available
- Duck breast was a whole breast per person, beautifully rare, cut across the grain into chunks; I forget the accompaniments because that was the syrah flight
- No dessert, just dessert wine.
 
I'll add my take to what was a wonderful dinner Jay put on, and service was tremendous.

I had a good night with my guesses but admittedly it was more of a poker exercise to read Jay than a tasting exercise. Jay and I just have too many wines in common in our cellars and history.

Before discussing the wines: the absolutely wonderful sable dish was tough for all but the Cotat in the rose flight. A great match to the Cotat though IMO. On the delicious duck, mine was medium/medium rare at center, medium at the ends. Perfectly seasoned. All cooked about a minute too long but still all the way through as I prefer.

2010 Gusbourne BdB was good. And boding well, better with air. I'd be interested in the vineyard soil type as I got a sense of chalk in the finish.

2014 M. Ollivier Clos des Briords is starting to shut down and I thought was an older Briords. This bottle at least has lost the electricity of this wine a year ago. Still delicious. And as Jay said, unexpectedly incongruous with the oysters.

2014 Tue Boeuf Brin de Chevre - I could not pick this but did say it was reminiscent of a white pineau d'aunis. Should have known. Very tasty.

2014 Francois Pinon Vouvray 'Trois Argiles' - sulphur blew off just in time for the wine to hint it is also shutting down. I agree with Jay otherwise.

2014 Clos Roche Blanche Rose - what Jay wrote. Very gulpable.

2012 Brooks Rose - what Jay wrote.

2010 Francois Cotat Rose - WOTN for me with Verset. Beautiful Pinot.

1998 Chevillon NSG 'Vaucrains' - bizarre until it finally revealed overwhelming TCA. Too bad.

1997 Gouges NSG 'Vaucrains - didn't think this was ready to drink yet; potential there but a poster child for why I stopped buying Vaucrains.

1991 Lucien Boillot NSG Pruliers. Great. Complete. After guessing incorrectly that this entire flight was all MSD, I pulled one out of my A by calling this as Pruliers.

1999 Texier CR VV - just flat out superb although the hints of vanilla and orange zest on top of more classic floral wonders put some off. I loved it.

1999 Verset Cornas - Yowza. Yowza. Yowza. I want to be with you.

1999 Allemand Cornas 'Chaillots - tough to follow Verset especially after a little air time but also wonderful and some subtlety In its waves of flavors and textures.

1988 Chateau Climens - as always from a good bottle. On its 50-year plateau of deliciousness. The easiest wine to call.

2000 Trimbach Gewurtztraminer SGN "Hors Choix" - what Jay wrote although not exactly my cup of tea despite clear aromas of Darjeeling and bergamot. I only caught a whiff of lychee behind the bottytis when Jay told us what it was.
 
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